80s

The NeverEnding Story

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The NeverEnding Story. Warner Brothers 1984.

Before watching the movie:

I don’t really feel like watching this movie, but nothing else I had lined up interested me either. This one at least is fantasy, which can tie into the Harry Potter release, which I’m staying home from in order to blog. (Also because I’m broke.)

What I know about this movie is that it’s an 80s fantasy, obviously. Also apparently a kid finds a book that writes itself as he reads it, and then he goes inside the book and participates in the story, and learns a lesson about self-esteem that in the film version he didn’t need because he wasn’t a fat loser like in the book the film is based on.

People consider this movie an inspiration. I’m hoping it will prove them right, but I’m not a big fan of 80s fantasies, or 80s feel-good movies. Why am I watching this again?

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A Nightmare on Elm Street

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A Nightmare on Elm Street. New Line Cinema 1984.

Before watching the movie:

I don’t necessarily favor special holiday editions of everything. In fact, I avoided doing anything special for Christmas and New Year’s last year. This Halloween, I’m in the mood to catch up on some horror classics (but only the classics), which happen to be ripe YM fodder in that they’re old and they’re fresh to me.

“Nightmare” is the earliest horror movies to attract my attention. Dreams, telepathy, and pushing the limits of the mind has always been an interest of mine. A psycho who kills by entering your dreams is one of the scariest fantasies I can think of, forget the fingerblades.

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The Breakfast Club

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The Breakfast Club. Universal Pictures 1985.

Before watching the movie:

Wow. I know absolutely nothing about this movie, even though it’s one everyone knows about. I know that it’s from the 80s, contemporary, and set in a high school. I think  it’s a musical, or at least has a popular soundtrack of pop songs.  I know literally nothing else. It was a big surprise to me that it was rated R.

I have a very simple question to answer this week: Why does everyone love this movie but not talk about it?

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Die Hard

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Die Hard. 20th Century Fox 1988.

Before watching the movie:

I feel like I know so much about this film/franchise, but as I sit down to write, I realize I know hardly anything. I think this is the one with Alan Rickman as the bad guy, there’s a big logical flaw with the bad guys’ plot, and Bruce Willis’s catchphrase is R-rated.

I’ve been told this is a Christmas tradition for some people. Even if it does go down at an office Christmas party, the connection seems tenuous. On the other hand, it’s a better connection than Hoosiers has, and I know certain TV stations would leave that one on loop over Christmas so they could go see their families.

Some surprises even before I begin: I didn’t realize it was this old (I thought it was early-to-mid 90s), and Willis is doing action and not shaving his head. He looks like Nicholas Cage like that.

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Popeye

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Popeye. Paramount/Disney 1980.

Before watching the movie:

Popeye, cartoon legend. Robin Williams, cartoonish legend. Still, while nobody does “animated” like Williams, he’d hardly be my first choice for the salty, mumbling strong man of the sea, especially at the peak of his cocaine-addled supersonic phase.

On the one hand, this was around the time he was doing Mork and Mindy, so arguably the funniest part of his career. On the other, Mork is very different from the Popeye I know. I don’t doubt he can do the character, I’m interested in seeing how he keeps it up in a film I think I’ve heard described as “surprisingly bleak.”

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The Cannonball Run

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The Cannonball Run. Golden Harvest Company 1981.

Before Watching the movie:

Everything I know about this film comes from the back of the box. I’d heard the title and was probably vaguely aware it was about cars and driving somehow, but nobody ever talked about it, just of it. I guess it will be fun. It will definitely be filled with another era’s popular stars, most of whom I don’t directly care about.

I found it on the shelf and thought I’d watch it based on its apparent popularity, but I’m not especially looking forward to a long, confusing ensemble road movie.

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Blade Runner

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Blade Runner. The Ladd Company, 1982 (2007 recut)

Before watching the movie:

Few movies have such radical differences between the theatrical version and the Director’s cut. In fact, the only one I can think of that comes close is Star Trek: The Motion Picture. In order to split the difference, the version I’m watching is “The Final Cut (2007). It’s probably the same in intent to the Director’s Cut, but I believe in putting the director’s intent on the screen, so I chose the latest version for the same reason I prefer widescreen over fullscreen.

Anyway, I read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and I’m expecting to see a familiar element here and there in a completely repainted world.

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Big

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Big. Gracie Films/20th Century Fox 1988.

Before watching the movie:

Once again, an 80s classic with an iconic scene.  Another fantasy comedy. Recommended by the Zeitgeist and provided by a browse through the local library.

I expect to like this film, so I’ll probably be slightly disappointed. I’m not sure if I’ve seen any of Tom Hanks’s early comedy roles before, but even knowing about them, I wouldn’t have necessarily picked him for a story about a kid in a grown man’s body. It reminds me a little of Forrest Gump, but without the depth.

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Who’s Harry Crumb?

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Who's Harry Crumb? Frostbacks/NBC Productions 1989

Before watching the movie:

One thing I love about browsing for movies, especially from online streaming sites, is the ability it gives me to find films I know absolutely nothing about. I’m used to watching movies that I already know many details from because of trailers or various online sources. Who’s Harry Crumb? is a movie I found in a streaming service’s collection that I’ve never heard of. It stars John Candy, who is apparently a bumbling detective. It sounds madcap and slapstick, so this should be pretty fun.

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The Blues Brothers

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The Blues Brothers. Universal Pictures 1980.

Before watching the movie:

Somehow, this movie started as a Saturday Night Live routine. Now it’s a cult classic slightly more mainstream than Wayne’s World. Why? I haven’t a clue. That’s why I watch these movies.

It has Dan Akroyd and John Belushi (or as I know him, Jim Belushi’s father). Apparently they wear cool suits, and they play Blues, though their family name actually is Blues. This routine lasts two and a half hours (though apparently I have the extended version).

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