Flying swordsmen? Chinese magic? Explosive martial arts battles? All this, plus a swaggering, wise-cracking Kurt Russell playing a parody of his popular “tough guy” character? What in God’s name is this movie?

That’s what American audiences and critics thought of director John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China when it hit theaters in 1986. To put it mildly, the movie tanked like an anvil pitched into a well. But in the years since, this flick has gathered the audience it deserves, and has in fact become a bona fide cult phenomenon. Fans even quote Jack Burton’s (Russell’s) lines to each other and buy replicas of the tank top he wore in the film (hint! hint!). (more…)

Why did we, the college kids, hate on townies? Perhaps it has some deep seeded American-settlers root that you never trust the people who rightfully occupy an area you’ve entered. Whatever the case, it went both ways. “Breaking Away” captures this peculiar hatred between the “rich kid” Indiana University students and Bloomington’s “Cutters” perfectly without making it a message movie. There’s no scene of regret from either side as this strange brand of unrequited bigotry does not get solved for all eternity. The school will always be there and so will the townies, so the best the Cutters can hope for is to find peace somewhere in the middle. (more…)