Category: 1988
-
Reel 95: Careers Cut Short, Parts 3 and 4 (River Phoenix)
In our last episode we looked at Grace Kelly, whose career was cut short by her own choice. She was given the option to be treated like a princess, or to go out and actually be an honest-to-god Princess. She chose both love and duty, since you can’t really Princess and be a movie star…
-
R.I.P., Gene Hackman
Ever since the movies became a business in the U.S. (which started way back in the silent era), the men behind them sold an image not only of the U.S., but of glamour and beauty, which extended to the people that appeared on-screen. Many of the best movies ever made in Hollywood then (and even…
-
The Accidental Tourist (1988) – Review
This was originally written on Facebook as a post in talking about my favorite movies released in the U.S. in 1988. As I’ve been writing these reviews, you might have noticed how I’ve tried to bring up the ways even movies I love may have issues in how they deal with issues that have come…
-
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) – Review
1968, of course, was a year where it seemed like the world was on fire. After the Tet Offensive that happened during the Vietnam War, while the North Vietnamese lost the battle, the battle itself convinced many in the U.S. the war could not be won, and the protests against the war increased significantly, not…
-
Reel 70: Love During Wartime
Roughly two-thirds of this show’s life ago, we did an episode titled “Life During Wartime“, in which the war wasn’t always neatly spelled out. In today’s episode, it’s Love During Wartime, and again the war isn’t quite so obvious, except that it’s referring specifically to the Cold War. We’re looking at a pair of films…
-
Reel 65: The Remake Was Better, Part 1
So frequently we bemoan the fact that Hollywood doesn’t seem to have any original ideas. We complain that plots are constantly being recycled, and we get anxiety because films from our childhood are being remade. However, once in awhile—once in awhile—that remake manages to surpass the original. And that’s what this episode, and the next…
-
Reel 58: This Woman’s Work
So many times, it seems, films where women are the central characters seem to treat those women as rather monolithic That may not be quite the right word; let me amend that to say that they’re often treated the same way. Too many of them fail the Bechdel Test*, and that’s a pity. In our…
-
Reel 35: Scorsese and Christianity
Martin Scorsese has never shied away from the fact that he is a Catholic, and that his religion oftentimes informs his work. There are few places where it’s more overt than in the two films we cover this week. First we have 1988’s The Last Temptation of Christ, which portrays a side of Jesus (Willem…
-
Reel 18: It’s How You Play the Game
This episode nearly didn’t make it to you, several times. The universe may have been conspiring against us. And that’s a shame because this is one over-stuffed show. In this episode we take on 1988’s Bull Durham, written and directed by Ron Shelton. Shelton’s experience as a ballplayer shows in the minute details he presents…