13. Friday the 13th - Here's one of my examples where just the poster of the film scared me. This one hung in my neighbor's house and I just had to know what happened at that summer camp! Why was that knife so bloody?! The neighbor kids told me about some of the death scenes in the film, which made me want to see it all that much more.

When I finally saw the film, it didn't disappoint in the least. The stalker POV was really effective on me as a kid, I loved the whole Friday the 13th series, a lot of it had to do simply with that POV. The classic musical stinger "Ch, ch, ch, ha, ha, ha..." would run chills up my spine no matter how many times I'd seen whichever version I was watching. I still love this series. The original is far and away the best and still holds up well. The rest are mostly fun for the 80's filmmaking and all the inventive ways they come up with how to kill the camp counselors. ”

I'm watching this film, because I vaguely remember the cheesy video cover from when I was a kid, but never got to see the film. Now it's playing on MGM-HD, with the film's descripition reading - A detective and doctor tie rapes to bug-eyed aliens who are posing as humans in order to multiply. Sounds too hilarious to pass up.

Opening few minutes - A prostitute leaves a taxi cab in a bad part of town, she's followed by a mysterious man, who turns out to be an old German guy, walking his little dog. They talk for a moment, before the guy falls to the ground clutching his chest. Suddenly his hand transforms into something monstrous, the girl just stares, until he grabs her leg, rips her dress open, then carries her off screaming.

4 - 8 min. - The most unconvincing movie doctor and the most unconvincing movie detective I've probably ever seen. Quite the impressive feat, considering they're in the same scene together.

8 min. - The detective just told the mangled and barely conscious prostitute: "You're not dead, you're alive, and if you're alive, then you can remember what happened." - The doctor stands there knowingly, like that's good advice.

11 - The doctor goes over the case-loads of 5 other women this has happened to. Apparently they were all virgins. Now I'm confused... the girl who I thought was a hooker, was in fact just the sluttiest looking virgin in history.

12 min - Super cheesy montage of a girl modeling a bikini.

13 min. - Cocaine and nude aerobics! - The camera lingers on the model's nude body while ear-numbing synth music plays... when did this turn into a porno?

15 min. - The photographer walks in on the girl lying nude in the studio, suddenly his chest bursts open and he starts to change into something else. The make-up effects are actually pretty well done. I'm guessing this girl is supposed to be a virgin as well, but what kind of virgin snorts coke and lounges about nude in public places?

24 - As a homeless woman gets attacked by a rubber-faced alien, I'm looking up filmmaker Tim Kincaid on IMDb. He's directed 44 films in his career, not a single one of them have I even heard of besides this one. A lot of them sound suspiciously like porn, with titles like Joe Gage Sex Files Vol. 3 and Gale Force: Mens Room II. Although Robot Holocaust sounds awfully promising. (Emphasis on the awful.)

29 - I always get undressed in my kitchen.

32 - "Enough to know that I want you to bear my children." - Is what the guy tells the girl who's naked in her kitchen, after she finds him watching her and asks him what he's seen. Of course he's one of the aliens... yeah, just stand there and scream honey, don't try to run, that would make too much sense.

38 - Don't any women in New York run when they see an alien?

40 - Oh god, the teenage orderly has a crush on the virgin-hooker... and now he's discovered that all the women attacked have returned to normal, at least on the outside that is.

45 - Virgin-hooker is awake and just stabbed the orderly in the gut with a knife, and is now roaming the hospital corridors nude.

52 - The alien stopped a human rapist, so maybe he's not so bad after-all... ok, never mind.

55 - There isn't a girl in this film who hasn't taken her shirt off within the first 30 seconds of appearing on screen. (That's not a complaint.)

60 min - The detective and doctor have followed the nude model into the depths of New York subways system, where she meets up with the rest of the girls, who are all skinny dipping in some sort of pulsating alien hot-tub.

62 - Now some random hospital worker, who's also followed along, is explaining the whole alien plot and why they need virgins to reproduce.

65 - This!
67 - The detective and doctor stand by slack-jawed as the hospital assistant slowly mutates into one of the aliens. They don't bother to react until it finally goes on the attack.

70 - Now the nude girls writhe about in the alien hot tub, while the doc and dick painfully work out a plan to stop the aliens dastardly plans.

