Eastwick

Witches of Eastwick was on one of the HD channels recently and I watched it again. 1987. Directed by George Miller. Written by Michael Cristofer, based on the book by John Updike. It sorta plays like a precursor to Big Love, now.

There's some good writing in it. The witchcraft aspect is left curiously unexplained. The three women just stumble on these abilities and never really question them. But it works. And the women are really good in it. I forgot how good Cher could be back in the day, before the plastic surgeons ruined her. Jack gets excellent seduction scenes to play with the three women. And in the arguably overwrought ending, he gets to do his best impression of Michael Ironside.

Six Feet Under's Richard Jenkins has a great turn as the quietly pained husband of a woman who's consumed by the urge to rid the town of the new evil. A small part, but impressively played. Veronica Cartwright gives her best madwoman performance, but it's Jenkins that you really feel for. This is a woman that he deeply loves, and he cannot help her... because she is so far gone...

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Everyone catch Osama Bin Laden on the MTV VMA's?

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When you've got the chance, listen to the streaming audio of this This American Life show on Break-Ups. Starlee's got a great opening act, but I love ACT 2 which features an old archived interview with 8-year-old Betsy Walters which first aired on NPR's All Things Considered in 1987...

Little girl trying to deal with her parents' divorce writes a letter to then-mayor Ed Koch, asking him for help in trying to understand her folks' divorce. Koch writes her a nice letter back, but she is NOT satisfied with his response.

I wrote Ed Koch a letter when I was in second grade. It was a class assignment—I think we were learning how to write proper letters—and I chose to write one to tha mayor. My letter expressed my deep concern about the threat of poisoned Halloween candy. Well, Koch musta loved these stupid kid-letters, coz he wrote me back and Ms. Santana put his personalized response letter to me up on the wall.

I've weathered many disappointments since then...