“A raunchy screwball comedy that improbably became the Walt Disney Company’s highest-grossing movie of 1986, Ruthless People is dirty but not smutty, naughty yet never nasty. From the bright, pop-art production design to the shadow-free lighting by future legend Jan de Bont, it looks and feels like a film where you know nobody is ever really going to get hurt.” – Crooked Marquee, 06/26/2026

“I suppose we should start this series at the beginning. Perhaps fittingly, my career as a professional film critic began with Clint Eastwood. His largely-forgotten 1999 programmer True Crime was the first movie I reviewed for Philadelphia Weekly. I was 24 years old, working as a cinema manager and writing terrible screenplays in my free time.” – Spliced Personality Substack, 06/22/2026

“Humphrey Bogart was still two years away from his first leading man role in The Maltese Falcon, but he’s already dominating the screen. You can see Cagney ceding scenes to Bogie, as if he were as delighted by him as we are. The third-billed Bogart is so electrifying you remember the character as being in more of the movie than he actually is.” – Crooked Marquee, 06/19/2026

“Zemeckis’ sophomore effort was (barely) released four months before Reagan’s election and foretold a cultural revolution. The broadly satirical farce follows a cadre of gleefully amoral salesmen and rip-off artists pushing junkers while trying to screw the competition even harder than they’re screwing their customers. He saw the ‘80s coming a mile away.” – Crooked Marquee, 05/29/2026

“The ancient Greeks went to the theater for catharsis, to purge their fears in an act of communal cleansing. Such is the goal of Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair, an early summer festival of bad vibes that started five years ago at the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles. Since then, the series has expanded to include nearly 100 theaters in 73 cities.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 05/28/2026

“Their first tryst became legendary in a decade renowned for erotic thrillers. It was rare even then for an American film to make sex look like this much fun. Unlike the usual strenuous aerobics, this one’s playful and funny. The lovers are hot, bothered and clumsily half-clothed. What Barkin does for men’s button-down shirts in this movie cannot be overstated.” – Crooked Marquee, 05/15/2026

“They’ve never worked together, and you don’t think of them having much in common. Russell’s an easygoing guy’s guy known for action films and knockabout comedies, while Yale grad Foster has always led with her formidable intellect. Yet what’s so delightful about the Somerville’s lineup is how perfectly their movies tend to complement each other.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 05/13/2026

“It’s sparse enough to invite all sorts of allegorical readings. At the time, some viewers assumed it was a statement about the HUAC hearings, Alas, the racist bullying and cowardice on display in Bad Day At Black Rock are depressingly applicable to any American era, and I note with a shudder that Ryan’s sneering ringleader is first seen wearing a red baseball cap.” – Crooked Marquee, 04/17/2026

“Penn’s nervy performance goes full Ratso in a parking garage scene when he dares a car to run him over. It’s a magnificently off-putting turn, all twitchy paranoia with a voice as thin as his pencil mustache. Daulton was the forerunner of the actor’s iconically obnoxious cokeheads in Carlito’s Way and Hurlyburly, but not all viewers found pleasure in his company.” – Crooked Marquee, 04/03/2026