72 - Naked lady stew!

74 - Wow... this movie was exceptionally bad, while also being eminently watchable, with its terrible acting, some of the worst ever committed to film, painful dialog, and more believable human interaction found in porno films. But the crazy plot, gory effects, and boobs being exposed every 3 to 4 minutes, keep the film entertaining. If you're into bad movies, this is a gem.

In 1983 Francis Ford Coppola directed two films based on S.E. Hinton novels. Everybody seems to remember The Outsiders, 25 years later it's considered a minor classic. "Stay golden Ponyboy." But I don't think I've ever heard anyone mention Rumble Fish, and after seeing it for the first time, I'm incredibly surprised it isn't better remembered.

I think what everybody remembers about The Outsiders is the incredible cast, featuring very early performances by C. Thomas Howell, Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio, Diane Lane and a few more recognizable faces in there. But the cast for Rumble Fish is nearly as impressive, with an all-star cast, including Mickey Rourke, Nicholas Cage, Lawrence Fishburn, Dennis Hopper, Chris Penn, with Matt Dillon and Diane Lane, being the only repeats from The Outsiders. Both films are expertly crafted, top notch filmmaking by Coppola and his crew.

Where they differ is in the style and execution. The Outsiders is very straight-forward, made in a classic style of filmmaking. While Rumble Fish is very avant-garde. The entire film is shot is stark black & white, with the only touches of colors showing up in the Siamese Fighting Fish the boys admire, and briefly in one key scene towards the end. Shadows are extremely prevelant throughout the film, they often fortell who's coming and what's going to happen. Clouds sped up by stop-motion often drift by in the background. The fight scenes are choreographed more like dances, than anything resembling a gang fight. The score is like nothing I've ever heard before, it's almost like somebody playing chimes with a pair of metal spoons. And those offbeat choices are probably why the film isn't as well remembered.

While I was reading the book a month back, the film I was directing in my head, was similar to the way that The Outsiders was made. It would have been easy for Coppola to do the same thing a second time around. But being a filmmaker that's never played by the rules, that would have been boring for him. I went in expecting that same style, so I was jarred by what I was seeing, it took me at least 15 minutes to adjust to this very different style of filmmaking. So I can imagine that when these films came out six months of each other in 1983, that audiences were thrown for a serious loop. And it shows in the box office numbers from the time, The Outsiders made over 25 million, a tidy sum for that time, while Rumble Fish made around 2 million.

Rusty James, played nicely by Matt Dillon, is a young ruffian, who wants nothing more than to be like his big brother Motorcycle Boy. He hangs around with his low class friends, gets into fights, cheats his girlfriend, gets suspended from school, is basically up to no good. But it's nothing like the good old days, when his brother ran the gangs and ruled the streets. Rusty James talks endlessly about becoming the great leader his brother once was, but he doesn't have the smarts or charisma to do so. When his brother comes back from a trip to California, he follows him around like a lost puppy, wishing and hoping for his idol to bring him into the big time. But Motorcyle Boy has changed, he's done with those days. He's endlessly talented at anything he puts his mind to, but nothing in life interests him. As the story progesses, we learn more about why these kids are the way they are, they don't tell us everything, leaving a lot to read between the lines.

Rumble Fish is a film that deserves to be better remembered. While not as easily accessible as The Outsiders, I think it is the more interesting film of the two. If you appreciate B&W photography, this film is a must see. Coppola uses a lot of techniques from the classic film noir days, with gorgeous lighting and compositions for nearly every shot in the film. The look has a purpose, it shows us how the color blind Motorcylce Boy sees the world. It's a wonderful character study of these two lost boys, a story that speaks to any age or time. There are great performances from a batch of burgeoning young actors, some who went on to become the biggest names in the business. The film might be considered a little strange for those weened on Hollywood blockbusters, but there is a lot here worth seeing. Rumble Fish is a true work of art. - Grade: B+

If you've read this site before, you know I have a special place in my heart for 80's movies. Especially for the ones that I grew up with, those that I saw 50 times on HBO or burned out our family's first VCR watching over and over. Wildcats was one of those films. It had just about everything a prepubescent boy would want to see, crude sex jokes, farting, high school football, and a brief glimpse of Goldie Hawn naked. Like most films from this time in my childhood, there came a point where I stopped watching them. Discovering filmmakers like Scorsese or Kubrick, I wanted more sophisticated films. These were forgotten or regulated to guilty pleasures of the past.

