Posts by Tara McNamara
Podcast: RISKY BUSINESS Declared Women are Products and Money is all that Matters.
When you’re looking to explain the 1980s, look to Risky Business. Teens were attracted to the Paul Brickman comedy by the music video featuring Tom Cruise dancing in his underpants. Running constantly on MTV, teens watched and rewatched the “Old Time Rock n’ Roll” music video and its resonant clips of a line of beautiful prostitutes walking into Joel’s house,…
Read MorePodcast: 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 MorePodcast: BEVERLY HILLS COP blazed a new path of positive portrayals while encouraging corruption
Beverly Hills Cop was the No. 1 movie in 1984, a year that many consider one of cinema’s best. As Detroit police detective Axel Foley (a role originally written for white actors Mickey Rouke and then Sylvester Stallone), Eddie Murphy made headway for black authority figures as lead characters — a huge step toward positive…
Read MorePodcast: TOP GUN taught ’80s kids that rules were for losers.
Listen and subscribe on iTunes and Stitcher. Top Gun is an iconic ’80s action classic, a blockbuster that’s beloved, and a Tony Scott treasure that has been selected for preservation by the the National Film Registry becomes of its significance. And while it’s a great film, the hypermasculinity sent some suffocating messages to ’80s boys.…
Read MorePodcast: A 19-Year-Old Argues that AIRPLANE! Isn’t Funny Anymore — Here’s Why She’s Right.
American Film Institute lists Airplane! (1980) as one of the Top 10 Funniest Movies of All Time, and any Gen X’r would agree with that. Gen Z, not so much. In this episode, 19-year-old Riley Roberts explains why the David and Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams classic comedy isn’t funny to her generation, and explains…
Read MoreFREEBIES! We’re giving away THE GOONIES & BEETLEJUICE in 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray!
Win a copy of The Goonies or Beetlejuice in 4K Ultra HD Blue-Ray!
Read MoreReview: BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC is a Most Triumphant Ending to a Beloved Franchise
Bill & Ted don’t share the same DNA as franchises like Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, or the DC Universe. As beloved as those films and characters are, the studios keeps making new films because they know they’re money trucks — sometimes, the story is a bit lacking as a consequence or trying to…
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