Movie-A-Day #302: Beetlejuice (1988).
Happy 40th birthday to the wonderful Winona Ryder. She was one of my biggest celebrity crushes back in the day. And I guess she still is, no matter how much she shoplifted or whether she’s genuinely afraid of the internet. She was at her best working with Tim Burton, as she did in “Beetlejuice.” And she’ll be doing so again in Burton’s full-length adaptation of his early animated short “Frankenweenie,” which is due out next year.
Movie-A-Day #301: Frankenstein (1931).
Happy Frankenstein Friday, everybody! The Friday before Halloween has come to be set aside as a day to celebrate Mary Shelley’s greatest creation. This isn’t the first time the doctor and his monster (and their distant relations) have appeared on this blog, but in all that time we’ve never covered the classic Universal production. Directed by James Whale, this “Frankenstein” not only made previously unknown bit player Boris Karloff a major star, but it also established several key elements of the story’s mythology – the flat head and neck bolts, the dizzying electrical lab equipment, and (later in the series) the hunchbacked assistant and the iconic character of The Bride.
Movie-A-Day #300: Mimic (1997).
New York City’s first underground subway line opened on this day in 1904. Since then it’s gone on to become one of the most extensive and most famous subway systems in the world. It has steadily been expanded and changed over the past century, resulting in its fair share of abandoned tunnels, forgotten ruins and just general creepiness behind the modern, efficient MTA veneer. In Guillermo del Toro’s “Mimic” a colony of genetically modified cockroaches make their home in these abandoned nooks and crannies, taking on human characteristics and terrorizing the world above. And only Mira Sorvino can stop them!
Movie-A-Day #299: The Craft (1996).
Today’s movie is “The Craft” because… Well, first of all it’s International Magic Week this week. And in our month-long parade of horror themed films, we haven’t done any witch movies yet. And, well, the witches in “The Craft” are pretty hot. So there ya go. Do we need more reasons?
Movie-A-Day #298: Tarantula (1955).
Happy birthday to Leo G. Carroll, who was born on this day in 1886. He had a long career as a respected character actor in both film and television. But it’s his role as the mad scientist in the drive-in staple “Tarantula” that he is best remembered for today, thanks mostly to being namechecked in the opening song of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” But that’s show business for ya.
Desuko Movie Spot. 