Running across Wildcats in the discount bin, I had brief memories of Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes rapping about football, a kid bashing in lockers with his head, a fat guy blocking a big kick, and fancy stolen hubcaps on a VW bus. I didn't have much expectations for a well made comedy, I only wanted to walk down memory lane. Once I had it home, it didn't take long for me to pop it in. Instead of watching a copy of the classic On the Waterfront, I'd been holding on to for too long, I went with the high school jock movie I'd seen 20+ times in my past. I'll always go for the easy watch first.

The amazing thing was that Wildcats turned out to be nearly as good as I remembered. The childish sex jokes worked on a new level. The dramatic elements, about a woman wanting to coach high school football and having to do so in a bad part of town, seemed genuine. The verbal abuse, treated comically, she takes from her players, ex-husband and former boss ring true. Everything about the film is a cliché, but they're classic movie elements that work and are well executed. Goldie Hawn is at the top of her game here, she's bubbly cute, with perfect comedic timing. Her team is full of actors that went on to better roles; Woody Harrelson is the smart-ass QB, Wesley Snipes is the cocksure wide-receiver, and Mykelti Williamson is the ultimate talent, who'd rather spend his time being a criminal. The film also features great character actors, like M. Emmet Walsh as Goldie's attorney who only talks in football terms, James Keach as her manipulative ex-husband, Bruce McGill plays her sexist former boss and coach of her crosstown rivals, and Nipsey Russell cracked me up as the principle of her new school with his every utterance of the word "Riiiight."

It's most definitely an 80's movie, with awful fashions and hair styles, an incredibly cheesy music montage with the boys becoming a team, and a very young LL Cool J rapping about football. Except for the 80's setting, I think the film works better than most of today's comedies. It doesn't rely on easy pop-culture jokes and you actually become invested in the characters and their underdog story. The film has its flaws, but they're quickly forgotten as the movie moves effortlessly ahead with its solid screenplay and strong acting. The film is well directed by Michael Rithchie, who directed one of the greatest sports comedies ever The Bad News Bears, the scenes flow well and the football scenes actually make sense. If you watch a lot of sports movies as a sport fan, you'll notice a lot of over-the-top stuff that doesn't really happen on the field or even worse is when the games just aren't played right. If you're a fan of 80's and/or sports movies you could do much worse than Goldie Hawn and her Wildcats. - Grade: B (Seen on 10/10/08)

I’m going to admit a major movie blasphemy; at least for a die-hard 80’s movie fan such as myself. Before this viewing, I’d never seen Footloose, the 80’s dance classic featuring Kevin Bacon in his star making role. Sure I’d seen pieces of it on cable over the years, enough that I felt like I’d seen the whole thing, but after watching it through, I realized that I didn’t completely know the magic of this film. There were actually some surprising developments, not so much story wise, that was all pretty predictable, more in the character development. Most notably in Reverend Shaw Moore, played by John Lithegow. I figured he’d be a one-note preacher, with nothing but contempt for everything that the kids stand for. But he actually shows a lot of compassion, and leads the town to make some good sensible decisions, mainly he's a hurting father.

It was these dramatic elements that made me enjoy Footloose for more than just a blast to the past. There’s actually a good moral center, which explores the line between right and wrong. Of course, nobody is watching this film for the dramatic tension; they want to see Kevin dance! And boy, does he. There are quite a few scenes of Kevin dancing his worries away, most famously, the angry dance in the deserted barn; that’s been spoofed recently by Hot Rod and Flight of the Conchords. He and his dance-doubles have some great moves and for the most part the 80’s soundtrack is top notch, which makes the film a lot of fun to watch.

I’m sure you all know the story about the big city teenager moving to a small Indiana town, where the law states that dancing is illegal. It’s fun to see Kevin rally his new friends to fight against these laws, originally set down by the reverend because his son died in a drunk driving accident after a school dance. But he’s losing his daughter to these strict rules, she’s a wild one at heart, and delights in rebelling against his laws. The funniest scene in the film, is when she brings a boom-box to the local hang out, and somehow everyone in the joint is able to hear it and starts dancing along. It was great to see a very young Chris Penn play Kevin’s best friend, and in another great guilty pleasure of a scene, Kevin teaches him how to dance.

