Today is Selena Day in Texas. For those who aren't familiar with Selena Quintanilla-Perez, she was shot on March 31, 1995 by her fan club president, Yolanda Saldivar and died soon after. I had never heard of her before her murder, probably because she had been a niche artist on the verge of going mainstream … Continue reading Selena, La Reina
We Can Shop It Out
Malls. Remember those? OK, so it hasn't been that long since we've been able to hit a mall, but it feels like it. Anyway, malls are good for more than shopping and hanging out. Sometimes they're a good place to drop some deep, earth-shattering confessions. Woody Allen and Bette Midler did just that in the … Continue reading We Can Shop It Out
Johnny Depp Cleans House
How may I serve you? It's a pretty good bet that one of the more unusual films to come out of the nineties is 1993's Benny and Joon. Starring Aiden Quinn, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Johnny Depp, it paints a misty picture of mental illness, romance, quirk, and plain old love of many kinds. The … Continue reading Johnny Depp Cleans House
Grumpy Old Presidents
Well hello, Mr. Garner... OK, so 1996's My Fellow Americans is a political satire and, I'll admit, an ironic choice for an election year, but we're gonna roll with it. Heck, we're going to lay the irony on thick here, because 1996 was the year Bill Clinton and Bob Dole locked horns for the Presidency. However, I'm … Continue reading Grumpy Old Presidents
Entertaining Angels
When it comes to remakes, my longtime readers know I'm pretty ambivalent with a variable degree of distaste. Every once in a while, though, a remake will nail it, or turn out even better than the original. One of the good ones is The Preacher's Wife, the 1997 remake of The Bishop's Wife. Directed by Penny Marshall, … Continue reading Entertaining Angels
Wakey, Wakey
One of my all-time favorite holiday movies is 1995's While You Were Sleeping. I remember when this came out my guy friends were telling me I should go see it. Guys and rom-coms don't always mix, but the film is such a fun one anyone can talk about it and not lose street cred. Those who know … Continue reading Wakey, Wakey
Go Ask Shirlee
Siskel and Ebert At the Movies... Dolly Parton is a versatile lady, and we all know how she likes dipping her big toe into Hollywood. She doesn't do a ton of acting, and most of her film credits are now behind the scenes, but she starred in some classics. One of her last movie appearances … Continue reading Go Ask Shirlee
I Feel Fine
Nice to see you, Mr. Goldblum... I'm really not surprised that Gill decided to host a Jeff Goldblum Blogathon. We used to have Follow Fridays With Jeff Goldblum on Twitter, where a bunch of us would post Goldblum gifs and wish each other a happy weekend and stuff like that (Goldblumers represent!). I figured it … Continue reading I Feel Fine
Travels With Papa
Summertime, and de livin' is easy... Ah, summer. And ah, vacation season. Unless one is a too-cool-for-school teenager who's suddenly allergic to Mom and Dad, especially when there's someone cute to impress. Katherine Heigl in her pre-Grey's Anatomy days takes this to the extreme in the 1994 father-daughter comedy, My Father the Hero. It's an unusual movie, especially … Continue reading Travels With Papa
Go, Pre
Steve Prefontaine is known as the "James Dean of track" and is a legend among runners. A native of Coos Bay, Oregon, he was born in 1951 and died in a car accident in 1975 at the age of twenty-four. Though his life was short, he was a major star. Naturally, he's been immortalized in … Continue reading Go, Pre
Remembering Rick Elias
This past Tuesday Rick Elias passed away from glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. He was sixty-four. I grew up on his music, mainly through his work with one of my all-time favorite songwriters, the late Rich Mullins. Elias made numerous contributions to contemporary Christian music, or CCM, as it's called. Elias didn't release … Continue reading Remembering Rick Elias
On the Sidelines
And off we go... So we're here to discuss M. Emmet Walsh, namely, his role in 1997's My Best Friend's Wedding. Walsh's part is microscopic, but he still makes a fine contribution to a classic rom-com. Julianne (Julia Roberts) is a food critic on the line of James Beard. When she eats at a restaurant, the staff … Continue reading On the Sidelines
Shamedown #2: Empire Records
And now for Shamedown #2. Want some background on Shamedowns? Please visit Cinema Shame here. In 1995, the same year I graduated from high school, an ensemble film called Empire Records hit theaters. It wasn't a success; it really didn't go anywhere. Still, when it popped onto Netflix, I thought, "Why not? Liv Tyler's cool. Nostalgia sounds … Continue reading Shamedown #2: Empire Records
Coach Ed
Welcome, sports fans... When people think of Ed O'Neill, many of a certain age default to his iconic, crotchety Al Bundy on Married...With Children. And what did Al Bundy talk about constantly? His football days. O'Neill really was a football player, though. According to A&E Biography, O'Neill won a state championship in high school and a football … Continue reading Coach Ed
Helter Shelter
The time for our first blogathon of the year now approaches... Who can forget what it was like to live through the Cold War? For us regular people (in America, anyway), life would go on in its happy, placid way until something would happen and it would be like, "Oh yeah, the Russians might drop … Continue reading Helter Shelter
Shamedown #10: Armageddon
Our penultimate Shamedown. For those inquiring minds inquiring about the origins of the Shamedown, please visit Cinema Shame. For previous Shamedowns, click here. For some reason or other, in 1998 the world was treated to two nearly identical films two months apart. Both featured a rogue heavenly body about to destroy the Earth and an … Continue reading Shamedown #10: Armageddon
Getting Through
Well, here we are... What if you discovered you or your child had a disability? How would you respond? As humans, we're used to making plans. We like to be in control of what's going to happen next. When those plans get derailed, it feels like the universe is coming apart. Then what? 1995's Mr. Holland's … Continue reading Getting Through
Taking Up Room 