Tagged: Sneakers
When Harry Met Sally: Billy Crystal’s Field Jacket as Harry
Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
Vitals
Billy Crystal as Harry Burns, sarcastic political consultant and recent divorcée
New York City, Fall 1988
Film: When Harry Met Sally…
Release Date: July 14, 1989
Director: Rob Reiner
Costume Designer: Gloria Gresham
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Rob Reiner’s 1989 romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally is often (deservedly) included on lists compiling the greatest fall movies. As tomorrow will be the first day of autumn here, I return to my own frequent celebration of Billy Crystal’s fall wardrobe as Harry—specifically during his fateful visit to comfort Sally (Meg Ryan) at her apartment after she learns that her ex-boyfriend is getting married. Continue reading
The Sopranos: Paulie Walnuts’ Black-and-Blue Givenchy Tracksuit
Tony Sirico as “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri on The Sopranos (Episode 1.13: “I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano”)
Vitals
Tony Sirico as “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri, mob enforcer and Army veteran
New Jersey, Fall 1998
Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano” (Episode 1.13)
Air Date: April 4, 1999
Director: John Patterson
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of my closest friends recently started watching The Sopranos for the first time, and our conversations as she makes her way through the first season inspired me to revisit the signature style of my all-time favorite series. Her progress toward the season finale reminded me of one of my favorite sequences, balancing the show’s casual brutality with equally casual absurdity.
After a season spent making life difficult—and more obnoxious—for New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano, Uncle Junior’s scuzzy consigliere Mikey Palmice (Al Sapienza) finds his morning jog turned into a literal run for his life as Soprano enforcers Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico) and Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperoli) chase him through the autumnal suburban woods. Peppered with fatal 9mm rounds, Mikey isn’t the only casualty of the aftenroon as poor Paulie also comes away from the hit with a mild case of poison ivy. Continue reading
Tim Curry’s Safari Style in Congo
Tim Curry as Herkermer Homolka in Congo (1995)
Vitals
Tim Curry as Herkermer Homolka, desperate Romanian treasure-hunter
Central Africa, Fall 1994
Film: Congo
Release Date: June 9, 1995
Director: Frank Marshall
Costume Designer: Marilyn Matthews
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
After last week’s back-to-back losses of Dolly Parton and Tim Curry, my Letterboxd has been ablaze with fans rewatching 9 to 5, Clue, Steel Magnolias, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. While I’ve seen all but the latter (which seems best experienced among a knowing theater audience), I wanted to tackle my own blind spots in these legends’ filmographies… which led me to the Razzie-nominated Congo, adapted from Michael Crichton’s novel of the same name.
A characteristic survival adventure from director Frank Marshall, Congo follows an expedition led by a talking gorilla (“I know it’s not Mr. Ed”) into the Congolian rainforest in search of a communications team who disappeared near the “Lost City of Zinj”. The movie likely deserved many of its negative reviews at the time of its release, with at least some admitting its goofy camp makes it a fun watch. And with a cast that includes Laura Linney, Ernie Hudson, Joe Don Baker, Bruce Campbell, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Delroy Lindo, Joey Pants, Jimmy Buffett, and Tim Curry… of course it does.
Curry delightfully chews the scenery (and sesame cake) as Herkermer Homolka, “formerly of Romania, free from the chains of Ceaușescu, traveling the world and doing good.” This last bit of his introduction rightly comes into question until Hudson’s Errol Flynn-esque guide Monroe Kelly clarifies that “he is a Romanian and he has done a lot of good… but mostly for Mr. Homolka.” Continue reading
Robert Redford in All is Lost
Robert Redford in All is Lost (2013)
Vitals
Robert Redford as “Our Man”, a resourceful aging sailor
Indian Ocean, July 2012
Film: All Is Lost
Release Date: October 25, 2013
Director: J.C. Chandor
Costume Designer: Van Broughton Ramsey
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Robert Redford was born 90 years ago today on August 18, 1936, making this the first observance of the late actor’s birthday since his death in September 2025 at age 89. One of the prolific actor’s strongest performances from the later period of his career was J.C. Chandor’s survival-at-sea thriller All is Lost, which premiered at the 66th Cannes Film Festival in May 2013 before its wider release that October.
