My family had some odd films to call "family favorites", but this happened to be one of them for some reason (along with likes of ON GOLDEN POND). It is a bit of a dark thriller for family fare, but it remains a solid entry in the genre from this period. FBI Agent Sidney Poitier is unable to capture and kidnapping killer extortionist at the beginning of the film and he escapes to the mountain wilderness of Washington with a plan to hike across the Canadian border. What the killer needs is a guide and he ends up joining a fishing party led by Kirstie Alley without anyone in the group suspecting him of his evil intentions. Poitier finds himself in need of his own guide and gets wind that Tom Berenger is the best in the area (and also the boyfriend to Alley's character - complicating things a bit). Berenger and Poitier team up and attempt to track and look for the fishing party. The fun part comes when don't know what the killer looks like and he could be any one of five guys including: Clancy Brown, Andy Robinson, and in a lovely nod to Carpenter's THE THING (perhaps) - Richard Masur. All told though, a fun thriller that builds to a solid climax.
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1989: The Last, Greatest Hollywood Summer
There’s a reason 1989 looms so large – not just in my own esteem, but also for the movie business itself. It’s as if 1989 represented a kind of temporal fulcrum, like Back to the Future’s October 21st, 1985. The future of the film industry was not yet written. The novelty of sell-through home video (priced for purchase at $30 or less rather than $80-$100) had shortened theatrical release windows. Media conglomerates had begun devouring the Big Six studios. Sequels and franchise films dominated the landscape, predicting the coming wave of globally-relevant, serialized entertainment.
To quote Joe Banks in Joe Versus the Volcano (unfortunately a 1990 film), “I didn’t know it—but I knew it.” Even if I didn’t know why 1989 felt so important, I could feel the revolution in the air. I knew this was a great time to be a movie fan, but I didn’t know it wouldn’t last. If you weren’t yet of movie-watching age or have just forgotten, allow me to be your guide through those magical summer months.
Read MoreA Nostalgic Blast from the Past: 1980s Kid’s TV Shows
As a child of the 1980s, when I wasn’t playing with my Cricket doll, collecting My Little Pony toys, or outside bouncing on my Pogo Ball, I was glued to the television set. And the ‘80s was a fantastic decade for all sorts of wonderful and weird children’s programming. In our April #DVDChat, which I hosted, we all reveled in the nostalgia of our favorite classic TV shows. It was great to see what shows people remember fondly.
For me, my #1 favorite TV show as a kid was Punky Brewster. I really wanted to take a trip back to that era and revisit the character I idolized so much so I loaded up my DVD Netflix queue with all the available seasons of the show. I’ve been working my way through each DVD. It brings back happy memories, but also makes me mourn that bygone era of my youth.
Read More1980s Big Business Films Worth Watching
Shoulder pads and three-piece suits. Multi-tasking and networking. Yuppies. Business people were trying desperately to get ahead in the 1980s, but the economy wasn’t cooperating. The decade had begun in the grips of double-digit inflation. This was followed by a recession and then a significant stock-market crash. Quite a few movies released during those years told stories related to big business. Here are seven business-themed titles from the 1980s that portray the frenzied era.
Read MoreMy Favorite Movies From the 1980s
After the 1970s, which was one of the best decades ever for American film, the 1980s felt to me as if Hollywood took a decade-long breather from movies that were both commercially viable and artistically memorable. But thankfully, after diving into the DVD Netflix library, the 1980s turns out to be as solid a decade for film as any in the past century of movies.
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