#prime cut 1972

[fanofspooky]

Scream Queen - Sissy Spacek

[dyouknowwhatimean]

sissy spacek in prime cut (1972) dir. michael ritchie

[gotankgo]

Sissy Spacek in Prime Cut (1972)

directed by Michael Ritchie

[mudwerks]

(via Greenbriar Picture Shows: What Works with Whiskey)

[actressplaygroundxxx]

Sissy Spacek (23) in Prime Cut (1972)

[envelopandkissme]

SISSY SPACEK IN PRIME CUT (1972) Costume design by Patricia Norris

[broadwaydivastournament]

Broadway Divas Tournament: Round 1A

The original Elphaba to those who know, Stephanie J. Block (1972) won her Tony for The Cher Show (2018) where she was, of course, Cher. No stranger to playing icons of the highest order, she made her Broadway debut in 2003, originating the role of Liza Minnelli in The Boy from Oz. In addition to eight Broadway credits, she has an extensive resume of regional, touring, and concert performances across the country, and will make her West End debut in Kiss Me, Kate this summer. She starred in the 2022 Into the Woods revival opposite her real-life husband, Sebastian Arcelus. They met starring in Wicked together on tour.

The leading lesbian of Broadway, Cherry Jones (1956) is a two-time Tony winner for The Heiress (1995) and Doubt: A Parable (2005). She has fifteen Broadway credits to her good name, including everyone's favorite gay fantasia Angels in America, and a slew of credits beyond. She was a founding member of the American Repertory Theatre, has two Emmys, and has been married to Sophie Huber since 2015. The televised kiss she shared with then-girlfriend Sarah Paulson after winning her second Tony stirred up a good deal of controversy back then, but is iconic now.

PROPOGANDA AND MEDIA UNDER CUT:

"Stephanie J. Block knows what you mean when you call her "MOTHER" online, and she is delighted by it. One of the great Broadway belters who sounds good and not just loud, Stephanie can also talk the hind leg off a mule. Go to one of her concerts, and you're treated to her yammering on about anything and everything, and you will love every minute."

"Forcing the dykes of tumblr to choose between one of their beloved Elphabas and actual dyke Cherry Jones is psychological warfare. This woman is an icon, a legend, a titan among Broadway stars. She's in an age-gap lesbian marriage and once dated Sarah Paulson. Come on. Prime lesbian candidate on this tournament."

[mybeingthere]

Derek Boshier (British, 1937-2024)

'There’s a funny sort of feeling you get, as if change is a sin. But now I see that’s what I’m about, I’m an artist that does change.’

Born in Portsmouth in 1937 Derek Boshier first came to prominence with his paintings as a student at the Royal College of Art in London where he studied alongside David Hockney, Allen Jones, R.B. Kitaj, and others. Embracing the iconography of British and American mass culture, his paintings earned him recognition as one of the pioneers of British Pop Art. In 1962, he was featured with Peter Blake, Pauline Boty and Peter Phillips in Ken Russell's BBC documentary 'Pop Goes The Easel'. Subsequently he has used other media:drawing, printmaking, film, books, three dimensional objects, installations and photography among them. His graphic work with popular music groups such as The Clash and with David Bowie have brought his work to a wider audience.

Works by Derek Boshier can be found in major museum collections including Tate, The British Museum and the V&A. He lives and works in Los Angeles.

'Derek Boshier brought to British Pop a strong satirical edge which distinguished his work from that of his fellow students at the Royal College of Art. His paintings of 1961-62 made frequent reference to current events, especially those with a political dimension such as the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Consumer products such as Pepsi-Cola appeared not in celebration of modern popular culture but as evidence of the insidious inroads of international businesses and Americanisation. SA group of paintings in 1962 prompted by the campaign for a new striped toothpaste examined manipulative forces of advertising and the loss of individual identity that this brought in it’s wake. Boshier’s caustic views about the mass media, and his characteristic ‘custom-built men’ – figures that appear to be cut out, pieced together as in jig-saw puzzle or in the process of disintegration – arose directly from his reading of commentators such as Marshall McLuhan, Vance Packard and John Kenneth Galbraith. Boshier’s Pop phase was short lived. The paintings that he produced in India during 1962-63, virtually all of which were accidentally destroyed near the end of his stay there, adapted similar narrative devices to Hindu symbolism. On his return to England he painted briefly in a formal abstract idiom before turning to Minimalist sculpture and later photography, film and collage. Always curious to experiment different media, he nevertheless maintained a strong involvement through the seventies with political and social themes. In 1979 he returned to painting as his prime activity, at first basing the pictures on images from advertising and the mass media, as he had done in his early Pop pictures and in his more recent collages. In 1980 he moved to Huston, Texas, where he at once found a rich fund of new imagery in his immediate environment. A series of paintings depicting naked cowboys were amongst his most amusing and memorable responses to his new home. During the whole of that decade, prior to his return to England, he elaborated his new iconography with humour and affection but also with the distance and wry observations of a foreigner. The American themes of Boshier’s first phase as a Pop artist thus reappeared 2 decades later in a new guise, coloured by personal experience. In the late nineties Boshier again resettled in the US, this time in Los Angeles, where he made paintings that took up themes and images from his formative Pop works.'

