2001: A Space Autograph
Friday, February 15th, 2013
I must caution you that if you’re going to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey, ignore the hype that surrounds it and don’t expect some over-the-top exciting science fiction extravaganza. That was what I did the first time, and I came away sorely disappointed wondering why nothing exciting ever happened in this film. Years later, I re-visited it, now knowing that there was nothing earth-shattering that took place in the film, but still knowing full-well that it had been critically acclaimed. After this second viewing, I came away loving the film – amazed at its depth and beauty, understanding how cool the special effects really were, even though on the surface there appeared to be none. Read the rest of this entry »
Poltergeist is one of the greatest of all horror films, because it gets the bulk of its scares from general creepiness, jump-inducing surprises, and horrifying imagery. It seldom relies on any sort of gore or violence – and even managed to pull off a PG rating, so I could justify showing this film to Ashleigh and Briana when they were quite young. But there is one scene that involves a bit of gore, and it is that disgusting, disturbing scene that ultimately comes to mind whenever I think about the film Poltergeist. As you might guess from the photo above, it is the scene in which the young parapsychologist Marty hallucinates that he rips off his own face in front of a mirror. 
I realize that Robert Davi’s most notable role was that of drug lord Franz Sanchez in one of the lead roles in the Timothy Dalton James Bond film License to Kill. That’s also why he was present at the Hollywood Show on January 12, 2013 – as part of the James Bond reunion. But I couldn’t help but be more fascinated by the fact that he had been one of the Fratelli brothers who plagued the kids at every turn as the worked to find the hidden treasure in The Goonies. He was Jake, the toughest of the three. 
I should have known that Valerie Harper wouldn’t be that easy to work with. Anyone who managed to get kicked off her own series, get killed off, and then sue the producers (and win) was going to be a worthy adversary. I probably don’t need to tell you that I am referring to the series Valerie, which was eventually changed to The Hogan Family following the great Valerie Harper contract dispute. But even more famously than that, she played the iconic character Rhoda Morgenstern in The Mary Tyler Moore Show for its first four seasons, and then in the spin-off series Rhoda for five more. 