Unk's Favorite Stranger Things

Howdy, I'm taking a cue from my old pal Mickster and sharing some of my own STRANGER THINGS favorite things. If you're sick of hearing about STRANGER THINGS, write a letter to your local Congressman and demand better TV shows so that this one doesn't stand out like a beautiful neon sore thumb anymore!

Winona Ryder
I admit that I fell out of love with WINONA somewhere along the line (the day I saw ALIEN RESURRECTION) but we made up eventually (the day I saw BLACK SWAN). Most tend to think of her excellent turns in HEATHERS and BEETLEJUICE when they fawn over her but seeing her hanging around a makeshift fort in STRANGER THINGS reminded me how much territory WELCOME HOME ROXY CARMICHAEAL owns in my heart. Well let it be known that WINONA tops all of her previous gigs and then some in STRANGER THINGS, she brings it full throttle in every scene. She's so exemplary at expressing rage and profound pain at the same time and I think this series makes it obvious that she's just getting started. If I were JOHNNY DEPP, I'd change my tattoo back to "Winona Forever" as soon as possible.

The Score
Thanks to flicks like DRIVE and IT FOLLOWS, synth scores are all the rage but rarely has a latter day synth score fit so perfectly within the context of a story as the chilling beats that pulsate in STRANGER THINGS. You can thank Austin band "Survive" for STRANGER's hypnotic CARPENTER crashing into MORODER awesomeness. Hey, the hairs on my arms are standing up just thinking about it!

The Songs
I know THE BANGLES' cover of "Hazy Shade of Winter" didn't come out until 1985 but it plays over the closing credits and credits don't take place in any specific time so that's OK right? I think so. Anyway life is more enjoyable when you don't sweat anachronisms too much. For the most part ST's selection of songs is pretty spot on and my ears just can't say no to THE CLASH, MODERN ENGLISH and ECHO AND THE BUNNYMAN. Oh and TOTO's "Africa", only a slobbering goon would not dig that tune. There's an official STRANGER THINGS playlist on SPOTIFTY, so check it out!

The Font
Oh geez, for years I've been searching for the STRANGER THINGS title font which I used to find on just about every horror paperback I read back in my youth. I was even thinking of going on Facebook and asking if anyone knew it but I chickened out because I was too scared of being left hanging. Thanks to STRANGER THINGS all I had to do was Google to find out I was one of many wondering the same thing! Turns out it's called ITC BENGUIAT and yes, I've downloaded it for future use.

Ben and Nicole
I, like many, fell head over heals in fascination with Barb and how could you not? But there are two other characters that also lodged themselves in my brain that I found myself wanting more of. Let's hear it for Ben the bearded bear who worked at the diner and gave Eleven french fries and is therefore a true unsung hero! I feel like if he was cast on FARGO he would have hung around much longer. And what about Nicole, the tattling ginger photographer? She didn't have many lines but she made sure to make every facial expression count while glaring and smirking from the background. We need so much more of her in Season Two!