1. Police Academy - [blind spot] Nope, I've never seen any of the Police Academy movies and I think there might be a lot of them?? And Kim Cattrall is in them??? I was never a big fan of Sex and the City, but I always liked Kim. And obviously as a child of the 80s, Steve Guttenberg has a special place in my heart. This feels like a precursor to Reno 911 and I LOVE Reno 911. Obviously, this is a little cheesy and a little outdated, but overall it's fine. It's an enjoyable concept and I laughed a few times - like the black guy who does the sound effects (love him!!), I died at the "this is a stick-up" response to the burglary scenario and then the other guy who is gun happy. Maybe I'll watch the sequels at some point.
2. Cape Fear (1962) - [blind spot] I love the 90s one (and plan on rewatching it soon because I don't really remember it. I remember DeNiro being menacing and it takes place on a boat...maybe??), but I've never seen this one or read the book. Gregory Peck is so great! I didn't expect this to be so dark though - I don't know why. I know the 90s one is dark, but I expected a film from the 60s to be cheesier and lighter for some reason. It's crazy that police still don't do much about stalkers. I know it's because they really can't stop people from visiting public places if they aren't outwardly threatening people, but it still sucks. Anyway, this is really good - really intense and frightening. Although his daughter looks about 40 years old (haha!).
3. Rain Man - [rewatch] I watched this as a teenager and I remember being bored. I love Dustin Hoffman, but I've never been a big fan of Tom Cruise though - even before the whole psychotic cult thing, I always felt something was off about him. I do think he has screen presence and charisma, and he gives all of himself to a role, but he's not the greatest actor (he's great in exactly ONE movie). I definitely appreciate this more as an adult, but I can also see the problematic nature of the storytelling more clearly. I feel like Hoffman's portrayal of autism became the go-to imitation of autism. I laughed when he finally realizes he should take his brother to Vegas because that would have literally been my first thought. I like the chemistry that forms between these two - it's sweet and feels real. The whole girlfriend part is crazy though - this woman clearly hates him. Why doesn't she leave sooner? Why stay with someone you hate? I don't understand it. Also, THIS MOVIE WON 4 OSCARS??? Including BEST PICTURE??? For REAL?? I mean, it's a good movie, but BEST PICTURE?? Was it just a really bad year or something?
4. Working Girl - [blind spot] I assumed that I had seen this, but I think I was getting this confused with 9 to 5. I'm not the biggest Harrison Ford fan, but I LOVE Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver and they are both excellent here. And it's directed by Mike Nichols?!! I did not know that! Also, it's not about prostitutes....lol. It's called Working Girl, so I definitely thought it was about prostitutes. But no, it's actually about being a woman in a corporate environment in the 80s. And it's really good! I love their 80s hair and outfits. So Good. And then she gets a "professional" haircut that is even more 80s and makes her looks so much older. There are also some banger lines "I have a head for business and a bod for sin, is there anything wrong with that?" (LOL). I actually don't mind Ford in this either because he doesn't do his whole curmudgeon thing. He's sweet, actually. I do think that it's weird that the villain is another woman in the workplace. It's such a man's point of view - pit women against each other so that they don't realize the actual problem is sexism and misogyny. But it is also partly true. There's also some problematic men in the cast (Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin).
5. Kiss Me Kate - [blind spot] WAIT!! This is a musical based on one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, The Taming of the Shrew??? How did I not know that?? I would have watched this much sooner. I definitely got too excited though because the movie is...fine. I like a lot of the beginning. The "It's Too Darn Hot" number is excellent and I miss when films had random tap dancing sequences. The camera movement, and eye contact with the audience is really spectacularly done. But then it gets really boring. It's wild that they show the whole stage musical as part of the movie - it takes up like half of the movie. And it's crazy! What are those red bodysuits that make them all look like elves? What does that have to do with the play? I don't get it! Some of the acting is pretty questionable too (the gangsters, in particular). Overall, I was underwhelmed.
