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 was trouble on two very attractive legs, and I loved her for it. As I wrote in the tribute, she and the late, great Carrie Fisher were two of the first women in film that I fell for, and it's no coincidence they were both strong, smart, and hilarious, on screen and in real life.

So long, Margot. You were good.

In an entirely different piece for the After Movie Diner, I had some fun with a cult horror flick that I first saw back in the day (there's that phrase again) on USA Up All Night with host Rhonda Shear*, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988). That title! Salacious and hilarious, in equal parts, just like the film.

Starring scream queen royalty like Linnea Quigley, Michelle Bauer, and Brinke Stevens, and featuring a villain who goes by "Uncle Impie," this B-movie classic is not to be missed. Run, don't walk, to your local video store! Look for the VHS box with the women in torn clothing posing seductively in a bowling alley! Grab it! Watch it! Love it!

Sorry, I got a little carried away. I can already hear many of you shouting, "WTF is a video store?" Reason #327 that I am officially old. Ah well, anyway, the film's on YouTube currently. So what are you waiting for?

Also for the Diner, I wrote about one of my favorite Al Pacino performances, as idealistic attorney Arthur Kirkland in Norman Jewison's underrated and excellent ...And Justice For All (1979). I've always related all too well to Arthur's struggles to work around the steaming piles of bullshit flung at us every day. I've had many a "You're out of order!" moments in my own life, trust me.

I'd probably rank the film somewhere just outside my personal Pacino top five. And what is my personal Pacino top five, you ask? In order: Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Serpico (1973), Frankie and Johnny (1991), Heat (1995), and Carlito's Way (1993). Sea of Love (1989) and the Godfather films are also nipping at the heels of the top five. I would have to say, after Michelle Pfeiffer, Pacino is likely my next-favorite actor.

*Writing the Sorority Babes cult classic review served as a reminder that I really need to tackle USA Up All Night with Rhonda Shear at some point. That's an "It Came From the '90s" post I've been meaning to write for years. Stay tuned.

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Paul SJune 3, 2018 at 8:33 AM
Rest in peace Margot, one of the goddesses of light who illuminated my early life.
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