The Shining

The Shining(1980)

If you enjoy movies with good acting, it is hard to beat Jack Nicholson's performance as Jack Torrance in "The Shining." In this horror film, Nicholson gets so deep into his character that it is easy for one to actually believe that he is insane. However, if you don't enjoy a good scare from a horror movie, you are better off not watching it at all.

In this film, a man named Jack Torrance (played by Nicholson) takes a job as a caretaker for a large hotel for an entire winter. With this hotel being 40 miles away from any city, Jack and his family (a wife and a son) are completely isoltaed from society for months straight. This, in combination with his son who has a special ability called "the shining" which enables him to see things before they happen, makes the film quite distrubing on many levels, and eventually Jack, an already unstable human being, goes crazy from this isolation.

This is not the type of horror film where an anonymous slasher kills random couples in the park after dark or when the killer remains a mystery until the end, it is an original type of horror where one man, the main character, gradually loses his mind and goes over the edge. One cannot help but to think while watching it, "Wow. This man is crazy." As far as Jack's son, Danny, he brings the super-natural effect to the table which mixes in with his real human emotions, and director Stanley Kubrick nails this by showing glimpses of his "visions" which are really creepy for anyone to watch.

"The Shining" is intentionally made to make the audience feel constant uncomfort. This, however, is the true genius of the horror film, which many of horror films lack. If you call yourself a real fan of horror movies and you haven't seen this film, then you are not a real fan until you see it. Whether you like scary movies or not though, "The Shining" is one of those films that will hold your attention from start to finish (if you can make it to the finish without turning it off), as the intensity is constantly building. If you think that you can handle a frightening film but still appreciate its genius, then you must watch "The Shining" if you have not yet seen it already.

The Breakfast Club (1985)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088847/

"They were five total strangers, with nothing in common, meeting for the first time: a brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel, and a recluse. Before the day was over, they broke the rules, bared their souls, and touched each other in a way they never dreamed possible."

I must say that The Breakfast Club is the best movie of the 80's. Everything about it truly grasps what the 80's were about; a group of obnoxious and rebellious kids, killer clothing, lots of controversy, big hair and loud music. Everything about it including the plot and characters I found to be truly genius and touching at the same time. If you have not seen this movie, rent it because you are missing out on a true depiction of what the 80's phenomena is all about and you will understand why this movie is still so popular.

The Breakfast Club is the story of five students who are thrown in detention for different reasons on a Saturday morning. There is the Andy the jock, Claire the princess, Allison the basketcase, Brian the nerd, and Bender, the criminal. None of them know each other and are from different social groups, each having hatred and mixed feelings toward one another. Mr. Vernon, the principal assigns them an essay and then leaves the students unsupervised. As soon as Mr. Vernon leaves, Bender riles up the other students while mocking Brian and Andy and sexually harassing Claire. The only way to describe Allison is that she is very strange and will say whatever is on her mind. Since they are stuck in a room together for a day, they start to learn a lot about each other. They all come to realize that even though they are all different in many ways, they can still respect one another. Throughout the film we see them coming together to fight the overbearing school principal, smoking pot, and discussing their dysfunctional relationships they have with their families. By the end of the film we see that genuine connections are made with Andy and Allison coming together and Claire and Bender.

What makes The Breakfast Club such an unforgettable movie is that it represents many different types of teenagers, how they feel, and what they are going through. Everyone can relate to a character and that is what makes the film so genius. This film is not only meaningful to the 80's generation but nowadays as well because the characters and events are generational. Once you see this movie the song, "Don't You Forget About Me" will never leave your head and will forever remind you of this film. What can also not be forgotten is the pot smoking that went on in this film and how little attention that got after the film was made even during the anti-drug hysteria in the 80's.

No fan of this era can be a true fan until they have seen this film because it epitomizes the 80's!

"She kissed me! She kissed me!"

The Princess Bride (1987)

It was interesting to me when director/screenwriter Ali Selim told Dr. Cummings' class that one of his favorite movies was The Princess Bride. I vaguely remembered a fairy tale involving a Princess and her lover and of course the line, "She kissed me, She kissed me" from an old man whose identity I am still not certain of as the Prince's father is recently deceased. Upon seeing our somewhat confused expressions Selim asked, "who is the main character of that film?" I quickly said, "that one prince guy that fights a giant" and was was quickly corrected. Selim responded, "The story is about a boy and his grandfather." That storyline rang a bell and I decided to revisit the film and blog about it here.

