My Top 20 Fave...Movies

I've been watching some movies from my childhood this week, enjoying the memories they bring back. So I decided to compile my Top 20 fave movies with a little blurb about each (Warning: snark may be involved.) After reviewing my list, I realized most of them were filmed in the 80s. Perhaps it's because the 80s were the decade of my childhood, when things were simpler; perhaps it's because movies these days focus so much on special effects that the story gets lost. Perhaps that's enough philosophizing, Professor Chardonnay, let's get to it!

In no particular order:

1. Running Scared (1986) - It's funny, it shows dancer Gregory Hines as a really funny actor, it showcases my fave spot Key West, it portrays Jimmy Smits as the hot Latino he truly is. LOVES.

2. National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) - I could recite every word of this movie at 10 years old. I had a wandering spirit as a child and the thought of travelling in the Griswold Family Truckster just sounded so cool.

3. Romancing The Stone (1984) - Another movie I could recite every word from by age 10. I loved Kathleen Turner's voice and discovered the hilarity of Danny DeVito.

*I should probably mention now that both of my stepfathers insisted on having HBO and Showtime on the cable box. This tidbit will come into play in later selections.*

4. Beverly Hills Cop (1984) - Come on, this was a good movie! So good, in fact, that one of my high school friends reenacted one of Axel Foley's pranks on a classmate of ours' car. I cannot go into this any further because the prankee reads this blog (and if you know who you are, I will TOTALLY tell you who did it because I can't stand her now.)

5. Fast Forward (1985) - I would imagine none of you have heard of this film. It's a dance movie and the closest thing I had to a dance studio in my youth. I practiced those moves day in, day out. Replete with leg warmers.

6. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) - I could probably list ALL the Griswold movies on my list (even European Vacation! IKR???) but I especially liked this one. Clark and Ellen still look like Clark and Ellen (unlike Vegas Vacation) and it's just SO what I imagine my family Christmases would have been...if my mother hadn't married so many times.

7. Revenge Of The Nerds (1984) - This movie was filmed at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where I lived for six months. I spent one whole Saturday touring filming locations with my camera. Just after lunch, I was driving down a street close to campus when I saw it: the Alpha Beta house. I screamed, "Holy shit! It's the Alpha Beta house!" I couldn't see any open parking slots so I sorta double-parked in front of someone's driveway (I was just going to get a quick snapshot and be on my way!) As I was tumbling out of my VW Jetta, the owner of the house yelled, "Hey! You can't park there!" I said, "But...it's the ALPHA BETA HOUSE!!!" He goes, "Ahhh. You're one of them. Go ahead, I'll watch your car since you left the engine running, door hanging open, and are already halfway down the street." Sweet man!

8. Adventures In Babysitting (1987) - I wished I could be Chris, being in charge and finding the man of my dreams at a frat party. The best line of the movie? "Don't FUCK with the Lords of Hell." "Don't FUCK with the babysitter!"

9. My Father The Hero (1994) - This was filmed in the Bahamas - the shots...oh, the breathtaking shots. But I think I liked it because I imagined that would be the relationship I would have had with my dad had he not died when I was 12 years old. When Nicole thinks her dad has drowned and finally breaks down and speaks French to him...I sob every time. But to watch this you need to get over Gerard Depardieu's nose. Yikes.

10. Breakfast At Tiffany's (1961) - I love everything Audrey Hepburn. "Sabrina" was a close call for me on this one but BAT is just...it.

11. Hardbodies (1984) - (Please see italic text after #3) This was the first naughty movie I ever saw. I caught it after mother and stepdad #1 went to bed. Grant Cramer then became the hottest guy in the world to me and I wanted to move to California so I could be a hardbody, too! Yay!

12. Goonies (1985) - "Goonies never say die!" This was the first movie I watched where kids cussed. And I LOVED IT. Goonies comes on TNT at least once a month and I sit and recite every word of it. "Maaaan! You smell like Phys Ed!" Mouth just gives me space on Goonies Sundays.

13. Twister (1996) - I saw this movie three times in the theater. THREE TIMES. I used to be petrified of tornadoes, so to see them so realistic on the huge screen in front of me? Scared the shit out of me but I loved every minute of it.

14. Stripes (1981) - HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE 'STRIPES'? Raz-zle daz-zle! That's all I have to say. Well, that and jello wrestling.

15. Spies Like Us (1985) - Loved this movie so much I named my freelance site after it - 'Scribes Like Us'. (Also thanks to the suggestion of my friend Joanna. ;)) I played the movie for Mouth when he was around nine and he loved it. "Show some balls, man!" "I think it's too late to try and impress them." Hee hee.....

16. Porky's (1982) - (Again, please consult italic note after #3) This movie utterly confused me but I just LIKED IT. I had to watch it dozens of times, and didn't quite get the meaning of everything until high school, but it totally makes my Top 20.

17. The Big Chill (1983) - I appreciated this movie more as I got older. It resonated with me as I saw my college friends grow up and start families and become...adults. Sad!!!

18. Home For The Holidays (1995) - Unlike 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation', this movie felt more like my holidays home from college. And it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to realize I'm not the only one with a shit-ton of crazy in the gene pool.

19. Key Largo (1948) - Just like Audrey, Humphrey Bogart is my idol. I have nearly every movie he made and my faves are the ones he filmed with Lauren Bacall. I think I lived in Florida in a few of my past lives because I have been drawn to the place since I could begin to imagine it.

20. Real Genius (1985) - I love Val Kilmer. Even though he's now bloated and kinda gross looking, Val is one of my 'Top Three' (married couples know what I mean.) This movie introduced me to one of my fave lines I still say today: "You still run?" "Only when chased."

I've seen movies through the years that make me laugh, make me cry, make me pee my pants with fear - but these are the ones that make me feel like I'm home.

Home being watching R-rated movies on the stepdad's premium channels, natch.