When people talk about Italian cinema of the 1980s, the conversation usually shifts to the likes of Fellini, or maybe to the tail end of the giallo craze. But for many fans, especially those who prowled the video store shelves in search of something dangerous and decadent, the name Serena Grandi conjures its own distinct … Read More “Serena Grandi: Italy’s Unapologetic Diva of Desire” »
Mantis, portrayed by Pom Klementieff, first appears in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) as an alien empath living in service to the Celestial Ego. Raised in isolation on Ego’s planet, she is socially awkward and curious, having “not really met a lot of other people” before the Guardians arrive. Initially, Mantis is shy … Read More “Pom Klementieff – The Bug-Eyed Saint of the Galaxy” »
In the sepia-toned scrapbook of professional wrestling’s golden years, names like Lou Thesz and Verne Gagne dominate the bold print. But tucked in the margins, with a quiet confidence and the kind of Midwest grit you can’t manufacture, sits Cristopher J. Clancy—better known to fans and foes alike as Mike Clancy. Born September 9, 1924, … Read More “Mike Clancy: Wrestling’s Everyman Sheriff” »
Television is a lousy bar at closing time. You walk in thinking you’ll get something strong, something to burn your throat and remind you you’re alive. Instead, The Playboy Club hands you a tall glass of melting ice. It clinks, it glimmers, it looks good from across the room. Then you take a sip and … Read More “The Playboy Club (2011) – Velvet Ears, Hollow Cheers, Amber Heard’s Turds” »
If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if Weird Science and One Million Years B.C. had an illegitimate child and left it on the steps of a Cinemax After Dark channel, the answer is Cavegirl. This 1985 sex comedy manages to be both prehistoric and painfully dated at the same time, like a VHS tape … Read More “Cavegirl (1985): Proof That Time Travel Can’t Save Bad Comedy” »
Dyanne Thorne was born Dorothy Ann Seib on October 14, 1936, in Park Ridge, New Jersey. Like a lot of future performers, she discovered the stage through school productions and local gigs, writing for her high-school paper and testing out her voice as a singer. After graduation she pursued acting seriously, studying in New York … Read More “Dyanne Thorne: The Life and Legacy of Cult Cinema’s “She-Wolf”” »
Introduction: When Lifetime Meets “Horror” The House Next Door (2006) is one of those movies that proves the old saying: “Just because you can adapt a novel doesn’t mean you should.” Based on Anne Rivers Siddons’ Southern Gothic classic, this made-for-TV Lifetime “horror” film manages to take a genuinely creepy story about suburban evil and … Read More “The House Next Door (2006)” »
There are bad sequels, there are pointless sequels, and then there’s I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, a movie so unnecessary it might as well have been subtitled I Still Can’t Believe You’re Watching This. Released direct-to-video in 2006, this is the third film in a franchise that should have died with frosted … Read More “I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006): The Fisherman Returns… to the Bargain Bin” »
Introduction: The Monster Movie Everyone Pretends to Love Critics call The Host one of the best monster films of the 21st century. I call it Finding Nemo if Nemo had been replaced with a sewage salamander and Ellen DeGeneres had been swapped for a drunk uncle with narcolepsy. Sure, Bong Joon Ho would later gift … Read More “The Host (2006): When Godzilla Meets Family Therapy Gone Wrong” »
Introduction: “Fo’ Shizzle, This Movie’s a Drizzle” Let’s get this out of the way: Hood of Horror is not a movie. It’s a cry for help, a cinematic yard sale where three mismatched horror shorts are duct-taped together with Snoop Dogg in a bad wig mumbling exposition. Marketed as a horror-comedy anthology, it manages to … Read More “Hood of Horror (2006): When Snoop Dogg Sent His Career to Hell First” »
