Let’s Go To The Movies!

by Rick · July 2, 2017

Charlize Theron from Atomic Blonde

Pop Culture Detours – By George McGowan

I’ve reported before that I need to get out to more movies. And I plan to, as soon as this article is finished. So pardon me if it feels rushed. Oh by the way, Wonder Woman is excellent! Looking forward to seeing Baby Driver next. Then Atomic Blonde and The House. But not The Emoji Movie.

Movie thought – how many of the top five movies of the 1980s have I seen? According to complex.com, the top ten movies were: Do the Right Thing (1989), Raging Bull (1980), ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), The Shining (1980), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986), Blue Velvet (1986), Die Hard (1988), Back To The Future (1985), The Thing (1982), and Stand By Me (1986). Well, I have seen all but one of these! Which one? Can you guess? I have never seen The Thing, but now it goes on my list of movies to see. And yes, for some reason the complex.com list does not include Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), The Breakfast Club (1985) or Ghostbusters (1984), which of course I have seen!

Ansel Elgort stars Baby Driver

On the other hand, I have never seen a Rambo movie. Yes, never. Not First Blood (1982), nor the ridiculously named Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) or the simply named Rambo III (1988 I’ve also never seen any of the three (yes, three!) Karate Kid movies. Both of these movie franchises have had “sequels” released in the last couple of years! I have no plans to see them either.

I want to recommend movies that I’ve seen, but also found on some websites listing their choices of “the best movies you’ve never seen.” So, here are my recommendations for great films which did not get much love at the box office but which I thought were excellent. From a listing at Entertainment Weekly: Backbeat (1994), Fly Away Home (1996), The Iron Giant (1999), Primer (2004), and The Ref (1994). From another listing at highexistence.com: Let the Right One In (2008), Spirited Away (2001), Punch Drunk Love (2002), Boogie Nights (1997), and Attack the Block (2011). And finally, from agoodmovietowatch.com: Enough Said (2013), Ex Machina (2015), Nightcrawler (2014), The Act of Killing (2012), and Love & Mercy (2014).

As I compiled this list, I wondered which movies you would recommend from this list. Or, better yet, what movies would you recommend from among the movies you’ve seen but which you know have not gotten the recognition you think they deserve? And don’t tell me Rambo or the Karate Kid!