My childhood movies
We here at The Devil’s Avocado like our lists to come out on Mondays, and we like them to go to eleven. Here’s one for you:
So, this list may be a bit less “fists swinging” than my last one, but I’m in a nostalgic mood. When Spielberg and Scorsesewere kids, they adored the movies of Powell and Lean. Paul Thomas Anderson and his generation worshipped Spielberg and Scorsese. I am no filmmaker (yet), but these are the flicks that define my childhood. These are not the BEST necessarily. They are just movies that I still vividly remember being in awe of at those most imopressionable of years….
Movies from my childhood
1 - Star Wars - all (77, 80, 83); E.T. (82)
2 - Ghostbusters (84)
3 - Neverending Story (84)
4 - Indiana Jones - The Last crusade, The Temple of Doom (84,89)
5 - Commando (85)
6 - Back to the Future (85)
7 - Goonies (85)
8 - Crocodile Dundee (86)
9 - Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (86)
10 - The Princess Bride (87)
11 - Batman (89)
Here’s why:
Star Wars - all (77, 80, 83); E.T. (82)
These movies all came out before my birth or during my toddler years. I do not have a memory of first viewing them - they have always existed for me. They are probably deeper in my subconscious than anything else…besides a few actual moments in my life. The worlds created here (even the very real one in E.T.), the music, the images, the posters, the costumes, names, sounds, colors - I dream these movies. Looking at them in this way, they are all the same movie to me.
Ghostbusters (84)
The opening scared me silly when I was a kid. That’s the key. The movie is funny like crazy, yeah, but the sense of evil haunting is always present. And the third act truly feels apocalyptic. A beautiful marriage of genres. That’s totally how I would have explained my love for this movie when I was kid. Totally.
Neverending Story (84)
At the time (and until Lord of the Rings, I think) few live action movies ever braved the depths of fantasy this one did and were as successful. Giant wolves and bats and snails and stone men, a dragon that looks like a big dog, extremely busty statues that shoot lightning from their eyes at those who dare pass, a book with a hugely provocative amulet on the cover, indecipherable names shouted into storms. The swamps of sadness….Gah, the swamps of sadness. Yeah, this is definitely the work of a strange little German director. Atreyu and Bastian, by the way, are incredible role models for a kid. And the Childlike Empress was my first crush ever.
Indiana Jones - The Last crusade, The Temple of Doom (84,89)
Raiders is my favorite now, but when I was a kid it was definitely Last Crusade. Before Last Crusade…Temple of Doom. Yup. The fedora, the whip, the gun holster. And then the Nazis, the crocodiles, the snakes, the rope bridge, the boat chase, the motorcycle chase, the mine car chase, the mystical, the blood (PG-13 was invented for these movies, by the way) - how much more exciting can it get for a boy?
Commando (85)
Action movies were huge for me. I ate them up. My Dad only liked two kinds of movies - Action and Comedy. The whole family watched a bunch of both. But Dad liked to watch the action movies with just the boys. Even the R-rated ones, where the body counts soared well into double digits. Schwarzenegger was the best of the action stars, and when I think of the quintessential Schwarzenegger, I think of the green vest loaded with grenades, the black streaks of camouflage over his colossal arms and the flat top haircut. All from Commando. “Let out a little steam, Bennett.”
Back to the Future (85)
Time traveling, loopy scientists, Huey Lewis = awesome.
Goonies (85)
If I were to guess, I would say that this would be the movie to beat all other movies from my generation for most popular as a kid. It put us kids right into an Indiana Jones adventure. Steeped in mystery and atmoshpere and fun characters. ADVENTURE!!!
Crocodile Dundee (86)
A movie I haven’t seen since I was a kid, but several moments still stick with me. Particularly, the stuff in Australia. The moments where the movie gets bizarrely quiet and caught up in the outback legend really excited me. Above all, it’s a fish out of water comedy. But when he’s in his element, he is a total badass.
Back when John Hughes used to make movies for people that can form words, he was a genius at taking something so familiar and injecting it with escapist fantasy. When I was a little pre-teen, this is how I pictured my high school years would feel: cool and smart and outside and funny funny funny and strangely hypnotic, full of ambiguous angst, rebellion, wonder. And…funny funny funny.
The Princess Bride (87)
Is there another movie that nearly reaches the silly charm, smarts, romance of this one?
Batman (89)
Remember the trailers? NICHOLSON. KEATON. BATMAN. This was THE event movie when I was a kid. This movie TOOK OVER. The trading cards, the toys, the batmobile, the score everyone could hum, the Halloween costumes, the Prince songs, the opening titles, the quotes over and over, the rides at Six Flags. It’s exciting when everyone gets crazy pumped up over the same thing. Especially when it’s Batman.
