Tim Salmons

From the mid-1960s and through to the early 1980s and beyond, the Hong Kong-based Shaw Brothers Studio ruled the roost when it came to martial arts cinema. Producing a number of successful films that traveled all over the world, particularly to the US, Britain, and Europe, their brand of extreme hand-to-hand combat films entertained audiences under a myriad of different titles and in various languages. Today, they’re still beloved to genre fans, particularly to those who grew up seeing these films in grindhouse cinemas or repeatedly on television.

In response to critiques from parents at the time that most cartoon shows were about superheroes perpetuating violence, Hanna-Barbera Productions decided to go in a different direction, creating a smorgasbord of charming, kooky, and colorful characters for Wacky Races. Originally intended to have a game show element wherein children watching the shows could guess the winner of each segment and possibly win prizes, the show originally aired on CBS from 1968 to 1969 on Saturday mornings, co-produced by Heatter-Quigley Productions, producer of the original Hollywood Squares. Also a take-off on the film The Great Race, the show saw the various sets of characters driving their highly quirky racing cars all over the US, running into obstacles along their way, and attempting to win the title of “World’s Wackiest Racer.”

Time travel is a subject that Hollywood has depicted many times on the big screen, particularly in recent years. But up until the mid-1980s, the most notable examples included George Pal’s The Time Machine (1960), Franklin Schaffner’s Planet of the Apes (1968), Nicholas Meyer’s Time After Time (1979), Don Taylor’s The Final Countdown (1980), and of course James Cameron’s The Terminator (1984). But few time travel films have had as great an impact on popular culture as Robert Zemeckis’ Back to the Future.

The Lady Hermit (aka Zhong kui niang zi and Female Zhong Kui) was released in Hong Kong in 1971. It was never officially released in the US but it did play with subtitles in Honolulu that same year, and in San Francisco the following year. Hiding out in a village as nothing more than a cook, Leng Tushuang (Cheng Pei-Pei) becomes the focal point for Jin Cuiping (Shih Szu), a young female martial artist seeking out the legendary “Lady Hermit” for training. Leng has reserved her feelings for Wu Changchun (Lo Lieh), a knight in the Wan An protection order, but kept them at bay. Jin has meanwhile fallen in love with Wu, but when the minions of the evil Black Demon (Wang Hseih) seek Leng out, she dons her Lady Hermit persona once again. Soon, Jin comes under her tutelage and her feelings for Wu become more apparent, much to Jin’s dismay, but all must put aside their differences if they are to defeat Black Demon and his fighters.

The work of Wes Anderson continues to garner its fans and its detractors, and has done so since his debut film in 1996, Bottle Rocket, all the way up to and including (as of this writing) his recent work, 2025’s The Phoenician Scheme. Creating worlds in which eccentric, whimsical, lovable, and sometimes unsavory characters live with a style that relies heavily upon wide angles, sweeping symmetrical camera moves, snap-zooms, and unconventional color schemes set to classic pop and rock soundtracks, Wes Anderson’s work has become a style all his own. Some critics describe him as an auteur, others as emotionally distant with a limited capacity for style. Others simply see him as a filmmaker constantly in motion, seeking out stories to tell that fit his particular mold, which is a charming and easygoing but always fascinating mode of storytelling.

During the 1980s, there was one genre that Cannon Films seemed to be nailing more than any other: action. Throughout the decade, ninja-oriented action movies were all the rage, but the cycle really began with two of the decade’s most prominent entries: Enter the Ninja and Revenge of the Ninja, later followed by Ninja III: The Domination, completing a loose trilogy. None of them had much to do with each otherwise plot-wise, but they did help launch the fledgling studio into the stratosphere before it eventually bankrupted itself into oblivion.

After the success of Enter the Ninja, Cannon Films was quick to put together another ninja-oriented action film with Revenge of the Ninja, this time featuring Sho Kosugi in the lead role and having nothing to do with the previous film narratively. Ninja III: The Domination would follow, completing a loose Ninja trilogy and further asserting Cannon’s action movie dominance during the 1980s.

Indistinguishable from the other films in the previous Ninja trilogy, Ninja III: The Domination, the third and final entry, boasts some of the wackiest decisions ever made by Cannon Films, which is saying something. Mixing in elements from Flashdance, Poltergeist, and The Exorcist, the result is one of the most unusual and unintentionally hilarious genre films of the 1980s.

During the 1980s, there was one genre that Cannon Films seemed to be nailing more than any other: action. Throughout the decade, ninja-oriented action movies were all the rage, but the cycle really began with two of the decade’s most prominent entries: Enter the Ninja and Revenge of the Ninja, later followed by Ninja III: The Domination, completing a loose trilogy. None of them had much to do with each otherwise plot-wise, but they did help launch the fledgling studio into the stratosphere before it eventually bankrupted itself into oblivion.

It’s difficult to put into words just how earth-shattering Twin Peaks was when its first season aired in the spring of 1990. There was nothing like it at the time and it inspired countless TV shows thereafter, forever cementing itself as one of broadcast TV’s most unique experiences. For its creators, David Lynch and Mark Frost, it was also a roller coaster of emotions since they were put in the awkward position of not having as much creative control as they would have wanted, particularly after the success of the first season. While Frost initially was done with Twin Peaks when the series ended, Lynch was keen on returning, longing for the freedom to explore its world in a more abstract manner. With 1992’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, he got what he wanted.