Footloose is undeniably fun. If you’re not a fan of 80’s movies, than this film definitely isn’t for you, as it’s brimming with everything that made the decade so memorable. I was surprised by how well the dramatic elements worked in the film, and I guess that’s why it remains such a staple, the dancing alone wouldn’t be enough. Go watch Breakin’, if you want an empty bubble-gum film full of out-dated dancing scenes. Kevin Bacon, John Lithgow, Chris Penn and Dianne Wiest, who played a mom in every other 80’s movie, lend the film some gravitas and sell the slightly ludicrous idea of a dance-free town. Footloose is a must see for any fan of the 80’s, but you probably already know that. – Grade: B+ (Seen on 6/17/08)

This was a film I'd never heard of before, but when I ran across it on IFC, it sounded like my kind of movie. A dark-comedy about an alien invasion, made during the 80's. Unfortunately it's one of those "almost" films, where it's almost a good film, almost a cult-classic, but something is missing. Strange Invaders has a lot of the right ingredients, but it was thrown together a little sloppily, cooked at too high a temperature, so the final product isn't totally appealing.

The film starts in 1955, in a small town in Illinois. There's a young couple making out in a truck, when unseen to them a large spaceship lands near town. When the boy goes home, there are some strange lights, a creepy shadow of a hand, a scream, and the film cuts to 1983, New York City. Charles is hanging out at home, when his ex-wife and daughter show up. His ex asks him to watch their kid, while she goes home for a few days to help her mother. When she doesn't come back for a couple of weeks, and he can't get a hold of her, he begins to seriously worry. He leaves his daughter with grandma, and drives out to the same small town we saw at the beginning of the film.

Everything still looks very 1950's. But that's the least of Charles worries, when he starts to ask around town, nobody has ever heard of his wife or her family. This seems extremely strange in a town so small. He's about to leave town, when his car breaks down. He stops for a bite to eat, when suddenly there's a laser blast and his car is blown up, and there's a mob outside the restaurant looking very menacing. He does the sensible thing and jumps out the back window, stealing a car from the lot, and begins to tear out of town. On his way out, he catches a glimpse of what looks like an alien, who shoots some kind of death ray, from his face no less, at him as he speeds away, only catching the tail of his car. This is one of the best scenes in the film, and a good set-up for what I hoped would be a fun flick the rest of the way.

When Charles gets back to New York, he tries to get the government involved, but of course nobody believes him, writing him off as a nut-case. That's when he sees a photo in a cheesy tabloid of an alien that looks very much like the one he saw. He visits the paper, where he meets Betty, played by 80's hottie Nancy Allen, who after her own run-in with some weird alien activity believes Chuck's story. Soon they have a gaggle of aliens chasing them through the city, trying to stop their story from getting out any further. Mostly the aliens keep their human disguises, but when they do reveal themselves, the effects are pretty well done.

When the film takes a turn towards a more modern, alien-action-chase, the movie kind of falls apart. They lose most of the comedy that was keeping the film lively, and the filmmaking isn't exciting enough to keep you on the edge of your seat, the way they intended. By this point it's pretty obvious what truly happened to Charles ex-wife, so the film loses the mystery long before the truth is revealed, leaving the ending fairly anti-climatic.

The first half of the film is a throw back to the old sci-fi films of the 1950's. A nice tone is set between loving tribute and straight-up spoof. I thought I was getting into a forgotten cult-classic, but the second half ruins it. It's not terrible, mostly it's the tonal change from spoof to "intense" chase thriller, that didn't work for me. I liked the lead actors; Nancy Allen is always cute on the run. And it was cool to see Paul Le Mat, best known as John Milner from American Graffiti, get a lead role, he has some good leading-man charisma. The sci-fi effects for a low-budget 80's film are fairly well done, the filmmakers knew what they could and couldn't do, so they use them effectively. Strange Invaders might be worth seeing if you're into dark-comedies and/or 1950's alien invasion films. - Grade: C (Seen on 6/4/08)

I love discovering 80's movies that I have never seen. They're like a forgotten part of my youth. No matter how I feel about the movie, I love seeing that era on film, it captures a time when the world seemed limitless. How Night of the Comet escaped my attention for so long, I'll never understand. A dark-comedy about the end of the world, made during the zenith of the decade, 1984; I really couldn't find a better undiscovered gem. Unfortunately the film didn't live up to my high expectations.

