Sunday, February 15, 2009

How my brain works... AS to 80's movies

So, I've been researching materials for a potential presentation on AS for the faculty.  Primarily (filmed) documentaries focusing on teens- since we work in a middle school.  After 30 minutes of electronic surfing, I stumbled across a very promising title, "Billy the Kid."  After I am done with this thread, I'm leap frogging back to Amazon to pick up that title and to look for some of the movies I am about to mention.

Another title that popped up was "The Boy Who Could Fly."  If you are an 80's baby like, I am certain you've watched this movie.  Watching a clip on You Tube led to a flashback of all the obscure 80's films that have shaped my life.  Sure, all of the Brat Pack flicks made an impact.  And yes, "Weird Science" will always make me shoot Strawberry Quik out of my nose.  But there were other movies- movies that ran on cable, boxed VHS tapes that collected dust at our local Video Junction store that had a deeper impact on my psyche.  

My Obscure 80's top 10:
1. Canada's own "The Peanut Butter Solution"- boy loses hair when he gets spooked by ghosts of recently dead winos, uses peanut butter to grow it back, is kidnapped by evil painter and has hair harvested- the theme song still rattles around in my brain to this day- think it aired on HBO or (original version) of Nickelodeon.

2. "Anna to the Infinite"- Anna, a girl who discovers she is a clone, really freaked me out- just as scary as film #1

3. "D.A.R.Y.L."- what's up with all the robot/ cloned kids of the 80's? Love it when Daryl hacks into the ATM to get money for his baseball team (I think)

4. "The Flight of the Navigator"- don't know who liked this movie more- me or my dad

5. "The Explorers"- River Phoenix plays an excellent Teutonic nerd in this pic/ cartoonish alien steals the show at the end

6. "The Last Star Fighter"- an arcade game in a trailer park serves an intergalactic recruitment training tool

7. "The Adventures in Babysitting"- always wished this would happen whenever my parents went out

8. "Clue"- Tim Curry in a tux, not a teddy- but still fabulous 

9. "The Burbs"- Tom Hanks at his best- especially when he is eating the sardine- also my favorite Corey co-starts (Feldman) 

10. "Space Camp"- when I found a DVD version at Target last year, I screamed out loud- seriously- different Phoenix child (Leaf/ now the whacked out Joaquin) shows flashes of acting brilliance

Tell me your favorite 80's movies.  Mainstream or off-beat- from Ferris to "Frankweenie"- name it.  (Bonus points for listing "Labyrinth" and David Bowie's wardrobe in your top 5).  Alright, back to work...

Check this out the new link (on the side) if you need your memory needs jogging.