Sunday, June 6, 2010

"You're the BEST around!
Nothings gonna ever keep you down!"

We all sat down after dinner tonight and watched skinny, little Ralph and Mr. Miyagi form an unbreakable bond. I totally forgot he gave him that sweet, pale-yellow, vintage car in the end! I remember this show playing over and over at my house when I was growing up. I can't recall anymore who's favorite it was, Mitch or Johnny's, but being that Mitch had an unparalleled love for Pete's Dragon I'm going with John. I turned to Nick near the end and said, "I'm SO glad I grew up in the 80's!" Really, that decade put out the BEST in tv, teenage movies, and music. No question. Seriously, don't fight me on it, cause I'm right. Anyway, this movie was as good as I remember it (surprisingly!) not like Man From Snowy River which was a sore disappointment when I saw that again a few years back. So Nick and I decided we are going to watch old movies (70's and 80's mostly) with our kids every Sunday of the summer. We hardly ever watch movies with them and it was fun. We got a kick out of watching Mitchell, re-enact pretty much every last move--totally oblivious to our watchful eyes. He literally couldn't stay in his chair. The karate moves you would expect, but I really chuckled when he, with furrowed brow, furiously rubbed his hands together and then touched his shoulder under his shirt to see if he too could achieve the same burning/healing effect achieved by Miyagi. Funny. Anyway, here's what I'd like to watch again.

•Back to the Future
•Goonies
•Stand By Me
•Indiana Jones
•Footloose
•Parent Trap

That's as far as I got. I have a horrible memory for that stuff. My kids have not seen much. Anyone who reads this, please chime in. We've seen Anne of Green Gables and Star Wars, but can't think of many others. What are your faves from the good old days or the present. Do tell.

17 comments:

Mrs. O said...

Awhile back we went on an 80s/90s movie kick and watched
The Dark Crystal
Labyrinth
Princess Bride
ET
Goonies (so much more bathroom humor/silliness than I remembered)

I think we need to do it again and add some of yours. I still love all the old John Hughes' movies, but the kids aren't old enough yet.

Anonymous said...

At our house in the '80's we watched anything with Mel Gibson. We watched Jaws, Young Frankenstein. All of the Godfather's. Susan read the book at 14 and loved it. Kind of a weird group, the Cowley's; but we all love, love, love movies. Got it from Grandma May when I was growing up, I guess. Aunt Nancy

Lauralee said...

love your list!
I thought it would be so fun to show my kids Goonies- We loved that show growing up AND it was filmed by where I lived- so I bought it, and was shocked at ALL the swearing... anyway.. just a heads up, I did not remember it being like that..
I loved Karate Kid... loved him! :)

The Bobos said...

LOVE the 80's, best decade ever. My favs are Real Genius, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink. Great movies!

Rebecca said...

Not sure what your boys would think, but Girls Just Wanna Have Fun is a real classic in my book!

VEGAS VIC said...

For the record it was Mitch who loved Karate Kid. He must have watched it a 100 times. He was so cute trying it all out.
Anyway, the only other movie I can think of that we all really liked at the time was The Black Stallion. It might be too slow to watch at home, but maybe not.

Suzanne said...

WHAT?? You didn't like the Man From Snowy River?? This is just sad! We can't be friends anymore!

I loved the Karate Kid. I am actually really excited to see the remake that is coming out this weekend. Oh, how I love the 80's movies. Although, some I would not recommend sitting down as a family. Totally missed all the imiplications when I was young, but when I watch them now, my jaw hits the ground. Here are the movies that pop in my head when I think of the 80's. Again, I would make sure content was ok before showing your kids, well and I guess for you too! Yay FSOY!

Ferris Buhler
GhostBusters
Sixteen Candles
Pretty in Pink
Short Circuit
Better Off Dead (My all time favorite)
Weird Science
Man From Snowy River (oh wait, you banned it.)
Zorro the Gay Blade
Murder by Death
The Three Amigos
Top Gun
Dirty Dancing
Real Genius
Teen Witch
Grease (Sing with me now...summer lovin, had me a blast!)
Some Kind of Wonderful (Good one!)
The Karate Kid
Gremlins
The Princess Bride (Hooray!)

Alright, alright! I will stop there. I am freaking myself out too. Have a good day! I said Good day! -Suzanne

Jayne Layne said...

Yeah that was definitely Mitch that loved Karate Kid why do you think he started to attack me and Jessica at the drop of a hat??? it was all because of that movie. Kids are all the same, I can see little Mitchell doing it all now! We also tried the rubbing your hands together trick.... actually just did it the other day to some one as well! I am glad you guys got to watch that!


I am not to versed in many 80s movies but here the ones Mitch and I liked growing up:

Uncle buck (we watched it everyday our first summer in MD)
Home Alone

Thats about it, every 80s movie I would have suggested has already been suggested, but i know they would really like Home Alone.