Marco Livingstone 2004 Pop Art UK:British Pop Art 1956-1972 exhibition catalogue Galleria Civica, Modena, 2004

[sonimage1965]

PRIME CUT

dir. Michael Ritchie

1972

[brokehorrorfan]

The Last House on the Left (2009) will be released on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on August 29 via Arrow Video. Eric Adrian Lee designed the new cover art for the remake of the 1972 horror classic; the original poster art is on the reverse side.

Dennis Iliadis (He's Out There) directs from a script by Adam Alleca (Cell) and Carl Ellsworth (Disturbia, Red Eye). Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter, Garret Dillahunt, Spencer Treat Clark, Martha MacIsaac, and Sara Paxton. Wes Craven produces.

The theatrical cut is presented in 4K in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) with original uncompressed stereo audio and DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio. The unrated version is also included on Blu-ray.

The limited edition version includes a booklet featuring new writing by film historian Zoë Rose Smith. Special features are listed below.

Disc 1 - 4K UHD:

Theatrical cut

Introduction by director Dennis Iliadis (new)

Audio commentary by film critics David Flint and Adrian Smith (new)

Interview with actress Sara Paxton (new)

Interview with actor Garret Dillahunt (new)

Interview with screenwriter Carl Ellsworth (new)

Interview with producer Jonathan Craven (new)

Look Inside featurette

Deleted scenes

Theatrical trailer

Image gallery

Disc 2 - Blu-ray

Unrated cut

When athletic teen Mari Collingwood (Sara Paxton) opts to hang out with her friend Paige in town rather than spend an evening in with her parents vacationing at the family’s remote lake house, it marks the beginning of a night no one is going to forget. The two girls wind up in the company of escaped convict Krug (Garret Dillahunt) and his makeshift family of vile career criminals, who kidnap and brutally assault them before leaving them for dead. Fleeing from the scene of their violent crime during a storm, the thugs inadvertently seek refuge with Mari’s parents, anxious as to why their daughter hasn’t come home yet and primed to unleash the full forces of hell on anyone who would dare to touch so much as a hair on her head.

Pre-order The Last House on the Left.

[sleepykittypaws]

New Year's Eve Favorites

New Year’s Eve rolls around just six days after Christmas, when many are still knee-deep in wrapping paper and ribbon. It’s easy to just roll New Year’s into the Christmas celebrations, doing little to mark the moment beyond watching the ball drop at midnight. But there are plenty of films centered around New Year’s that deserve their own holiday film recognition. 

Updated: December 31, 2023

My Favorites…

About Time (2013) - This Richard Curtis written/directed movie is one of my all-time favorite films, period. But it all starts with a life-changing New Year’s Eve party.

When Harry Met Sally (1989) - Often considered a bit of a stealth Christmas movie, this rom-com classic ends, unforgettably, on New Year’s Eve.

The Cutting Edge (1992) - It’s hard to call this movie about a former hockey star turned Olympic figure skater “good,” in any objective sense, but that doesn’t keep me from loving it wholeheartedly. Even if you haven’t seen it 50 or so times, like I have, I doubt anyone can forget that moment when sparks fly, literally, between Doug Dorsey and Kate Moseley at a New Year’s Eve party, when they twirl into each other’s arms with sparklers at the stroke of midnight (sigh). 

Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019) - Not specifically holiday-themed but Brittany makes a pretty perfect New Year’s watch. Funny, inspirational and all about self-improvement. Absolutely adore this one.

About a Boy (2002) - While it also features some sweet Christmas scenes, Hugh Grant and Rachel Weisz meet cute on New Year’s Eve.

The Poseidon Adventure (1972) - The movie that defined 1970s disaster movies remains good, cheese-tastic New Year’s fun. I remember the first time I saw this one as a kid, on cable, on New Year’s Eve. A group of New Year’s revelers trying to escape a cruise ship that flips over? Indelible.

Starstruck (2021, HBO Max) - Think of season one of this 6-episode British series, written and created by a Kiwi, as a three hour rom-com that begins on New Year’s Eve and ends the following Christmas. A delightful watch any time, but extra-special during the holiday season.

Peter’s Friends (1992) - This criminally under-rated British ensemble  comedy features a host of stars—Hugh Laurie, Imelda Staunton, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh and Rita Rudner—gathering to celebrate the New Year at their college chum’s English estate. 

Something from Tiffany’s (2022, Prime Video) - This holiday romance centers around Christmas gifts from the famous jewelry being inadvertently swapped, but most of the movie takes place between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve when everything comes to a head.

