Archive for December 2020
Podcast: MODERN PROBLEMS is the most off the rails look at the early ’80s crisis of masculinity.
Modern Problems (1981) is the weirdest, off the rails, PG-rated Christmas hit. It’s biggest problem was turning a raunchy mature R-film into a PG one so that it could be released on Christmas Day. Families flocked to to the theater to see a story about an air traffic controller with jealousy issues with scenes featuring a male ballet…
Read MorePodcast: 9 TO 5 is a snapshot of 1980
Pour yourself a cup of ambition, it’s the 40th Anniversary of 9 to 5! Wonderfully executed as a broad office buddy comedy, 9 to 5 made a definitive impact in creating empathy and understanding for women in the workplace. Film authorities Tara McNamara, Gen X, and Riley Roberts, Gen Z, look back at the 1980…
Read MorePodcast: Why STIR CRAZY’s black-white buddy comedy holds up 40 years later.
In 1980, Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor’s follow-up to their 1976 hit Silver Streak was highly anticipated. Despite critic’s panning the film, Stir Crazy did double the business, was the 3rd highest grossing film of the year, and broke box office records. The prison buddy comedy holds up 40 years later, largely because two of Hollywood’s most powerful black figures (Pryor and…
Read MorePodcast: Did THE OUTSIDERS perpetuate or explore toxic masculinity?
The Outsiders is one of the most popular teen books in the 1980s, and teens couldn’t wait to see the movie directed by one of the biggest names in cinema. Featuring a Who’s Who of Who Was and Who Would Become Famous — including Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Diane Lane, Emilio…
Read More