National Lampoon's European Vacation

National Lampoon’s European

National Lampoon’s European Vacation is directed by Amy Heckerling who also directed Clueless and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Chevy Chase (Clark), Beverly D’ Angelo (Ellen), Jason Lively (Rusty), and Dana Hill (Audrey) are the lead actors.

I have never seen this movie before but I heard a lot of great things about it so of course I had to watch it!

This movie was rated PG-13 when it came out but there is no way is would be rated PG-13 if they re rated the movie today. It has a nude scene!! The movie was produced in 1985.

This movie really represents the 80’s well by showing the way they dress and the size of Clark’s portable camera…. It’s Huge!

This movie is about a dysfunctional family winning a game show where the grand prize is a two week trip to Europe. On the plane you can tell it is going to be a very interesting trip because everyone is expecting different things out of the trip.

As they travel around Europe it seems that they are just oblivious to everything. A hilarious scene in the movie is when they go to see their grandparents in Europe and they end up going to the wrong house and not even realizing it.

This movie is really funny and I STRONGLY recommend it!!

Hoosiers

Hoosiers

“ I want you to stick to him like chewing gum, by the end of the game I want to know what flavor he is”

Hoosiers was produced in 1986.The director of Hoosiers is David Anspaugh. The lead actor is Gene Hackman who plays Norman Dale, a high school basketball coach who is trying to lead his team to the state championship. This is one of the most famous sports movies of all time.

The beginning of the movie makes it really obvious that this is a small town that doesn’t like new comers or any change. When Norman Dale comes in as the new high school basketball coach in Hickory many of the towns people give him a hard time and try to tell him how he should run the basketball practices.

When the basketball team first starts playing they are not nearly as good as the other teams but they begin to bond together and start to believe in the way Coach Dale coaches.

Coach Dale ends up bringing the community together and the town’s people end up realizing that the coach is actually a good guy.

Hoosiers is a great movie that has a lot of good basketball scenes. The Movie really gets you cheering for Hickory. No doubt one of the greatest sports movies of all time. This is a must see movie.

Welcome to the Danger Zone

“You live your life between your legs" - Maverick

The director of Top Gun is Tony Scott and was produced in 1986. The lead actors are Tom Cruise who plays Maverick, Kelly McGillis who plays Charlie, Val Kilmer who plays Iceman, and Anthony Edwards who plays Goose.

Right from the beginning you can tell this is going to be a great movie with a great soundtrack. The opening scene makes you want to stop everything you are doing and go fly a fighter jet. This movie has some great action scenes. The flying scenes in this movie are simply breath taking.

This movie is about Tom Cruise who plays Maverick. He is a fighter pilot who is trying to make it up the ranks to being a Top Gun and along the way he meets Charlie who is a good looking civilian instructor. He ends up being in a strong romantic relationship with

Charlie and she helps him throughout the movie on giving him little pointers as he continues his climb to being a Top Gun.

As Maverick makes his way to the top he goes through some very high and low moments in his life. I don’t want to give to much away so lets just say Maverick ends up losing someone very close to him and it makes him realize how dangerous being a fighter pilot can be.

This is an amazing movie and is a lot of fun to watch!!

Modern Girls (1986)

I love films of the 80s—the cheesier the better, but Modern Girls is one of the worst films I’ve ever watched. The bad thing is that it has all the potential in the world: hot girls, some good music (Depeche Mode), fast cars, and LA. Margo (Daphne Zuniga, Melrose Place), CeCe (Cynthia Gibb, Fame the series), and Kelly (the extremely talented, Virginia Madsen, Sideways) are twenty-something singles and roommates. This is one of the first 80s films I’ve seen that has three women as the main characters with a male sidekick. Clifford (Clayton Rohner, Just One of the Guys) is a nerdy, nice guy, who falls for Kelly. Cliffy, CeCe, and Margo spend an entire night chasing after Kelly, whose out on the town mourning her two-timing boyfriend. The best parts of the movie are the LA club scenes: the bar décor at Club Voodoo is outrageous and check out those crazy 80s outfits . . . ah, memories. During the course of the night, CeCe meets rock star Bruno X (also played by Clayton Rohner—I know, I know), and they fall crazy in love. Of course, these two lovers lose each other and we follow CeCe running into the streets and every club they pass, screaming for Bruno. Gibb couldn’t have struggled with learning her lines for this film, because she repeats them over and over again. Margo and Clifford hate each other from the start, but that is only a guise for how they truly feel. There are a few sort-of-funny scenes—like the food fight, but very few. As the film title suggests, this is an attempt to show strong, young women who can stand on their own two feet without a man. In the end, CeCe and Bruno X are reunited. Even though, this rich, “sexy,” rock star offers her the world, CeCe decides she likes her life just like it is, nixing the princely rescue for more wild and crazy nights with her friends. The retro clips of MTV are great. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_PPhc55TQU.

