Advice for people contemplating “donating” money to YouTube content creators:
Never. Never engage these people. Never like or subscribe. I have channels on YouTube, I don’t give a shit if you like or subscribe. It doesn’t put food on my table. I get nothing from your “love.” Nobody does. They’re lying to you. They always — will lie to you.
Sci-Fi in September, 2026 Notes:
As much a pop culture satire as it is science fiction paranoia/horror, this is an exceptional remake with a great cast telegraphing the rising tide of the “Me” generation; self-improvement and psychology against the backdrop of late ’70s San Francisco.
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, 1978
The first time I saw this, it was on a UHF station in Philadephia in 1983. Channel 48, now defunct. They would broadcast “new movies;” television premieres that the Big Three wouldn’t touch. The Exterminator comes to mind, as does Hollywood Vice Squad. They were chopped up, but you wouldn’t notice because of the general, dark, dystopic look.
This was a rare treat in a cold winter, especially since that part of Philly didn’t have cable yet. My first exposure to Carpenter and Kurt Russell (with some exceptional matte work by James Cameron). Later in the year, I got to see Christine at the Colonial for a buck.
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, 1981
Perhaps Ken Russell’s only mainstream movie, it still contains his nightmare visuals and hallmarks. William Hurt is a scientist studying sensory deprivation, genetic memory, and hallucinogenic compounds. Paddy Chayefsky had his name removed from the movie, even though he is still credited for the book he wrote.
Fantastic (naturalistic) performances from the whole cast. Blair Brown is especially effective as Hurt’s wife. Charles Haid and Bob Balaban are solid. Features a very young Drew Barrymore as one of Hurt’s and Brown’s children. I love this movie so much.
ALTERED STATES, 1981
This is a perennial in the house. One of the great remakes, faithful to the original story, and it makes more logical sense than the original movie. Reviewers dismissed it as too bleak, considering the summer of 1982 and E.T.
Blade Runner also suffered from these comparisons. It makes me wonder if this movie and Blade Runner would’ve found success in the ’70s. I first saw this on HBO in 1984. The handmade visual effects and makeup still hold up impressively well in 2026.
JOHN CARPENTER’S THE THING, 1982
I know E.T. can easily be considered the easy, formulaic, commercial sell-out of the ’80s; the monster hit that devoured superior movies, but … it’s such a wonderful fairytale, particularly for Gen-X. Told completely from the perspective of children, and it is children who are the heroes.
This is a movie that continues to charm me even some 44 years removed from when it premiered. Everything about this movie feels so right, and it’s okay to love it, and still love the science fiction movies that competed with it in the summer of 1982, and we have another great selling-point in John Williams’ score.
E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL, 1982
How did a movie that was destined to fail rise up to become a cult classic with a viciously loyal following? Produced by greedy, soulless money-smelling corporate thugs, directed by a temperamental visionary, with performances by a once-in-a-lifetime cast, Blade Runner is a movie that refuses to die. It’s a movie that can be disassembled and still retain its ultimate statement: humanity is capable of incredible beauty, but destroys more than it creates.
Detection of irony always being in short supply, Blade Runner’s narrative has often been stolen for inferior films (with mixed results), but never surpassed. As for the “two” versions of the movie, I’ll enjoy both. Lately, I’ve been watching the original, theatrical version as it brings me back to when I first saw it as a kid on The Movie Channel. The “director’s cut” serves only to make an ambiguous story even more ambiguous; less ’80s noir, more ’70s nihilist.
BLADE RUNNER, 1982
Excellent sequel that vainly attempts to solve the mystery of HAL 9000’S behavior (being a reflection of developer Dr. Chandra, played by an appropriately neurotic Bob Balaban) in the first movie. Roy Scheider plays Heywood Floyd battling political tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union; attempting to make nice with the skittish Russian crew of the Leonov as he and compatriot John Lithgow board the Discovery when multiple monoliths are sited on Jupiter and its many moons.
There’s a lot to like about the sequel (which nobody said could be made), and even though it does suffer comparisons to the original, it’s a damned good movie on its own.
2010: THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT, 1984
I know this is going to be a controversial point, but Lynch’s Dune is an almost perfect movie. Because it leaves you with questions-good questions, good science fiction questions. It obviously wasn’t meant for the cookie-cutter, connect-four mentality of the 1980s. Lynch disowns it, but it is…in a word, brilliant. This is science fiction. It is romance. It is sensuality, addiction, politics, and religion.
The remakes are unwatchable. Why does it take six hours to get to the two-hour mark of this movie?
DUNE, 1984
Even in a rough, seemingly unfinished form, Brainstorm is an astonishing achievement from visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull. The fascinating corporate politics of the film’s post-production is as intriguing as the central “virtual reality”/military conspiracy tenet of the narrative.
According to Trumbull, United Artists used Natalie Wood’s death to justify suspending production in the wake of the studio’s financial losses following a string of big-budget productions (and eventual sale to MGM).
What they didn’t know was that the producers took out insurance policies against any shutdown, and the film was permitted to complete production using Natalie’s younger sister, Lana, as a stand-in for incomplete scenes.
