On Thu, Aug 6 at The Hanover Theatre in Worcester, MA: the documentary Burnin’ down the House will premiere. It explores the growing health risks of firefighters in aging firehouses. Half the proceeds will benefit the Last Call Foundation.Click here for tickets: thehanovertheatre.org/event/burnin...

Ep 70 out now! D.C. of The Full Circle Podcast guests to talk with me about 2003’s School of Rock and 2006’s Tenacious D: Pick of Destiny! Plus, poll results, movie news, the cooking segment Cinemunch, and interactive listener trivia with shout-outs! Just click here: linktr.ee/reelsofcinem...

#OTD in 1989: actress Rebecca Schaeffer was killed by an obsessed stalker and fan at her own front door. Dust off ep 17 to hear a carefully researched tribute to her life and career. Her story may be triggering for some, so listener discretion is advised. Just click here: linktr.ee/reelsofcinem...

Released nationwide in the U.S. #OTD in 1993: Hocus Pocus, a flop in its initial theatrical run that gained a strong following over the years. For more, you can dust off ep 9 of Movies across the Pod with @daveya.bsky.social and me at: open.spotify.com/episode/08uD...

A sepia-brown-yellow sky over the area from Canadian wildfire smoke … but, surprisingly, it’s not coinciding with odors too oppressive or pungent, unless I’m missing something.

Released #OTD in 1988 nationwide in the U.S.: Die Hard! Producer Joel Silver legally had to offer Frank Sinatra the role, as it was initially a sequel to his 1968 thriller The Detective. Sinatra declined. You can listen to my guest spot on Collections of Cinema at podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Released nationwide in the U.S. #otd in 1994: the James Cameron-directed True Lies, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis! #truelies #jamescameron #arnoldschwarzenegger #jamieleecurtis

#OTD in 1923: The Hollywood Sign was officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles. It originally read “Hollywoodland” not to reflect the film industry, but to advertise real estate. The “LAND” was dropped after renovation in 1949. #hollywood #hollywoodsign

Released nationwide in the U.S. #OTD in 1990: Ghost. And everyone subsequently wanted to make a vase with Patrick Swayze ... or with Lt. Frank Drebin from The Naked Gun. #PatrickSwayze #DemiMoore #WhoopiGoldberg #LeslieNielsen #PriscillaPresley #thenakedgun

#RIP Sam Neill (1947-2026)

Finally - finally! - seeing Obsession and managed to avoid spoilers in all the time it’s been out!! Still got 15 minutes before it starts, so what’s the likelihood that I’ll have the auditorium to myself once it’s showtime? 🤔

Coming in ep 70: D.C. of The Full Circle Podcast guests for Jack Black’s School of Rock (2003) and Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny (2006). Vote/have your comment read on the show: would you rather as your bandmate Theo (Adam Pascal) or Kyle Gass? A.) Theo (School of Rock) B.) Kyle (Tenacious D)

Ep 69 out now with special guest, Sean Michael Gloria! His acting credits range from features to TV to live action shorts. But his latest project is a dramatic series with social and cultural significance. We talk about all of this, and more! Click here: linktr.ee/reelsofcinem...

Born #OTD: the incomparable Fred Gwynne, aka TV’s ‘Herman Munster.’ And from “Sometimes dead is better” (1989’s Pet Sematary) to “What is a yoot?” (1992’s My Cousin Vinny), his film dialogue is a bunch of quotables!

Born #OTD: #Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor, star of 12 Years a Slave (2013), Dr. Strange (2016), American Gangster (2007), and The Martian (2015). He also headlined the Showtime series The Man Who Fell to Earth. #chiwetelejiofor

Ep 68 out now! Xavier Coy, writer, director, and actor in film, TV, and theater, guests to talk about his new independent feature, the mockumentary-comedy-drama Unremarkable! Plus, poll results, interactive listener trivia, listener shout-outs! Just click here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/r...

