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5 great films that came out in 1987
Superior Telegram/AP ^ | 6/16/2012 | Christy Lemire

Posted on 06/16/2012 6:25:40 AM PDT by Saije

Rock of Ages" revels in the big hair and tight leather pants of a very specific place and time: the Sunset Strip in 1987, when bands like Guns N' Roses and Poison got their start. But a lot of great movies came out that year, too. Here are five of them:

"Full Metal Jacket": One of Stanley Kubrick's best — and I really should find a reason to compile that list one of these days — this Vietnam War drama lulls you in with its humor in the first half, then blows you away with its brutality in the second...

"Raising Arizona": Still one of my all-time favorites from the Coen brothers and a great example of the off-kilter vibe that arose from their brief collaboration with then-cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld...

"Moonstruck": I've always enjoyed the balance that director Norman Jewison and Oscar-winning screenwriter John Patrick Shanley strike here. This is a movie that's unabashedly old-fashioned and sweet but with a no-nonsense and slightly shaggy streak...

"Less Than Zero": A lurid depiction of the drugs and decadence of the time. Having grown up in Los Angeles in the 1980s, I can attest that this is not necessarily what it was like — not in my tame little corner of the San Fernando Valley, where sneaking wine coolers felt rebellious...

"Dirty Dancing": This is a nostalgic choice, admittedly. I probably should have picked something artsier and more respected like "The Last Emperor," which won nine Academy Awards including best picture. But looking back, which film left the most enduring mark on the culture, on the era? Of the five listed here, it's "Dirty Dancing," far and away...

(Excerpt) Read more at superiortelegram.com ...


TOPICS: History; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: 1987; movies
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1987 doesn't seem like that long ago to me. But it was wasn't it? A long time ago and far away now.
1 posted on 06/16/2012 6:25:52 AM PDT by Saije
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To: Saije

Silly list. What about:

Three Men and a Baby
Lethal Weapon
Good Morning, Vietnam


2 posted on 06/16/2012 6:33:00 AM PDT by nhoward14
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To: Saije
""Full Metal Jacket": One of Stanley Kubrick's best"

First half good; second half crap. Why did Matthew Modine speak like he had some sort of brain injury throughout the film?

3 posted on 06/16/2012 6:35:14 AM PDT by Flag_This (Real presidents don't bow.)
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To: Saije

I REALLY miss 1987, Reagan, Hair Bands, Lots of wine women and song... It was so much simpler back then. No internet and 24/7 connectivity with every other person place and thing on the planet. PC BS was only in it’s infancy. You didn’t have some nanny type chasing after every so-called ‘wrong’ and inventing plenty of their own. Kids these days have no idea how much fun they missed. God I am getting old...

Sure there were problems. Lots of’em. But I’d bet most of us who lived that era prefer it to this one. Anyone got the URL for the time machine the jock in Napoleon Dynamite ordered? ;)


4 posted on 06/16/2012 6:35:25 AM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: Saije
A long time ago and far away now.

Great, now I have Meat Loaf stuck in my head.
5 posted on 06/16/2012 6:37:13 AM PDT by arderkrag (ABOs are Romneybot trolls. LOOKING FOR ROLEPLAYERS. Check Profile.)
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To: Norm Lenhart

Those were my high school days. Good times. Is it me, is there any normal kids out there? I don’t have any, but every lady I date has jacked up kids..


6 posted on 06/16/2012 6:38:48 AM PDT by goseminoles
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To: nhoward14
Silly list. What about:

One of my faves from the class of '87:


7 posted on 06/16/2012 6:40:17 AM PDT by Drew68 (I WILL vote to defeat Barack Hussein Obama!)
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To: Drew68

The little red X square? I don’t remember that one.


8 posted on 06/16/2012 6:46:19 AM PDT by nhoward14
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To: Saije

Ugh, I can honestly say I would never care to see any of those films again. My 1987 list:

The Untouchables
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Robocop
The Running Man
The Princess Bride


9 posted on 06/16/2012 6:46:20 AM PDT by yuleeyahoo (Liberty is not collective, it is personal. All liberty is individual liberty. - Calvin Coolidge)
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To: Saije

These are part of the culture, probably to stay:

Ernest Goes to Camp
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Princess Bride
Robo Cop
Wall Street

Sometimes, the films that people are still watching and quoting matter more than the ones the critics loved at the time.


10 posted on 06/16/2012 6:46:34 AM PDT by Migraine (Diversity is great; until it happens to YOU.)
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To: Saije
"Moonstruck": I've always enjoyed the balance that director Norman Jewison and Oscar-winning screenwriter John Patrick Shanley strike here. This is a movie that's unabashedly old-fashioned and sweet but with a no-nonsense and slightly shaggy streak...

The ONLY time anyone ever heard about Olympia Dukakis was when Michael Dukakis was running for the Presidency. And the media pretended HE had a good chance at winning.

11 posted on 06/16/2012 6:47:44 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (The media ignored the 40th anniversary of Bill Ayers' Pentagon bombing but not Watergate. Ask Why.)
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To: yuleeyahoo

See my post 10

GMTA

Great call on “Untouchables”


12 posted on 06/16/2012 6:47:59 AM PDT by Migraine (Diversity is great; until it happens to YOU.)
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To: Saije
Predator
Robocop
13 posted on 06/16/2012 6:49:10 AM PDT by Spirochete (Sic transit gloria mundi)
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To: Norm Lenhart

I had the internet in 1987. Newsgroups. Email. No WWW.


14 posted on 06/16/2012 6:49:22 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (The media ignored the 40th anniversary of Bill Ayers' Pentagon bombing but not Watergate. Ask Why.)
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To: goseminoles

I honestly don’t know. There must be a few somewhere. I graduated in 83. When I think of ‘us’ back then and compare it to our modern counterparts, it doesn’t even seem like we’re of the same species. Has there ever been such a generational gap? By 16 today, the average kid has had more ‘experiences’ of ALL types than many of our era has had to date. There is no innocence left. Being thoroughly jaded at such an early age leaves little hope for their future.

Just to keep somewhat on topic, look at the movies of the two eras. Even the kid/teen centered fare is nihilistic when it’s not total ecopropaganda. And even then the end result is that doom hangs in the air.

My daughter (22 now) always says she wishes she could have lived back then. Most of her favorite entertainment, clothes etc are from that era. But even though she’s a lot closer to ‘us’ than them’ in her views etc., she’d have been completely lost in 87, having grown up in today’s society.


15 posted on 06/16/2012 6:50:26 AM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: a fool in paradise

You and about 5 other people ;)


16 posted on 06/16/2012 6:52:12 AM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: yuleeyahoo

“The Princess Bride”: Proof that Jewish humor can be really good.


17 posted on 06/16/2012 6:52:12 AM PDT by yarddog
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To: Saije
"Dirty Dancing"

Ugh

But looking back, which film left the most enduring mark on the culture, on the era?

Nobody puts Baby in a corner! :-)

18 posted on 06/16/2012 6:57:07 AM PDT by jtal (Runnin' a World in Need with White Folks' Greed - since 1492)
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To: a fool in paradise

% rn


19 posted on 06/16/2012 7:00:06 AM PDT by jtal (Runnin' a World in Need with White Folks' Greed - since 1492)
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To: Norm Lenhart

Weird Science? Ferris Buehller? Sir mix alot? Van Halen? Def leppard? I miss those days.


20 posted on 06/16/2012 7:02:34 AM PDT by goseminoles
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