Saturday with the Stars: Lights, Camera, ACTION!

They're back!  Yes, my friends, after much debate (and after taking much of the past year off), I have decided to officially bring back another season of Saturdays with the Stars, our seventh, in 2026.  For those who don't know, we have for much of the past 7 years had a monthly actor we devote time to on this blog, someone whose career we profile, talking about films I have not seen of theirs, and feeding into a larger theme.  In past seasons we have looked at Hollywood Sex Symbols, Alfred Hitchcock's Leading Ladies, Major Western Stars, and for the past two years looked at America's Sweethearts.  I took a few months earlier this year to devote more time to myself, but I feel like I can commit to another season, both because I love this series and because I miss talking about movies consistently on this blog.  And so for the 7th season, we're going to come in with a blast...literally.

More than any other genre, action films have been ones I've had a complicated relationship with.  Growing up, while other boys my age were playing cops-and-robbers and being blown away by the latest flick of a Jean-Claude van Damne or Arnold Schwarzenegger, I was falling in love with classic movie romances, mystery pictures, and musicals (I was gay).  Action films didn't really enter my consciousness as a genre to fall for until my thirties, and required me doing quite a bit of catchup.  This is partially because most action films were not really a thing until New Hollywood.  As we'll find out, action films existed in Classical Hollywood, but by-and-large they came into more common prominence in the 1960's & 70's, hitting their peak in the 1980's as big muscles equaled huge box office, and most of the leading men most associated with that decade had stints in action pictures.

This means this season that we'll break a couple of norms for Saturdays with the Stars.  While we have gotten into the latter half of the 20th (and even, during America's Sweethearts, the 21st) Century, we've never had a season that focuses on that time frame.  But this year we will.  While we'll hit at least a couple of stars in the first few months of 2026 that were staples of the Classical Hollywood era, we will move into New Hollywood, and for the back-half of the year, give up on our comfort-zone on this blog entirely, talking about the Blockbuster Era (even discussing a couple of actors who have been featured in *gasp* some superhero movies, the current goldmine for the action genre).  Our focus will primarily be on men, only the second time we've done that (but we will sneak a woman in as well), and we'll discuss major action franchises, some of whom I'll be watching for the first time (and some, keeping with the theme of only profiling unseen movies, we'll be filling in the gaps on).  So starting in January, I invite you to bring the popcorn and sit at the edge of your seats, because the Many Ranting of John is bringing the Lights, Camera, and ACTION!