The film is indeed about a young boy (Fred Savage, well known from the Wonder Years) and his grandfather. The film opens with the grandson bringing the boy a "special gift", but the boy is much more interested in his video games. The grandfather gets his way, as grandparents have a way of doing. The young boy quickly becomes enchanted by the love story of Westley (Cary Elwes) and Buttercup (Robin Wright Penn), but wants nothing to do with the "mooshy kissing stuff".

The story twists and turns. Inigo Montoya (Mandy Platinkin) is on quest to avenge his fathers death by the six-fingered man. He is on this voyage with Fezzik (Andre the Giant), a friendly giant, and Vizzini (Shawn Wallace), an almost carny like character that supposedly posesses great wit, but dies shortly into the film at the hand of Westley. Westley from there on out, is supposed to posess an even greater wit. Once Buttercup is taken away from Westley in the Red Swamp full of fire, quick sand, and abnormally large rodents, by the Prince Humperdinck (the name tells you everything), the quest to save her begins. Westley even comes back from the "mostly dead" to save her. In the end, Westley gets the girl, Inigo avenges his father's death, and the Fezzik is just as happy as he started out. It truly is the "fairy-tale ending."

What's interesting about the film is that if just the story of Westley and Buttercup was told without the pretense that this is a grandfather reading to his grandson, the film would have most likely flopped. It is simply too outrageous. However, the filmmakers' choice to make the fairytale a device which connects the two is what has made The Princess Bride a classic film which has so far withstood the test of time.

Mystic Pizza (1988)

Mystic Pizza takes place in Mystic, Connecticutt and tells the story of three very different girls finding themselves while working for Leona at Mystic Pizza. For all the girls' differences they have one common thread; they are all uncertain of their futures and at times, of themselves.

JoJo (Lili Taylor) is in what we assume to be a long term relationship with Tim, an average Joe who works as a fisherman. JoJo ditches him at the alter because she just can't go through with it. This however, doesn't seem to bother him or her and through rocky times, they end up together.

Kat Arujo (Annabeth Gish) is one of the two sisters that work for Leona at Mystic Pizza. In the beginning, Kat is presented as the responsible, intelligent one of the family. She has been accepted to Yale and is working both her job at the pizza parlour and as a nanny to an architect's daughter. She becomes close with the daughter; but much more close with the married father, proving that even the smartest people and make bad decisions leading to someone getting hurt. In the end, her tears are comforted by her sponaneous sister, Daisy Arujo played by Julia Roberts.

Roberts steals the show in the second film for which she is credited. Daisy Arujo is the wild girl of the three, sneaking beer into the country club and staying out playing pool with men in town. She meets Charles Gordon Windsor, Jr. (William R. Moses) on just such a night. Windsor comes from a different walk of life. He's a trust fund baby who rides around Mystic in his Porsche, which later Daisy pours barrels of fish into. The relationship is rocky, Daisy's friends warn her to be careful around such rich playboys and his family proves to be less than welcoming. The fish incident occurs after she thinks he is seeing another girl, but the girl turns out to be his sister. In the classic Hollywood ending, the two overcome the social barriers that separate them and we get the impression they will be getting back together. (Sounds a bit like Pretty Woman, eh?)

Dune 1984

Okay, so I was pretty skeptical before watching Dune. But, after the first few minutes, I was going: Holy crap what an awesome movie! I have to admit the plot is very hard to follow, but the Star-Warsesque special effects worked well. Early in the movie a couple of space warriors put on some crystal shields and do battle, and it just gets better from there. The main character Paul, played by Kyle McLauchlin, has to prove his mental powers in order to go on an intergalactic space mission and ends up fighting a huge worm like the one from Tremmors.

There's a ton of internal monologue in this film. Mostly, the characters ask themselves in their minds about Paul, "Is he the one?" I won't tell you if Paul is "the one" or not, but the odds are good. Being "the one" seems oddly similar to having "the force," as Paul's skills in battle are top-notch. This is important, because the huge worm has a huge appetite.

So what's the deal with the huge worm? Well, I don't really know. The plot gets lost amid the torrent of fighting and space karate and crystal shields and laser guns--but the action and effects are freaking awesome.