The 76-year-old Redford is the sole actor who appears on screen—unnamed but credited as “Our Man”, a resilient and robust mariner who was sailing solo through the Indian Ocean when a shipping container crashed into his starboard side of his CAL 39, the Virginia Jean. The collision immediately destroyed the Virginia Jean‘s power and external communications, leaving Our Man completely isolated to solve the compounding problems himself without the ability to call for assistance. “All is lost here, except for soul and body, that is, what’s left of them,” Redford’s character narrates. Continue reading
Rocky IV: The Italian Stallion’s Adidas Sweatsuit and Lamborghinis
Sylvester Stallone in Rocky IV (1985)
Vitals
Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa, two-time heavyweight world champion boxer
Philadelphia, Fall 1985
Film: Rocky IV
Release Date: November 27, 1985
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Costume Designer: Tom Bronson
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 80th birthday to Sylvester Stallone! Born July 6, 1946, the carved his own path to Hollywood success by writing and starring in Rocky as the fictional Philadelphia boxer Rocky Balboa. What started as a simple sports drama with a million-dollar budget has advanced over a half-century to $2 billion-grossing franchise of nine films and counting.
The first six films were all entirely written by Stallone who also directed four of the sequels, including Rocky IV (1985), which essentially pits Rocky as a symbol of American greatness against the cold-hearted cruelty of the Soviet Union as embodied by his deadly rival Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren).
A brief but memorable scene finds Rocky washing his pair of Lamborghinis outside his Philly mansion while his son Rocky Jr. (Rocky Krakoff) plays with the robot they gave Rocky’s brother-in-law Paulie (Burt Young) until this domestic bliss is interrupted by a phone call from Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) to discuss Drago.
Let’s continue this summer’s Car Week with a look at Rocky’s look and his Lambos! Continue reading
When Harry Met Sally: Harry’s Post-College Hoodie and Jeans
Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Vitals
Billy Crystal as Harry Burns, recent college graduate
Chicago to New York City, Spring 1977
Film: When Harry Met Sally…
Release Date: July 14, 1989
Director: Rob Reiner
Costume Designer: Gloria Gresham
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
I graduated from college fifteen years ago this week, and I’m still (slightly) younger than 40-year-old Billy Crystal was when he played recent University of Chicago graduate Harry Burns in the opening scenes of When Harry Met Sally. Directed by the late Rob Reiner (a qualifier which still hurts to say), When Harry Met Sally is considered by many—including yours truly—to be one of the best romantic comedies of all time.
Ironically scored to Louis Armstrong crooning “Our Love is Here to Stay”, the movie begins with Harry kissing a girlfriend whose name he wouldn’t even remember five years later. Amanda (Michelle Nicastro) introduces Harry to her friend Sally Albright (Meg Ryan), who has agreed to drive the stranger across the country to New York, which Sally has calculated should be “an 18-hour trip with six shifts of three hours each.” Continue reading
Tommy Lee Jones in Jackson County Jail
Tommy Lee Jones in Jackson County Jail (1976)
Vitals
Tommy Lee Jones as Coley Blake, laconic career criminal
Southwestern United States, Summer 1976
Film: Jackson County Jail
Release Date: April 11, 1976
Director: Michael Miller
Costume Designer: Cornelia McNamara
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The grindhouse cult classic Jackson County Jail was released fifty years ago today, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Yvette Mimieux, and the late Robert Carradine, who died earlier this year at age 71. While hardly the best known of any of its stars’ filmographies, Jackson County Jail developed a cult following in the decades since its 1976 release—including by director Quentin Tarantino, who screened it for his inaugural film festival in Austin.
The movie follows advertising executive Dinah Hunter (Mimieux), driving across the country to take a new job in New York after leaving her deadbeat husband back in L.A. Her troubles begin early after the hitchhiking hustler Bobby Ray (Carradine) and his pregnant, pill-popping girlfriend Lola (Nancy Noble) steal her AMC Pacer at gunpoint, leaving her stranded in the titular Jackson County—likely somewhere in the southwest, between Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah.
