The Berylune Blog

After a brief blogging respite, due to thousands of teeny tiny envelopes that needed to be made for Valentines Day, my 80's Movie Alphabet is back.

J

I couldn't find any 80s 'J' movies of note. I was excited that I would get to tell you how awesome Jaws is, but that was made in 1975. Duh.

If I've missed something of note, do let me know.

In the mean time, we'll swiftly move along tto K.

K

The Karate...

I

This one is a proper Sunday afternoon, on the sofa, with a cup of tea and a packet of biscuits film...

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

OK, so this is the second instalment of Indiana Jones in the 80s, the first one being titled 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', which technically we can't cover until we get to 'R'. However, you don't need to have watched the first one to thoroughly appreciate the...

Royal Mail's final posting date has well and truly passed. We have gone from being absolutely manic, permanently shallow breathing, to just kicking back and enjoying the show. The show being those lovely chaps that leave their shopping until the last minute. Example of a conversation today, 'My darling wife advised me you have a set of three awesome retro canisters'. Our reply 'Well, yes, we did,...

G

We have a festive choice!

Gremlins


Billy gets given a cute, fluffy creature called a Mogwai by his dad, with three simple rules to follow: 1/ No bright lights, 2/ No water, 3/ No food after midnight. Billy accidentally gets Gizmo (the Mogwai) wet, causing him to sprout baby fluffy Mogwais. These guys aren't quite as sweet as Gizmo, and trick Billy in to feeding them after midnight by fiddling with...

F

F is a very, very exciting letter. The films I haven't chosen are really cool too - Fatal Attraction, Fame (ask my Mum about me jumping off the arm of the sofa to perform what I was convinced was the splits mid air during the theme of the TV show, if you want a laugh), Fast Times at Ridgemount High, to name just a few. However, my favourites, for their 80'sness, are:

Footloose


Oh god. I love this...

E

The Empire Strikes Back? Nope. E.T.? Yawn. For me, the only choice here is:

Escape from New York



Set in the future - 1997 to be exact - Manhattan is a maximum security prison, where criminals are pretty much left to their own devices, but they're not allowed to leave. Which is great, until Air Force One crashes there! Kurt Russel is Snake, a man with a patch (that doesn't seem to inhibit his depth...

D

There can be only one. Fine, there are 2.

Dirty Dancing


I had SO much fun forcing our Australian friend Alex to watch this movie when she was over here a few months back. We had an 80's movie fest, but the other one we watched is an F and we're not there yet.

Alex was surprised at the number of references to this film she had previously heard but didn't recognise - 'Nobody puts Baby in the corner'...

C

I wasn't very impressed with my 'C' choices.

Cocktail

Tom Cruise is a shallow young bartender who learns a lesson or two about life. He wears white trousers. 

OK, it isn't very good, but it's very 80s. In fact, don't watch it, it's terrible.

Caddyshack

I tried watching this for research. It's not very good and I...

B

I couldn't pick. Too many options.

The Breakfast Club.



I'm really only mentioning The Breakfast Club because everyone thinks I should. I don't love this movie at all, but it is a fabulous example of an 80's high school movie, so watch it if you haven't already. Judd Nelson's floppy hair is a joy. I find the characters a bit annoying and unbelievable, but then, teenagers are annoying and full of...

People younger than myself seem not to have watched even nearly enough 80s films. So if you're wondering what to do with your weekend, here is the first installment of my A-Z of unmissable 80s movies and why you should watch them.

A

An American Werewolf in London? All the Right Moves? The Abyss? All fine choices, but it has to be:

Aliens.


Why I like it - I remember recording Aliens on to VHS and it...