There are no songs written about the summer of '87, but I remember well. As well as someone who is in her 30's can remember when she was 11, anyway. There were some fine movies out that summer, and when I say fine, I mean "I'm Netflixing this ASAP" fine or "this was totally awesome when I was 11" fine. There were the Bangles, the Borscht Belt, big schwartzes, and much more.
5/1 -- The Allnighter: Did someone forget to tell me that there's a romcom beach bunny movie starring Susanna "Manic Monday" Hoffs and Joan Cusack with a Pam Grier cameo? I don't care if it got 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, I am adding this to my Netflix Slumber Party list right now.
5/8 -- Hot Pursuit // River's Edge: Another "I'm so lovable yet dorky" John Cusack vehicle versus Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper dancing with a blow-up doll, and a dead body? The grown-up me says River's Edge all the way! If you've ever heard Crispin Glover humor audiences with his actual Southern Cali accent as heard in River's Edge, you'll know it's a treat. On the other hand, Hot Pursuit was written and directed by Steven Lisberger, who wrote the original Tron as well as its remake! 5/15 -- Ishtar: One of the most infamous box office flops of all time, but still, how can you resist a cast filled with stars like Dustin Hoffman, Warren Beatty, Isabelle Adjani, Charles Grodin, and Carol Kane? A lot of people, I guess, but screw 'em.
6/5 -- Harry and the Hendersons // The Untouchables: De Palma's mob masterpiece versus a comedy starring Bigfoot (which, incidentally, terrified me to no end)? "This town stinks like a whorehouse at low tide!" 'Nuff said.
6/12 -- The Believers // Predator // The Witches of Eastwick: A great week for people who love voodoo horror mysteries, giant jungle monsters, and lovelorn witches who fight over a still-vaguely-attractive Jack Nicholson. Witches offered the bad-ass trifecta of Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer, but Predator featured the Governator and Carl Weathers. Sorry, ladies!
6/19 -- Roxanne: Steve Martin wrote the screenplay and starred as a modern-day Cyrano in the romcom that kicked off my lifetime crush that's only wavered in the face of Pink Panther. His hilariously prosthetic proboscis was just the tip of the awesome iceberg here, in a cast full of funny freaks like Shelley Duvall, Fred Willard, and Damon Wayans.
6/26 -- Straight to Hell // Spaceballs // Full Metal Jacket: I was way too young to see, much less appreciate, the post-punk crime caper madness of Straight to Hell, which featured Courtney Love, no less. And while Full Metal Jacket is a terrifying modern war classic from Kubrick that brought the phrase "What is your major malfunction?!" into our modern lexicon, I was 11. So Spaceballs and weiner jokes it was.
July: Adventures in Babysitting // RoboCop // The Lost Boys:Adventures in Babysitting is chock full of lines like "Don't f*ck with the babysitter," and RoboCop offers the batshit violence that only a Paul Verhoeven vehicle could offer movie-goers, but The Lost Boys is the winner. The Coreys! Kiefer Sutherland and Jami Gertz as sexy vampires! Echo and the Bunnymen covering The Doors! My brain just exploded.
8/14 -- Can't Buy Me Love: Remember when McDreamy was a McDork? Let's not dissect the gender politics of Ronald paying a popular hottie to be his girlfriend for a month or that she begins to, duh, like him; let's just enjoy Patrick Dempsey as a dweeb, Seth Green as his little brother, and the title song in the soundtrack.
8/21 -- Dirty Dancing: I'm not afraid to tell you that this movie is why summer was created. Forget your superheroes and their muttonchops and your CGI nerds in space. The Swayze showing off his actual factual dancing skills with Jennifer Grey and her original (lovely!) nose falling in the water during dance practice made my wee heart thump. And while Jerry Orbach was a Tony-award winning Broadway singer and actor, a New York City Living Landmark, and loveable crime-solving grump Lennie Briscoe on "Law and Order," he will never be forgotten as the overprotective yet loving father who eventually learned to stop putting Baby in the corner. With help from The Swayze, naturally. Check out the grand dance finale in a previous "Scenes We Love."
