On this day in movie history - Cinema Paradiso (1988):

Cinema Paradiso

directed by Giuseppe Tornatore,

written by Giuseppe Tornatore, Vanna Paoli,

based on a story by Giuseppe Tornatore,

released at the Bari International Film Festival, a.k.a. Bari EuropaCinema Festival, in Italy on September 29, 1988.

Music by Ennio Morricone.

Cast:

Antonella Attili, Enzo Cannavale, Isa Danieli, Leo Gullotta, Marco Leonardi, Pupella May, Agnes Dwarf, Leopoldo Trieste, Salvatore Cascio, Tano Cimarosa, Nicola Di Pinto, Roberta Lena, Nino Terzo, Jacques Perrin, Brigitte Fossey, Philippe Noiret, Nellina Laganà, Turi Giuffrida, Mariella Lo Giudice, Giorgio Libassi, Beatrice Palme, Ignazio Pappalardo, Angela Leontini, Mimmo Mignemi, Margherita Mignemi, Giuseppe Pellegrino, Turi Killer, Angelo Tosto, Concetta Borpagano, Franco Catalano, Giuseppe Tornatore.

On this day in movie history - Dead Ringers (1988):

Dead Ringers

directed by David Cronenberg,

written by David Cronenberg and Norman Snider,

was released in the United States on September 23, 1988.
Based on the novel Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland,

inspired by the true story of the identical twin gynecologists Stewart and Cyril Marcus (June 2, 1930 – July 1975).
Music by Howard Shore.

“Oh, doctor … you’ve cured me!”

– Geneviève Bujold, as Claire.

Cast:

Jeremy Irons, Geneviève Bujold, Heidi von Palleske, Barbara Gordon, Shirley Douglas, Stephen Lack, Nick Nichols, Lynne Cormack, Damir Andrei, Miriam Newhouse, David Hughes, Richard W. Farrell, Warren Davis, Jonathan Haley, Nicholas Haley, Marsha Moreau, Denis Akiyama, Dee McCafferty, Susan Markle, Murray Cruchley, Jane Luk, Tita Trevisan, Jacqueline Hennessy, Jill Hennessy, David Walden, Liliane Stillwell, Denise McLeod, Bob Bainborough, Nicholas Rice, Joe Matheson, Hadley Kay, Cynthia Eastman, Nora Colpman, Rena Polley, Madeleine Atkinson, John Bayliss, Graham Evans, David Cronenberg, Alan Gough, Jordan-Patrick Marcantonio, Julian-Peter Marcantonio, Greg Van Riel.

Recommended reading - The Dime Detectives (1988):

The Dime Detectives

By Ron Goulart.

Published by Mysterious Press.

Published 1988.

First Edition.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0892961910

ISBN-13: 978-0892961917

Description:

A comprehensive history of the detective fiction pulps.

Traces the history of detective fiction pulp magazines from their origins in the nineteenth-century dime novels to their heyday in the 1920s and 1930s, profiling many pulp writers who went on to achieve greater fame.

On this day in music history:

Watermark by Enya (1988)

New Jersey by Bon Jovi (1988)

A Portrait by Cecilia Bartoli (1995)

Watermark

Album by Enya,

released September 19, 1988.

Track list: Watermark; Cursum Perficio; On Your Shore; Storms in Africa; Exile; Miss Clare Remembers; Orinoco Flow; Evening Falls...; River; The Longships; Na Laetha Geal M’óige.

New Jersey

Album by Bon Jovi,

released September 19, 1988.

Track list: Lay Your Hands on Me; Bad Medicine; Born to Be My Baby; Living in Sin; Blood on Blood; Homebound Train; Wild Is the Wind; Ride Cowboy Ride; Stick to Your Guns; I’ll Be There for You; 99 in the Shade; Love for Sale.

A Portrait

Album by Cecilia Bartoli,

released September 19, 1995.

