My Life In Film: 1988.

[Over the course of a few weeks, I will be looking at one year at a time from 1986-1999, one post for every year of my life prior to the new century. But because there are so many good movies, each year will have multiple categories. The following year(s) have already been discussed: 1986 and 1987. Now we're moving on to the next year.]

My Life In Film: 1988

OTHER

- Akira: Considered one of the essential Anime films, Akira pretty much brought the genre to the Western World and popularized it into what it is today. And who doesn't want that badass motorcycle?

- Killer Klowns from Outer Space: I really think the title speaks for itself.

- My Neighbour Totoro: A cute Miyazaki film, this one aimed at the younger ones. I saw this film for the first time... I believe last year via Netflix, and I really enjoyed it.

- Scrooged: One of my favorite renditions of A Christmas Carol. And who better to play the Scrooge character than the snark-master himself, Bill Murray?


MOVIES I HAVEN'T SEEN IN YEARS

- Big: A Tom Hanks classic... I actually think I did watch this again a couple years ago, but I still hardly remember it. The scene I will always remember, though? The giant floor piano.

- Child's Play: One of the big named killers of the 80s, Chucky began his spree in this film, forever scarring youths who like somewhat realistic dolls. I really don't remember much besides the kid talking to the doll and the mom thinking he's just playing around, as well as the doll moving around on its own without you seeing it move (before he starts being obvious about it).

- Die Hard: Um... yeah.

- Rain Man: Ditto.

NOSTALGIC FACTOR

- The Land Before Time: This was a favorite of mine as a youngin', and I'm talking about the original, not any of the fifty thousand crap-tastic sequels that it spawned. I fly? No, you fall.

- Mac and Me: Probably not the greatest movie in the world, and it's been years since I've seen it, but this was another one I grew up with. It's essentially an E.T. ripoff, but whatever.

- Willow: It's Willow, man! I really need to buy this movie. It's magical fun starring Warwick Davis and Val Kilmer. Though is it bad that even when I was young and naive, I understood that the special effects in this movie weren't all that great?

MOVIES I HAVE YET TO SEE (For Shame)

Believe it or not, I actually could not find any major films for this year that I hadn't seen. To get my list of films for each year, I use a mixture of Wikipedia and Google, and neither of them gave me any major "shame on you" films that I hadn't seen... so... good for me, I guess.

RUNNER-UP

- Beetlejuice: There are a couple films out there I really enjoyed, not realizing they were Tim Burton films until later in my life (mostly because I was young and had no idea who Tim Burton was. At that age, my list of directors I knew didn't really span much past Spielberg). Anyway, this was one of them (others being Pee Wee's Big Adventure and Batman/Batman Returns). It's a quirky comedy about dead people and their fight with the living people in their house. And I still think the special effects/costumes/whatever hold up today, regardless of how goofy they might look. My favorite scene? The shrimp dinner/"Day-Oh" scene.

FAVORITE

- Who Framed Roger Rabbit?: Another movie that holds up visuals-wise. There was talks a while back that Zemeckis wanted to remake the movie in a similar vein to what he's been doing with the likes of Beowulf and Polar Express, saying that's how he always wanted to do it. I say he'd ruin it. The cartoon style fits the film perfectly how it is. The tone is perfect, blending dark noir with campy cartoon fare. The comedy is great, the visuals are great... and it's not just my favorite of this year, but it's probably one of my favorite movies in general. I'm not bad... I'm just drawn that way.

My Life In Film: 1987.

[Over the course of a few weeks, I will be looking at one year at a time from 1986-1999, one post for every year of my life prior to the new century. But because there are so many good movies, each year will have multiple categories. The following year(s) have already been discussed: 1986. Now we're moving on to the next year.]

MY LIFE IN FILM: 1987

OTHER

- Evil Dead II: Is it a remake? A sequel? Both? I'm pretty sure it's the latter, with the beginning being a strange mix of recap and remake (since stuff was changed), while the rest of the movie is a pretty obvious sequel to the original. The tone was knocked down to what the series as a whole is known for: over-the-top slapstick and gore. And it's oh, so fun.

- Full Metal Jacket: Great Kubrick film, but I have to admit, after the Boot Camp stuff, the movie kinda goes downhill. But up until that point? Epic stuff.


MOVIES I HAVEN'T SEEN IN YEARS

- The Gate: A really interesting B-Movie with some pretty creepy scenes and some cheesy stop-motion monsters.

- Good Morning, Vietnam: Robin Williams classic about a controversial radio host in Vietnam who shakes things up a bit to entertain the soldiers. I don't really remember specifics about this movie outside of a condom joke and an underage naked boy that's probably on screen for 1 second (which I remember because of how shocked I was to see that in a movie).

- Innerspace: Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, and Meg Ryan in a movie that is essentially a comedy version of Fantastic Voyage. I mainly remember my mom being a fan of this movie, as well as how the trailer for this movie played right before the main attraction on my VHS copy of Little Shop of Horrors.

- Lethal Weapon: Um... yeah.

- Planes, Trains, & Automobiles: Classic comedy starring Steve Martin and John Candy. My family owned a VHS copy of this movie, though it was a pretty messed up copy... had some visual issues. Still, it's a really funny movie that I need to see again.

- Predator: Yes, the classic Predator staring the Governator himself. Like the previous film, I saw this one again sometime in the 2000s, but it still feels like it's been way too long since I've seen it. I need to check this one out again soon, especially with the sequel (?) coming out.