Plane (2023) - If this New Year’s Eve-set action movie leaned in just a bit more to its New Year celebration, it could reach Die Hard-style holiday classic status. While the New Year’s element doesn’t factor much after the first 15 minutes, this is a well-made, well-acted and well-paced watch. Honestly, some of Gerard Butler’s best work which, yeah, isn’t the highest bar, but Plane is a super entertaining action-disaster pic that, forgive the pun, is a lot more grounded than expected.

Other People (2016) - This very well told story about losing a loved one to cancer is funnier than you’d think, given the subject matter, has an amazing cast, led by Jesse Plemons, Molly Shannon and Bradley Whitford, and starts off with a New Year’s Eve bash.

About Fate (2022) - This American remake of a Soviet-era New Year classic, 1976′s The Irony of Fate, available to legally watch on YouTube via Mosfilm, stars Emma Roberts and Thomas Mann as recent (sort of) dumpees who meet cute due to alcohol-induced architectural confusion, and end up attending a New Year’s Eve wedding together with chaotic results, with the whole story playing out from December 30th to January 1st.

Fruitvale Station (2013) - This gut-wrenching Ryan Coogler feature directorial debut should have won Michael B. Jordan an Oscar. Set entirely on New Year’s Eve, it’s the devastating true story of the last day of Oscar Grant’s life. 

Phineas and Ferb: Happy New Year (2012, Disney Channel) - This fun episode of the crazy kids’ series works as a stand-alone New Year’s special that’s better than most.

Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings: Two Doors Down (2019, Netflix) - Cheese-y, feel-good, queer holiday romance that ends with Dolly Parton singing Auld Lang Syne. What more could you want?

An Affair to Remember (1957) - This Cary Grant-Deborah Kerr classic is basically the third lead in Sleepless in Seattle, but it is a New Year’s classic in its own right, as Kerr and Grant’s characters vow to meet on the top of the Empire State building after an epic New Year’s Kiss.

Entrapment (1999) - There’s just something about thieves and New Year’s, I guess, as the final job in this Sean Connery-Catherine Zeta Jones film is set on Y2K. There’s also a good bit of bonus millenium Christmas content.

Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne (2021, Apple TV+) - A kid-friendly New Year's Eve watch the whole family can enjoy. Apple is doing a fantastic job of preserving the Peanuts legacy with their new holiday specials.

Holiday (1938) - Another Cary Grant classic that features a memorable New Year’s Eve. Even though the “holiday” of the title refers to a vacation, it’s on New Year’s Eve that sparks really begin to fly between Grant and Katherine Hepburn. Trouble is, she’s his fiancee’s sister.

After the Thin Man (1936) - This sequel to the runaway 1934 hit kicks off on New Year’s Eve, with James Stewart joining Myrna Loy and William Powell for more mystery solving slapstick antics.

Red, White & Royal Blue (2023, Prime Video) - Based on the book of the same name, this delightful rom-com’s President’s son-meets-Prince romance really gets going at a New Year’s Eve party, following fitful Thanksgiving-Christmas flirting via text.

In Search of a Midnight Kiss (2007) - This independent dark-ish, rom-com can be a little hard to find, but it’s worth seeking out. Two lonely people looking for hope and love by New Year’s Eve.

Ghostbusters II (1989) - Definitely less than the original classic, this holiday-set sequel concludes with New Yorker’s saving the city via a chorus of Auld Lang Syne, with an assist from Lady Liberty.

Boogie Nights (1997) - Definitely not an uplifting New Year’s Eve watch, this Paul Thomas Anderson classic does feature outstanding performances and an unforgettable New Year’s Eve party appearance by William H Macy.

Rudolph’s Shiny New Year (1976, ABC) - Not the only animated New Year’s special, but easily the most memorable, this Rankin-Bass classic has Rudolph teaming up with Baby New Year and Father Time to save the holiday.

More to Explore…

If my New Year’s picks don’t make your ball drop, there’s plenty more movies/specials set around welcoming the new year.

Happy New Year (2014) - This bouncy, Bollywood showstopper is available on Netflix.

New Year’s Eve (2011) - This farly-cynical Garry Marshall attempt to recreate the holiday anthology magic of Love, Actuallyshouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as that film, but this mess of a movie can still be fairly good fun when watched ironically with enough wine and the right friends.

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown (1986, CBS) - Nowhere near as iconic as the 1960s Peanuts specials, this is still a solid, kid-friendly New Year’s watch.

Pete the Cat: A Groovy New Year (2017, Amazon Prime) - Hep cat animated special based on the popular children’s book character.

200 Cigarettes (1999) - Set in the 1980s, this follows a group of young New Yorkers looking for a memorable New Year’s Eve.

Snowpiercer (2013) - The Chris Evans dystopian thriller where civilization is relegated to an always moving train, strictly divided by class, and New Year’s is celebrated every time they circumnavigate the globe.