Regina's your typical 80's teenager, she works in a movie theater, prides herself on her video game skills and doesn't mind spending the night with the theater's projectionist in his projection room. Luckily the room is lined with lead, for when a comet passes by the earth that night, it turns almost everyone into cosmic dust. Those it doesn't, it turns into murderous-mutants. When Regina returns home, she's lucky to find her little sister Samantha still alive, who spent the night in the shed (also lined with lead), while her step-mom and friends were having a comet party. They soon find they're seemingly the only ones left alive in L.A..

They travel to a local radio station to see if they can find anyone over the airwaves. Soon a lone guy, Hector, comes calling. And unknown to them, someone else is listening in, a group of scientists who expected the aftereffects of the comet, and are hiding out in a bunker off in the desert. There's a great scene after the girls leave the radio station, they head straight for the local mall, and start trying on clothes; I could have done without the 80's clothes montage, but when a gang of psyched-out store employees attack the girls with machine guns, it's a lot of fun. Hector's gone off to find out if any of his family has survived, running into a crazy-mutant boy instead. At this point I had a lot of hope for the film, it was carrying a great tone between apocalyptic-horror and dark-comedy. There had been a few cool mutant scenes, and I was expecting a lot more.

When the scientists show up to kidnap the sisters, the film starts to lose it's touch. It turns from these girls discovering their new world, into a rescue mission from an underground bunker. Bunker's just don't excite me. I know it's a way for the filmmakers to keep costs down. They set up a few "sci-fi" props in these dark-gray tunnels and call it a film set. I've seen too many movies, especially post-apocalypse types, made in these boring tunnels. Anyways, Hector comes to the rescue, the scientists get whats coming to them, and the gang's back together to enjoy the empty world together.

I really loved Kelli Maroney's performance as little sister Sam. She has this undeniable spunk that lasts throughout the film, from her beginnings as a naive teenager, to a true apocalyptic warrior. Unfortunately the performances by Catherine Mary Stewart (who also played the girlfriend in 1984's The Last Starfighter) as Regina, isn't nearly as memorable, she doesn't take anything off the table, but also doesn't bring much too it either. Robert Beltran as Hector is completely forgettable, they needed an actor with much more charisma in this role. The film really hinges on these three characters and the bond that they form, but even while Regina and Hector are becoming a couple, they never seem to be on the same page. Three great leads would have tremendously helped this film.

It's so hard for films to keep the energy that is initially set-up through the entire film. Night of the Comet is another casualty of this all-too-common film-making problem. The first half of this film really rocks, the excitement of discovering this apocalyptic 80's setting, a few crazy-mutants, and an empty L.A. all to themselves. But once they're taken to the bunker, the film loses all momentum. Samantha is also missing during this section of the film, which doesn't help, as she's by far the most entertaining character.

But even as I write about these problems, I have a feeling that I'll give the film another chance in the future. It has enough good stuff going for it to make it a worthwhile film. If they had thrown out the scientists, and had a lot more mutants, I think I would have heard of this film long before I did. Not a forgotten classic, but a misplaced, rusty toy car whose wheels still spin. - Grade: B-

I love werewolves, greatly prefer them too vampires, unfortunately they have a much weaker presence in film. Sadly, The Howling series, seven in all, constitutes a good chunk of the films from the last twenty years. American Werewolf in London remains the best werewolf film ever. I was pleasantly surprised by the fairly recent film Ginger Snaps, its sequels much less so. It had been a long time since I had seen any of the Howling films, and I don't believe I've ever seen Howling II: Your Sister's a Werewolf, so when it showed up on TV, I decided to check it out.

I was completely not expecting this flick. It is extremely surreal. They throw all logic out the window and turn these werewolves into complete sex-fiends, the humans chasing them aren't much more normal. But that's only a sliver of what makes it so weird. The film is edited in an extremely experimental manner, at least for a fairly mainstream film that had a wide theatrical release. The film moves along normally, then they suddenly cut to a random shot from earlier in the film, usually somebody changing into a wolf, but not always. As an editor, I found it refreshing, to see a horror film try something different. It doesn't always work, but it keeps it interesting, as you never know what you're going to see next.

