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Showing posts from May, 2018

It Came From the '90s: The Harrowing, Heartbreaking Excellence of Sheryl Lee in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

This series looks back at the 1990s and its influence on the generation of people who came of age during the decade. Sheryl Lee is extremely talented, and should've become a massive star. She has one of the most evocatively expressive faces in all of cinema and television. Her bedroom eyes are especially hypnotic, as is her smile . Few actresses have ever been better at portraying both seductively blissed-out melancholia and pure, absolute terror . These are the two emotional states she toggles between most as Laura Palmer in David Lynch's brutal, powerful, disturbing film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992). For my money, Lee is responsible for one of the finest performances in the annals of horror cinema. It's an astonishing tour-de-force, the kind of acting that haunts you forever. A prequel to the original Twin Peaks televisions series—which chronicled the search for Laura Palmer's killer— Fire Walk With Me explores just how fucked up Laura

Writing Roundup: Margot Kidder, an '80s Cult Classic, and Al Pacino, Esq.

As I'm wont to do, I wrote some things for some websites and you can find them scattered across the vast expanse of the Interwebs. Just be careful out there. After all, the Internet kind of sucks these days. ***** Margot Kidder passed away on May 13. She was only 69 years old. She'll always be my Lois Lane. She'd been mostly out of the spotlight for decades, yet many fans were shattered by news of her death. That shows just what a powerful effect her peak work had on our lives. It's difficult to put into words just how integral she was in my young life, when Superman  (1978) and Superman II (1980) were basically tied with the original Star Wars trilogy as my favorite movies, but I tried to do exactly that in a tribute I wrote for Horror Geek Life . Not sure if the article managers to fully express why Kidder was so important to me back then, but I think I gave it a good whirl. Just like she gave me one helluva whirl back in the day. As Lois Lane, she

Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine, Vol. 2: Somebody Get Me a Doctor

Previously I looked at some favorite nurses from pop culture . This time out we'll focus on some memorable film and television doctors. Some are great at their jobs, some, not so much, but all are entertaining. When it comes to pop culture, that's what counts more than medical degrees or bedside manners. This isn't a comprehensive list of television and film doctors. Not even close. These are just a few that I love best. Let me know your favorites in the comments! Dr. Dan Challis, Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) Dr. Dan always travel light: just a change of clothes, a toothbrush, and a female companion young enough to be his daughter. There are several reasons why Dr. Dan is both a legend and a legendary stud. First, he's played by genre film stud Tom Atkins . He's also clearly more preoccupied with booze and babes than with his medical career. I wouldn't doubt he's buzzed on the job, and he's clearly taken an extracurricular

Soused and Amused: Helena Bonham Carter in Dark Shadows

I grew up loving the films of Tim Burton. From Beetlejuice to Batman Returns to Ed Wood , I thoroughly enjoyed the man's work during his heyday. I never ranked him as my favorite director, or even close, but I always appreciated his uniquely skewed style and aesthetic. At some point though, starting in the early 2000s, his movies started blending together for me. His quirkiness and aesthetic were losing some of their luster. While I haven't kept up with all of his work in recent years, I've seen enough to know I don't eagerly anticipate his new films anymore. Unless, of course, they feature Michelle Pfeiffer. I thoroughly enjoyed Burton's 2012 Dark Shadows  adaptation, and in fact it's only grown on me over the years. Beyond a few clips, I've never seen the original television series, so I can't make any comparisons between the versions. However, I can state unequivocally and for the record, that despite Johnny Depp being the top-bi