Highball (1997) - This very early, extremely low budget Noah Baumbach movie takes place over a series of holiday parties that culminates with a New Year’s Eve bash. Is it good? Well, Baumbach petitioned to have his name removed from it, so…

Waiting to Exhale (1995) - This movie about a close-knit friend group and their complicated romantic lives, based on the book by Terry McMillan, is framed by New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Four Rooms (1995) - This overly ambitious anthology, featuring four stories each written and directed by a different high profile auteur, with only one connecting character, a hotel bellman, takes place entirely on New Year’s Eve.

Ocean’s Eleven (1960) - The Rat Pack original isn’t as fun as the George Clooney-Brad Pitt remakes, but it does set its heist on New Year’s Eve.

The Sword in the Stone (1963) - This Disney animated classic’s pivotal moment—the extraction of Excalibur—occurs at the New Year’s tournament, which Arthur attends as a lowly squire.

The Godfather Part II (1972) - Fredo Corleone is handing out New Year’s party kisses in this, the only sequel to ever win the best picture Oscar.

Midnighters (2017) - When a couple accidentally hit a man with their car on New Year’s Eve, they put him in the backseat and go home to avoid the consequences.

Radio Days (1987) - This Woody Allen (yeah, I know) movie ends with the cast welcoming 1944 on a wintry New York, New Year’s Eve.

Repeat Performance (1947) - A New Year’s Eve wish to repeat the year comes true, but fixing mistakes made proves more difficult than Joan Leslie imagined.

Sunset Boulevard (1950) - The iconic tale, later turned into a Broadway musical, hinges on a New Year’s Eve party. 

A Midnight Kiss (2018, Hallmark) - Carlos PenaVega helps Adelaide Kane plan a New Year’s bash. 

Royal New Year’s Eve (2017, Hallmark) - Designer Jessy Schram meets her Prince at a New Year’s ball. 

The Birthday Wish (2017, Hallmark) - This is another Jessy Schram-joint that starts at New Year’s and is one of the more original Hallmark movies of recent years.

A New Year’s Resolution (2021, Hallmark) - This long-delayed Aimee Teegarden and Michael Rad movie finally got an airdate in early 2021.

Midnight at the Magnolia (2020, Netflix) - Natalie Hall and Evan Williams are radio hosts who fake a romance for a New Year’s Eve live show.

A Year and Change (2015) - Bryan Greenberg topples off a roof at a New Year’s Eve party, leading him to change his life.

The Gold Rush (1925) - For those who like their New Year’s celebrations extra-classic, this iconic Charlie Chaplin outing features the Little Tramp all alone on New Year’s Eve.

Two Lovers (2008) - This little-known Joaquin Phoenix-Gwenyth Paltrow movie culminates on New Year’s Eve.

Strange Days (1995) - Kathryn Bigelow’s sci-fi/romance prominently features a plot pivotal New Year’s Eve party.

Hudsucker Proxy (1994) - Some have called this critically-panned Tim Robbins movie It’s a Wonderful Life for New Year’s Eve. It even features Charles Durning as an angel.

Poseidon (2006) - This overly serious remake was a box office flop, but it’s still a big, dumb New Year’s Eve disaster flick. Just be careful it’s extra-long run time doesn’t make you miss the ball drop.

Money Train (1995) - This heist film starring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson (remember when those guys were leading men and action stars?) has these former cops robbing the NYC subway on New Year’s Eve.

Are We There Yet? (2005) - Ice Cube’s original road trip comedy takes place on New Year’s Eve.

Carol (2015) - It’s a New Year’s Eve party that lets these repressed ladies first turn their passion loose.

Phantom Thread (2017) - Not mostly about the holiday, but does feature one of the most visually stunning New Year’s Eve parties ever committed to film.

New Year’s Evil (1980) - It wouldn’t be a holiday without a bad slasher film taking place on it.

Sex and the City: The Movie (2008) - The ladies celebrate a very memorable New Year’s Eves in this movie, based on the HBO series.

A Frozen New Year’s Eve (2019) - Direct-to-VOD animated kids’ movie

Dr Who: The Movie (1996, BBC) - The Time Lord takes on the millennium in this made-for-TV movie.

New Year’s Day (1989) - This little known movie is David Duchovny’s first major role. He plays a man who moves to L.A. on New Year’s Eve, only to find his newly-rented apartment occupied by three women. 

A Long Way Down (2014) - Four strangers meet on a rooftop on New Year’s Eve, each contemplating jumping.

Endings, Beginnings (2020) - This Shailene Woodley-starring movie features a love triangle that begins at a fateful New Year’s Eve party.

Do It Yourself, Mr. Bean (1994, ITV) - Mr. Bean plans a New Year’s bash in this ITV special. 

A Month in Thailand (2012) - This Romanian film follows a man in the time between Christmas and New Year’s trying to decide if he should pursue the ex who broke his heart, or stick with his current adoring girlfriend.

The Shining (1980) - This bleak, wintery horror classic wouldn’t be the most uplifting way to celebrate New Year’s Eve, but its plot pivotal NYE party photo certainly makes it seasonally appropriate if you’re looking to scream in the New Year.

