This book is fine. It doesn’t really do anything wrong. Am I a little bitter than it didn’t explicitly talk about favorite movies? Of course. I, TOO!, AM A CHILD OF THE 80s!
But really what it comes down to, is that the advice she gets from Peter Biskind to watch Salvador is the better advice in this book. I KNOW this is not her mission or her goal, but the 80s is chock full of amazing movies in the 80s and really this book takes an earnest look at (most) all of the movies people already look at all the time. There’s no problem in really liking Ghostbusters, but as the author already states, everybody already loves Ghostbusters. I do think there are a whole buttload of cool, weird, great 80s movies that could stand the write up that a list of mostly already-ran movies don’t really need.
I think her look at Baby Boom is the kind of movie that does need the kind of write-up she sort of decides not to make. So again, there’s nothing wrong with what she does….except that it’s pretty well-tread, (very very very) very white territory that could use a real infusion of difference and creativity.
So I figured I would add a bunch of weird/fun 80s movies that people should talk about too. I will admit that of course, OF COURSE, my list of favorite 80s movies are still like: Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller, etc etc etc. I was born in 1981 so of course.
Walker
Three O’Clock High
Cloak and Dagger
Saturday the 14th
Haunted Honeymoon
Transylvania 65000
Monster Squad
The Gate
Explorers
RAD
Dirtbike Kid
The Peanut Butter Solution
The Hidden
White Water Summer
The Rescue
Gung Ho
Mr Mom
Disorderlies
Walk Like a Man
Invisible Kid
My Bodyguard
Ruthless People
The Man with Two Brains
The Money Pit
So mostly I am picking things she doesn’t mention/are less common on those kinds of lists. No endorsement on any of these as most were things we rented from from Pharmor in the late 80s/early 90s…..