As much as Dune draws from the original StarWars, it must be complimented for preconceiving the worm from Tremmors. Both worms live in the desert, can feel vibrations in the earth (so, if you throw down a beeping, rythmic, vibrating instrument, you can avoid detection by taking erratic steps), and devour everything in their paths. The reason they have to kill the worm is to save the spice mine--the spice provides wisdom and long life! And Patrick Stewart plays Captain Jean Luc-Picard! Oops, I mean Gurney Halleck.

I demand that everyone go see this movie. In fact, we should have voted it for our Student's Choice flick--the cinematic elements build to a huge crescendo where we really find out if Paul is "the one."

Oh yeah, and Sting is in it, and when Sting came out in nothing but spandex shorts to wrestle for his life, the girl next to me said, "He has the body of a Greek God!" So, maybe that interests you, maybe you want to do some queer theory, there's a bunch of phallic and vaginal imagery that pops up out of nowhere and frequently. Anyway, I'd give it a go if I were you.

If you want to read (probably crappy) novels based on Dune, go here
I love Wikipedia

Christmas Vacation (1989)

Christmas Vacation (1989)

I can't say I remember the first time I watched Christmas Vacation, but I can say that it has left a deep, burning impression. It is kept in a very special box at the Kozich household, along with many-generation ornaments and decorations. It is comsidered one of the most special items in those boxes and I regret to say that I broke a Kozich Christmas law by breaking the movie out before Thanksgiving.... I'm sorry pops but for this class I couldn't resist!

And how could I possibly be expected to? It has all the makings of a perfect comedy; the overzealous father, an apathetic daughter, a pre-teen son, an RV parked in the driveway, the dicky wearing uncle, the senile grandparents, the bitchy neighbors, and of course the cousin with a lip fungus.

The movie's plot is simple, but genius. The twists and turns are better than a Cedar Point roller coaster, and I'll bet you pee your pants more times as well. Except if you're a cat lover, maybe then I would suggest watching I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas where a kitty doesn't fry itself under a chair. Or maybe if you have a rodent-phobia and would be traumatized by the thought of a squirrel leaping from your 30 ft. Christmas tree. If you drive an R.V., you'll get a good tip from Uncle Eddy; even when the "shitter's full" don't empty it into the street gutter and if you have no other choice for the love of God don't put an open flame near it! Another lesson learned: don't count on your Christmas bonus to fund a pool project if you haven't recieved yet. You could end up with a kidnapped boss wrapped in a big red bow getting kicked in the ass up your driveway, but hey Uncle Eddy means well.

There's a thousand lessons to be learned from this amazing movie, but it's important not to forget the most important; The Holidays are about family, being together and loving one another for what you are. It's about being happy with a dried up Turkey and 30,000 lights that just won't turn on!

Hoosiers

Hoosiers (1986)

I guess in the last week the people who run AMC were in the mood for Hoosiers because I saw it literally three times in two days. This is a classic sports movie about the patented underdog story who accomplishes the impossible. Gene Hackman is a classic actor and he delivers as always in this film with a powerful performance. Hoosiers places Hackman as an ex-college basketball coach who was kicked out of the NCAA for assaulting one of his players in a rural Indiana town to coach the high school basketball team. Norman Dale (Hackman) must gain the trust of an unwilling town and coerce the town’s best player to come back and rejoin the team. Also, Dennis Hopper (Shooter) stars as one of the team members’ fatherswho suffers from an alcohol problem but also carries an immense knowledge of basketball. As you may have guessed, Dale provides a road to recovery for Shooter through an assistant coach position. The issue of race arises when in the final half hour of the movie, Dale and his all white team are pitted against the stronger, faster, and more experienced all black team in the state championship. Ultimately the team’s savior Jimmy Chitwood hits the winning shot at the buzzer to take home the championship as the underdog prevails in what is revered as one of the most classic sports movies of its time.

This is really one of those Americana “feel good” movies that plays on our social stereotypes and the differences in culture. For me Hackman and Hoppers’ performances carry the film along with a pretty well crafted story. The love aspect of the film between Hackman and the female High School teacher is necessary I guess but it takes away from the movie a little bit. For every guy in the class I highly recommend this film and the girls might even like it too…

Want to see this movie... Check it out first.

http://www.mgm.com/title_title.do?title_star=HOOSIERO

Look for multimedia and then trailer.


