Vision Quest, 1985
By Alexi Lalas At 15, wrestling was not my thing. Singlets and those lace-up shoes that looked like ballet shoes seemed like a silly way to spend two hours of my then-still-short life. However, pretty girls and rock music were an easy sell. Definitely worth $6.50 at the Showcase Cinemas in Pontiac, Michigan, a few miles from where I grew up. But Vision Quest, even two and a half decades later, is about a lot more than pretty girls and...
Extreme Makeovers: 80s Style
by Julie Anderson Who doesn’t love a dramatic, life-altering makeover? From these awesome 80s makeovers, we learned that we didn’t have to, like, learn stuff and change on the INSIDE. Changing our APPEARANCE was the only requirement for a huge burst of personal improvement. Turns out that a crimping iron, lots of Maybelline makeup, and the removal of a layer of clothing or two were really all it took to go from drab to...
Dirty Dancing, 1987
Want to make a grown woman melt? Mention this movie. It works on so many levels: as an allegory about growing up, as a song and dance movie, as a love story. And Patrick Swayze as Johnny? All muscle and sparkling eyes and tough-but-tender sneer? Say it with me: “Nobody puts Baby in a corner!” This 1987 film follows Frances “Baby” Houseman (Jennifer Grey) during a pivotal summer in the 1960s. Baby and her family go to the Catskills for...
Top Gun (1986)
Tom Cruise in top form. There’s really no other way to say it. This 1986 movie is a bright, beautifully shot story about Maverick (Cruise), a pilot whose father’s legacy weighs heavily on him. Maverick’s father, also a pilot, was killed in combat along with other men. Many of his fellow pilots still think it was his fault. Once Maverick is recruited to join the Top Gun Naval Flying School, his fellow pilots won’t let his father’s past...
Terms of Endearment, 1983
This film just may be the ultimate tear-jerker, even nearly thirty years after it was released. There have been other films with sad endings—plenty of them—but the secret to this film’s power just might be its perfect portrayal of messy reality. The film follows Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine, who won an Oscar for the role) and her daughter, Emma (Debra Winger) throughout a three-decade span. That’s pretty much Emma’s whole...