#OTD in 1865: Mary Surratt, the first woman executed in U.S. history, was hanged for her part in the Lincoln assassination. She met with John Wilkes Booth & others in her home, a few blocks from Ford’s Theatre. (2010’s The Conspirator, starring James McAvoy and Robin Wright, dir. by Robert Redford)

Released #OTD in Canada and the U.S. after previously debuting in Mexico: 1994’s Best Picture winner Forrest Gump! Can you picture John Travolta in the role? He was offered it but declined to do Pulp Fiction. “And that’s all I got to say about that.”

Born #OTD - Janet Leigh, born Jeanette Helen Morrison, the Oscar-nominated star of films such as Holiday Affair, Touch of Evil, Psycho, The Manchurian Candidate, and Bye Bye Birdie! To hear more about her and Psycho, just dust off ep 13 at: linktr.ee/reelsofcinem...

Released #OTD in 2019 in the U.K., Canada, Ireland, and nationwide in the U.S.: Ari Aster’s Midsommar! Its themes of faith, paganism, and cult psychology are inspired greatly by 1973’s The Wicker Man, but it’s effective in its own right, especially with Florence Pugh’s hypnotic performance.

Released in Canada, Mexico, and nationwide in the U.S. #OTD in 1991 - Terminator 2: Judgement Day! Fun fact: star Linda Hamilton once went to a pool hall where she heard someone whisper, “That can’t be her. She’d shoot pool a lot better than that!”

#OTD in 1984: the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) introduced the PG-13 rating, largely in response to the negative backlash of the PG-rated and violent Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. On August 10, the film Red Dawn became the first PG-13 movie released in theaters.

Ep 56 of Movies across the Pod out now! @daveya.bsky.social & I have Chris, co-host of @cinematictraveler.bsky.social , on to discuss 2017’s All the Money in the World, the true story of the kidnapping of the young grandson of zillionaire J. Paul Getty. Click here: open.spotify.com/episode/6Me3...

Ep 67 out now! Author Nathan Gibson guests to discuss his debut novel, the LGBT mystery/romance The Missing Heart. We talk about his creative process and the films that inspire his writing. Just click here: linktr.ee/reelsofcinem... www.ngibsonauthor.com a.co/d/042hvA33

Released nationwide in the U.S. #OTD in 1985: St. Elmo’s Fire, written and directed by Joel Schumacher and starring much of the “Brat Pack” of the 80s. Schumacher said it got many rejections, with one studio exec calling the 7 main characters “the most loathsome humans he had ever read on the page.”

Released #OTD in 1986 in the U.S.: director Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, starring David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, and “numerous goblins and creatures,” according to the original poster. To hear more, just dust off episode 54 at: linktr.ee/reelsofcinem... #DavidBowie #GeorgeLucas #JimHenson #labyrinth

Filmmaker Saeid Ghasemi has won Best Short Screenplay at the 9th Indie Short Fest Intn’l Film Festival in L.A. after winning in the same category at the 20th British Urban Film Fest and the Rhode Island Intn’l Film Fest!! Click here to to revisit him on my podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/r...

Released in the U.S. and Canada #OTD in 1989: Tim Burton’s Batman, starring Michael Keaton! Fun fact: Pierce Brosnan declined the role because he felt the costume “looked silly.” So he opted for the understated Mamma Mia! wardrobe.

Born #OTD: Alan Turing, who broke the Nazi Enigma code during WWII. Convicted in 1952 for being gay, he took his life at 41 after having to choose b/w chemical castration and prison. Queen Elizabeth II finally pardoned him 60 years later. (2014’s The Imitation Game, Benedict Cumberbatch, Oscar nod)

Ep 66 out now! Celebrating Pride Month with two comedy-dramas about love, secrets, generational conflict, cultural values, high school life, and being human. Plus, poll results, entertainment news, the interactive listener trivia, and listener shout-outs! Just click here: linktr.ee/reelsofcinem...