Classic Quotes:

“We are going to pass five times boys before we shoot that ball”- Coach Dale

“A basketball hero around here is treated like a god… I don't want this to be the high point of his life. I've seen them, the real sad ones. They sit around the rest of their lives talking about the glory days when they were seventeen years old.” – School Teacher

"These boys only know three things: Basketball, farming, and school. Probably in that order too."- Coach Dale

Annie

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083564/

When one thinks of a classic musical Annie comes to mind. How could anyone forget the cute, spunky, and fun Annie. She is a strong character and represents that anything is possible.

Annie is the story of a group of orphans that live in an orphanage controlled my mean and evil Miss Hannigan. She is a greedy drunk and makes the girls clean all day and night. One day, a secretary of Mr. Warbucks-a multi millionaire comes into the orphanage looking for a girl to "borrow" as a publicity stunt for Mr. Warbucks. With much hesitation, Miss Hannigan hands over Annie. When Annie arrives at the Warbucks mansion she is in awe because she has never seen anything like it in her life. But before she gets too comfortable Mr. Warbucks tells the secretary he wants Annie to go back to the orphanage because he wanted a boy. But, as the plot unravels, a very close relationship develops between Annie and "Daddy" Warbucks and he adopts her making this a happily ever after story.

While this is a child's film, it also appeals to adults in the content of Miss Hannigans behavior. Throughout the film, Carol Burnett, who plays Miss Hannigan is hysterical because she is always in a drunken stupor, falling off her chair, and slurring her words.

While Annie is a family comedy it is also a musical. The children dancing in this film are very good, with ten year olds doing backhand springs. The songs are also memorable with "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" and "It's a Hard Knock Life." Once you leave the theatre these songs will never leave your head.

Annie is a true warm hearted classic that is perfect for the whole family. Compared to many other 80's movies for children it is good. When one thinks of 80's movies, this does not come to mind, mainly because most of the music is not synthesized.

Caddyshack (1980)

Caddyshack... could this film in fact be the funniest and best satire looking at the seperation of classes in America? I say yes. Caddyshack is directed by Harold Ramis who also gave us favorites such as Animal House and Ghostbusters. Ramis casts a young Michael O'Keefe in his third film as Danny Noonan, a lower class teen trying to save money for college to please his father.
Danny's crooked-toothed smile and naive outlook on life presents a refreshing discourse to characters like Tony D'Annunzio, a character which any Judge Smails would look down upon. Although Danny may have a better shot at breaking through the barrier between lower and uppoer class than Tony, we see in the end that he doesn't fit in, and frankly doesn't want to. A life lesson which he is taught by Ty Webb played by Chevy Chase.
Caddyshack was still early in Chase's career, being his seventh appearance on the big screen. And although it is early in his career, he is no amateur at comedy. Many of his scenes that have sent viewers to tears were improve.
Overall; the story of Danny Noonan and his quest to overcome social barriers combined with an insane man with new money, Ty Webb's hysterical golf techniques, and groundskeeper Carl's endless pursuit to kill an adorable yet tricky gopher (not golfer)
make Caddyshack one of my favorite comedies of all time.

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

"As long as there is, you know, sex and drugs, I can do without the Rock and Roll part."


I mean, how could you not love a movie whose tagline is “Does for rock and roll what ‘The Sound of Music’ did for hills.” This movie is one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a long time. It’s a mockumentary (or “rockumentary” as they call it) of a failing British rock band that is in complete denial of their dwindling fame in the US. It basically makes fun of every genre of music to date. They came from being the “flower people” to “spinal tap.” It’s just too good to be true. I nearly spit my drink on the table during the scene with the speaker that goes up to 11. The band member’s stupidity is all too real. Unlike most dumb movie characters, these people don’t have a shining moment of brilliance. They’re pretty much just burned out. The things they say bear a frightening resemblance to some of the things Ozzy said in “The Osbournes.”

One of the best aspects of the film is the relationship between the band members. There is the one guy, Derek, who has been with the band for a good amount of their career, but who still kind of fades into the background and you get the sense that he’s ok with that. The two leads of the band, David and Nigel, have been together forever. Their friendship is one of the only sweet qualities of the film. Nigel is jealous of David’s girlfriend, so he lashes out. Despite their hard rocker exterior, their friendship is pretty innocent. They’re like an old married couple and it’s really adorable.

David: What's that on your finger?
Nigel : It's my gum.
David : What are you doing with it on your finger?
Nigel : I might need it later.
David : Put it on the table, that's terrible.
Nigel : No, I might forget it on the table.
David: Fucking awful, you can't take him anywhere

“Its like how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black.”

For more great quotes go to: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258/quotes