Monthly Archives: July 28, 2026

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THE TEN BEST FILMS

1. (tie) *The Right Stuff

Fanny and Alexander (Sweden)

2. Terms of Endearment

3. Zelig

4. Silkwood

5. Risky Business

6. Star 80

7. (tie) Return of the Jedi

The Return of Martin Guerre” (France)

8.  The Big Chill

9. Under Fire

10. Tender Mercies

DIRECTOR

*Philip Kaufman, The Right Stuff

Ingmar Bergman, Fanny and Alexander

James Brooks, Terms of Endearment

Paul Brickman, Risky Business

Woody Allen, Zelig

Bob Fosse, Star 80

Mike Nichols, Silkwood

Robert Altman, Streamers

ACTOR

*Eric Roberts, Star 80

Robert Duvall, Tender Mercies

Michael Caine, Educating Rita

Tom Courtenay, The Dresser

Albert Finney, The Dresser

ACTRESS

*Shirley MacLaine, Terms of Endearment

Debra Winger, Terms of Endearment

Julie Walters, Educating Rita

Meryl Streep, Silkwood

Jane Alexander, Testament

SUPPORTING ACTOR

*Jack Nicholson, Terms of Endearment

Ed Harris, The Right Stuff”/”Under Fire

William Hurt, The Big Chill

Jerry Lewis, The King of Comedy

Fred Ward, The Right Stuff”/”Uncommon Valor”/”Silkwood

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

*Linda Hunt, The Year of Living Dangerously

Sandra Bernhardt, King of Comedy

Cher, Silkwood

Louise Fletcher, Brainstorm” / “Strange Invaders

Betty Buckley, Tender Mercies

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

*Terms of Endearment

Fanny and Alexander

Zelig

Risky Business

Silkwood

Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

*The Right Stuff

Heat and Dust

Star 80

*The Return of Martin Guerre

Streamers

SOUND

*The Right Stuff

Return of the Jedi

Zelig

CINEMATOGRAPHY

*The Right Stuff

Koyaanisqatsi

Zelig

Risky Business

Return of the Jedi

SCORE

*Koyaanisqatsi

Heat and Dust

Risky Business

Zelig

ART DIRECTION

*The Right Stuff

Fanny and Alexander

Risky Business

The Return of Martin Guerre

Heat and Dust

Zelig

COSTUME

*The Right Stuff

Fanny and Alexander

The Return of Martin Guerre

The Draughtsman’s Contract

Heat and Dust

Zelig

Star 80

MOST HILARIOUS

Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life

A Christmas Story

Hercules

MOST DISAPPOINTING

Daniel

LEAST APPRECIATED

Strange Invaders

MOST USELESS SEQUELS

Jaws 3D

Superman III

MOST HILARIOUS REVIEWS

Two of a Kind

MOST WORTHY CANDIDATES FOR EARLY RETIREMENT

John Travolta

Sylvester Stallone

Olivia Newton-John

Jennifer Beals

BEST LINES

You want to see something really scary?”  Dan Aykroyd in “Twilight Zone: The Movie

I’m not like other guys.”  Michael Jackson speaks the truth in “Thriller

They took the train!!”  Louise Fletcher in “Strange Invaders

I’ve got a trig mid-term tomorrow and I’m being chased by Guido, the Killer Pimp!!”  “Risk BusinessWould you prefer white?”  John Cleese’s question to Death after the Grim Reaper ha smashed a proffered glass of red wine

Some peckerwood’s got to take the thing up, and some peckerwood’s gotta land it.  And tha peckerwood is called . . uh . . a pilot.  Kim Stanley in “The Right Stuff

Flap, one of your nicest qualities has always been your ability to recognize your ow shortcomings.  Please don’t lose that quality now when you need it the most.”  Shirley MacLaine in “Terms of Endearment”

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 166 user reviews.

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Jason Ritter is the 29-year old son of the late John Ritter.  Like his dad, he’s an actor.

Sometimes I cop a little bit of an attitude at second (and third!) generation actors.  Many of them (Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estavez, Bridget Fonda, Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland, Jared Harris, Joely Richardson, Colin Hanks, even Gwynneth Paltrow) don’t even come close to equaling the talent and charm of their famous parents.

However, there’s another group (Jamie Lee Curtis, Timothy Hutton, Jane Fonda, Amanda Plummer,  Beau and Jeff Bridges, Michael Douglas, Sean Astin, Geraldine Chaplin, Laura Dern, and others) who make a believer out of me by holding their own as performers.

After seeing him in the films Happy Endings and now The Education of Charlie Banks, I am happy to add young Mr. Ritter to this list.

In the movie (which was made in 2007 but only now released), Ritter plays a toxic, violent but charismatic bully.  He’s rather great in the role, and the fact that his 5′ 9″ frame does not make him a natural to play a physically imposing character makes his performance all the more impressive.

Ritter plays the kind of creep who makes you believe he’d gather followers around him like the Pied Piper even though he’s capable of committing acts of great destruction. 

I look forward to seeing what Ritter does next.

PS:  It’s interesting to note that in “Three’s Company, ” his father played a straight man pretending to be gay; in Happy Endings Jason plays a gay man pretending to be straight.

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 278 user reviews.

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1982 was the very first year I gave out my unbelievably prestigious movie awards. 

Picture

Gandhi
*E.T.
Tootsie
The Verdict
 

Actor

Peter O’Toole, My Favorite Year

Ben Kingsley, Gandhi

Paul Newman, The Verdict

Henry Thomas, E.T.

