The Legend Of Billie Jean (1985)

All I knew about The Legend Of Billie Jean (1985) was the title and the Pat Benatar song ‘Invincible’ (Theme from The Legend Of Billie Jean), which was used in the first season of Netflix’s GLOW. Helen Slater is the lead character living in a small Texas town who comes to her brother’s defence (a […]

Popeye (1980)

I have vague memories of seeing the live action movie of Popeye (1980) on Saturday afternoon TV when I was a kid. In recent memory, one of its Harry Nilsson penned songs sung by Shelly Duvall was used in PTA’s Punch-Drunk Love (“He needs me”). It was time to rewatch and more fully understand the […]

Wolfen (1981)

Ever since Michael Keaton referenced it as a joke in The Dream Team, I’ve been curious about Wolfen (1981). With Albert Finney’s passing, I tracked down a copy to finally watch. A busy year for movies about wolves (this is not strictly a werewolf movie) with The Howling and American Werewolf In London released in […]

Smithereens (1982)

I’d always wanted to see Smithereens (1982), directed by Susan Seidelman, a low budget New York cult movie about punk/DIY subcultures. The headstrong protagonist Wren (Susan Berman) is brilliantly introduced stealing a pair of zebra patterned shades on the subway and handing out photocopied flyers of her face with the cut-out text “Who is this?” […]

Day Of The Cobra (1980)

Wading further into the genre of poliziottesco/Eurocrime, Day of the Cobra (1980; Il giorno del Cobra) stars Italian superstar Franco Nero (the original Django himself) as the “Cobra”, a name which is never explained but has a catchy theme song (with the bluesy lyric, “Don’t give a damn – I am the Cobra!”). The movie […]