i heart jake ryan or mindi makes a big old list of her favorite 80's flicks

80's movies are a passion of mine--

i wanted to make a list of my favorites and spent entirely too many hours compiling this.  like a ridiculous amount and i spent way too long on this list.  but sometimes it's important to get things right.  so i'm sure the world will appreciate that i've put this out into the universe. 

i actually made a list of 15 essential 80's flicks--the following were honorable mentions and OMG i put a lot of time and effort and research into this.  wtf but i'm hoping i will be glad one day?

dirty dancing-patrick swayze takes baby out of the corner all the while wearing tight levis and better hair than i ever had or hoped to have

outsiders--loved loved LOVED tommy howell and since he was mormon, too, we were going to be married in the st. george temple as soon as i turned 16

can't buy me love--hope for the ronald millers everywhere that the dork CAN get the girl with the convertible cabriolet and the spiral perm (hello amy!)

girls just wanna have fun--love sara jessica parker and shannon doherty before she turned to the dark side--who is ever gonna forget "slow slow quick quick slow"?

less than zero--kinda naughty and mature theme, but robert downey jr, andrew mccarthy and jami gertz all living rich-kid, decadent lives in california? like a drug in itself.

movie message-- drugs:BAD 

platoon--charlie sheen's finest moment and the first serious, scary movie that spoke to me.  i bought a ticket to a pg movie and snuck into this with my friend tammy.  

lost boys--what's not to love about vampires and the two coreys? paving the way for future edwards and bellas but more importantly it had some killer pre-emo songs on the soundtrack.

she's having a baby--great soundtrack and kevin bacon's in laws with the mining helmets with the lights? priceless. this movie introduced russ and i to the song "this woman's work" by kate bush.  it was a touching movie scene and a tender song to both of us in our relationship.

working girl--harrison ford and melanie griffith and love that the good girl gets the highrise office in the end. i must have watched this movie 10 different times and i loved melanie griffith in it.

top gun--tom cruise +kelly mcgillis+blue light+berlin=box office gold



so with no further ado let's get right down to brass tacks:

15. when harry met sally--meg ryan was adorable in this and i wanted her wardrobe, with all those cute, high-waisted, belted jeans-- BAD. never really liked billy crystal all that much until i saw this movie, then thought he ruled

14. cocktail--total beefcake fest, shameless cheesy 80's flick, but i am here to tell you that tom cruise never looked this good on screen again, EVER.  plus that romance down in jamaica is the main reason russ and i went there on our honeymoon.  i fantasized about dancing sexy with russ in a nightclub like tom and elizabeth but it's hard to do when you are 21 year old mormons and scared of being shanked.  or being offered cocaine in downtown montego bay.  DAMMIT RUSS WHY DIDN'T WE AT LEAST SEE WHAT HE HAD TO OFFER

13. summer school--mark harmon and all of his high school misfits was a classic and i liked kirstie alley before she got all fat and jenny craigish.  also i thought mark harmon never looked better than in this movie.

12. footloose--i remember seeing this up at the old movies on the hill and coming out with such a huge crush on kevin bacon-- was there any teenager in america who didn't have that movie soundtrack? plus who doesn't wanna see kevin bacon doing gymnastics in an abandoned warehouse? shirtless?
11. dangerous liaisons--okay, L-O-V-E-D this one--any movie that can make john malkovich seem like the sexiest man alive deserves mad props and russ and i had a particular fondness for this one.  i remember renting it with him from main street video.

10. weird science--i seriously dig anthony michael hall and he killed it in this flick--bill paxton was brilliant as chet--way ahead of his time. and who doesn't wanna hear kelly lebrock say a line like, "its a party--you know, sex, drugs, rock and roll....chips, dips, chains, whips....."

9. flamingo kid--we watched this over and over the summer of 1984 when my friend chris was house-sitting for an old couple in her ward. great time-period film and i want janet jones's body when i die and go to heaven--seriously


8. better off dead-- "four weeks. 28 papers. TWO DOLLARS." i wanna keep john cusack in a box under my bed.


7. some kind of wonderful--listened to this soundtrack all summer long at the leishman's pool. loved that the friend that was the girl that got the guy--of course, that's never gonna happen in real life, but one can dream....

6. ferris bueller's day off--matthew broderick is a ROCK STAR in this film and it was john hughes at his best-- loved the name sloane and wanted to wear walking shorts and boots and look as contempo casual cool as she did. principal edward rooney was my absolute fav (when ferris is posing as sloane's dad and kisses her passionately) "so THAT's how it is in their family......"

5. say anything--okay, what girl does not remember the scene where lloyd dobler is holding up the boom box and peter gabriel's "in your eyes" is blasting away....it's like porn for teenage girls. "i don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. i don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. you know, as a career, i don't want to do that." "kickboxing: the sport of the future."


4. valley girl--oh, be still my heart. "man, he's just like tripendicular, ya know?!" my friends rachel and sara and i must have watched this about 50 times--which is alot when you rent it from rent-a-video at $1.99 a pop--its like romeo and juliet with "like, gag me with a spoon" thrown in, plus it has nicolas cage before he got all weird and freaky and this movie itroduced me to modern english's i melt with you.  sigh.

3. sixteen candles-- "dong......dong? where is my automobile?" there is not enough room on this already way-too long entry to do this film justice. jake ryan is totally dreamy and molly ringwald was the girl we all wanted to be--plus that scene at the end with the birthday cake and them sitting on the table and the thompson twins "if you were here" playing in the background? again, i give you porn for teenage girls.

2. pretty in pink--kick ass soundtrack, molly ringwald, andrew mcarthy, and a dude named duckie. "blaine? BLAINE? that's not a name, its a major appliance!" james spader was all that as the bad dude--he had playing total d-bags down to a fine artform, didn't he? which made me dig him even more. plus john cryer singing and dancing to "try a little tenderness" was an iconic scene.


1. was it even a question? breakfast club--this movie was monumental for me in many ways--first "r" rated film i ever saw (sorry lana) and this movie for me is the one that i could still watch repeatedly and never get sick of the dialogue. "does barry manilow know you raid his wardrobe?" out of all the characters i loved bender best--could judd nelson be any cooler? and that part where they crank up the stereo and dance is timeless--many a time have i had to pull out my "molly ringwald dance" to show my sweet moves. there has never, ever been a better movie made about teen angst. period. the end.