October, 1997
Hudson Hawk is the film that inspired this site. I missed it in the theaters because I wasn’t interested in seeing yet another action-comedy with Bruce Willis. The rotten reviews and the ubiquitous bus billboards in Boston did not help either. And yet i wondered about it – was it really that bad of a movie? why did so many people hate it? was it maybe a movie so bad that was good? And so in 1993, I rented it. And it changed my life.
Posted in Second Chance Cinema
Sam Raimi, director
Bruce Campbell, star
Ted Raimi and others, Fake Shemps
Five college students go to an old, abandoned cabin in Tennessee and instead raise up some nasty presences. Actually, the former occupants of the cabin, an archaeologist and his wife, raised the evil spirits; the students are just new fodder.
(Evil Dead 2 is not really a sequel, but a remake as a slapstick comedy. Both movies have the same plot, though the second devotes more time to the archaeologist. I prefer to think that it takes place in an parallel universe. Indeed, in all universes, Ash will be drawn to this lonely cabin and have to dismember his girlfriend.)
Overlooked by the much funnier Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness, the first film in that series deserves another viewing. First, it is truly scary. The rape sequence near the beginning justifies its moniker as “the ultimate experience in grueling horror.” Second, its low budget does not hide its joy of filmmaking . The only thing I have against it is slightly misogynist, in that the first victims are the women.
Posted in Second Chance Cinema
A long, long time ago I began a site devoted to films that deserve a second chance. Like many projects, I started it and never finished. One reason was because of IMDB. Why create my own database when other people were contributing to this gigantic database? And yet the concept “second chance cinema” remained in my mind.
So, here is the revised mission statement. I promise to occasionally post about movies that deserve a Second Chance.
Greetings and salutations! This site exists to praise movies overlooked for at least one of these following reasons:
I have tried to adhere to the above criteria, but I have snuck in a few cult movies like “Evil Dead 2.” I will be adding movies as the whim takes me, so please visit often. Better yet, add it to your feed reader.
Posted in Second Chance Cinema
As an avid female comic book reader, I have heard the above quote in comic book stores across the country as well as read the darn phrase in numerous letter columns. And I am sick of it.
Comic book enjoyment is not limited to one gender.
The following flame is directed towards comic shop personnel.
Guys, you may be saying the phrase in order to be nice and helpful, but it makes you sound clueless.
If I have been buying several titles at your store for more than 2 years, I am not in the same category as the chick with whom you are sleeping.
She is trying to find common ground whereas we already share it. You know what I read; you sell me the comics; we have heartfelt discussions about them. Just because your girlfriend and I are both female does not mean that we automatically share the same tastes.
So if you want to recommend a comic to me, try saying “Hey, this one’s good.” And if you are using it as a pick up line (as in “it’s the only comic book my ex-girlfriend read,”) it doesn’t work.
8/00: Since writing this screed, I have actually found a comic book store where NO ONE has ever asked me the question: Golden Apple Comics. Visit it today, tomorrow, and the next.
Thank you, Golden Apple family.
12/07: I am happy to report that seven years later, I still have not heard that phrase at Golden Apple. Bless you all, Golden Apple family.
Posted in Comics
