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Winnipeg Free Press
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
The '90s called…
We are so back. Or that's what the kids keep saying online. And one of the things that's back is gen X culture, at least in a selective way. We're told that fashion is cyclical, which partially means that kids make a show of rebelling against their parents while also dusting off and throwing on their records and threads. At the moment, millennial culture — being neither vintage nor au courant — is the casualty of this circle of life. Getting caught wearing jeans too skinny or making content too 'Jim Carrey-coded' means 'you're never coming back.' You're 'cooked' and the online trolls will tell you so. Meanwhile, '90s fashions and textures — from baggy jeans and tiny sunglasses to VHS static and Windows '98 esthetics — seem to be everywhere. Gen Z are more their parents than they'll admit. But gen X culture is filled with many forgotten gems below the surface of this wave. One collection of such gems is the slow-burn dramas and thrillers of the '80s and '90s. It's a shame that the era's wham-bam thrillers — think The Matrix and Fight Club — have been canonized and endlessly memed while often superior, slower films are all but forgotten. We revisit a few of these cerebral antidotes to bite-sized, brain-rotting reels and TikToks. (from IMDB) In the 1985 thriller Witness, Harrison Ford portrays a cop protecting an Amish boy and his mom after the boy witnesses a murder in a Philadelphia train station. (from IMDB) In the 1985 thriller Witness, Harrison Ford portrays a cop protecting an Amish boy and his mom after the boy witnesses a murder in a Philadelphia train station. Witness (1985) Rent via Apple, Amazon or Cineplex The '80s and '90s were lousy with erotic thrillers. There are the good ones like The Last Seduction and Bound, the borderlines like 9½ Weeks and Fatal Attraction, and then a lot of gleeful trash like Basic Instinct and Sliver. Femme fatales, noir plots and racy sex conspired in this era to create the sort of stylized smut that would have made the auteurs of the crime pulp genre blush. Witness is a strange addition to this genre in being totally erotic and (almost) totally chaste. An Amish boy becomes a target after he witnesses a murder in a Philadelphia train station. Harrison Ford is the cop protecting the boy and his mom (Top Gun's Kelly McGillis). They take refuge together in her Amish community after learning the murder implicates dirty cops in high places aiming to silence everyone in the know. The film's strongest part is Ford and McGillis's relationship and chemistry. Forbidden love between an Amish woman and outsider — sounds like a recipe for softcore exploitation, a sturdy man in uniform 'liberating' a widowed trad-wife. But the theme is handled with a restraint that only turns up the romantic tension. A rare Hollywood depiction of the Amish that doesn't satirize or condescend, and a taut little thriller too. Presumed Innocent (1990) Streaming on Hollywood on Demand and Hollywood Suite; rent via Apple TV, Amazon and Cineplex Presumed Innocent is The Fugitive's quieter, more mature older sibling. It too stars Harrison Ford as a man accused of murdering the woman he loves. The angle here is that Ford is a crown prosecutor tasked with investigating his mistress's death, only to find that all clues to point to his guilt. The Fugitive was a famously chaotic production, much improvised or rewritten on the fly. Presumed Innocent, on the other hand, feels like a masterclass in controlled intensity, courtesy of auteur Alan Pakula (Sophie's Choice, All the President's Men). He elevates the tightly scripted genre material to art. A sensitive performance from Ford has none of his usual swagger. He's a man restraining a storm of fear and secret guilt — mostly, we believe, over his indiscretions. But while his innocence may technically be presumed by the jury, the audience doesn't necessarily buy it. The plot (based on Scott Turow's novel) meanders because of its intricacy and the time it gives to fleshing out its interesting characters, including Ford's long-suffering wife. The patient will be rewarded. The film contains one of the most spoiled twists of the early '90s, before Presumed Innocent faded from the conversation. There's a Kids in the Hall character, the arch-villain Hecubus, who loves to torment people by revealing the movie's ending. 'Evil! I haven't seen the movie yet!' declares his partner in crime. Luckily, Hecubus got to this reviewer too late. Citizen X (1995) Streaming on Crave This true-crime film about a Soviet policeman (Stephen Rea) and his years-long pursuit of a serial killer is compared to another celebrated HBO outing, the more recent Chernobyl (2019). Both involve a common trope of anti-Soviet drama: an intrepid investigator waging facts and reason against a deadly and irrational Soviet bureaucracy in its twilight years. In Chornobyl, the inconvenient truth is a nuclear power plant's catastrophic failure, in Citizen X it's the mere existence of serial killers. Realities threatening the Soviet Union's self-promoted image as a nuclear-powered utopia where social deviancy was no more. But in other ways, Citizen X is more like David Fincher's excellent Mindhunters series on Netflix about the FBI's early serial killer psychological studies in the 1970s. That show reminds us that American state bureaucracy had its own ideological reasons for thwarting this new field. And like Mindhunters, Citizen X is a rare serial killer procedural that thrills without titillating. Don't expect Silence of the Lambs bombast, but something deeper. Dark City (1998) Rent via Apple TV, Microsoft By the late '90s, thrillers had stopped being as sexy and instead became postmodern, self-referential. Movies like ExistenZ, Thirteenth Floor, Dark City and — dwarfing our memory of the others — The Matrix had their heroes discover they were stuck in worlds within worlds and try to find the escape hatch. In Dark City, that hero is John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell), who wakes up in a city perpetually shrouded in darkness to discover he's the chief suspect in a series of grisly murders. It gets very weird from there, with everyone around him suddenly falling asleep from time to time as pale, insect-like humanoids leap from the shadows to hunt him. Things make sense eventually, but many audiences were likely alienated by the sustained assault on coherence. (While a critical success, Dark City was a box-office bomb.) But Dark City's surrealism, rendered with amazing