Ben is attending his sister Karen's funeral, who died in the first film, when he's approached by Stefan Crosscoe, a Van Helsing type character, played by the classic Christoper Lee. Crosscoe tells him his sister is in fact a werewolf, and that she'll come back to life that night. Being a rational person, Ben dismisses him as a nut, but decides to make sure later that night. He witness her changing, just before Crosscoe drives a silver stake through her heart, and they're attacked by a gaggle of werewolves. That's it, Ben is pissed. He's ready to travel to Transylvania with Crosscoe to wipe out the monsters that did this to his sister. Ben's new girlfriend, a journalist and friend of his sister, comes along for the ride. They stay in a weird little town, in the heart of werewolf country.

This was a favorite of mine from my childhood, but it had been a long time since I'd seen it. From what I remembered of it, it seemed that it was a fairly well made film, and that it would manage to hold up over 20 years later. And it did, surprisingly well in fact, even much of the special effects, because they didn't try to get too fancy with them, sticking to the basics; including a cool stop-motion dinosaur. (See below) None of the 80's fashions or dialogue is too obnoxious, nothing so distracting that it'll pull you out of the film. I think this film would still work for a kids. It's a fun, whimsical ride.

Mike Harlan is a decent kid, a bit obsessed with cars, in fact it's the only thing he cares about, but he has a good heart. When his science teacher, played by Dennis Hopper in full-on psychedelic mode, asks him to turn in anything for his science project so he can graduate, Mike wants to do it right and go big. So he breaks into the military junkyard that's outside of town, he kills two birds with one stone, by inviting along the nerdy, but cute Ellie, who sort of blackmailed him into a date. While sneaking around the dilapidated war planes, he accidentally falls into a bunker, where he comes across some crazy looking machine; that is originally from a spacecraft from Area 51, but he doesn't know that. On the drive home, we see a sneak peak of the machine's powers, when it drains the battery from Mike's precious car.

While showing it to his buddy Vince, played by the very funny Fisher Stevens, before class, they plug it into the wall and unknowingly jump a few hours into the future. When they show it to their science teacher, even stranger things happen, like Dennis Hopper getting sucked inside to another time. After that, they decide to leave it alone, but when it gets left on by the geeky Sherman, who's jealous of Mike and Ellie's new relationship, all hell breaks loose. And it's up to Mike, Vince and Sherman to travel through all of Earth's history contained within their high school, to save Ellie who's trapped inside. They battle through everything from dinosaurs to futuristic mutants wielding laser guns.

I'd never heard of this film when it popped up on the Fox Movie Channel, but I noticed that it was a teen-sex comedy from the 80's, one of my favorite genres, so I had to see it. A few minutes in, it was quite apparent why I had never heard of this film before. It's god awful. I was laughing, but in all the wrong spots; their attempts at comedy were heavy handed and obvious, their attempts at building any kind of drama, hilarious! This film is shockingly 80's, the clothes, the hair; it's like spending the night at Steve Guttenberg's house.

The film concerns the cheerleader camp, Camp Beaver View; no, that's not a sexual innuendo or anything. Every year cheerleaders from around the country arrive at Beaver View, to receive the finest in cheerleader training. Tommy Hamilton is the lead instructor, he's in his mid 20's and feels like he should be done with cheerleading; unfortunately it's the only thing he's really good at. Well that, and getting girls, which is a prerequisite for any 80's teen movie heart-throb. He has an awful scene that plays like some kind homo-erotic rip-off of Flashdance, where's he's stripping off his clothes, dancing in the shower and even does some gymnastic moves on the plumbing, to give a couple of teenage girls some cheap thrills.

This was one of my favorite films as a kid, but I haven't seen it or even thought about it in a long time. My wife and son picked it out as a Christmas gift and we all watched it together. As an 80's kid's flick, I figured it wouldn't hold up that well, but it actually does. The effects are a little lame in places, but I've seen worse from modern films. And the story is good enough to drag you in no matter what your age.

As I was watching Navigator, it started coming back to me. I remembered being fascinated by young David falling into a ravine and waking up nine-years later. When he finds his parents they look much older and his younger brother is now older than him; it's a sweet reunion, as they've long thought him dead. A very intriguing way to bring you into this fantasy.