Age of Adaline (2015) - This very weird movie starring Harrison Ford and Blake Lively begins at a New Year’s Eve party, with the holiday holding other significance in the story.

New Year, New You (2018, Hulu) - New Year’s entry in the Blumhouse-produced horror, holiday anthology movie series.

What for New Year’s Eve? (2018, a.k.a. Cosa Fai a Capodanno?) - This Italian comedy-drama from writer-director Filippo Bologna recently became available in the U.S. and explores what happens when a group of friends decide to switch partners at a New Year’s Eve party.

Midnight Kiss (2019, Hulu) - more holiday-set horror from Blumhouse.

New Year’s Kiss (2019) - Made-for-TV rom-com starring Erin Karpluk and Robin Dunne.

Way Through Snow (2017) - Russian movie about an online couple meeting for the first time on New Year’s, available on Amazon Prime.

Break (2019) - Russian horror-thriller directed by Tigran Shakyan about group of friends who get stuck in a gondola during a New Year’s Eve power outage.

I Hate New Year’s (2020) - LGBTQ holiday rom-com about a singer who goes home for the holidays and (surprise!) finds unexpected romance, made by TelloFilms.com.

The Lost Husband (2020) - Gentle romantic, Texas-set drama that’s not full of holiday cheer, but does start on New Year’s Eve, if you’re looking for a low stakes way to ring in the New Year.

The Silver Skates (2021, Netflix) - This sweeping Russian romantic epic, a lavish costume drama filmed in St. Petersburg, is set around the holidays, namely New Year’s, and is Netflix’s first-ever Russian-language international original.

All My Friends Are Dead (2021, Netflix) - Polish horror-comedy set at a New Year’s Eve party that takes an unexpected turn.

Prime Time (2021, Netflix) - Polish-language hostage thriller set on New Year’s Eve 1999. 

Ask Me to Dance (2022) - Rom-com set between Christmas and New Year’s when a fortune teller promises two strangers they’ll meet their true love by midnight on New Year’s Eve.

Stuck with You (2022, Netflix) - French romance about strangers stuck in an elevator on their way to a New Year’s Eve party.

Terror Train 2 (2022, Tubi) - Tubi original slasher sequel set during a New Year’s Eve train ride.

Snow Falls (2023) - The New Year’s Eve horror movie about a group of friends trapped by snow in a remote cabin stars Hallmark regular Jonathan Bennett.

To Catch a Killer (2023) - Shailene Woodley plays a troubled cop trying to catch a New Year’s Eve killer.

New Year, New Us (2019) - A newlywed couple overcomes challenges in their marriage with New Year’s resolutions.

New Year, New Us 2: Love Goals (2023) - Sequel to New Year, New Us

Sealed with a List (2023) - Hallmark holiday romance about undone resolutions that concludes on New Year's Eve

Christmas ➜ New Year’s

And don’t forget to consider these movies that carry over from Christmas to New Year’s, giving us a solid dose of both holidays.

Rent (2005)

Bridget Jones’s Diary* (2001) 

Last Holiday** (2006)

Holiday Inn (1942)

The Holiday*** (2006)

Sleepless In Seattle (1993)

Trading Places (1983)

While You Were Sleeping (1995)

Bachelor Mother (1939)

Bundle of Joy (1956, a remake of Bachelor Mother)

The Apartment (1960)

A Christmas Prince (2017, Netflix)

Holidate***** (2020, Netflix)

Starstruck***** (2021, HBO Max)

About Fate (2022)

Ask Me to Dance (2022)

Something from Tiffany’s (2022, Prime Video)

*If I hadn’t already dubbed Bridget my all-time favorite stealth Christmas movie, I’d have put it on my New Year’s list for sure, probably at No. 1, since Jones’s New Year’s resolutions bookend the film, which actually starts on New Year’s Day (when she meets Darcy at her mom’s annual turkey curry buffet). Really, it’s a pretty perfect New Year’s watch and an annual in between Christmas and New Year’s must-view in our house.

**As with Bridget, Last Holiday would be at or near the top of my New Year’s favorites, if I hadn’t already dubbed it one of my favorite Christmas films. But, while it takes place over the entire Christmas season, much more happens on New Year’s in this Queen Latifah classic, than Christmas, and it’s a great way to spend any New Year’s Eve.

***And the same goes for The Holiday, which is mostly Christmas, but culminates on New Year’s Eve, the only part of the film where all four leads share a scene.

****Yet another that would be at or near the top of my New Year’s list, if it weren’t already on my Top 25 Stealth Christmas Movies list, as the New Year’s Eve in Holidate was among its best, and most memorable, moments. 