art design, is sort of the point. Director-writer Alex Proyas (The Crow) seems only partially interested in making fashionable sci-fi. Noir is his other interest, and he's reaching back to its source material — the expressionist German films of the '30s and '40s, like Fritz Lang's Metropolis and M. These films channelled the modernist revolution in the visual arts by exploring things like urban alienation and an irrational subconscious. Hollywood's film noirs absorbed their shadowy visual style but wouldn't allow their manly hardboiled detectives to play around with such effete intellectual themes. (Imagine Humphrey Bogart seeing a shrink because the Big Apple made him neurotic.) In any case, we get a satisfying reveal in Dark City's third act, finally rearranging this surreal puzzle into an ordered whole, with visual feasts aplenty. Conspiracy (2001) Streaming on Crave Conspiracy is, at its bare bones, a play. The year is 1942, the setting a stately neoclassical villa in Berlin's Wannsee suburb. Fifteen men are gathered for briefings on a new secret state policy: the systematic destruction of Europe's Jewish people. One hesitates to include this masterpiece because, while being among HBO's most gripping productions, Conspiracy's thrust isn't entertainment. Its drama, supported by top performances, gives an unusually deep rendering to the usual observations about 'the banality of evil.' The Wannsee Conference is led by Eichmann (Stanley Tucci), after whom that famous expression was coined, and Heydrich (Kenneth Branagh). As they politely unveil the new policy, bureaucratic euphemisms that crescendo into an image of unparalleled horror, others divide into two camps. There are those who immediately embrace the plan, made up mostly of senior party officials and SS-men, and those who hesitate. Wilhelm Stuckart (Colin Firth), author of the Nuremberg Laws which first codified the Third Reich's antisemitism, is depicted as the most indignantly opposed. 'But none of this is legal!' he sputters, in essence. The dissenters, of course, are not heroes. They too fall in line, submitting to the apocalyptic momentum they themselves helped set in motion years earlier as influential Nazis. A breathtaking, haunting piece of made-for-TV cinema. Conrad SweatmanReporter Conrad Sweatman is an arts reporter and feature writer. Before joining the Free Press full-time in 2024, he worked in the U.K. and Canadian cultural sectors, freelanced for outlets including The Walrus, VICE and Prairie Fire. Read more about Conrad. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Daily Mirror
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Top Gun legend turn back on fame after devastating attacks
Kelly McGillis was one of the most iconic stars of the 80s, but after her role in Top Gun she walked away from the film industry after a series of devastating attacks and personal struggles The 80s hit film Top Gun rocketed many of its stars to fame, including the flight instructor character Charlie, played by Kelly McGillis, who quickly ascended to become one of Tinseltown's most sought-after actresses. Fast-forward three decades, and a life marred by personal tragedies paints a starkly different picture. Born into the well-heeled surrounds of Newport Beach, California, Kelly McGillis' transition to New York City to chase her acting aspirations was marked by harrowing episodes. In what should have been an enchanting second year at the elite Julliard School, she faced the terror of a mugging at gunpoint. Undeterred, though, McGillis pressed on with her ambition. Yet 1982 brought a grimmer chapter, only four years ahead of her acclaim in Top Gun; her own residence became the setting of a nightmare when intruders forced their way in and subjected her to a knife-point rape. It was the alarm raised by a neighbour that brought police sirens to the scene, precipitating the burglars' escape and their eventual capture, the principal assailant receiving a sentence of three years behind bars, reports the Mirror US. In an intimate recount to People Magazine in 1988, she shared visceral memories of the assault: "I'll never forget the way they smelled. Like alcohol and old one watched, the taller one got on top of me and held the knife to my right the other one got on top of me. They kept switching and telling me they were going to beat me until I was dead." Living with a woman during that period, McGillis interpreted the attack as a divine "punishment" for her sexual orientation. Despite facing a harrowing ordeal, McGillis continued to chase her acting dream and landed a major role in 1985 alongside Harrison Ford in Witness. In 1988, she played a prosecutor in The Accused opposite Jodie Foster, a part which she hoped would help her process her own past traumas. By 1989, McGillis had married yacht salesman Fred Tillman and was confronting her sexuality while relationship strains surfaced. They had two daughters, but their family life took a hit when Tillman was caught soliciting sex from an undercover policewoman posing as a prostitute. Seeking respite from New York's glare, the pair relocated to Florida and set up a bar called Kelly's. During this period, McGillis formed a bond with bartender Melanie Leis. Leis who was openly gay later said: "We were partners in crime and were both drinking and abusing drugs." After finalising her divorce from Tillman in 2002, McGillis left Tinseltown behind to co-parent with Leis in rural Pennsylvania, then moved back to New Jersey where she undertook a new role as a rehab counsellor. Returning to her acting roots in 2008 with a part in the lesbian-themed TV show The L Word, McGillis publicly came out the following year. In a candid chat with she declared: "I'm done with the man thing. "Life is a journey and it's about growing and changing and coming to terms with who and what you are and loving who and what you are." In 2016, she endured another harrowing experience when an intruder broke into her North Carolina residence. When the casting for "Top Gun: Maverick" came around in 2022, McGillis was not selected to return to the iconic series, which she believes might be due to her refusal to undergo plastic surgery or revert her hair to its famous blonde hue – a claim director Joseph Kosinski has refuted. Speaking candidly to ET at age 62, McGillis offered a blunt perspective on the expectations of Hollywood, stating: "I'm old, and I'm fat and I look age-appropriate for what my age is. And that is not what that whole scene is about. I'd much rather feel absolutely secure in my skin and my age than place any value in all that other stuff."
