Thursday Thirteen #47: Some of MY Favorite Films of the 1980s

Thirteen of MY Favorite Films of the 1980s

After looking at various lists on which people named their favorite films of the 80s, I started to wonder if there were less than 30 movies made in that ten year span. Since I grew up in the decade of Pac-Man and parachute pants, I knew that this wasn't so.

Below (in alphabetical order) are some of my favorites from that decade. Instead of listing many of the ones that crop up constantly, I decided to dig a little deeper and focus on movies that I enjoyed but are somewhat overlooked. That's not to say that I don't enjoy some of the big movies from the 80s. However, I know that 80s cinema was more than just Big, Batman and The Breakfast Club.

In that spirit, what movies from the 80s do you feel are overlooked?

1. Bad Boys (1983)- Set primarily in a juvenile detention center, this gritty drama stars Sean Penn and Esai Morales as rival gang members sworn to kill each other. Making her film debut is Ally Sheedy as the girlfriend of Sean Penn's character. One of my favorite scenes is when Mick O'Brien (Penn) uses a pillow case filled with pop cans as a weapon against two bullying inmates.

















2. Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll (1987)- This concert documentary about arguably rock's most influential artist features an awesome lineup of stars (Keith Richards, Etta James, Bruce Springsteen, Linda Ronstadt, and Eric Clapton just to name a few) and culminates in Chuck Berry's 60th birthday concert in St. Louis, MO. One of my favorite scenes features Chuck and fellow legends Little Richard and Bo Diddley gathered around a piano reminiscing about the early days of rock and roll.

3. Clean and Sober (1988) - Made during the height of the "Just Say No" era, this movie stars Michael Keaton as a slick commercial real estate agent who enters rehab after his drug and alcohol addictions spiral out of control. The film also features Morgan Freeman as a drug counselor and M. Emmett Walsh as one of Keaton's fellow rehab patients.

Favorite line:

Richard (played by M. Emmett Walsh): I woke up one morning, and when I looked in the mirror I noticed my nose was bent over entirely onto one side of my face. So, I got a hammer, and started banging my nose back to a right angle with my face. Suddenly, I looked at myself in the mirror, hammer in hand, blood streaming down my chin, and I realized my life was no longer manageable.

4. Crossroads (1986) - This can be described as "The Karate Kid Goes To the Mississippi Delta". Macchio stars as a young blues enthusiast who learns about a supposed "lost" song by the legendary Robert Johnson. He seeks out an elderly man (Joe Seneca) who may or may not be bluesman Willie Brown and the two travel from Memphis to Mississippi. Along the way, the two pick up a hitchhiker (Jami Gertz). The movie climaxes with a guitar duel between Macchio's character and a musician (played by Steve Vai) who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his musical abilities.















5. D.C. Cab (1983) - Along with Mr. T, this comedy about a motley crew of cab drivers also features Gary Busey, Marsha Warfield (Night Court), and Bill Maher (Politically Incorrect). One of my favorite lines:

Samson (played by Mr. T): Why don't you get off the street and get a decent job?

Hooker In Mr. T's Cab: Cause I need the bread!

Samson: Then get a job at the bakery.
















6. Easy Money (1983)- This comedy features one of my all-time favorite comedians as a children's photographer who stands to inherit 10 million dollars if he can give up smoking, drinking, and gambling for a year. One of my favorite lines:

Monty (Rodney Dangerfield): My mother-in-law, for years I wouldn't kiss her face; I end up kissing her ass.
















7. The Hollywood Knights (1980)- Set on Halloween night in 1965, I think of this movie as a cross between "American Grafitti" and "Animal House". It centers around the activities of a car club that regularly menaces Beverly Hills socialites, the local high school, and two bumbling police officers. The movie stars Robert Wuhl (whose character has one of the all-time great names, Newbomb Turk) and Fran Drescher. Don't let the coverbox fool you. Although Tony Danza and Michelle Pfeiffer have somewhat pivotal roles, their screen time is relatively small.
















8. The Hollywood Shuffle (1987)- A hilarious satire of Hollywood's sterotyping of Blacks in both films and TV, this movie stars Robert Townsend, Anne-Marie Johnson, Keenan Ivory Wayans, and John Witherspoon. One of my favorite scenes is a fantasy sequence featuring Townsend as a private eye on the trail of a villain known as "Jheri Curl".
















9. House of Games (1987)- Nothing is what it seems in this modern classic starring Lindsay Crouse as a psychiatrist/author who gets tangled up with a con man (Joe Mantegna).

Favorite line:

George: Where is this guy from?

Mike (played by Mantegna): I'm from the United States of kiss my ass!
















10. Krush Groove (1985)- Based loosely on the early days of the Def Jam record label, this movie stars Sheila E., Blair Underwood, and many stars from the early days of rap (Run DMC, Kurtis Blow, The Fat Boys, etc.). One of my favorite scenes is when LL Cool J performs "I Can't Live Without My Radio" during an audition.

















11. Little Darlings (1980)- During summer camp, a rich kid (Tatum O'Neal) and a girl from the wrong side of the tracks (Kristy McNichol) compete to see which one of them will be the first to lose their virginity. Among the summer campers is Sex and the City's Cynthia Nixon (in her film debut) as a flower child named Sunshine. The producers of "The Facts of Life" saw "Little Darlings" and liked the rich girl/poor girl dynamic between Tatum's and Kristy's characters. As a result, they created the character of Jo Polniaczek as a rival for Blair Warner.

















12. Lost Angels (1989)- Starring Adam Horowitz (aka Ad Rock of The Beastie Boys) as a troubled rich kid who is sent to a private psychiatric hospital to straighten out his problems. I wish that Horowitz had done more acting because he was damn good in the lead role. Favorite line:

Tim (played by Horowitz): Barry, you got the rest of your life to be an asshole. Why don't you take the day off?
















13. A Soldier's Story (1984)- Set in the South during WW II, this Norman Jewison murder mystery about racial tensions is similar to one of Jewison's earlier films (In the Heat of the Night). I also liken this film to movies like "American Grafitti" and "Fast Times At Ridgemont High". Not because of its tone, but because it also featured actors early in their careers who went on to bigger and better things. Among the cast are Howard E. Rollins (the TV version of In the Heat of the Night), David Allen Grier (In Living Color), William Allen Young (Moesha), Robert Townsend, and a young actor named Denzel Washington.

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