My love letter to 80s cinema—A Sting Original. Thank you for a decade of unforgettable films.

Tom Skerritt was so good that even when he played a villain, you still liked him. In Contact, he’s the perfect smooth-talking bureaucrat who wins by working the system instead of doing the work, and he’s so charming you almost forgive him. RIP, Tom

Tom Skerritt was pure class; every time he stepped in front of a camera, he delivered. Once described as a “character actor locked in a leading man’s body,” he made it all look effortless. Rest easy, Viper.

In Cronenberg’s The Fly, Jeff Goldblum SNAPS the arm of ex-boxer George Chuvalo, “the greatest chin in heavyweight history.” Chuvalo fought Ali, Foreman & Frazier and was never once knocked down.

Christopher Lloyd ditched his own career-long manic reputation in Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead and delivered a performance with sombre dignity. Gary Fleder deliberately cast him to subvert our expectations, making him the film’s unexpected emotional core. Boat Drinks.

Stallone hated the 3-hour rough cut of First Blood so much he considered buying and destroying the negatives. His fix: cut almost all his own dialogue and let the supporting cast carry the tension. He later said he “wouldn’t change a thing.”

The Beast in Poltergeist is an amazing practical effect. A puppet was filmed underwater, creating that eerie, floating glide. The sound is a lion–tiger mix; MGM loved it so much they replaced their famous logo roar with it. Poltergeist used it first; it’s still what we hear today

Milla Jovovich bringing Resident Evil-style action to 17th-century France is easily the best part of the steampunk Three Musketeers. She also ditched the cliché of women dressing as men to fight, insisting Milady battle in classic ball gowns inspired by Van Dyck portraits.

Two years before Star Wars changed her life, 17-year-old Carrie Fisher was propositioning Warren Beatty in her film debut, Shampoo. Makes you wonder what might’ve happened if she’d never become a princess. Her timing was always exquisite... that last line.

The “F.U.” joke in The Odd Couple almost got cut. On Broadway, producers panicked about profanity rules; Mike Nichols refused to budge. Opening night, Walter Matthau delivered the line, the audience filled in the blanks and erupted. By the time it hit the screen, everyone knew it

Steve McQueen didn’t know he was dying while making The Hunter. A week after wrapping, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer linked to asbestos exposure. The film hit screens in August 1980. Three months later, McQueen was gone. He was 50.

Tarantino pushed Travolta to say yes to Get Shorty. John passed on the script. Then QT called: “This isn’t the movie you pass on. Trust me, do it.” Travolta listened, delivered one of his coolest performances, and won a Golden Globe.

Mel Brooks' king in History of the World: Part 1 was inspired by the Hollywood version of Louis XVI. The joke targets the pompous, wildly theatrical style of 1930s–50s prestige adaptations like The Man in the Iron Mask (1939). "It's good to be the king."

Amazingly, Bela Lugosi’s Dracula in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) was only the second and last time he played the Count on film, and he played it completely straight. “There is no burlesque for me. My trademark will be unblemished.”

Boogie Nights and Orgazmo share the same DNA: one was an Oscar darling; the other got buried. Slammed with an NC-17 over profanity, it hit a media blackout and sank. Later, Trey Parker and Matt Stone turned profanity into the South Park playbook and a multi‑billion‑dollar empire

Prolific character actor Richard Riehle has passed away. People will (rightly) mention Office Space and Casino, but he logged 440 credits; he was an ultimate “I know that guy” actor. He even set up all-timers, like this Tommy Lee Jones moment in The Fugitive.

Swingers made it feel like anyone could make movies. Doug Liman scraping together $200K, then delivering something this polished and getting it released, feels like a myth now. The 90s IndieWood boom made everything seem possible. This scene is still brutal.

Let’s stop stressing about where Amy Adams’ career is right now and just remember the good times.

Michael Gambon is deliciously malevolent in The Insider. Michael Mann cast him as Big Tobacco CEO Thomas Sandefur because, in six minutes flat, he makes corporate malice look like good manners: a polite, cultured veneer with teeth and immaculate fingernails.

John Lithgow punching Bigfoot in Harry and the Hendersons broke me. It lands because of Kevin Peter Hall's performance and Rick Baker’s creature work. Micro-expressions everywhere: the tiny lower-lip tremble, the sadness in his eyes. 80s kids' movies were tough.

Scorsese called The Changeling one of the scariest horror films ever; Guillermo del Toro says it's a masterpiece. Unlike other ghost stories, George C. Scott doesn't run; he actively helps a frightened spirit find justice in a supernatural whodunit. Smart movie.