Soon NASA is after him because he can do new amazing things with his brain, which they think is connected to this UFO they recently found. Which of course it is. David sneaks aboard and is told he is the navigator of this other-worldly vessel. At first he's rightly scared, but before long he's cruising around the world at tremendous speed. This section is the highlight of the film, I think that any kid would love to imagine themselves at the control of this ship. There are some cool looking, muppety aliens, and David befriends one of the cute little ones.

With the help of his younger-older brother, Jeff; played by 80's kid film staple Matt Adler, who I was desperately trying to place what other films I'd seen him in the whole time (White Water Summer, Teen Wolf, North Shore, among others);
David is trying to get home to his family, but realizes that he'll never be left alone by the poke-its-nose-into-everything government. The movie ends in a satisfying Disney type way, where you're a little skeptical about the plausibility, but ultimately happy how everything turned out.

I think that kids of today can still enjoy the Flight of the Navigator and it's well enough made that parents will like it too. Joey Cramer is cute in the lead role of David, he's not asked to emote too much, but the scenes he has too, he's fine in. Paul "Pee-wee Herman" Ruebens plays the voice of the ship, he uses a lot of his trademark laugh and basically sounds like Pee-wee for most of the film. I can see it annoying a lot of folks and it did keep pulling me out of the film. In the trailer below, you can hear another voice used, it makes the film sound more serious. I'm guessing they changed it, so kids wouldn't be scared by the ship.

Most likely you've probably already seen this film, but if you haven't do yourself a favor and check it out, whether you have kids or not.

I don't even know what to say about this film. We've all seen it a thousand times. We know all the lines. It's the perfect holiday film, and we all watch it every year. At least everyone I know does. At least I thought they did; I was blown away when my dad and uncle both confessed to have never seeing it, when I popped it in after Christmas dinner. Huh? How is that even possible, it's on about 1000 times between Thanksgiving and Christmas every year.

Needless to say that they enjoyed it. So did the five kids sitting on the couch with us. Every moment of the film is its own little piece of perfection. The scene where Flick sticks his tongue to the pole. The scene where Ralphie beats up Scut Farcus. The scene where the old man gets his leg lamp. The "oh fudge" scene. The scene when Ralphie finally gets his BB Gun. And on and on.

The perfect tone of realism and comedy is set through the whole thing. I love the 1940's setting, when Americana was at it's peak. Each character is fully realized, from Ralphie, Randy, the parents, his friends and so on. Oh sure, I may be a little jaded having seen it near 100 times. I remember every line, every movement of the camera, every cut in the film. But to me that speaks to how well it holds up after so much scrutiny.

Some may say that It's a Wonderful Life is the all-time-best Christmas movie; but I'll always believe that this A Christmas Story is THE Christmas movie.

Gremlins is one of the seminal films of my youth. I still remember my mom talking to another mom about how horrible it was, and that the kids should definitely not see it. That was it, I had to see it. I don't remember exactly when I got to see it, it was probably on HBO. I saw everything on HBO those days, before video rentals were the norm.

I don't remember it scaring me. I think that even at a young age, I got that it was a comedy. Maybe a few of the scenes scared me, I briefly remember being tense during the final showdown between Zach and Stripe in the department store, but that's it. Since then, I've seen the film around 20 times. But it's been almost 10 since my last viewing. I decided since my cousin was probably old enough to view it, I'd bring it down to watch with him as one of our Christmas movies.

We've all seen the film, (If you haven't what are you doing here? Watch it now!) I don't need to recycle the plot of cute little Gizmo being bought as a pet, and him hatching a whole gaggle of horrible Gremlins that take over a small town during Christmas. I'm surprised by how well the film holds up. I think it has to do with the use of puppets for the Gremlins. They look very realistic, their movements are very well done, and acting with those creepy looking things probably helped the actors believe the situation. They're not winking at the camera, they play it very straight, so one minute it's a little creepy, the next you're laughing. A tough mix to pull off.

