Thursday, July 3, 2014
By MICHAEL WALSH
Tomorrow, on U.S. Independence Day, Reeling Back will be nine months old. The plan is to celebrate our Fourth of July anniversary with three simultaneous postings. My Front Page subject will be George Lucas's breakout picture American Graffiti (1973), while the Comics Page will recall Ralph Bakshi's 1981 animated musical American Pop and the Local News page will offer B.C. director Sandy Wilson's debut feature, My American Cousin (1985).
After that burst of fireworks, I'll return to posting up new material every second day. My ten most recent additions were:
BACK TO THE FUTURE PART III — Our three-day celebration of Canada Day concluded with 1990's final instalment of the McFly family saga, the one in which Michael J. Fox drives his time-travelling DeLorean into something like a steampunk Western. (Posted July 3)
BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II — Our three-day celebration of Canada Day naturally included the second part of the trilogy, the dark 1989 episode in which Michael J. Fox reprised his Marty McFly character, and added the roles of McFly's future son and daughter. (Posted July 2)
BACK TO THE FUTURE — On Canada Day, Reeling Back celebrated that very Canadian entertainment tradition, finding fame in the United States. Our example was Michael J. Fox, whose feature-film breakthrough was in Robert Zemeckis's rockin' 1985 time-travel comedy. (Posted July 1)
THE RAPTURE — With the world apparently experiencing a resurgence of sectarianism, film and TV producers are finding inspiration in the old time religion. Back in 1991, writer-director Michael Tolkin offered his own compelling take on one article of Christian Evangelical faith. (Posted June 29)
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK — Action-adventure films have gotten bigger, longer and louder since 1981, the year that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas collaborated on the first Indiana Jones adventure. But few would argue that they've gotten better than this whizzbang return to the thrilling days of yesteryear. (Posted June 27)
MEATBALLS — In early June, the cast and creators of this summer-camp comedy gathered in Toronto for a reunion. What better time to remember Bill Murray, Chris Makepeace, Kristine DeBell and all those who made director Ivan Reitman's 1979 feature a Canadian film classic? (Posted June 26)
M*A*S*H — The Korean War (or, in the words of the U.S. government, "police action"), started 64 years ago. No one caught the mood of military madness that followed better than director Robert Altman in the 1970 service comedy that inspired an 11-season television series. (Posted June 25)
ALL THAT JAZZ — Inasmuch as this website's immodest mission statement is Everything Old Is News Again, a play on words partially inspired by a memorable moment in Bob Fosse's 1979 musical drama, it seemed only right to mark the man's birthday by recalling that picture. (Posted June 23)
LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL — Inspired by the pacing and sensibility of the best of France's adult bandes dessinees, director Luc Besson made his English-language film debut with an ultraviolent 1994 shoot-em-up that introduced child actress Natalie Portman to the world. (Posted June 9)
SCHINDLER'S LIST — It seemed only right to note the birthday of Irish actor Liam Neeson with my review of his Oscar-nominated performance as Oskar Schindler, whose unexpected Second World War heroism is celebrated in Steven Spielberg's harrowing 1993 feature. (Posted June 7)
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