*****Starstruck takes the opposite tack of the rest of this list, starting on New Year’s Eve and ending at Christmas.

TV Series Standouts

While Thanksgiving and Christmas-themed episodes of TV series abound, the timing of New Year’s, coming when most shows are on hiatus, means there are only a few truly iconic television episodes devoted to this holiday. A handful worth noting…

Mum: December (2016, BBC, series 1)

Absolutely Fabulous: Happy New Year (1995, BBC, series 3)

Dr. Who: Resolution (2019, BBC)

On My Block: Chapter Eleven (2019, Netflix)

My So-Called Life: Resolutions (1995, ABC, season 1)

The X-Files: Millennium (1999, FOX, season 7)

Futurama: Space Pilot 3000 (1999, FOX, pilot) - Like Matt Groening’s Christmas-themed Simpson’s pilot, this series intro could also be seen as a New Year’s Eve holiday special.)

That ‘70s Show: Finale (2006, FOX, season 8) -Though it aired in May, this series ender was set on New Year’s Eve 1979

Fraiser: RDWRER (2000, NBC, season 7)

30 Rock: Klaus and Greta (2010, NBC, season 4)

Friends: The One with the Monkey (1994, NBC, season 1)

Friends: The One With All the Resolutions (1999, NBC, season 5)

Friends: The One with the Routine (1999, NBC, season 6)

Modern Family: New Year’s Eve (2013, ABC, season 4)

How I Met Your Mother: The Limo (2005, CBS, season 1)

How I Met Your Mother: Tailgate (2012, CBS, season 7)

The Office: Ultimatum (2011, NBC, season 7)

Seinfeld: The Millennium (1997, NBC, season 8) - This one actually doesn’t take place at New Year’s, but is about a New Year’s Eve party

[gotankgo]

Prime Cut (1972)

directed by Michael Ritchie

• screenplay by Robert Dillon

[scifigeneration]

Doctor Who at 60: the show has always tapped into political issues – but never more so than in the 1970s

by Jamie Medhurst, Professor of Film and Media at Aberystwyth University

Doctor Who hit television screens at a key period in British television history. It launched on Saturday November 23, 1963, at 5.15pm, being somewhat overshadowed by the assassination of US president John F. Kennedy the previous day.

Set firmly within the BBC’s public service broadcasting ethos of informing, educating and entertaining, Doctor Who quickly became a mainstay of Saturday-evening viewing. By 1965, it was drawing in around 10 million viewers.

Throughout its history, Doctor Who has tapped into political, social and moral issues of the day – sometimes explicitly, other times more subtly. During the 1970s, when the Doctor was played by Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, there were a number of examples of this.

Doctor Who in the 1970s

The 1970s were a period of political and social divisions: relationships between the government the unions in the first part of the decade was strained, exemplified by the miners’ strikes of 1972 and 1974. The political consensus that had dominated since 1945 was under pressure with talk of a break-up of the UK in the form of Welsh and Scottish Assemblies.

In his cultural history of Doctor Who, Inside the Tardis, television historian James Chapman argued that the 1970s painted “an uncomfortably sinister projection of the sort of society that Britain might come”.

It was never clear if Doctor Who storylines during this time were set in the present or at some point in the future. The fact that one of the lead characters, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart of the United Nations Intelligence Task Force (UNIT), calls the prime minister “Madam” in a telephone conversation in one episode suggests the latter.

As for some of the more politically engaged stories, The Green Death (1973), or “the one with the giant maggots” as it is known by fans, certainly pulled no punches. Described by Chapman as an “eco disaster narrative”, it pitted corporate greed and capitalism against environmental activists (portrayed here as Welsh hippies) and their concerns for the planet.

In the episode, Global Chemicals, run by a faceless machine, is tipping waste from its petrochemical plant into a disused mine in the south Wales valleys (cue awful Welsh stereotypes). The green sludge not only kills people, but creates mutant maggots which also attack. As fears grew and the green movement gained momentum in the early 1970s, this story would have resonated with large parts of the audience.

When the Doctor visits the planet Peladon in The Curse of Peladon (1972), the planet is attempting to join the Galactic Federation. There are those on the planet who argue for joining, while opponents are just as vociferous, arguing that joining the Federation would destroy the old ways of the planet.

Sound familiar? This is the time that Britain was negotiating to join the European Economic Community, as it did in 1973. Interestingly, the serial was broadcast during the time of the 1972 miners’ strike (leading to many viewers missing later episodes due to power cuts).

The follow-up story, The Monster of Peladon (1974), is set against a backdrop of industrial strife and conflict involving miners.

Tom Baker’s Doctor

In what many consider to be one of the best classic serials, Genesis of the Daleks (1975) Tom Baker’s doctor continued the tradition of raising complex political, social and moral issues.

Sent back in time by the Time Lords to change the course of history, the Doctor at one point has an opportunity to destroy the mutations which form the “body” of the Dalek (inside their metal casing) and destroy the Dalek race forever. Holding two wires close to each other, about to create an explosion in the incubation room, he asks himself and his companions: “Have I that right?”

Having the ability to see the future, he says that future planets will become allies in fighting the evil of the Daleks. Had he the right to change the course of history? Given the symbolism used in the story (salutes, black outfits, references to a “pure” race) this was a clear reference to the rise of the Nazis.

