Words Seem Out Of Place

Let's face facts: I've fallen behind on my Michelle Pfeiffer performance reviews. Life stuff has gotten in the way, plus I've been spending much of time writing four different chapters for inclusion in three forthcoming books (fingers crossed!), and on various other writing commitments. Excuses, excuses, man! I know, just shut up and get back to La Pfeiffer, right? I hear you, I really do. So, while I'm working on some future reviews ( Stardust and Tequila Sunrise are tops on my list of films left to get to), here's an easy breezy Pfeiffer puff piece to hold us all over for a bit. And what's easier or breezier than Baby Pfeiffer, amirite? Everyone knows I have a serious weakness for that very early career sun-kissed California goddess, during the late 1970s through about 1982 or 1983, right before she went nuclear with Scarface . I've posted about Baby Pfeiffer before , in fact, but why not do it again? What's stopping me?? Nothing!...

Everybody knows I love Frankie and Johnny . Everybody knows that, hard as it is to choose a favorite, Frankie will always have my heart when it comes to Michelle Pfeiffer characters. So, pardon me if you've heard or read all of this from me before, but here are just a few reasons why I love everything about this beautiful film. Sometimes you form such a personal connection with a film that you can't even imagine who you would be without it in your life. Frankie and Johnny  (1991) is that film for me. It hooked me first time I saw it, thanks to e xtraordinary performances from the two leads, Michelle Pfeiffer as Frankie and Al Pacino as Johnny; a sensational supporting cast, including Nathan Lane, Kate Nelligan, and Hector Elizondo; that sublime Marvin Hamlisch score; and Terrence McNally's exquisite adaptation of his own off-Broadway play, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. Together, these elements combine to create something truly magical. I've been liv...

Top ten lists for movies of the decade were everywhere in December. I even saw one top 200 list! Instead of taking that route, I've chosen to just list a few films from the 2010s that stood out as my favorites of the last decade. Each of these movies blew my mind, touched my soul, and otherwise made it impossible for me to forget them. I don't know if these were the best, but they're some of the movies I remember most from the decade past. These are not reviews, just a brief sentence or two about why I dig each movie, with links to more for those I've written about before. Here they are, presented in no order whatsoever, except of course leading off with a Michelle Pfeiffer film because that's how we roll around here. mother! ( Darren Aronofsky,  2017) Aronofsky’s absorbing, anxiety-provoking assault on the senses. One of Michelle Pfeiffer’s most scorched earth performances—she deserved ALL the awards. Poor Jennifer Lawrence. “The sink’s not braced!!” Tr...

Martin Scorsese's nearly four-hour long crime epic The Irishman dropped on Netflix a few weeks back. It's already garnering awards talk, and while I can see certain aspects of the film being worthy of that praise—in terms of performances, Al Pacino steals the show—for the most part it was an utter slog to get through for this avowed Scorsese acolyte. Let me clarify. I haven't truly loved a Scorsese movie in a very long time. However, his earliest 1970s films, all the way up to his 1990s work, have always been absolutely crucial to my love of movies. These were some of the first films that helped teach me the language of auteur cinema, shaping forever after how I would see, feel, process, absorb, and analyze film. So, go ahead and watch The Irishman if you have half a work day to kill. But please, follow up with some of Scorsese's best films as either a reminder or, if you've never seen them before, a mind-blowing introduction to the man's cinematic genius...

My blogging pfriend and pfellow Michelle Pfeiffer pfanatic Paul S. recently shared one of my Pfeiffer posts and added his own commentary to it, over at his pfabulous site  Pfeiffer Pfilms and Meg Movies . Speaking of "pfabulous," in honor of the thirtieth anniversary of The Fabulous Baker Boys falling on October 13 this year, I'm going to do the same. Here's a dual commentary on the movie from two of the biggest Pfeiffer pfans in all the world (I'm confident this is true). I'm presenting Paul's original commentary (and his selected images), unedited. The Fabulous Pfeiffer Girl Paul: I’ve slept, I’ve woken and I still have Michelle on my mind. It’s not surprising, I need Pfeiffer in the way that some people need to eat, sleep and breathe.  Pfeiffer the face has launched a million pfixations. The film that made me an obsessed fanatic was  The Fabulous Baker Boys . Michael:  You and me, Paul, we're the same.  Baker Boys played a hu...

" The image of the she wolf just came to my head, and when I least expected it I was howling and panting." — Shakira "You don't think for one note that she's trying to speak to any issue other than her libido, and she creates a world where not only is this acceptable, but it makes perfect sense." — Consequence of Sound "And for as sexy as Shakira  is—crucially, her music is sexy too—what really gives She Wolf  its bite is her inspired nuttiness." — Billboard "I know what I'm doing even when I'm wearing a pencil skirt." — Shakira ***** Werewolves have been on my mind a lot lately, or, even more so than usual. It is Halloween, after all. I recently revisited the movie  Silver Bullet —it's even better than I remembered!—followed immediately by a first-time watch of the total stinker  Bad Moon . To cleanse myself of that film's lingering disappointment, I started ruminating (as I do often) about anothe...