happy birthday Archives — Page 26 of 29

11/09/202003/02/2024inLooking Back, Happy Birthdayby Roxana Hadadi8 min read

The Complicated Legacy of Dances with Wolves

On this, its 30th anniversary, it’s as easy as ever to dismiss Kevin Costner’s Oscar-winning Western epic. But it’s not quite that simple.

11/03/202003/02/2024inLooking Back, Happy Birthdayby Roxana Hadadi9 min read

Jacob’s Ladder: The Clarity Isn’t the Point

In ‘Jacob’s Ladder,’ released 30 years ago this week, director Adrian Lyne plumbed the depths of psychological horror and came up with a deeply unnerving portrait of hell on earth

11/02/202003/02/2024inLooking Backby Bill Bria7 min read

How 2000’s Charlie’s Angels Made Silliness Smart

The 2000 film adaptation of the ‘70s series hit theaters 20 years ago, offering audiences just the right mix of action and winking self-awareness. A look back:

10/27/202003/02/2024inLooking Back, Happy Birthdayby Anya Stanley10 min read

Requiem for a Dream and The Ballad of Sara Goldfarb

On the 20th anniversary of its release, a look back at the astonishingly visceral, deeply felt performance by the great Ellen Burstyn.

10/27/202010/26/2025inLooking Back, Happy Birthdayby Robin Jennings5 min read

The Genre Rebellion of Vampire In Brooklyn, 25 Years Later

The Wes Craven / Eddie Murphy team-up, which hit screens 25 years ago this week, doesn’t quite work – but it offers a road map of the direction horror would take in the years to come.

10/26/202010/26/2025inLooking Back, Happy Birthdayby Sezín Koehler4 min read

How Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 Predicted Internet-Inspired Crime

Released barely a year after the groundbreaking and wildly profitable original, ‘Blair Witch 2’ was immediately reviled, and then quickly forgotten. Was it a quickie cash-in – or merely ahead of its time?

10/20/202003/02/2024inLooking Backby Josh Spiegel8 min read

How Get Shorty (Briefly) Extended John Travolta’s Reign of Cool

John Travolta’s “Pulp Fiction” follow-up hit theaters 25 years ago this week, suggesting a sharpness his post-“Pulp” career would, sadly, mostly avoid.

10/19/202003/02/2024inLooking Back, Happy Birthdayby Roxana Hadadi10 min read

Malaise at the Mall: Mallrats at 25

Kevin Smith’s sophomore feature was received with something less than enthusiasm 25 years ago this week. A look back at why it’s stuck around, and what it gets right about masculinity, youth, and consumer culture:

10/16/202003/02/2024inLooking Backby Anya Stanley9 min read

Classic Corner: Fade to Black

Vernon Zimmerman’s horror thriller (released 40 years ago this week) is sort of like if Film Twitter became a serial killer.

10/06/202009/28/2025inLooking Back, Happy Birthdayby Reyzando Nawara6 min read

The Post-College Ennui of Kicking and Screaming, 25 Years Later

In Noah Baumbach’s 1995 debut feature Kicking and Screaming, everyone is having trouble leaving the comfortable nest of college. Grover (Josh […]

10/05/202003/02/2024inLooking Back, Happy Birthdayby Roxana Hadadi10 min read

Strange Days at 25 and the End of the World

As Kathryn Bigelow’s sci-fi thriller turns 25, a look back on its prescient and powerful commentary on police brutality and virtual reality.

09/29/202003/02/2024inLooking Back, Happy Birthdayby Roxana Hadadi6 min read

In Praise of Difficult Women: Girlfight at 20

The dual debut of both director Karyn Kusama and star Michelle Rodriguez, ‘Girlfight’ (released 20 years ago this week) remains a fierce manifesto for getting – and staying – angry.