Friday Five

Good heavens, is it Friday again? Already?


I spent a lot of time laying on the couch at the beginning of the week, and I spent quite a bit of time with the television. It reminded me a lot of when I was a kid and I'd be home sick from school, wrapped in blankets with the TV on. So, today's Friday Five is sort of inspired by that.





Five 80s Movies I Love


Okay, and I'm not talking about Chariots of Fire, or Gandhi or even Amadeus. Those are Oscar winning beauties, cinematic works of art. I'm talking about fluffy, cheesy movies that make you smile and cringe all at the same time. That kind of 80's movie.



1. Top Gun

It's the only movie I ever liked Tom Cruise in, and really, I liked Anthony Edwards in this more. Great action movie, nice eye candy, you could root for the good guys and feel okay about it. Goose dies, so there's some good crying, and there's a really steamy sex scene. Well, it was steamy to a twelve year old. And I still get shivers every time I hear "Take My Breath Away".






2. Pretty in Pink

This was one of the films I got to watch during my recovery. It's always been one of my favourite "brat pack" films. I was so in love with Ducky, and I could never understand how Andie liked Blaine better. He was so bland, and so easily influenced by his loser, rich friends. Ducky had character, and really great hair. And he loved Andie so much. Who wouldn't want to be loved that way? Annie Potts was also in this film, and her ever changing wardrobe was awesome.





3. Short Circuit

Steve Guttenberg was just everywhere in the 80's wasn't he? I, like millions of other girls, swooned over his everyman-ness. This was a great 80's film because it had it all: moderately hot girl (Ally Sheedy), cute nerdy science guy (Steve Guttenberg), bad racial stereotype ramped up for comedy (Fisher Stevens as an Indian???), and a talking machine. It was 80's bliss. It even spawned a catchy tune, which I had on cassette.






4. Johnny Dangerously

This film is on here because it was the first AA/A-14 film I ever got into without my parents. And I was only twelve. In Canada, Adult Accompaniment, meant that if you were under fourteen, they wouldn't let you in without a parent. Like PG-13 here in the states, but a little stricter. This would-be gangster movie is full of tasteless penis jokes and risque humour. Perfect for a twelve year old who thought she was pulling the wool over the establishment's eyes. It also features Michael Keaton, before he was Beetlejuice or Batman. The great Peter Boyle is in here as well.





5. The Breakfast Club

King of all Brat Pack films, directed by John Hughes, it's filled with enough teen angst to sink the Titanic, but still has a happy ending. Again, one of those perfect 80's films, covering every high school stereotype, to make sure that no matter who you were you could identify with someone. I wanted to Molly Ringwald, but I was more a cross between Ally Sheedy's character and Anthony Michael Hall.



Okay, so that's my five. If you weren't a child of the 1980's, feel free to substitute your decade of choice. But there are no serious films allowed here. Only good-time, fluffy, films.


As my friend Mya said last Friday, have a Bon Weekend, Y'all!