Track list: La Clemenza Di Tito: Parto, Parto, Ma Tu, Ben Mio; Cosi Fan Tutte: Temerari!...Come Scoglio; Cosi Fan Tutte: In Nomine, In Soldati; Cosi Fan Tutte: Voi Che Sapete; Le Nozze Di Figaro: Guise Alfin Il Momento...Deh Vieni; Don Giovanni: Batti, Batti, O Bel Masetto; Conc Aria, K505: Ch’Io Mi Scordi Di Te? - Cecilia Bartoli/Andras Schiff; Se Tu M’Ami; Caro Mio Ben; Amarilli - Cecilia Bartoli/Gyorgy Fischer; La Pastorella, D528; Didone Abbandonata: Vedi Quanto Adoro Ancora Ingrato! D510 - Cecilia Bartoli/Andras Schiff; Belta Crudele - Cecilia Bartoli/Charles Spencer; Semiramide: Bel Raggio Lusinghier; Maometto II: Guisto Ciel, In Tal Periglio; La Cenerentola: Nacqui All’Affanno...Non Piu Mesta.

On this day in movie history – Freeway (1988 movie & novel):

Freeway

directed by Francis Delia,

written by Darrell Fetty and Francis Delia,

based on the novel by Deanne Barkley,

was released in the United States on September 2, 1988.
Music by Joe Delia.

Cast:

Darlanne Fluegel, James Russo, Billy Drago, Richard Belzer, Michael Callan, Joe Palese, Steve Franken, Brian Kaiser, Kenneth Tobey, Julianne Dallara, Laurie Foshay, Gloria Edwards, Deem Bristow, Toby Anderson, Kimberly Hall, Robert Lane, Jesse Shapiro, Genevieve Anderson, Ivan E. Roth, Charles Conable, Richard Chavez, Ann Shalla, Robert Harvey, Jim Wilkey, George Fisher, Tony Winters, Gene LeBell, Michael Leopard, Roy Clark, Alice Ferris, Jeff St. Joseph, Clint Howard.

Recommended reading:

Freeway

By Deanne Barkley.

Published by MacMillan.

Published 1978.

ISBN-10: 0445043857

ISBN-13: 978-0445043855

Description:

What do these people have in common? A love-starved young widow. A teen-age pair heavily into drugs. A sadistic thug who distributes his favors among clients of both sexes. A police team on the breaking point of frustration. A laid-back lady shacked up with a rock star lover. A mechanic obsessed with the bodies of cars and women. Their lifelines are the L.A. freeways – where an unknown killer is turning nights into nightmares and cars into coffins …

Recommended reading - The Mammoth Book of Private Eye Stories (1988):

The Mammoth Book of Private Eye Stories

Edited by Bill Pronzini and Martin H. Greenberg.

Published by Running Press.

First published 1988,

This revised edition published in 2004.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0786713712

ISBN-13: 978-0786713714

Description:

The very best in hardboiled fiction, from such masters as Ross Macdonald, Raymond Chandler, Marcia Muller, Michael Collins, Ed McBain, William Campbell Gault and many more.

With its roots in the American private detective fiction of the 1920s but traceable back as far as Sherlock Holmes, the private eye story remains as popular as ever. Here are 24 of the finest short novels and stories from the hardboiled world of the private eye. The characters in this collection range from the tough, cynical, hard-drinking Philip Marlowe type to hard-hitting female private eyes and the one-armed intellectual Dan Fortune – from masters of the genre past and present.

On this day in movie history - Young Guns (1988):

Young Guns

directed by Christopher Cain,

written by John Fusco,

was released in the United States on August 12, 1988.

Music by Anthony Marinelli and Brian Banks.