Big is about a thirteen year old Josh Baskin (Tom Hanks) who makes a wish to be big on a carnival wizard game, because he was humiliated while trying to impress a girl at the carnival and thinks that growing up will solve his problems. When he wakes up the next morning he finds out that he's grown to about 30 years old. A funny scene is when his mom freaks out at the stranger in her house that is actually her son. Josh has to convince his best friend the he’s who he says he is so that he will accompany him into New York City on a quest to find the carnival machine. Once he finds the machine he will hopefully be able to get his youth back. He finds that it will take a few weeks to track it down so he gets a job at a toy company.

I was very impressed with how well Tom Hanks was able to capture the child like innocence in his character. Everything from the way he carried himself to his facial expressions perfectly exemplified the spirit of a child. I loved watching this movie as a kid because I always thought it would be so cool to be an adult just for a few days. I also like how the film was able to reveal how adults could behave in places like the office if they had a pure heart like the heart of a child’s. I like that Josh has to navigate the adult world with the mind of a child. In doing so he realizes that he is missing the fun and struggles of being a youth and that a great part of his life would be missing if he were to choose to remain an adult.

Big is one of the greatest movies ever simply because of the idea of a kid trying to be an adult and an adult still trying to hang on to being a kid, and all that things that Josh gets to experience while doing that.

Revenge of the Nerds is the ultimate underdog story. The story begins with Louis and his buddy Gilbert leave for there first year in college. The two nerds both are eagerly entering their freshman year of college. As soon as they get there they are categorized as nerds and are kicked out of their rooms and must sleep in the gym with all the other nerds. A few of the boys decide to form their own fraternity, Lambda Lambda Lambda. Through the fraternity the boys create great friendships and get back at the Jocks that have made fun of them all their lives. In the end, the nerd gets the cheerleader and the guys come out on top.

Gross-out jokes, sexual situations, and all sorts of other crazed perversions fuel the entire film. The movie is a success because the cast is highly likeable on both the nerd and the jock side. Naturally the audience roots for the nerds because they are the underdogs but the crazed idiotic football players are also very fun to laugh at. The modern social class system is represented greatly in this film with the jocks being the hierarchy. This movie is appealing to a vast group of people because everyone knows what it feels like to be treated with disrespect just for being themselves. The film is packed with hilarious scenes including my favorite scene where the nerds perform a spectacular song and dance routine using computers and sound effects. This movie is a hilarious underdog story that everyone should see. Stay away from the sequels because nothing compares to the original.

Memorable Quotes:
Lewis: Jocks only think about sports, nerds only think about sex.
Stan Gable: What are you looking at, nerd?
Booger: I thought I was looking at my mother's old douche-bag, but that's in Ohio.
Lamar Latrell, Tri-Lam: Clap your hands everybody, and everybody clap your hands. We're Lambda Lambda Lambda and Omega Mu. We come here on stage tonight to do our show for you. We got a rockin rhythm and a hi-tech sound that'll make you move your body down to the ground. We got Poindexter on the violin, and Lewis and Gilbert will be joining. We got Booger Presley on the mean guitar and a rap by little ol' me Lamar. We got Takashi beating on his gong, the boys and the mu's are clapping along. And just when you thought, ya seen it all, along comes a Lambda four foot tall. So won't ya come on out here on the floor, so we can move our bodies, like never before.

Caddyshack is a 1980 U.S. comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis and Douglas Kenney. It stars Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe and Bill Murray.