Dustin Hoffman, Tootsie

Actress

Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria

Jessica Lange, Frances

*Meryl Streep, Sophie’s Choice

Debra Winger, An Officer and a Gentleman

Jo Beth Williams, Poltergeist

Supporting Actor

Lou Gossett, Jr., An Officer and a Gentleman

David Keith, An Officer and a Gentleman

Peter MacNichol, Sophie’s Choice

Robert Preston, Victor/Victoria

*John Lithgow, The World According to Garp

Supporting Actress

Glenn Close, The World According to Garp

Leslie Ann Warren, Victor/Victoria

Jessica Lange, Tootsie

Dana Hill, Shoot the Moon

Lanie Kazan, My Favorite Year

Lindsey Crouse, The Verdict

Ensemble Acting

Diner
 

Director

Barry Levinson, Diner

Richard Attenborough, Gandhi

Blake Edwards, Victor/Victoria

Sydney Pollack, Tootsie

*Steven Spielberg, E.T.

Sidney Lumet, The Verdict

Production Design/Cinematography

Cat People
E.T.
Victor/Victoria
The Dark Crystal
Poltergeist
Tempest
Tron
Blade Runner
 

Makeup/Special Effects

The Thing
The Dark Crystal
 

Musical Score

E.T.
Tempest
Victor/Victoria
Poltergeist
Cat People
 

Worst Films/Most Overrated

Making Love
Partners
 

Guilty Pleasures/Most Underrated

Creepshow
Cat People
The Thing
Tempest
Still of the Night
 

Only Worthy Sequel

Airplane II: The Sequel
Great Look Doesn’t Make a Movie

Tron
Blade Runner
Costumes

My Favorite Year
Sophie’s Choice
Diner
Victor/Victoria
Must-See Documentaries

Soldier Girls
Wasn’t That at Time!
The Atomic Café
 

Movie Man of the Year

Steven Spielberg

I reserve the right to refuse to choose winners in many categories; also to nominate as many things as I like in each category

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 271 user reviews.

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Over the next undetermined amount of time, due to underwhelming demand, I will be posting my movie awards from the past.  Try not to pee in your pants with excitement.  That would be gratifying but undignified.

Watch this space!!

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 158 user reviews.

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Pretension, anyone?

I’m not crazy about tattoos on my best day, but I’m growing truly weary of witnessing the proliferation of tattoos in the images of Chinese and Japanese pictographs.  Ooo . . it’s so deep.  Such a good scam perpetrated by the ink parlors.  It’s in Japanese so it must be . . . deep! 

Please.  It’s the same thing as calling your New York snack shop “Bonjour Croissant;” it’s just looking in the opposite direction geographically.

I wonder how many of these illustrated would-be hotties even know what the translations of their characters mean?

I bet the reverse situation is just as bad.  I picture kids in Shanghai and Tokyo running round town festooned with tattoos which bear English inscriptions such as “Me Love You Long Time” and “Diet Coke.”

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 282 user reviews.

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Joe Haldeman has been one of out best science fiction writers for thirty years.  Why isn’t he more famous?

I became a fan of his because of his stunning 1976 book Mindbridge and his Hugo-winning 1977 short story “Tricentennial.”  I’ve enjoyed his book immensely since.

Haldeman writes with a clear, concise and uncluttered, unpretentious style.  His head is full of big ideas and he comes up with great “what if?” scenarios.

I’m thoroughly enjoying his most recent book, Marsbound, which feels like a tribute to the great pulp-era classics of Robert A. Heinlein of the 40s and 50s.

You should give him a read!

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 297 user reviews.

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Minutia of My Fascinating Life, Pronouncements
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Sweetheart:

 

 

I know that you don’t get that many requests for the sugar-free syrup.  I know that having to go grab it gets you out of your rhythm.

 

 

But you know what?  Those bottles of syrup aren’t usable right out of the box.  No, really, they’re not!  You actually have to screw off the spout, and then remove the freshness lid over the mouth of the bottle.  THEN the magically delicious maltitol-based sweetness will pour happily out of the bottle.

 

 

I’m the customer.  I shouldn’t have to do this myself every.  single.  time.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for your cooperation.

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 209 user reviews.

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Minutia of My Fascinating Life, Pronouncements
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Note to sandwich makers:  STOP PUTTING SPROUTS ON MY SANDWICH WITHOUT ASKING ME IF I WANT SPROUTS ON MY SANDWICH.

Sprouts are vile.  They smell musty and they make your sandwich taste like a barn.  Whose decision was it to turn this vile pseudo-vegetable into a default ingredient of sandwiches?  And where do his children go to school?!?

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 174 user reviews.

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Minutia of My Fascinating Life, Reading Material
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I think it’s time I wrote a book, don’t you?

But what to write?

The classic advice given to fledgling authors is “Write what you know.”  Okay . . . I can get behind that, but shouldn’t I also pick a subject which OTHER people would WANT to know about?

So I turn to you, Faithful Reader.

Here are some topics that I know Very Well.  Please leave a comment as to which should be the subject of my book.  Feel free to suggest a topic that’s NOT on the list.

Things I Know Well

  • Bitterness
  • Regret
  • World of Warcraft
  • Snacks
  • Movies
  • Denial
  • More Snacks
  • Travel
  • Where to Find Snacks

 

So. What do you think?

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 262 user reviews.

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We lost one of science fiction’s most prolific and inventive authors this week. 

Farmer won the Hugo, the genre’s most coveted award, three times.

His best work was a series of books set on an artificial planet which consisted of a single, curving, million-mile-long river, on whose banks every human being who had ever lived was mysteriously reincarnated. 

Farmer was a pioneer in exploring both sex and religion in science fiction.  He was almost 90 years old. We will miss him.

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 260 user reviews.

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