The political allegories didn’t end in the 1970s. One of the most blatant can be seen in the 1988 serial, The Happiness Patrol. The main antagonist, Helen A (played by Sheila Hancock), a ruthless and tyrannical leader is said to be modelled on Conservative prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. The fact that Hancock appears to be impersonating Thatcher lends a certain degree of credence to this belief.

Anybody who argues that the revival of Doctor Who in 2005 saw a more political edge to the storylines need only look back over 60 years. Now that we can do this thanks to the BBC uploading more than 800 episodes onto iPlayer, it will become clear to all.

Doctor Who – especially during its Golden Age in the 1970s – has always been political.

[brookston]

Holidays 12.13

Holidays

Acadian Remembrance Day (Canada)

Anesthesia Technicians Day (Turkey)

Bicycle Built For Two Day

Blame Someone Else Day

Clip-On Tie Day

Count the "La's" in "Deck the Halls" Day

Ella Josephine Baker Day

International ACAB Day

Jane Addams Day

Jum ir-Repubblika (Malta)

Loki Day

Martial Law Victims Remembrance Day (Poland)

Nanking Massacre Memorial Day (China)

National Bring Your Brother-in-Law to Work Day

National Day (Saint Lucia)

National Day of the Horse [also 2nd Saturday]

National Guard Day (US)

National Violin Day

New Calendar Day

Nusantara Day (Indonesia)

Peace Day (Korea)

Pick a Pathologist Pal Day

Reed Plant Dat (French Republic)

Republic Day (Malta)

Sailor’s Day (Brazil)

Santa Lucia Day (Sweden, Scandinavia)

Skip Day

Swiftie Day

Unreturned Library Book Day

World Violins Day

Yuletide Lad #2 arrives (Giljagaur or Gully Oaf; Iceland)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Ice Cream and Violins Day

National Cocoa Day

National Cream Cheese Frosting Day

National Ice Cream Day

National Popcorn String Day

World Raclette Day

2nd Wednesday in December

Book Club Day [2nd Wednesday]

Independence Days

Vendsyssel (Declared; 2018) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Antiochus of Sulcis (Christian; Saint)

Aubert (Christian; Saint)

Comp-U-Coffee 2000 (Muppetism)

Emily Carr (Artology)

Euler (Positivist; Saint)

Feast of the Light-Bringer (Old Swedish Goddess of Light)

Hanukkah Day #6 (Judaism) [thru Dec. 15th]

Herman of Alaska (American Orthodox Church)

Ides of December (Ancient Rome)

John Marinoni (Christian; Blessed)

John Wayne Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Judoc (a.k.a. Joyce; Christian; Saint)

Kenelm, King (Christian; Saint)

Larry Storch Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Losar (Ladakh, India)

Losoong (a.k.a. Namsoong; Sikkim, India)

Luciadagen (a.k.a. Little Yule; Scandinavia)

Lucia’s Day (Pagan)

Lucy (Christian; Saint) [Writers]

Monkey Appreciation Day (Pastafarian)

Odile of Alsace (Christian; Saint)

Othilia (Christian; Saint)

The Sementivaem (Ancient Rome)

Tellus (Ancient Rome, with table spread for Ceres)

Thorn Cutting Ceremony Day (Glastonbury, England; Celtic)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Martes (Unlucky Tuesday; Spanish culture) [Tuesday the 13th] (2 of 2 for 2022)

Prime Number Day: 347 [69 of 72]

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Triti (Unlucky Day; Greece) [Tuesday the 13th] (2 of 2 for 2022)

Premieres

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot (Web Series; 2016)

American Hustle (Film; 2013)

An American in Paris, by George Gershwin (Broadway Musical; 1928)

Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Disney Film; 1971)

Beyoncé, by Beyoncé (Album; 2013)

Bugsy (Film; 1991)

A Chorus Line (Film; 1985)

Clue (Film; 1985)

Dark Star, performed by the Grateful Dead (Song; 1967)

Driving Miss Daisy (Film; 1989)

Emily of New Moon, by L.M. Montgomery (Novel; 1923)

Fool Coverage (WB LT Cartoon; 1952)

Foxy Lady, recorded by Jimi Hendrix (Song; 1966)

The Getaway (Film; 1972)

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Film; 2013) [3 of 3]

Jerry Maguire (Film; 1996)

The Jewel of the Nile (Film; 1985)

Jumanji: The Next Level (Film; 2019)

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (Animated Film; 2024)

Maid in Manhattan (Film; 2002)

Mars Attacks! (Film; 1996)

A Miser Brothers’ Christmas (Animated TV Special; 2008)

Monitored Noose or The Carbon Copy-Cats (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 6; 1959)

My Name is Nobody (Film; 1973)

The Poseidon Adventure (Film; 1972)

Rakuen Tsuiho: Expelled from Paradise (Anime Film; 2014)

Richard III (Film; 1955)