Jayne Layne said...

Oh and don't stop there, Karate Kid 2 and 3 are both really good too!

Tiff said...

I don't mean to correct Jayne, but Home Alone actually came out in 1990. Didn't quite make the 80's.

jill said...

Mitch was ALL OVER Karate Kid!!! He watched it non-stop!!!

I recently watched it as well, it was so good to see Daniel son again...

Jek said...

My slumber party favs were

The Neverending Story
Cloak and Dagger
Daryl
Uncle Buck
Field of Dreams (was that 80's?)

Just three days ago I told Jason that I was SOOO glad to have lived in the 80's. THE BEST MEMORIES EVER! Even as a 2-12 year old.

Kimmie said...

YAY!! You and I are TOTALLY on the same page and YES, I'm glad we grew up in the 70's and 80's and TV and movies didn't get any better than those "Good ole days"!

The first movie we watched for summer vacation just last week was "Back to the Future". Ethan was SO excited about this and we actually watched it twice. I LOVE that show and I LOVE "Karate Kid"!!!

Those are all classics that you listed and ones that we own as well.

LOVED "ET" "Swiss Family Robinson" and my all time Favorite was "Some Kind of Wonderful"!

"The Sound of Music" is another great one....I remember like it was yesterday looking forward with anticipation to the one time each year they would show that on TV. There was no such thing as the video stores when we were growing up.

WOW, Suzanne listed some great movies. I'll have to print off those, although, we have seen the majority of those as a family.

LOVE NETFLIX because most of these movies are on Instant Watch.

Silly as it sounds, 2 years ago we bought the first 7 Seasons of "Little House on the Prairie" and believe it or not our sons just LOVE that!! It's good wholesome shows that teach great values and very applicable for Sunday viewing. I never tire of the Little House on the Prairie series...it reminds me of the late 70's and early 80's and looking forward to each week watching it on TV.

It sounds like your family is going to have a summer that they'll always remember.

Regarding NETFLIX... there are some great Disney shows available (The computer that wore tennis shoes, The Absent Minded Professor, The Love Bug, The North Avenue Irregulars, Snowball Express, The Boatniks, The Cat from Outer Space, The Parent Trap (with Hayley Mills), Freaky Friday, The Shaggy Dog, Mary Poppins, and the list goes on). Even those some of these are corny, they bring back SO many great memories and we have had some great laughs with our kids watching these classics.

Sorry for the novel. YAY for summer vacation and I hope you and your family are enjoying and having a wonderful time!! Have lots of FUN!!

Up in Bubbles said...

Field of Dreams was 80's and we just watched it tonight. Good flick and kids will like it because ghosts are present. Don't forget BIG with Tom Hanks.

Up in Bubbles said...

Jek has some good ones! I have D.A.R.Y.L (data analysis robot youth lifeform) in my Netflix que. Our kids love the Neverending Story and I am sure yours will as well. One last one that has a special place in my heart and that is "my side of the mountain". your kids will fall in love with that one.

How about:
The Rocky's
Pee Wee's Big Adventure
Beetlejuice
Poltergeist
Good morning Vietnam (for mitchell)
Robocop
Adventures in Babysitting
Short circuit (when watching this one, go outside and grab a sleeping bag to sleep in and maybe sometime around 4am you will be bitten in the foot by a black widow)
BIg trouble in little china
Something wicked this way comes
The Burbs


Seacrest OUT!

Anonymous said...

Jennifer...just a word of warning.... You are going to be surprised at how bad the language was in the movies were back then. We watched Goonies a few months ago with our 10 year old and had to turn it off about 1/2 way through because of the foul language (LOTS of G.D.'s). I forgot the rating system was so different back then. I was watching Kramer vs Kramer recently as well and was appalled when I found myself staring at a pair of nekkid boobies!! haha I TOTALLY remember watching that movie when I was a kid!!!

Ann Marie said...

Yes.. we are heart to heart here.

I saw Man from Snowy River at Suzanne's and didn't like it either... but that is also how I felt about a few other *supposed* epic's like Gone with the Wind. I was soo disapointed... :(

OK.. the 80's...
Ralph was one of my dream poster boys.. and I watched that movie too much. I kinda have banned the *remake* as.. you SHOULDN"T remake epic shows! -- Case in point.. Parent Trap.

I LOVE-LOVE John Hughes movies.. but YES... most you can't show the kids. THE WORST one is Sixteen Candles. Seriously.. I can say that movie word for word... but it shows nudity.. and has LOTZA language.. but.. it's still a guilty pleasure.

Ones that I loved that havent been mentioned...

The Great Outdoors
Star Wars
Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi
She's having a baby
Pollyanna
Journey of Natty Gann
Annie
Better off Dead
Say Anything
Willow

I agree.. 80's movies were the best! I still watch them over and over!!