Today is very special, and not just because we’re witnessing a total solar eclipse (more on that in a minute). Today—April 8, for my calendar-heads—is one of the greatest pop culture holidays: It’s Rex Manning Day.
If you haven’t seen Empire Records, this day means nothing to you. It’s just another stupid Monday with stupid responsibilities, with the added threat of Tax Day lurking like a capitalist bridge troll (we shall summon the fees paid previously, but first you must answer these security questions three). Released in 1995, Empire Records is a cultural touchstone for many a wizened elder millennial, and it’s the reason for Rex Manning Day.
Mostly a comedy (with brief, cathartic interludes of mania), the film is set at the eponymous indie record store and unfolds over the course of one stressful day in the lives of the young employees: Corey (Liv Tyler), an Adderall-addled perfectionist; Gina (Renee Zellweger, pre-Jerry Maguire), her insecure and promiscuous BFF; Lucas (Rory Cochrane), a pseudo-intellectual weirdo; A.J. (Johnny Whitworth), an art school soft boy who’s in love with Corey; Debra (Robin Tunney), a mentally ill alt-girl; and Mark (Ethan Embry), a metalhead stoner. They’re a scrappy assortment of Lost Boys, all working under the care of store manager and cool adult Joe (Anthony LaPaglia, who has indeed never looked cooler). In addition to various interpersonal conflicts, the employees have to deal with a pair of major problems on the same day: a looming corporate takeover and the arrival of Rex Manning (Maxwell Caulfield of Grease 2), a washed-up ’80s teen idol who’s appearing at an in-store event known among the staff as Rex Manning Day.
Rex Manning Day falls on April 8—a date that, according to Ethan Embry, was chosen by the Empire Records crew because that’s the day that Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was found dead and “the day the music of the 90s lost its mascot.”
Almost no one at Empire Records is thrilled about Rex Manning Day, except Corey, who stays up all night baking special cupcakes for the occasion and has envisioned an ideal scenario in which she, a high school senior, will have sexual intercourse for the very first time—with a man in his forties. Because this is 1995, Corey’s friends are more concerned with her sleeping with a has-been loser than they are with her being taken advantage of by an older man. Don’t worry—Corey doesn’t have sex with Rex Manning. She realizes he’s a sleaze-bucket and runs away in a very angsty scene set to The Cranberries’ “How.”
That’s the other thing about Empire Records, for the uninitiated: it has a killer soundtrack. Gin Blossoms, Better Than Ezra, The The, Gwar, Sponge, Daniel Johnson—even Renee Zellweger sings during a live performance to save Empire Records from Music Town’s hostile corporate takeover. And she’s good!
It’s never too late to start celebrating Rex Manning Day by watching Empire Records, which is currently streaming on Hulu and Paramount+ With Showtime. With cloudy skies obscuring most views of the eclipse, you might as well watch something. Also, according to a meme I saw in passing, it will be 307 years before Rex Manning Day and the eclipse fall on the same day again.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