6. Hoosiers - [blind spot] Sports movies can go either way for me - there's some I absolutely love (A League of Their Own, Moneyball, Angels in the Outfield are some that immediately come to mind), but I don't always love them - and I feel like there a lot of overrated ones (Field of Dreams??? I fell asleep watching it and I've never tried again). I do love Gene Hackman though (RIP, such a sad death). I hate basketball though. So this film can really go either way too. I actually don't hate basketball, but I just find it to be the dumbest and easiest sport (goals/scoring should be difficult, but the scores are always 119 to 107 LOL. It shouldn't be that easy!). But I do like that this movie isn't just about basketball - there's this whole subplot about getting the town drunk clean and helping him by making him an assistant coach. I'm not sure telling an addict "you're embarrassing yourself" is the right way to go about things, but it was the 80s! But the rest of the movie is exactly what I was expecting and I've seen it a million times. It's all very...meh.
7. Spaceballs - [rewatch] Is it weird that I watched this movie before I watched Star Wars?? And I LOVED it!! I don't think I understood at least 1/2 of the references, but I loved it all the same. I love this cast so much - Bill Pullman, Rick Moranis, John Candy & Daphne Zuniga (Melrose Place for the win!) - you can't go wrong. And spoof movies used to be GOOD! I love the breaking of the 4th wall, I love the dialogue - I laughed out loud multiple times, even on this rewatch (the I Heart Uranus bumper sticker got me this time, because I am a 12 year old boy, apparently). Plus, I forgot that Joan Rivers does the voice of Dot and I LOVE Joan Rivers. I miss her so much - I always loved the whole Fashion Police thing. I know a lot of people found it mean-spirited, but I thought it was funny and it made the whole awards thing a little less pretentious. And the ending to this with the Alien chest burster scene ("Hello My Baby, Hello My Honey") gets me ever time. It's just so fucking funny.
8. Teen Wolf - [rewatch] I watched this while I wrapped Christmas presents (I'm not sure why...it's not like it's Christmas related). I remember loving this movie as a kid (and the sequel with Jason Bateman too). Actually, I loved this way more than Back to the Future, as far as iconic Michael J. Fox movies go. This was a movie I've rewatched a lot, and I was never really into Back to the Future (although I plan on watching all of them as part of my marathon movie watches. There's only 3 of them, right??). I totally forgot that the whole wolf thing was genetic - LOL. And I forgot about the sweet love story. It's just a highly entertaining teen movie. And also kind of a sports movie! I never thought about it that way, but it hits all the same notes that a typical feel-good sports movie hits.
9. Stripes - [blind spot] This is another movie that I assumed that I've seen, but as soon as it started, I began to question myself. None of it seems familiar at all, so I don't think I have. It starts off really funny. Harold Ramos & Bill Murray have really fun chemistry together ("I think you're ready for the special olympics"). Bill Murray perpetually looks 45. He's 31 in this playing someone in his 20s, but he's still 45. It just gets old really quickly. The only other parts I laughed at were the scenes in which John Candy was gaslighting the gullible guy by telling him fake rules and such. There's also a lot of unnecessary topless scenes and a random mud wresting scene. Also, I would like to say that I watched this on normal television with commercials and the amount of commercials for St. Jude made me want to kill myself. How do people still regularly watch tv like this?? I will never do it again.
10. Romancing the Stone - [blind spot] So, I wanted to watch this because when I was watching The Roses, obviously I was reminded of War of the Roses, and I realized that I always mixed up that movie with this movie (same cast of Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas, and Danny DeVito!! No wonder I always confused them!). And then I realized that I might not have seen this? I actually do think I've seen it or at least parts of it, but as a whole, probably not. I feel like it's a movie that my mom really liked so she would keep it on when it played on television and I probably caught parts of it. I remember Turner and Douglas being covered in mud and trying to find some type of treasure. I'll still list this as a blind spot though because I don't remember enough of it. And something else I realized while watching this was how much The Lost City copied this! I knew it was in the same realm of action adventure romance, but it's literally the same movie! I actually watched The Lost City the next night because of this realization (I was curious as to how close they were) and my husband hasn't seen it and I thought he would like it. And, yup, same movie! They should have called it a remake, really. Anyway, I really liked this - mostly because I love Kathleen Turner - she's so gorgeous in this. Her and Douglas have great chemistry and I love the ending with the boat riding through NYC.
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