Slum Enchanted Evening, the penultimate episode of the sixth season of Hill Street Blues first aired 27 March, 1986 and was written by Walon Green and Robert Ward from a story by Jonathan Lemkin and Micheal Wagner. There’s a lot (A LOT) of melodrama but there’s also some nice character beats. Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti)…
Tag: 80s
Wild and Crazy Guys (2019) – Nick de Semlyen
I loved Nick de Semlyen’s The Last Action Heroes which took readers behind the scenes of the big 80s action heroes, their successes and blunders. When I heard he’s also written one about the big comedy stars of the 80s I sought out a copy of Wild and Crazy Guys immediately. The focus of this…
Escape Plan (2013) – Mikael Hafstrom
Escape Plan feels like a bit of an action throwback and leans into the escapist (pun intended) entertainment of the 80s and early 90s. And what better way to do that than with two of the biggest stars of the 80s Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger? Stallone plays Ray Breslin, a professional escape artist. He…
The Impossible Fortress (2017) – Jason Rekulak
I loved Rekulak’s Hidden Pictures, so when I checked to see what else he’d written and discovered he’d penned a coming-of-age story in the 80s with characters who were exactly the same age I was in the year 1987, I had to check it out. And I LOVED it. The Impossible Fortress takes us into…
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 (2012) – Jay Oliva
The Dark Knight Returns is an iconic graphic novel, a story that redefined Batman in the 80s, and was, perhaps, the one adaptation that I was looking forward to most. I liked that the creative team knew to tell the story properly, they had to take their time with it, setting everything up, which meant…
The Running Man (1987) – Paul Michael Glaser
Paul Michael Glaser best known to some as Starsky from the iconic 70s television series, Starsky & Hutch, slips into the director’s chair to put Arnold Schwarzenegger through his paces as Ben Richards aka The Running Man. Based loosely on the Stephen King novel which he wrote under his Richard Bachman pseudonym, the story is…
Terror Train (1980) – Roger Spottiswoode
In the early 80s, poor Jamie Lee Curtis seemed to be in constant trouble with slashers. I remember seeing the fairly generic poster when I was a kid, and the masked face and the knife really bothered me. As mentioned previously it took me a long time to come around to horror films. So until…
WNUF Halloween Special (2013) – Chris LaMartina
Reporter Frank Stewart (Paul Fahrenkopf) is about to have a bad night. It’s Halloween, 1987, and he’s on camera hosting the WNUF Halloween Special that is going to investigate the local murder house during a live broadcast. The film plays like a recorded videotape, has tolls, tracking problems, and plays more to nostalgia of the…
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985) – Jack Sholder
One year after Wes Craven changed the horror genre (again) with the introduction of the dream stalker, Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), New Line Cinema delivered the first follow-up sequel. All of the Nightmare sequels can be hit or miss, with the third one arguably the best of the bunch. And while the film was successful…
Miami Vice (2006) – Michael Mann
I love a good Michael Mann film, and man do I love my Miami Vice, so sure win right? Unfortunately no. While it’s not a horrible film, the early 21st century update on the classic 80s series just doesn’t work as well as it could. Yes, the camerawork and look is everything you would expect…
The Mind Reels 