Cast:

Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney, Casey Siemaszko, Terence Stamp, Jack Palance, Terry O'Quinn, Sharon Thomas Cain, Geoffrey Blake, Alice Carter, Brian Keith, Thomas Callaway, Patrick Wayne, Lisa Banes, Sam Gauny, Cody Palance, Gadeek, Victor Izay, Allen Keller, Craig Erickson, Jeremy Lepard, Danny Kamin, Richela Renkun, Pat Finn-Lee, Gary Kanin, Forrest Broadley, Alan Tobin, Joey Hamlin, Loyd Lee Brown, Elena Parres, Tom Cruise, Tomas Moore, John Pattison, W. Thomas Snyder, Lee Sollenberger, Randy Travis.

On this day in movie history - The Blob (1988):

The Blob

directed by Chuck Russell,

written by Chuck Russell and Frank Darabont,

story by Irvine H. Millgate,

based on the original 1958 screenplay by Theodore Simonson and Kay Linaker,

was released in the United States on August 5, 1988.

Music by Michael Hoenig.

Cast:

Kevin Dillon, Shawnee Smith, Donovan Leitch Jr., Jeffrey DeMunn, Candy Clark, Joe Seneca, Del Close, Paul McCrane, Sharon Spelman, Beau Billingslea, Art LaFleur, Ricky Paull Goldin, Robert Axelrod, Bill Moseley, Frank Collison, Michael Kenworthy, Jack Rader, Billy Beck, Wade Mayer, Douglas Emerson, Jack Nance, Charlene Fox, Erika Eleniak, Margaret Smith, Teddy Vincent, Don Brunner II, Clayton Landey, Jacquelyn Masche, Julie McCullough, Daryl Sandy Marsh, Jamison Newlander, Judith Flanagan, Richard Anthony Crenna, Pons Maar, M. James Arnett, Peter Crombie, Rick Avery, David Weininger, Moss Porter, Noble Craig, Opelene Bartley, Portia Griffin, Jennifer Lincoln, Charlie Spradling, Kristen Aldrich, Lilli Fields, Robert Hammond, Michael Lindström, Ann Mills, Lloyd Bryan Molander, Verna Lynn Richland, Chuck Russell.

On this day in movie history - Die Hard (1988 movie & novel):

Die Hard

directed by John McTiernan,

written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza,

based on the novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp,

was released in the United States on July 22, 1988.
Music by Michael Kamen.

Cast:

Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson, Paul Gleason, De'voreaux White, William Atherton, Clarence Gilyard, Hart Bochner, James Shigeta, Bruno Doyon, Andreas Wisniewski, Joey Plewa, Lorenzo Caccialanza, Gerard Bonn, Dennis Hayden, Al Leong, Gary Roberts, Hans Buhringer, Wilhelm von Homburg, Robert Davi, Grand L. Bush, Tracy Reiner, Taylor Fry, Noah Land.

Recommended reading:

Nothing Lasts Forever

By Roderick Thorp.

Filmed as Die Hard (1988).

Published by Graymalkin Media.

First published 1979.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1935169181

ISBN-13: 978-1935169185

Description:

The pulse pounding bestseller that started it all.

Inspiration for the film Die Hard.

The greatest action film of all time. – Entertainment Weekly.

A ferocious, bloody, raging book so single-mindedly brilliant in concept and execution it should be read at a single sitting. – Los Angeles Times.

Keeps us in a state of almost unequaled suspense and excitement! – The New Yorker.

High atop a Los Angeles skyscraper, an office Christmas party turns into a deadly cage-match between a lone New York City cop and a gang of international terrorists. Every action fan knows it could only be the explosive big-screen blockbuster Die Hard. But before Bruce Willis blew away audiences as unstoppable hero John McClane, author Roderick Thorp knocked out thriller readers with the bestseller that started it all.

A dozen heavily armed terrorists have taken hostages, issued demands, and promised bloodshed – all according to plan. But they haven't counted on a death-defying, one-man cavalry with no shoes, no backup, and no intention of going down easily. As hot-headed cops swarm outside, and cold-blooded killers wield machine guns and rocket launchers inside, the stage is set for the ultimate showdown between anti-hero and uber-villains. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good fight … to the death. Ho ho ho!