This was advertised as a Spielberg family film when it came out in 1984. But the violence, probably the kitchen scene where the mom dispatches of a few Gremlins in nasty ways in particular, this and another Spielberg creation, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, lead to the creation of the PG-13 rating. Spielberg produced a lot of these edgy kids flicks in the 80's, he's gone on to say that he wouldn't do so now that he has kids, I guess he didn't realize how scary some of them were. But I loved those films, I hate how white-washed most kids films are these days, most kids love being scared and they don't like being talked down to.

However, my 12-year-old cousin didn't seem to impressed with it; so maybe it doesn't hold up as well as I thought. But I still really enjoyed it. It's darkly hilarious, really well directed by Joe Dante, and full of great 80's actors, like Phoebe Cates, Zach Galligan, Corey Feldman, and Judge Reinhold. It'll remain a Christmas staple in my life and in a few years, I'll probably introduce it to my son.

I can't believe I hadn't seen this movie before! An 80's teen-romantic-comedy starring John Cusack, it really couldn't be much more up my alley. My only excuse is that I confused the film with Hot Pursuit, another 80's Cusack romantic-comedy where he travels long distances for the love of a girl. I've seen Hot Pursuit a few times, it's an okay film, nothing too memorable about it.

I was at my wife's mother's house and she had The Sure Thing up on her shelf, I took it down, read the back and noticed that Rob Reiner directed it. I was sure I'd seen all his films, especially his 80's ones, when he was at the top of his game, but the plot sounded just different enough from Hot Pursuit that I realized I hadn't. I immediately had to remedy that problem.

Cusack plays Gib, a freshman at an Ivy League school, with hopes to become a great writer. He's a real smart ass, who doesn't take his classes seriously. His carelessness annoys Alison (Daphne Zuniga) a straight-laced-lass is on the path to be a lawyer. Gib's friend Lance, played by a still full-head-of-haired Anthony Edwards, chose the party route and is living it up at a sunny California school. He sends Gib a letter promising him a "Sure Thing" in a sexy blond, if he heads out there for Christmas break.

This being a movie, Gib and Alison soon end up in the same car pool ride across the States. In a small funny role Tim Robbins plays the owner of the car, who soon kicks the couple out for ruining his trip. Gib and Alison are forced to hitch-hike the rest of the way. Along the way they move from loathing to acceptance, to an unspoken love, with the film ending in typical romantic-comedy fashion; lies, betrayal and finally ultimate love.

The Sure Thing is not a classic by any means. I might have had some more affection for it if I'd seen it in my youth; but seeing it now, it offered nothing special. Cusack does his usual smart-ass-but-likable thing, he makes the film worth watching. But I probably won't bother with it again unless I run across it on cable.

I DVR'd this movie because I knew it was an 80's horror flick that I'd never seen. I was pleasantly surprised when Stuart Gordon's name popped up as the director. Despite him being one of the better horror filmmakers of the last 20 years, it had escaped me that he made this film. My expectations went up a bit; thankfully they were met.

The film starts with a dysfunctional family driving into a nasty storm. When the car breaks down, the abusive-father and wicked-stepmother drag their little girl to a scary looking mansion hidden in the woods. There's a wonderful scene here where the stepmother throws the girl's teddy away when she's being scared and slowing them down, the girl imagines teddy coming back to life, huge and nasty looking, then tearing her parents to pieces. A delicious piece of dark comedy!

From there it gets weirder. When they get into the house they find an eccentric old couple with rooms full of creepy looking ceramic dolls, which the mad-scientisty-husband has made. Soon a couple of 80's English punk-rock chicks show up with a chubby American guy. More fodder for the dolls.

Once night falls everyone retires to their own rooms. Strange things start to go bump-in-the-night and the little girl witnesses one of the punk-rock chicks being attacked by a few nasty looking dolls, with sharp teeth. Waking them up, her horrible parents force her to go back to bed. Ignoring their order, she finds an ally in the chubby guy and wanders the house looking for the punk's remains.

More people get bumped off all in the right order and in satisfying ways. The dolls are genuinely creepy. Gordon and team did a wonderful job mixing stop-motion, puppetry and actors thrashing about with dolls on them. The film is purposely funny in many scenes; because how can you take a film about killer dolls seriously? But also gory and creepy. Just my kind of film.

I'm sorry that I didn't find this film when I was a kid, because it probably would have left a large impression on me. And I'm happy, because it also probably would have also scared the shit out of me.

• Teddy rips the parents a new one.