Happy Valentine’s day with this '80s gem:

This week’s film celebrates a major historic occasion:

Movie of the Week: Since today is the 60th Anniversary of the Beatles’ world changing appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, I thought I’d highlight Robert Zemeckis’ first film, I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND (1978), about a group of New Jersey teens who amusingly attempt to crash the Fab Four’s historic American debut in NYC. Nancy Allen (who I had a big crush on way back then), as the fangirl who actually gets into the Beatles’ hotel room, heads the cast that has many familiar faces, but no stars, and that’s part of its charm. With its period piece parody, smartly zany screenplay by Zemeckis, and Bob Gale plus the presence of Marc McClure and Wendie Jo Sperber; herein lies the roots of BACK TO THE FUTURE.

More later...

Movie of the Week: Because my Top 10 films of 2023 includes Rob Reiner’s funny, warm biodoc, ALBERT BROOKS: DEFENDING MY LIFE, today I am blurbing about the movie that inspired its title, Brook’s 1991 comedy, DEFENDING YOUR LIFE, which is one of my favorite films ever. It’s a charmer that’s a parody of purgatory with Brooks’ character having to stand trial for the mistakes he made during his glib, yuppie life. Rip Torn, in a role that led to his stint on The Larry Sanders Show, gruffly plays his defender, with Lee Grant as his rival prosecutor, and there's a brief but amusing turn by Buck Henry too. It’s also the best Meryl Streep rom com ever.

More later...