Saving Mr. Banks (Film; 2013)

Scooby-Doo! Pirates ahoy! (WB Animated Film; 2005)

The Scorched Moose (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 5; 1959)

Sense and Sensibility (Film; 1996)

6 Underground (Film; 2019)

Star Trek: Nemesis (Film; 2002)

Tristessa, by Jack Kerouac (Novel; 1960)

Uncut Gems (Film; 2019)

Wind (Pixar Cartoon; 2019)

Today’s Name Days

Jodok, Lucia, Odilia (Austria)

Jasna, Lucija, Otilija, Svjetlana (Croatia)

Lucie (Czech Republic)

Lucia (Denmark)

Ele, Ere, Hele, Loviise, Lucia, Luise, Viise (Estonia)

Seija (Finland)

Jocelyn, Lucie (France)

Jodok, Johanna, Lucia, Ottilia (Germany)

Aris, Efstratios, Ioubenalios, Evstratios, Loukia, Lucy, Stratos (Greece)

Luca, Otilia (Hungary)

Antioco, Lucia (Italy)

Lūcija, Veldze (Latvia)

Eiviltė, Kastautas, Kastytis, Liucija, Otilija (Lithuania)

Lucia, Lydia (Norway)

Łucja, Lucja, Otylia, Włodzisława (Poland)

Dosoftei (Romania)

Lucia (Slovakia)

Lucía, Otilia (Spain)

Lucia (Sweden)

Louise, Lucia, Lukia (Ukraine)

Cinderella, Cindy, Cynth, Cynthia (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 347 of 2024; 18 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of week 50 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ruis (Elder) [Day 16 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Jia-Zi), Day 1 (Yi-Si)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 1 Teveth 5784

Islamic: 30 Jumada I 1445

J Cal: 17 Zima; Threesday [17 of 30]

Julian: 30 November 2023

Moon: 1%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 11 Bichat (13th Month) [Euler]

Runic Half Month: Jara (Year) [Day 3 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 81 of 89)

Zodiac: Sagittarius (Day 22 of 30)

Calendar Changes

冰月 [Bīngyuè] (Chinese Lunisolar Calendar) [Month 12 of 12] (Ice Month) [Earthly Branch: Ox Month] (End-of-Year Month)

Ṭēḇēṯ (a.k.a. Tevet, Tebeth & Tebetu) [טֵבֵת] (Hebrew Calendar) [Month 10 of 12]

[omercifulheaves]

Prime Cut (1972) Man, they don’t make them like this anymore.

[georgefairbrother]

January proved to be a month for unwanted economic milestones in Britain; in both 1972 and 1982 the unemployment rate rose to devastating levels.

In January 1972, the Heath government announced that, for the first time since the Great Depression, more than one million people were officially out of work; the exact number was 1 023 583. Anger in the House of Commons spilled over, resulting in a sitting being temporarily suspended by the Speaker to allow tempers to cool.

Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath stated that he ‘deeply deplored’ the level of unemployment, while Employment Secretary Robert Carr promised to ‘wage all-out war’ against the problems of inflation and boom-bust economics that had contributed to the jobless total. Industrial restructuring across a variety of industries, including British Steel and the Port of London Authority, led to thousands of redundancies which also contributed to the overall figures.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Anthony Barber, proposed major tax cuts in the budget and the setting up of an Industrial Development Executive to inject millions of pounds into new industrial projects. He told the Commons that his budget would add 10% to the UK’s growth in two years, and in a move that probably made future Thatcherites foam at the mouth, dismissed concerns about his forecast £3.4bn public sector borrowing requirement.

But things didn’t go according to plan; Inflation soon spiked, and within months the Chancellor was forced to take deflationary measures, including a pay freeze that led to a major confrontation with the miners. The government’s dreams of pay restraint were soon in tatters, submitting to the miners’ demands leading to a pay rise of 35%(!). The actions of both Government and National Union of Mineworkers would have major implications for the coal industry, the trade union movement, and society as a whole, a decade later.

By 1982, the Tories were back in power (Heath lost 2 elections in 1974, resulting in 6 years of Labour government, under Wilson and Callaghan), but this time under Margaret Thatcher there was a remarkably similar economic benchmark set, only it was much worse.

The BBC reported;

“…The number of people out of work in Britain has risen above three million for the first time since the 1930s. The official jobless total, announced today, is 3,070,621. It means one in eight people is out of work

Rates of unemployment vary across the country - in Northern Ireland it is nearly 20% and 15 or 16% in most parts of Scotland the North East and North West - only in the South East does it drop below 10%.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was given a rough ride when she tried to defend the government’s record on employment in the Commons this afternoon.

Mrs Thatcher was frequently heckled as she insisted there were ‘encouraging signs’ the economy was improving. The Speaker was forced to intervene and call for order…”

It was ironic that one of the Tory campaign platforms for the 1979 general election was ‘Labour isn’t Working’.

Sources; BBC reporting, BBC On This Day