After so many compromises, Trumbull never directed another movie, and Natalie’s death still remains an interesting mystery.
BRAINSTORM, 1983
Silly. Goofy. Incredibly awesome. Especially when you’re a teenaged boy in the mid-to-late ’80s when Mathilda May was the only reason to watch the movie.
It was … confusing (to say the least) if you didn’t have cable and had to watch it as a “television premiere.” Censors did some strange things to cover up the girl and try to maintain the running time, not limited to superimposed balls of fluff over her naughty bits!
Based on a book (classily-titled The Space Vampires), yet we know why Golan-Globus commissioned the movie. Steve Railsback is appropriately psycho while dealing with stoic British types (including Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, and Patrick Stewart) who enjoy masochism to a degree I can’t fathom.
Such a fun movie! Imagine Tobe Hooper directing these actors.
LIFEFORCE, 1985
A fun, faithful remake of the original with only one perceivable flaw (also in the original) in my view: the reveal of the alien commander. I’ve always believed this should’ve been saved for the movie’s ending. This remake was unfairly maligned even as it improved on some of Menzies’ ideas, notably his surreal production design and stff performances. Tobe Hooper grounds the movie in the humanity of its characters.
Tobe Hooper (1943-2017) One of the greats.
INVADERS FROM MARS, 1986
“Cheeseburger.”
Cronenberg’s remake turns the body-conscious shock-horror of the original into an atypically-sweet love story. No roaming Dandelo echo, but the twisted flesh of a baboon, spicy eggplant, and a subtorrent of male jealousy guide Seth Brundle’s exercise into the world of teleportation.
Going against the grain of on-and-offscreen romances, Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum are electric. It’s interesting to note Mel Brooks produced the movie, yet kept his name out of the credits (as he did with Lynch’s The Elephant Man) so that audiences wouldn’t be distracted with notes of comedy.
I saw this in the theater, and there were mingled moments of laughters and disgust.
THE FLY, 1986
What is They Live? Is it the echo of a hammer on a particularly stubborn nail? Does it go too far in the preachiness of the story? Is it a body-snatcher story and personal satire about the ’80s? Yes. Probably. I don’t know. All I know is, “I came here to chew bubble gum and kick ass … and I’m all out of bubble gum.”
I first saw this movie as part of Universal’s Debut Network, another first-run syndication deal that broadcast television premieres of recent movie releases (and a few old treasures). Paramount, MGM, and TriStar also had similar services.
Made on a modest budget, They Live did make money, but the release was small and there was virtually no advertising.
Roddy Piper was the MAN.
THEY LIVE, 1988
Abel Ferrara is a filmmaker whose work I have always admired. Nuts and bolts, plain and unpretentious (unlike a similar contemporary in Darren Aronofsky), Ferrara found his creative freedom in the bizarre characters he showcased, whether it was the “Bad Lieutenant” (Harvey Keitel) or Eddie Israel (also Keitel), the “driller killer,” (Ferrara himself), Thana, Frank White, or Pasolini. Here, he went to the stars and brought back the worst of us as body-snatching aliens.
I don’t think Warner Bros. knew what to do with this movie, because there is a core of belonging as well as the undercurrent of soulless pluralism. The movies goes a half step further than the previous 1978 remake, because it embraces the disaffected generation x of the cast; a group already lost in the current of mediocrity and disillusionment.
The first movie was designed for the “greatest generation (the war generation).” The second movie was made for the boomers. This is our movie.
Question: How do they control us?
I think it starts with fear and ends with greed.
BODY SNATCHERS, 1993
Ill-conceived (but inevitable) sequel to the 1986 surprise hit. Reading in the trades, Mel Brooks had been trying to get a sequel off the ground with Geena Davis for a couple of years. Even after this movie, he tried to get a Fly III green-lit, but it was a no-go, particularly with the finality of both storylines.
Eric Stoltz (likely hired for his ability to deal with ridiculous makeup and prosthetics) does a fine job of playing offspring Martin Brundle, but the film too often relies on re-heating leftovers from the original, as well as cribbing plot points and shots from previous horror and science fiction movies.
Directed by makeup artist Chris Walas, (The Fly, Gremlins, Enemy Mine), this isn’t a terrible movie, just not a great sequel. The score by Christopher Young (which recalls his earlier work for Hellraiser II) is thunderous.
THE FLY II, 1989
Regarding YouTube political content creators:
Why do you want people to become outraged over other people’s opinions? How could you possibly understand the motivations of people you don’t know? The majority of these people are wealthy, and when you get down to it, this is nothing more than stinking rich people complaining about poor people.
WORDS AND PHRASES THAT NEED TO DISAPPEAR.
WHITE-PILLED
BLACK-PILLED
RED-PILLED (anything pilled)
110% OR 100%
“standing on business”
please and thank you
“anyways”
normie
I do believe or I do think… “do” is redundant.
LARP (Live Action Role Play)
sportsball
lore
mog
yassify
“[insert word]maxxxing”
“throwing shade”
“for the love of the game”
inappropriate use of the word, “literally.”
adding an extra syllable at the end of most words-uh…it’s annoying-uh…
A response starting with, “I mean…”
Serve face or “to serve face.” Enough already.