Danny Noonan is a young caddy at Bushwood Country Club who has no idea about where his future will lead. His best chance at getting his life on track is to earn a caddy scholarship from Judge Elihu Smails, the owner of the Country Club. Al Czervik is a rude and eccentric millionaire who has interests in purchasing Bushwood. Judge Smails shows a quick disliking towards Al and soon there is a conflict between the Judge and Al, the Judge and Danny, and even between the Judge and Ty Webb the charming golfer who is slowly helping Danny figure out his real goals. Another less serious conflict in the movie is between Carl, the golf course grounds keeper, and an annoying gopher who chews up holes throughout the course. Rodney Dangerfield is definitely my favorite actor in the movie. His character is so outrageous and he keeps the audience guessing what he will do next.

This movie really tested the limits with many raunchy aspects. One of the great scenes is when the candy bar is put in the pool and everyone freaks out because they think it is feces! I love the snobs against the slobs aspect of the movie. All of the slobs are such eccentric characters and the snob members are so aggravating that its fun to watch the rebellious acts of the slobs. The film has a very antagonistic spirit, which appeals to all of the typical rebellious teenagers. Overall the movie is great because it provides the viewers with non-stop laughter and its mischievous feel appeals to a vast audience.

Back to the Future is a 1985 science fiction–comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg. It stars Michael J. Fox as teenager Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as mad scientist Doctor Emmett L. Brown. Marty is Sent thirty years back in time in a De Lorean time machine and accidentally interferes with his parents' relationship which forces him to make them fall in love, or he will never be born.


Back To The Future is such a creative and exciting film that it is impossible to forget about. I saw the movie when I was very young and even when I am flipping through the channels and its on I will watch it every time because I never get sick of this movie. The casting of every character involved was totally perfect, and the performances were fantastic. I really enjoy movies that make you think and any movie with time travel will definitely challenge the mind. After I saw this movie I began watching many other films that include time travel, one of them being Donnie Darko, which is one of my favorite movies. I have had long in-depth conversations about this film mainly because of the time travel aspect. Time travel is simply fascinating no matter what angle you look at it. The story is awesome, it is delivered cleverly and entertainingly, and the movie as a whole is just really fun to watch. I really love all the stereotypes that are represented by the characters. Naturally everyone loves to see the nerd knock the crap out of the big bully to save the girl he loves. That was always my favorite part because the film does such a great job of forcing the audience to absolutely hate the bully, especially when he is being sexually forceful with Lorraine.

The only complaint that I might have is that the film starts a little slow, but it gradually accelerates as it progresses. There are also a few aspects of the film that don’t add up but there always tends to be some unexplained holes in time travel movies. These are very small negatives that don’t take away from the overall impact of the film. Overall it will always be one of my favorite movies and I feel deeply sorry for anyone who has not had the privilege of watching this classic 80’s film.

Party on

License To Kill

License to Kill is a Bond movie made in 1989, starring Timothy Dalton as 007. Immediately this movie is different because we see James, not as 007, but as the best man at his friend, Leiter’s wedding, in Florida. When Leiter is badly wounded by being fed to a shark, and his wife is murdered, James decides to take the case, against the will of the American authorities and Her Majesty’s Government. His license to kill is actually revoked when he resigned from the government in order to take his friend’s case, his resolve is only strengthened when his other friend, Sharky, is also murdered by Sanchez’s people. For once Bond is not working for the greater good, he is working for his own personal vendetta. A recurring theme through this movie is Bond insisting on working on his own, and trying to push his friends away.

This time the bad guys are not Russian communists, this time Bond is dealing with drug dealers, while Sanchez is possibly Columbian he was working in Cuba so communism as evil is still a theme. Again with time the chase scenes and effects get better and more creative (although the computer was still laughable). One really interesting part of the plot was the way the drug lord, Sanchez, had so much power that what seemed to be a charity telethon on public TV in the Latin American city of Isthmus actually involved people buying drugs from him.

Of course just because he technically isn’t working with the British government, it doesn’t stop his friends, Moneypenny and Q, from coming to help him out. Q as usual provides a more lighthearted scene as he shows off the gadgets he brought for 007’s ‘vacation’. This time Q actually works in the field, rather than just providing gadgets for Bond. Unlike the first Timothy Dalton as Bond movie, this one has a strong female character, Pam Bouvier, and there is a somewhat weaker female character, Lupe (the girlfriend of Sanchez). In the end, not my favorite Bond movie, but still Bond can never be bad.