The 80s Are So Hot Right Now
With a new Ghostbusters in theaters and Road House at home, the '80s are coming back in a big way
Entertainment is obsessed with the ‘80s right now. The biggest show in the country is Shogun, an adaptation of James Clavell’s novel, which already had a successful adaptation in 1980. In the theaters, you can find the latest Ghostbusters movie, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, that features a younger cast alongside series vets Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, and Annie Potts. If for some reason that isn’t enough ‘80s nostalgia, you can find a reboot of the Patrick Swayze cult film, Road House, on Amazon.
The most exciting new property of the weekend belongs to Netflix’s adaptation of The 3 Body Problem. The men behind Game of Thrones have been given a monster budget to adapt another unadaptable novel series— the one written by Liu Cixin. Reviews of that show have been so mixed, I’m not sure if its good, bad, or unwatchable. Nevertheless, I’m sure I’ll tune in for at least an episode of the new series if for no other reason than that I love science fiction.
I’ve previously written about Shogun, but now that the show crossed the midpoint, I’m back to praise it more. The production value of the show is through the roof— everything from the sets to the costume design is top-notch. Cosmo Jarvis is quite the find, I hadn’t seen him in his previously credited roles, but a show like this will certainly bring a lot of attention to his work. His character as Blackthrone isn’t the “white savior trope,” but he brings a lot of brevity to the political battle unfolding before him. If you want to see why Shogun is currently the best television show, you can watch it on Hulu.
As for the two ‘80s movie updates, well the less said about them the better. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is rocking a 45% on Rotten Tomatoes. The Ghostbusters franchise is running on fumes and maybe Sony should pack that one up. I’ve read plenty of reviews of the Road House reboot now available on Amazon Prime Video. While the original Road House wasn’t exactly known for its quality, it had a certain pizzazz that’s hard to replicate. It’s been called the definition of a movie that’s so bad it’s good. So it isn’t exactly surprising that Director Doug Liman and Jake Gyllenhaal’s attempt to remake the movie didn’t work out.
If this weekend isn’t enough ‘80s nostalgia, Warner Bros released the first trailer for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Jenny Ortega.
I hope you love the ‘80s.
X-Men ‘97 Beats Expectations
The first two episodes of X-Men ‘97 are now available on Disney+ and I was surprised at how close this is to the ‘90s classic. While the show's tone has taken on a more serious slant, it’s almost as if the series never ended. I wrote about the first three episodes for RogerEbert.com. You can read that review in the link below:
Catching up with the Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection recently announced their June 2024 slate which includes 4K upgrades of Blue Velvet and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Other highlights include Barry Jenkins’ Underground Railroad series, Victims of Sin, Bound, and Querelle coming to the collection. All of their upcoming titles can be seen on their coming soon page.
In February, Criterion held its semi-annual flash sale. It’s a 24-hour sale allowing customers to buy half-price discs. I picked up Lone Star and The Roaring Twenties from the sale.
The Roaring Twenties was released in 1939 and stars James Cagney (Yankee Doodle Dandy) and Humphrey Bogart (Casablanca). According to Criterion, it is “one of the greatest and most influential crime films of all time.” I’m not so sure I’d put it in the upper echelon of crime films, but I can certainly see its influence. Cagney plays a disillusioned soldier who has returned from the war of 1918 with no prospects. The job he expected to be there when he got back isn’t available and the girl he was hoping to meet ends up being a teenager. He finally finds himself steady work in smuggling alcohol during the prohibition of the ‘20s. The movie assumes that the audience is familiar with “Black Tuesday” because when it was released it was only ten years removed. Now we’re almost a century removed from that fateful day. There are some great scenes in this, one of my favorites being a shootout in a restaurant that must’ve been shocking when this first came out. I’d recommend a watch especially to see Cagney and Bogart together and it looks great on the new 4K UHD that Criterion has released for the movie.
Updated Website
In addition to new co-host Evan Crean joining the It’s the Pictures podcast, I’ve updated the website! You can visit It's the Pictures Podcast, listen to all the legacy episodes, and find our new episodes there as well.