NOSTALGIC FACTOR

- The Brave Little Toaster: I remember really liking this movie as a child. It comes on TV (usually Disney) every now and then, but I always miss it for some reason. The main part of the movie I remember is when they're in the junk yard running away from the giant magnet thing and the dead/dying cars are singing that incredibly creepy (and sad) song. I love that song.

MOVIES I HAVE YET TO SEE (For Shame)

- Fatal Attraction
- The Lost Boys
- Robocop (*Honestly, I'm not sure if I've seen this or not. I have faint memories of scenes from this movie, so I very well could have... or I've just seen certain scenes. To be safe, I just put it here).
- Wall Street
- The Untouchables

RUNNER-UP

- Spaceballs: It was so hard to choose between Runner-Up and Favorite for this particular year. In fact, this movie was one I grew up with, while my Favorite choice was one I didn't become acquainted with until later in life. Between Star Wars jokes, self-referential jokes (which probably began my love for anything meta), or just Mel Brooks humor, this movie is a total classic. May the Schwartz be with you! (And you can't tell me you're not still waiting for Spaceballs II: The Search for More Money).

FAVORITE

- The Princess Bride: How can one not love this movie? Yes, I came into my love for this film in the mid-2000s, but it's one I've loved adamantly since. It has great characters, a great story, and great, witty humor most from its sharp dialogue. But I've rambled on about this film enough in the last week or so, so I'm just gonna leave it at that.

My Life In Film: 1986.

I was watching a reviewer video of this guy's Top 10 favorite movies from the 80s, and that got me thinking. The 80s was a freakin' great year for movies. But as I was looking at a list of movies in the 80s, I realized my favorites (and, in fact, most of the best--in my opinion) didn't come in until the mid-80s, around when I was born. That's where this idea came in. I reviewed my favorite films from the 2000s at the end of the decade, so why not the movies from every other year I've been alive? So that's what I'm gonna do.

For the next few weeks I will be looking at one year at a time from 1986-1999, one post for every year of my life prior to the new century. But because there are so many good movies, each year will have multiple categories. These categories are as follows:

OTHER - These are other notable films of the year that don't meet the other categories, but which I felt worth mentioning (hence... notable).

MOVIES I HAVEN'T SEEN IN YEARS - These are ones I have seen, but I haven't seen for a very long time, so I don't remember all that much about them other than a few things here and there.

NOSTALGIC FACTOR - These are the films I have an attachment to due to my youth but they might not necessarily be good (or bad, either, depending).

MOVIES I HAVE YET TO SEE (For Shame) - Popular films of the year that I haven't seen yet... and that probably makes me a really bad movie lover. I won't really commentate on these films... just a list as I duck my head in shame.

RUNNER-UP - My second favorite movie of said year.

FAVORITE - My favorite movie of said year.

All this being said, let's get to the first year... 1986!

MY LIFE IN FILM: 1986

OTHER

- Aliens: Not much to say... some say even better than the original, though it's almost comparing apples and oranges.

- Highlander: One I haven't seen in years, but it spawned its own mythology (and TV series). So, yeah.

- Pretty in Pink: It's a John Hughes classic... nuff said.

MOVIES I HAVEN'T SEEN IN YEARS

- Crocodile Dundee: The bane of every Aussie's existence. Don't remember much about it except a pretty big knife.

- Ferris Bueller's Day Off: Classic film in every regard, and I'm probably gonna get quite a bit of flak for not having seen it in years. But I still quote it in class when nobody will give me an answer (Bueller... Bueller...).

- The Fly - I'm actually gonna be seeing this in the relatively near future. This classic remake is on my Netflix queue and should be coming up sometime soon.

- Short Circuit: Johnny 5!

- Stand By Me: Leeches! (Seriously, that's pretty much all I remember)

- Top Gun: The guy snaps his neck when he tries to eject... yup.

NOSTALGIC FACTOR

- Howard the Duck: Considered one of the worst films ever made, this George Lucas classic (?) has everything from Lea Thompson to alien duck boobies. I actually used to watch this movie all the time when I was really little, which probably explains my capability to withstand and/or enjoy even the crappiest of films these days. Though I actually watched this movie again a couple years ago and... Good God, was it terrible. Not to mention I had a friend who liked to rewind the movie at the infamous duck-boobs scene... like I said, we were young and so, so naive (and/or immature).

MOVIES I HAVE YET TO SEE (For Shame)

- Big Trouble in Little China
- Platoon

RUNNER-UP

- Labyrinth: Could have fallen under Nostalgic Factor, but I felt it was more suited for this category. Granted, I saw this movie again recently for the first time in... forever... and I realized how strange it really is. But how can you not love David Bowie in this movie? And singing puppets? And Jennifer Connelly in her break-out role? Good stuff... strange stuff... but good stuff.

For the record, this spot almost went to Aliens. In fact, it probably should have. The reason it didn't? I haven't seen it in years, so I didn't think it was fair to put it as my Runner-Up, despite it being the better film.

FAVORITE

- Little Shop of Horrors: I grew up with this movie... which probably explains a lot about me. You know how everybody has that one movie that transcends their favorite movie? The one where, even if your favorite movie continually changes, this one stays the one you can quote endlessly and watch it over and over without getting sick of it? This is that movie for me. A singing, blood-thirsty plant from outer space manipulates a nerdy Rick Moranis (redundant?) into killing people to feed to it so to win over the ditzy blonde girl who is dating a sadistic dentist played by Steve Martin (who then has an amazingly hilarious--and improv'd--scene with a pain-loving Bill Murray). Really... that's about all that needs to be said.