DAILY CALL SHEET: AUGUST 16, 2025

 

After Hours (1985) I lose a lot of movie reviewer cred when I confess I don't enjoy most Martin Scorsese films. Oh, I absolutely admit most of them are brilliantly made, but I just don't like them. After Hours is one of the exceptions. It's the story of a bored out of his mind businessman who decides to break his monotonous routine and head into downtown New York to hook up with a woman he just met earlier in the day at a café. He then proceeds to have one of the weirdest and worst nights anybody could possibly have. It's a dirt simple premise, but full of pitch black humor that really works if that's your thing. Plus, it's Scorsese, so it's brilliantly made.

TIL: Boredom's not necessarily a bad thing. Take the origin story of St. Ignatius of Loyola, for example. After being hit by a cannonball (that's not the boring part), Ignatius found himself stuck in bed for a long time recuperating. With nothing else to do, he requested some books, preferably romance novels (I don't know why, you'd have to ask him). Unfortunately for him, but quite fortunate for the world, the only available reading material that could be scrounged up was a book on the lives of the Saints. Ignatius wasn't thrilled at this, but with no other choice, he gave it whirl. Needless to say, that bout of boredom put him on the road to founding one of the most important religious orders in Church history. Boredom is like anything else, it all depends on how you use it.

Escape from the Bronx (1983) It's been years since the events of 1990: The Bronx Warriors and our hero Trash has spent most of that time trading in illegal ammunition and shooting helicopters down with his pistol. That changes when an evil corporation (is there any other kind in movies) decides to jump start some gentrification by setting all of the Bronxites on fire, starting with Trash's parents. In response, all of the gangs in the borough unite with Trash as their reluctant leader and put in action a plan to abduct the President of the United States. Second verse same as the first, so if you liked the first movie, you'll find the sequel a hoot.

TIL: There are at present 68 Catholic churches in the Bronx and, as befits the eccentricity of the borough, there are some odd stories surrounding some of them and their related institutions. These include tales of miraculous healings and priests with mafia connections. The most storied spot, though, appears to be the Jesuit run Fordham University. There you'll find mentions of the ghostly construction worker who bangs on the walls, the shade of a theater patron who hangs out in the balcony, and the usual assortment of cold spots in the basement. Some claim the place is haunted because it was built over Rose Hill Manor and a former hospital/morgue. However, one also suspects that parts of the Exorcist being filmed at the school might have sparked a few imaginations.