And now for something completely different. Really different. With all the attention being paid to this year’s Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie, I must share a review of one of my favorite experimental, cult films. it’s Superstar – The Karen Carpenter Story, a 1987 movie about music star Karen Carpenter, with a cast of…well, Barbie and Den dolls. Yes, you heard that right. Directed by Todd Haynes when he was still in graduate school, and before he went on to a successful

Since I recommended the wicked, black comedy Bad Santa as a film to enjoy during this holiday, I thought it only fitting that I atone for that sin by closing out this year with a tribute to a hugely popular and romantic Christmas movie—2003’s Love Actually. Ironically, it was released the same year as Bad Santa. “It seems to me that love is everywhere.” I chose to review Love Actually here, not because I think it ranks as one of my favorite films, but because I cannot think o

In the history of the Philadelphia pop music scene, the name Bob Marcucci is legendary. Talent manager, songwriter, promoter, Marcucci was most famous for being a starmaker, who in the 1950s discovered two Philly teenagers he believed he could mold into rock and roll teen idols. Their names were Frankie Avalon and Fabian, and Marcucci plucked them from obscurity and began to relentlessly create and control everything about their singing careers—from the songs they sang to the

I love the city of Memphis—from its raw and gritty and soulful music scene to eating barbecue at The Rendezvous. And I love movies set in Memphis, too. Hands down, my favorite one is 2005’s Hustle & Flow. Written and directed by Craig Brewer, the movie is set in a decaying part of Memphis, worlds away from Graceland and Beale Street. It’s about a hardened, streetwise man named Djay who makes his money selling bags of weed and managing the lives of three women who toil for him

Film director Sam Raimi has made no secret of the fact that growing up he adored the films of The Three Stooges, the great comedy team of Moe, Larry and Curly—and later Shemp and Curly Joe. They made nearly 200 short films between 1930 and 1970. For generations of fans, The Stooges’ brand of slapstick, screwball comedy mixed with wonderfully idiotic physical mayhem proved irresistible. For Raimi, the influence of the Stooges was so great that when it was time for him to make

Hang on. What I’m about to tell you is true. Elvis is alive! And so is President John Kennedy! And both of them are old men living incognito in a cheap East Texas nursing home. But that’s not even the most incredible thing. Elvis and JFK have big trouble on their hands because Ho-Tep—a 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy in a cowboy hat—is stalking the nursing home at night so he can suck out the souls of its residents. And Elvis and JFK could be next! That’s the outrageous premise

I love a good Christmas movie! I’ve spent a lifetime watching and rewatching all the classics, old and new—from A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life to White Christmas, A Christmas Story and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. The list is endless. And as many times as I’ve seen my favorite holiday movies, I don’t care that the stories—whether drama, comedy or musical—often rely on the same themes to hook my emotions: the healing power of family, the celebration of h

The brilliant Australian director and screenwriter George Miller created the legendary Mad Max films, such as The Road Warrior and Fury Road. Set in a postapocalyptic wasteland, the Mad Max movies are grim, violent, high-octane action epics about life in a world short on gasoline and water and plagued by barbarian outlaws. How extraordinary it is then that the very same George Miller is also responsible for creating a deeply heartfelt, loving movie that’s light years removed