I know I recently spent nearly two months writing about the movies of 2025, but please indulge me for one more week of film talk.
Unlike most years, which see forgettable movies dumped in the first quarter, 2026 has started off with a bang. I wanted to write a bit about the best start to a movie year in recent memory and throw out some other odds and ends while I’m at it.
I’ll start with a look back at a truly great Oscars ceremony (not the show itself, which was decent, but the results).
The week of March 29, 1986, found two very 80s hits atop the Billboard Hot 100 in Falco’s ‘Rock Me Amadeus‘ and Heart’s ‘These Dreams,’ both of which have already been featured on the blog.
Just behind those tracks that week was R&B band Atlantic Starr’s hit ‘Secret Lovers,’ which peaked at #3. It’s a sign of my lifelong blindspot for R&B music that I can confidently say I’ve never heard this song before.
Throwing back to the week of March 28, 1976, we find Jonnie Taylor atop the Billboard Hot 100 with the sultry funk ballad ‘Disco Lady.’
This song spent a full month at #1 on its way to being named the #3 song of all 1976. It has the distinction of being the first single designated Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
The final three 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees come in the Musical Excellence category, which is reserved for lesser-known talents who have little chance of making it in via a ballot. These entrants are inducted into the Hall by a special committee.
This year’s Musical Excellence additions are Carol Kaye, Nicky Hopkins, and Thom Bell. And if those names are new to you, that’s why they made it in this way.
Warren Zevon is the final 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee who made it in via the traditional balloting process (more on the rest tomorrow).
Zevon is best known (to me, anyway) as the writer/performer of the excellent ‘Werewolves of London.’ It’s hard for me to hear this song without picturing Tom Cruise peacocking around a pool table in Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money.
Meet Me In Montauk 