Daily Record
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Tragic life of Top Gun heartthrob who turned back on fame
Kelly McGillis shot to fame as the love interest of Tom Cruise's character in the 1986 film Top Gun, but behind the scenes her life was filled with tragedy and heartbreak The 1986 blockbuster Top Gun turned many of its actors into stars, among them the character Charlie, played by Kelly McGillis, who captivated audiences and emerged as one of Tinseltown's most sought-after actresses. However, three decades later, her journey through stardom has been marked by personal tragedies that are worlds apart from her character's glamour. Hailing from the upmarket neighbourhood of Newport Beach in California, Kelly McGillis's life took a stark turn after relocating to New York to chase her acting aspirations. Her time in the city began with a terrifying encounter during her second year while studying at the renowned Juilliard School, where she was robbed at gunpoint. Although shaken, the brazen attack didn't deter her from her passion. Yet, in 1982, tragedy struck again—just a few years before her star-making performance in Top Gun. She faced a nightmarish scenario when two intruders burst into her residence and subjected her to a rape ordeal at knifepoint. Her plight only ceased when a neighbour responded to her screams, leading to police intervention and the subsequent apprehension and conviction of the culprits, with the chief attacker getting a three-year prison sentence, reports the Mirror US. In an intimate revelation to People Magazine in 1988, McGillis recounted the harrowing details: "I'll never forget the way they smelled. Like alcohol and old one watched, the taller one got on top of me and held the knife to my right the other one got on top of me. They kept switching and telling me they were going to beat me until I was dead." At the time of this terrible incident, she shared her home with another woman and agonizingly concluded that the assault was a divine "punishment" for her sexual orientation. Despite the difficult experiences, McGillis pursued her dream career, landing a major part alongside Harrison Ford in 1985's Witness. In 1988, she portrayed a prosecutor opposite Jodie Foster in The Accused—a film about an attorney fighting for justice for a rape survivor—a role McGillis hoped would help her grapple with her own past. 1989 saw her marry yacht salesman Fred Tillman. What seemed like wedded bliss was complicated by McGillis' struggles with her sexuality and the marriage soon showed signs of strain. The pair had two daughters, but their family faced turmoil when Tillman was caught hiring sex from an undercover policewoman posing as a prostitute not long after their second child's birth. In search of respite from New York's glare, they relocated to Florida and started operating a bar called Kelly's. There, McGillis developed a romance with bartender Melanie Leis. Leis, who is openly gay, recalled: "We were partners in crime and were both drinking and abusing drugs." McGillis and her second husband parted ways in 2002, with the actress stepping away from the Hollywood spotlight to co-parent her children with Leis in rural Pennsylvania, eventually moving back to New Jersey where she became a rehabilitation counsellor. On her return to acting with a lesbian TV series The L Word in 2008, McGillis made the decision to come out publicly a year later. In a candid interview with she declared: "I'm done with the man thing. "Life is a journey and it's about growing and changing and coming to terms with who and what you are and loving who and what you are." After suffering an attack in 2016 when a stranger invaded her North Carolina home, actress McGillis once again faced disappointment. Her absence from the 2022 "Top Gun: Maverick" cast raised eyebrows, with speculation that her refusal to undergo plastic surgery or dye her hair to its iconic blonde played a role—an assertion director Joseph Kosinski has rebutted. Talking to ET, the 62 year old actress voiced her candid views on Tinseltown's beauty standards, declaring: "I'm old, and I'm fat and I look age-appropriate for what my age is. And that is not what that whole scene is about. I'd much rather feel absolutely secure in my skin and my age than place any value in all that other stuff."
