Cinematix Problematix

This week on Cinematix Problematix, we tackle   Gone With the Wind : Hollywood’s glamorous love letter to the Confederacy, complete with plantation nostalgia, enslaved people who “love” their captors, and a heroine who treats the Civil War like an inconvenient garden party. Scarlett O’Hara shines as a heroine who can charm her way out of starvation, while the film clings to a fantas...

Today, we’re talking about the 1995 Paul Verhoeven film Showgirls . The film tells the tale of Nomi - a bright-eyed but street smart dancer who makes it to Vegas with nothing but dance leggings, a knife, a penchant for thrashing wildly, and a dream. While auditioning for a Vegas show, she catches the eye of aging starlet Cristal Conners and her lover/casino Entertainment Director, Zack Carey, whic...

Today, we're talking about Richard Benjamin's 1994 film Milk Money. The film tells the tale of young Frank, who along with two adolescent friends of his, decide to hire a hooker named V to see what boobies look like. However, V has an abusive pimp and Frank offers to hide her in his treehouse, as young boys tend to do with prostitutes they just met. She then meets Frank's dad Tom who is immediatel...

Today, we’re talking about Joel Schumacher’s 1985 film St. Elmo’s Fire about - as IMBd puts it - “A group of friends, just out of college, struggle with adulthood.” And that is putting it kindly. The film begins with Jules, Kirbo, Billy, Wendy, Alec, Leslie, and Kevin all graduating from Georgetown and diving head first into the deep end of adulthood with nothing but privilege, good looks, booze,...

Today, we’re talking about the 1982 film The Toy starring Richard Pryor as Jack Brown - a struggling writer who gets hired by the affluent U.S. Bates to be a friend to his lonely but incredibly spoiled child, Eric.  You see, Eric just wants to be loved and hugged, but he also wants a full grown black man to dress in Spider Man costumes that he can torment for his own amusement. So he’s also a...

Today, we’ll be talking about the 1980 film The Blue Lagoon , which tells the story of children Emmeline and Richard who get shipwrecked on a desert island with an alcoholic yet incredibly handy cook named Paddy. Spoiler alert: Paddy dies after drinking an entire barrel full of rum, leaving these two completely clueless children alone, with nobody to tell them that getting it on with your first co...

And today, we’re talking about  the 1983 classic Trading Places , which tells the tale of The extremely wealthy Wall Street executives Duke brothers who decide to place a friendly bet to see if nature beats nurture. They take the star employee at their financial firm,  Louis Winthorpe III, and try to see if a destitute Black man, Billy Ray Valentine, can effectively take his place and le...

Today, we’re talking about the ICONIC 1984 film Purple Rain , which stars the legendary rock/pop/soul artist Prince . It tells the story of an incredibly cocky-yet-talented young Minneapolis artist with a standing residency at the popular club First Avenue, but who is also the product of a violent household. He has a long-standing rivalry with Morris Day’s The Time, and falls in love with a s...

Today, we’re talking about the controversial 1986 film Soul Man , directed by Steve Miner. It tells the story of Mark Watson who is an affluent UCLA student who gets into Harvard Law School. The only problem is his father decides to not fund his education so that he can learn some responsibility. He tries to get loans, but can’t because his credit sucks. But then his friend tells him about a schol...

Today, we’re talking about the 1984 comedy Revenge of the Nerds directed by Jeff Kanew, which follows horny freshman nerds Lewis and Gilbert as they get into college, only to be bullied by the cool, jocular members of the Alpha Beta fraternity. In response to their humiliation and their sudden lack of housing at the hands of the Alpha Beta frat bullies, they not only form their own fraternity born...

Today, we’re talking about the 1984 John Hughes classic Sixteen Candles, which is about a girl who turns sweet 16 only to have her quirky family entirely forget it on the eve of her sister’s wedding. It all takes place in the span of 24 hours where we get to witness teen longing, horniness, general slapstick hijinks, and a TON of dialogue and plot points that would NEVER pass muster today. The fil...