The Continental

           Taxi Driver (1976) is an amazing movie that captures the spirit of New York City in the 1970s. It was gritty, dirty, and was the urban equivalent of being ambushed in the jungles of Vietnam. Or, maybe not, I don't know. But that sounds better for the story, you know? Not only does the movie depict the environment perfectly, but the main character, Travis, played by Robert de Niro, is a complex character who illustrates what it means to have no meaning in your life even with everything the city has to offer.          Travis is a mentally disturbed ex-Marine who now finds himself bored in New York City, so he becomes a taxi driver. Travis is shown to be a highly detailed person who wants to work long hours as he quickly runs out of things to do. The X rated theaters, the various people he would never fit in with, the late nights, nothing particularly interested him. One thing is very clear to Travis, though.  The city ...

         I love Joan Jett, black leather jackets, 1970s punk, and greaser style. Light of Day appeared to be about Joan Jett playing a character who was basically herself in a struggling rock band with her brother played by Michael J. Fox. Fun, right? Not at all.  I did not expect the film to be so touching and focus a lot on their relationship with their good Christian mother. I was blown away at how accurate it was for Joan’s character, a single mom of a young boy, to be lost in her 20s. She had this psychological barrier in her mind convincing herself that her mother had placed it there to follow a strict cadence and prevent her from experiencing the world. I guess it was not surprising for an old movie to construct meaningful relationships, but it was surprising for a rock ‘n’ roll movie with a real rockstar for the rockstar to actually depict a suffering, struggling, emotional person. Joan Jett is a really great actor, and her depth proves that her roc...