TheArchive: Reviewing the Rare, Retro, and Restored

Norma Jean Baker may need an introduction but Marilyn need not. The life of Marilyn Monroe has left so many stones yet to be overturned. And in just the few decades she was on the planet, more content, drama, and speculation has been conjured than could fill the annals of history.  Since we still have so much to learn, and the collective world has told us they have not grown weary of that learning, we wanted to celebrate this undeniable iconoclast’s birthday with some of our favorites from TheArchive . We start with Blonde , because it’s sexy, timeless, and has an amazing cast including Poppy Montgomery as Marilyn, Patricia Richardson, Patrick Dempsey, Wallace Shawn, Griffin Dunne, Emily Browning, Jensen Ackles, Ann-Margret, and Kirstie Alley. While Netflix has the Brad Pitt produced version starring the impossibly gorgeous Ana de Armas coming soon, TheArchive has our’s ready to stream free now on Roku . This mini-series mixes a fictional interpretation of Marilyn Monroe with actu...

Imagine Putin test-driving a Tesla gifted by the American people, with Trump riding shotgun!   What does an American President do when he knows his days are numbered?   One President indeed stepped down due to overwhelming pressure, the infamous Richard Milhouse Nixon, after some ridiculous stunts and justifications. One of the best made movies on Nixon is ‘ The Final Days ’ (1989) which premiered on ABC, with over 2.5 hours of live action mixed with archival footage, it captures all the details of Woodward and Bernstein’s best-selling book on the Watergate scandal.   Featuring a riveting performance from Lane Smith as Nixon, alongside legendary actors Richard Kiley, David Ogden Stiers, and Gary Sinise, we see the how Nixon and his staff navigate the intense scrutiny of his administration and the risky moves they made to extend his Presidency.   Under Nixon’s direction to ‘preserve the integrity of the Presidency’ and to ‘ensure national security,...

Actor, author, and activist Michael J. Fox spent the 1980s playing a teen protagonist in massive TV series and movies, but he had a string of early roles that helped shape his future, including the role of Jay-Jay in the movie High School USA (1983).   This zany NBC pilot turned back-door M-O-W, is now on TheArchive , and features a who’s-who of TV stars like Todd Bridges, Dana Plato, Tony Dow, Ken Osmond, Bob Denver, and Dawn Wells, who unfortunately just passed away from Covid, to name a few; let’s just say the creators loved Gilligan’s Island, Diff’rent Strokes and Leave it to Beaver.  Other well-known actors rounded off this cast, including an uncredited Brad Pitt as a bumbling library nerd, but the highlights of this lovable American school title are the scenes with Crispin Glover, Nancy Mckeon and Anthony Edwards, with Edwards flexing his nerd-to-cool acting range just before starring in Revenge of the Nerds, Gotcha!, Top Gun and many other huge films and series li...