Grunge in Plain English: The Bands, the Looks, and the Burnout of an Era
A no-nonsense walk through grunge — where it came from, what it sounded like, why everyone suddenly wore flannel, and why the whole thing burned itself out in about five years.
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Friday Movie 1995: How Ice Cube Changed Hood Comedy Forever
How Ice Cube wrote Friday (1995), why Chris Tucker quit the sequels, and how ‘Bye Felicia’ became the internet’s most-quoted line.
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The Breakfast Club: How John Hughes Defined a Generation in 97 Minutes
Quick Answer: The Breakfast Club (1985) is a John Hughes drama set during a single Saturday detention at Shermer High School, where five teenagers — a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal — discover their social labels mean far less than they thought. Shot on a budget of roughly $1…
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Magnum PI: How Tom Selleck Became the King of 80s TV
Quick Answer: Magnum P.I. ran for eight seasons on CBS from 1980 to 1988, making Tom Selleck one of the biggest TV stars on the planet. The show was filmed entirely in Hawaii, featured a red Ferrari 308 GTS as a recurring prop, and nearly lost its lead actor to a little film called Raiders…
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On This Day: July 18, 1986 — Aliens Storms Into Theaters
Quick Answer: On July 18, 1986, James Cameron’s Aliens opened in 1,437 North American theaters. The sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1979 horror film traded slow dread for full-blown combat, turned Ellen Ripley into cinema’s first true action heroine, and earned Sigourney Weaver a rare Best Actress Oscar nomination for a science-fiction role. It grossed $85…
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On This Day: July 16, 1993 — Free Willy Made Us All Cry
On July 16, 1993, Warner Bros. released Free Willy, the story of a troubled foster kid and a captive orca who wanted out. It grossed $153.7 million on a $20 million budget, closed with Michael Jackson’s “Will You Be There,” and — in the strangest twist of all — sparked a real-world campaign that eventually…
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Trespass 1992: 9 Wild Facts About the Ice-T Movie
Trespass 1992 trapped two firemen and Ice-T’s gang in an abandoned factory. Nine wild facts about Walter Hill’s overlooked action classic.
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On This Day: July 13, 1985 — Live Aid Unites the World
Live Aid 1985 was a 16-hour benefit concert held on July 13, 1985, across two stadiums — Wembley in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia — to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, it drew an estimated 1.9 billion television viewers in more than 150 countries and…
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New Jack City: 9 Wild Facts About the 1991 Hood Classic
New Jack City turned the crack epidemic into 1991’s biggest indie hit. 9 wild facts about Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Chris Rock and Nino Brown.
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On This Day: July 6, 1994 — Forrest Gump Hits Theaters
Forrest Gump premiered in U.S. theaters on July 6, 1994, opening in 1,332 screens before expanding to a $24.4 million debut weekend. Robert Zemeckis’s film about a slow-talking Alabama runner went on to earn $678 million worldwide, land 13 Academy Award nominations, and win six Oscars — including a second straight Best Actor for Tom…
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Knight Rider: 9 Wild Facts About the 80s TV Hit
KITT, the talking Pontiac Trans Am, made Knight Rider an 80s icon. 9 wild facts about David Hasselhoff, the scanner light, KARR, and the Hoff’s rise.
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On This Day: July 3, 1985 — Back to the Future Hits Theaters
On July 3, 1985, Back to the Future opened and became the biggest film of the year. The firing that nearly killed it, the DeLorean, and the story behind the classic.
