Take Me Back to the 80's

Directed by Ivan Reitman Released June 26, 1981 Written by Len Blum, Daniel Goldberg, & Harold Ramis Movie Synopsis Courtesy of IMDB "Two friends who are dissatisfied with their jobs decide to join the army for a bit of fun." We are back with another Bill Murray movie. Didn't take too long to find another one because Bill was one of the staples of the 80s, especially for 80s comedies. You know who else is an 80s comedian staple? John Candy! Which we find him in this film as well. Alright, let's get right down to it.  A-tten-tion! The first thing that should be talked about is the genre that is military movies. This has been popular over many decades because there is always a new war or a new type of military to showcase. Also, Americans tend to be drawn to violence, so military movies are a given in the U.S. What's different about this one, though, is that it is making fun of the U.S. Army. Often, when you see military movies, they...

Directed by Steven Spielberg Released June 12, 1981 Story by George Lucas & Philip Kaufman Screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan Movie Synopsis Courtesy of IMDB "In 1936, archeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before Adolf Hitler's Nazis can obtain its awesome powers." One of the first things that I find really interesting about this movie is the title. I didn't realize this until I went on IMDB to get some info, but this movie is only called Raiders of the Lost Ark . If you Google it or look on IMDB that is all it says (even though the movie posters say Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark). I find this really interesting because the other four movies have Indiana Jones in the title. I wonder why the first movie in this franchise wanted to be known only by the Raiders of the Lost Ark? You would think as the first movie of a franchise that they would want the character's...

Directed by Harold Ramis Released July 25, 1980 Written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Harold Ramis, & Douglas Kenney Movie Synopsis Courtesy of IMDB "An exclusive golf course has to deal with a brash new member and a destructive dancing gopher." So, after watching this movie for a second time, it wasn't as bad as I remembered it being. Yes, it still has some cheesy humor in it, but it does have a decent storyline and jokes that are not ,horrible. While I probably won't watch this movie in my spare time, it is not the worst that I have seen. The first thing that struck me in this movie is the whole idea of college. Back in the 80s, it wasn't a given, like it is today, that everyone goes to college. While a vast majority of people did, it wasn't as big of a requirement as it is now-a-days to have a college degree in order to have a successful job. On top of that, Danny says that college is $8,000 a year! A year! As a recent college graduate...

Directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, & Jerry Zucker Released July 2, 1980 Written by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, & Jerry Zucker Movie Synopsis Courtesy of IMDB "A man afraid to fly must ensure that a plane lands safely after the pilots become sick." Well this blog, to say the least (literally), is going to be a short one. There is not much to talk about in this movie because well, I don't think it is a very good one. Now that's just my opinion, I know a lot of people out there who like this kind of humor (like my friend Tim Fluga), but it just doesn't sit with me. Therefore, I don't have much to say about it. I don't think I even laughed at one of the jokes in the movie. That is because everything in this movie is too over the top and too predictable that it almost seemed like a middle school play where kids are trying too hard to be funny. This movie is full of nothing but cheese and corniness. It is just to...

Directed by John Landis Released June 20, 1980 Written by Dan Aykroyd & John Landis Movie Synopsis Courtesy of IMDB "Jake Blues, just out from prison, puts together his old band to save the Catholic home where he and brother Elwood were raised." I am finally able to start writing this blog. The reason I say this is because I forgot how long it is! It is almost three hours long. That's a marathon just to watch the movie. But it is a classic, especially if you are like me and are from Chicago.  Now let's talk about these boys a little bit. The biggest thing that I find entertaining about this movie is that it has the Les Misérables syndrome. In Les Mis, Jean Valjean is thrown in prison for stealing a loaf of bead for his hungry family. The Blues Brothers are being chased by the cops throughout the movie because Elwood has a suspended license. Yes, they destroy a lot of public property in the process, which I am going to talk about in a minut...