(For an explanation of this, read the Introduction.  Other posts in this series can be found here.)

Movies We Still Care About

•  Batman
• Field of Dreams
• Heathers
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• The Little Mermaid
• Say Anything
• When Harry Met Sally

Other Fond Memories

• Dead Poets Society
• Steel Magnolias

Other Notable Movies

• The Abyss
• UHF

Best Picture Nominees:

• Driving Miss Daisy (Winner)
• Born on the Fourth of July
• Dead Poets Society
• Field of Dreams
• My Left Foot

Top Grossing Films (US)

1. Batman
2. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
3. Lethal Weapon 2
4. Look Who’s Talking
5. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
6. Back to the Future 2
7. Ghostbusters 2
8. Driving Miss Daisy
9. Parenthood
10. Dead Poets Society

Rotten Tomatoes Top Movies

1. Sex, Lies, and Videotape (98%)
2. Say Anything (98%)
3. Do the Right Thing (96%)
4. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (94%)
5. The Little Mermaid (92%)
6. Parenthood (92%)
7. Glory (93%)
8. Crimes and Misdemeanors (93%)

Movies We Still Care About

Batman

In my 1978 entry I discussed how Superman created the comic book tentpole movie that would come to dominate the 2000s.  But that genre more or less disappeared for 11 years, until being revived by Tim Burton’s Batman.

It also greatly improved on the genre.  While Superman was purely a spectacle movie, Batman had a real plot, character development, and one of the all-time most memorable movie villains.

Its design for the dark and crime-ridden gotham has been copied by pretty much every Batman adaptation since.  Purists may point to earlier comic book incarnations of Batman, but the Tim Burton version is the world of Batman that most people know.

Field of Dreams

Field of Dreams is a movie about baseball, faith, country life, and a man’s relationship to his father.  I’m a non-religious Angelino who doesn’t care the slightest bit about baseball and was raised by a single mother.  So this movie really doesn’t speak to me personally the way it does to others.

To those who do care about it, it’s a wish fulfillment fantasy about reconnecting to a lost father, combined with a redemption movie where those who have sinned can find peace.

 

Heathers

This movie speaks to teenagers who feel like they are outsiders, which in reality is most teenagers.  It’s a revenge fantasy against the popular kids, combined with a rejection of the trendy and a celebration of the abnormal.

It didn’t do well in theaters, but found an audience on home video as a cult classic beloved by those who feel marginalized.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

I consider this to be one of the greatest action movies of all time.  While the original was a pure spectacle movie, entertaining us with amazingly fun action, Last Crusade maintains that sense of fun action while adding in a complete story and character development.

River Phoenix as young Indiana Jones and Sean Connery as Indy’s father provide much more depth to a character that we had previously only seen traveling around the world kicking ass.  For example, here we see his father using wits rather than strength/athleticism to defeat an enemy:

And by the end, we see Indy using the lessons he learned from his father to pass the three trials:

And finally he sacrifices the object of his quest for what’s truly important.  (Sorry, I couldn’t find that scene on YouTube.)

To be continued tomorrow (Thursday, July 31)

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Do you disagree with any of these choices, or think that I missed something?  Leave a comment below.