On the heels of yesterday's post, which covered the years 1974 through 1983, we continue the latest in a long line of pointless pop-culture lists: Pick a Movie for Every Year of Your Life.
1984
Then: Ghostbusters
Now: Repo Man
Hey, I honestly wish I could claim some cool favorite like Paris, Texas, but I'm trying to be totally honest here.
1985
Then: Back to the Future
Now: TIE, Ran and Real Genius
Hell, I even tried to dress like Marty McFly. As for the tie, Ran is one of the few foreign films I never get tired of watching. It's just friggin' amazing. However, Real Genius may hold the record as the film I've watched the most times. I just couldn't choose. Also, Re-Animator came out in '85.
1986
Then: Aliens
Now: Blue Velvet
Howard the Duck notwithstanding, 1986 was an unbelievable year in film. Just remarkable. Sentimental favorites like Big Trouble in Little China and Ferris Bueller's Day Off stand alongside genuine classics like Manhunter, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Fly, and Sid and Nancy. This was also the year I made the crucial transition from shitting myself every time a horror-movie commercial came on TV to being completely obsessed with horror movies.
1987
Then: Summer School
Now: Evil Dead 2
And yet, despite 1987 being quite possibly the best year in American horror films since the 1930s, my favorite movie was a Mark Harmon/Kirstie Alley vehicle. In my defense, Chainsaw and Dave's whole schtick was that they were into horror movies. So I was basically watching a film about myself. (Seriously, look at this horror lineup: Hellraiser, Near dark, The Lost Boys, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors, Prince of Darkness, Predator... man, what a year!) Oh I do have a "regular" pick for this year as well: Wings of Desire.
1988
Then: A Fish Called Wanda
Now: Die Hard
So apparently I've gotten dumber in the last twenty years. Other possible favorites were Dead Ringers, The Last Temptation of Christ, and They Live. My god... I am seriously one of the people I've spent my entire life hating. Die Hard????
1989
Then: TIE, Heathers and Pet Sematary
Now: Crimes and Misdemeanors
So back then I was clearly going through my safe suburban version of an "edgy teen" phase (although, for reasons I cannot begin to explain, I was also a big fan of Steel Magnolias). Apparently I am now a big Woody Allen fanatic. Who knew?
1990
Then: TIE, Edward Scissorhands and Pump Up the Volume
Now: TIE, Goodfellas and Miller's Crossing
Talk about symmetry. In high school, my favorite movies were about high-school outcasts. Now I go in for gritty gangster movies.
1991
Then: The Doors
Now: The Silence of the Lambs
What a weak year for movies! Oliver Stone's ridiculously overblown Jim Morrison biopic was ideal viewing for a classic rock-obsessed sixteen-year-old. But now? Other possibilities were either semi-ironic (Point Break) or deeply cult (Dead Again).
1992
Then: Singles
Now: Glengarry Glen Ross
Another weak year. My senior-year obsession with all things Seattle naturally included Cameron Crowe's grunge rom-com (not to mention the soundtrack). The contemporary pick came down to Reservoir Dogs and Hard Boiled canceling each other out by virtue of their similarity.
1993
Then: True Romance
Now: Dazed and Confused
Given its basic subject matter, it's astounding how great Dazed and Confused is (though apparently True Romance screenwriterQuentin Tarantino agrees).
Tune in next week for the concluding entry, 1994–2007.
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