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I guess I just like liking things

This was a hard list to make. I haven’t seen many of these in a long time, so it’s a mixture of how much I liked it “back in the day” and how much I’d like it now if I watched it again. Sometimes I’m tempted to put things on these lists because I’m supposed to like something or other better and I want you to like me, but when it gets down to it, I like what I like. Sorry, Brazil.

cluemovie10. The Breakfast Club – I don’t like this movie near as much as most people from my generation do, but it’s fine.

9. Weird Science – This movie makes the list but Witness and Teen Wolf don’t? Outrageous! This is back when people were pretty much convinced computers were magic and probably accounts for most people my age choosing a career path in I.T..

8. Real Genius – One of Val Kilmer’s top three roles along with Top Secret! and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. More geeks and nerds winning over jerks and jocks. Careful, or this’ll turn into a themed list!

7. Rocky IV – If I was making this list in 1985, this movie would’ve been #1. Rocky Balboa punched Communism so hard that the Berlin Wall came down four years later. it might not seem like a movie made four years prior had anything to do with the wall coming down, but believe me, it did.

6. Commando – Any defense of this clearly ridiculous movie needs to mention that Arnold’s character in the movie throws a circular saw blade like a throwing star and it takes off part of a guy’s skull. Clearly this movie should be ranked higher.

5. Silverado – My second-favorite Western of all time.

4. Rambo: First Blood Part II – Rocky IV changed the present, this movie looked to right the wrongs of the past. Rocky used punches, Rambo used explosions and a big knife. Different jobs call for different tools.

3. Clue – I feel safe in saying there will never be a movie based on a board game funnier than this one.

2. Better Off Dead – One of the most quotable movies of all time and I don’t care if John Cusack doesn’t like the movie: he’s wrong.

1. Back to the Future – I’ve always thought that if I got transported back to the 50s that I’d handle it better than Marty did, but I also probably wouldn’t be able to make it back to the present day, so it’s a mixed bag.

Additional thoughts:

  • A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge – The first Nightmare on Elm Street movie I saw. Before watching it a friend warned me by saying, “If you see this one, you’ll want to watch the whole series.” He wasn’t wrong. Turns out, 2 is the worst of the whole series (unless you count the reboot, which I don’t really).
  • American Ninja – Just the name of this one when I was a kid was the coolest thing in the world. Sadly, the movie wasn’t quite as cool as its name.
  • Brazil – I liked this one, I just don’t think I completely get it, you know?
  • Desperately Seeking Susan – Madonna should’ve just stopped being in movies after this one, I think.
  • Pee-wee’s Big Adventure – Tim Burton’s first movie, and 1985’s Napoleon Dynamite.
  • The Goonies – If I’d seen this one when I was a kid, I’d probably like it more. I read the movie-to-book novelization of it around the time it came out (I did that a lot back then), but didn’t see the movie until I was in my 30s.
  • Witness – This movie and Weird Al’s “Amish Paradise” have done more to educate people about Amish culture than anything else.

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