She seeks help from local bartender Dan Oldum (Britt Leach), but this also demolishes her luck as the creepy taxidermist Dan tries to sexually assault her… resulting in her arrest when a good ol’ boy deputy happens into the bar. Dinah is placed into a cell opposite to the taciturn Texan crook Coley Blake (Jones), who recently capped his extensive rap sheet by reportedly killing a man who caught him stealing melons. Continue reading
One Battle After Another: Leonardo DiCaprio’s Revolutionary Robe
Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another (2025)
Vitals
Leonardo DiCaprio as “Ghetto Pat” Calhoun, aka Bob Ferguson, burned-out ex-revolutionary
California, Spring 2024
Film: One Battle After Another
Release Date: September 26, 2025
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Costume Designer: Colleen Atwood
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One Battle After Another has been a 2025 awards season favorite, collecting more than a few small accolades from organizations like the BAFTAs, Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes, heading into the Academy Awards this weekend with 13 nominations including Best Picture. While it was the most expensive production of Paul Thomas Anderson’s ten released features to date, it has also quickly become the director’s highest-grossing with a box office of $209 million and counting.
(Update: Sure enough, One Battle After Another received the Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as wins for Anderson’s direction and adapted screenplay, Sean Penn’s supporting performance, editing, and the inaugural Oscar for Best Casting!)
In his seventh Oscar-nominated performance, Leonardo DiCaprio stars as “Ghetto Pat” Calhoun, a former revolutionary in an underground militant group known as the French 75, whose expertise in explosives resulted in his reputation as the “Rocket Man”. Amidst their explosive activities, Pat and his French 75 comrade Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) raise a daughter named Charlene, only for Pat forced to go on the run with Charlene after Perfidia’s perfidy sends the surviving revolutionaries sprawling.
The Pitt: Dr. Robby’s Season 1 Hoodie, Scrubs, and Seiko
Noah Wyle as Dr. Robby on The Pitt, Episode 1.01: “7:00 A.M.”
Vitals
Noah Wyle as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, emergency department attending physician
Pittsburgh, September 2025
Series: The Pitt (Season 1)
Air Dates: January 9, 2025 to April 10, 2025 (Season 1)
Creator: R. Scott Gemmill
Costume Designer: Lyn Paolo
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy The Pitt Thursday to all who tune in! Especially here in my hometown of Pittsburgh, we’ve been riding high on the success of The Pitt as it continues through its second season.
Conceived by ER creator R. Scott Gemmill and longtime star Noah Wyle as a way to retool the medical drama three decades later, the series trades the late-’90s urgency of Chicago County General for a 21st century emergency department shaped by COVID’s lingering trauma, internet-fueled health misinformation, staffing shortages, and the growing threats of gun violence. And for locals like me, the show’s Pittsburgh specificity lands with a wink, flavored by local institutions from Primanti’s to Wiener World.
The Pitt is set at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center (PTMC), a composite of Allegheny General Hospital on the North Side (which provided the hospital exteriors) and UPMC, with its unmistakable tower standing against the skyline during the opening titles and the roof-set scenes bookending the first season. The Pitt follows a grayer, steadier Wyle as Dr. Michael Robinavitch (“but everyone calls me Dr. Robby”), senior attending in the ED. Far removed from the fresh-faced John Carter, Robby is a seasoned, pragmatic, and quietly haunted leader who delegates with trust, shoulders blame, and never asks of his team what he wouldn’t do himself. Continue reading
Chuck Norris’ Safari Jacket in The Delta Force
Chuck Norris in The Delta Force (1986)
Vitals
Chuck Norris as Scott McCoy, U.S. Army Delta Force commando
Beirut, Summer 1985
Film: The Delta Force
Release Date: February 14, 1986
Director: Menahem Golan
Costume Designer: Tami Mor
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Following my latest post about air travel calamities, I’m now turning my focus to Menahem Golem’s action flick The Delta Force—released 40 years ago tomorrow on Valentine’s Day 1986. Inspired by the real-life hijacking of TWA Flight 847 the previous year, The Delta Force capitalized on Chuck Norris’ rising fame by featuring the actor as Scott McCoy, deputy commander of a U.S. Army Delta Force commando unit. Continue reading
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