For years I wrote off “Star Wars” as another typical classic film I had zero interest in watching until 1998 when sheer boredom gave way to curiosity. Managing to borrow the original trilogy on VHS from my aunt, I watched it in one entire sitting and loved every minute of it. Since then it’s been a very hectic relationship with the series packed with a lot of love, and a lot of bile. In 2015 “Star Wars Rebels” made me realize I still love the series after a self inflicted hiatus, and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” finally confirmed I wasn’t quite ready to abandon this series just yet. Like any other “Star Wars” geek I have controversial ideas about the series I love and hate, and these are five of the controversial aspects from the whole shebang I don’t hate.
Tag Archives: nostalgia
Facing Down the Bullies: “Angus” and “My Bodyguard”
There’s been a lot of talk about movie anniversaries this year, but two of the movies that have been left out of the discussion are two of my childhood favorites. There’s the 1995 teen drama “Angus,” and the 1980 “My Bodyguard.” Oddly enough, both films deal with the idea of coming of age, surviving high school, and learning to deal with a specific kind of bully. Both films also confront the idea that sometimes staring down the bullies is a right of passage we all must confront at one time or another. And yet, both films have been off the radar for a very long time.
5 Reasons why I’d Rather Be in “The Monster Squad” than “The Goonies”
“The Goonies” turn thirty this year, which marks a fun anniversary of one of the most iconic family films of the 1980’s. To this day, the film is considered a masterpiece by many, even brandishing its own sequel coming very soon. I figured why not celebrate “The Goonies” by undermining its legacy and praising its knock off “The Monster Squad,” instead? Ain’t I a stinker? I’ll be honest, while “The Goonies” is a very good movie, at the end of the day I’d rather watch Fred Dekker’s “The Monster Squad.”
It’s harder edged, it’s much more entertaining, has more imagination, and it holds up against the rose colored glasses of nostalgia. Goonies never say die, but The Monster Squad kills the fuck out of monsters and bad guys. Here are five Reasons why I’d rather be in “The Monster Squad” than “The Goonies.”
“Home Alone” and Its Endearing Adventure
I was seven when “Home Alone” first arrived in theaters, and oddly enough I don’t remember the first time watching it. I did go to the movies to see it, as we always did, but I do fondly remember one night when my brother and I dragged my dad to see it for a third time. Beside “Who Framed Roger Rabbit!” we’d seen “Home Alone” at least three times in theaters, and we loved it. My dad had worked late, and he picked my brother and me up during one snowy night and we debated on what to see in the theaters. He was anxious to watch “King Ralph,” but we begged him to let us watch “Home Alone” once again. He obliged and allowed us to watch it yet again, despite entering the theater mid-way through the movie for the final half.
5 Ways “Horrible Horror” Helped Mold Me In To a Horror Fan
My family and I didn’t get cable until Halloween of 1994, so I spent a lot of those early years catching horror movies the old fashioned way. This was before streaming, the internet, and cable, so often times my horror education came from whatever edited horror movies were playing on network TV, what ever horror movie my mom allowed us to see in theaters, and of course, my mom’s VHS horror collection.
“Horrible Horror” was purchased by her in the late eighties, as back then a lot of stores sold VHS movies. I fondly remember visiting my local cashier and looking at the gallery of boxes they had on display in their windows to alert customers that they were selling VHS movies. And as with every trip that involved stumbling upon a store selling VHS, my mom always zipped to the horror section or would scramble to find a horror movie she loved or hadn’t owned. “Horrible Horror” was one of the many gems she’d picked out for herself out of sheer curiosity. And it eventually earned its place in my household as a favorite of mine, and my brother’s.
SLIFR’s “Professor Abraham Setrakian’s Virulently Vampiric, Malevolently, Monsteriffic Super-Strain Halloween Movie Quiz”
One of my favorite movie blogs “Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule” recently posted their annual horror quiz in celebration of Halloween, and I was more than happy to take part in it. Their quizzes are usually a lot of fun and ask some interesting questions for their users that allow for an interesting article, so I thought I’d take part in yet another fun Movie Quiz that could inspire some thoughts on my favorite in horror entertainment and fiction. SLIFR is never bereft of interesting questions that cause its players to think hard and long, so I tackled this with immense enthusiasm.
Feel free to copy this quiz for yourself and link back to “Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule,” or feel free to let us know what you think about my answers below!
Our Top Five Beat Em Up Video Games of All Time
You can have your RPG’s and fancy schancy sports games. Growing up, some of my favorite games were platformers, sidescrollers, and beat em ups. Of course some of the best beat em ups can be found on classic systems like the SNES and Sega Genesis, and I often found many titles that would help me relieve my aggression on bad guys left and right. Whether it was as a mutant, a superhero, or a barbarian, I enjoy the sub-genre a great deal. I love bashing heads and kicking in skulls. Here are five of our favorite Beat Em Ups of all time. What are some of yours?







