In Back to the Future Part II, Why didn’t anyone tell Marty Bill Cosby was a rapist, Hulk Hogan was a racist, and Donald Trump might be President?: A look back at 2015

In 2015, Cuba and the United States resumed diplomatic relations; Volkswagen admitted to widespread cheating of emission testing; “Hello” by Adele became the first song to record over one million digital copies in a week; Saturday Night Live celebrated its 40th anniversary; Charlie Sheen confirmed he was HIV positive; In Obergefell v. Hodges, the United States… Continue reading In Back to the Future Part II, Why didn’t anyone tell Marty Bill Cosby was a rapist, Hulk Hogan was a racist, and Donald Trump might be President?: A look back at 2015

That bitter bastard Elaine makes an interesting gambit

  The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933) Megan Davis (Barbara Stanwyck) comes to Shanghai at the height of the Chinese Civil War to marry her childhood sweetheart, missionary Dr. Robert Strike. A powerful Chinese warlord, General Yen, assure them safe passage to perform humanitarian work. At a checkpoint, they discover General Yen lied and, in the… Continue reading That bitter bastard Elaine makes an interesting gambit

Lucky Mary took a machine with her to the sun

  Mary Poppins (1964) Julie Andrews won an Oscar, and she’s been nominated two other times, but since the mid 1980s, her films have been almost exclusively children’s fare like the Shrek series and The Princess Diaries (2001). I wish she hadn’t been typecast in wholesome, family films because in Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), S.O.B. (1981), and Victor / Victoria… Continue reading Lucky Mary took a machine with her to the sun

She wore Prada to meet Cinderella in the north country

  The Devil Wears Prada (2006) Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), a graduate of Northwestern’s journalism school, takes a job as a personal assistant for Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the notoriously difficult chief editor of a famed fashion magazine.  The demanding job challenges her professionally and personally. Hathaway is at her best as the plucky underdog; Stanley… Continue reading She wore Prada to meet Cinderella in the north country

The pelican briefly held great beauty

  The Pelican Brief (1993) Two pro-choice Supreme Court justices are assassinated by an evil corporation in order to sabotage a pending environmental lawsuit.  The masterminds of this conspiracy outsmarted every law enforcement agency and reporter in the country, but Tulane law student Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) uncovers the connection via a magical concoction of statistical analysis and intuition. Julia… Continue reading The pelican briefly held great beauty