The Quest Continues: 1989, Or The Year Before The Beginning

What's that, you say? You thought The Quest For the Single Finest Film of Our Generation was over? Well, think again. I just couldn't let go of what quite possibly was the highlight of my 2009 blogging year; I had to bastardize it into an ongoing series. Kinda like when they tried to make a television show out of The Crow. Remember that? Yuck. Ooh, though that move might get a mention when and if we come back around to 1994. You see, what I'm planning to do is just explore years both left undiscussed during the original Quest and those that brim with possible nominees. But we're no longer searching for one particular film to define our ear of cinema adoration. No, we are simply marauding through the ocean of films that in some way helped shape our youth, dropping anchor every month or so to say, "hey! that movie was a blast to watch when I was 10 because ____." If it feels like I'm cheapening the original journey, I'm sorry, but there's just too many pieces of nostalgia to cover in one five-month blogging feature, as ridiculous as that sounds. So once again, I'm going to start with the biggest box office successes of each year I talk about, and work my way down if I come back to that year. Let us start with 1989. Vote for your favorite of the five in the comments and we'll either pretend it will mean something later or if I get ambitious and there's a lot of participation, I'll do another tournament-style face-off of the ten winners after we go through ten more posts!

Batman: My first memory of this film is fuzzy at best. I remember Batman Returns a lot more vividly as it freaked the bazonkers out of me in the theater and as I still maintain to this day that it's Tim Burton's most fully realized fantasy (and should have quit attempting to recreate that for years to come). But other than Jack Nicholson as The Joker, nothing really stands out to me about the original Batman, to be completely honest. But despite Heath Ledger's recent one-upsmanship of the character, up until then I think we can all agree, that Nicholson was the center of attention in this film as well. Let's admit it; Ledger outdid him simply by the fact that he doesn't act like The Joker in public or in other films, whereas Nicholson does, admittedly often to the point of obnoxiousness. But between the years of 1989 and 2007, Nicholson's already solidified persona combined with the mythical excitement of a character like The Joker inside a mainstream flick with flashes of an iconic style that Burton was in the midst of developing is what I believe sparked the Batman character film craze in the first place. Which is prolly pretty important.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: I'm going to be honest - I had much better memories of the Indiana Jones series in general before Crystal Skull was unleashed upon us, including an exciting recollection of Temple of Doom. Revisiting all three films in preparation for the fourth's release was probably one of the lamer things I've done in recent years. Raiders still has a little appeal because it started the whole thing and the most famous feats of adventure sequences were in the original, I finally realized why Temple was a joke to most people, and watching Indy and his dad bicker back and forth was entertaining for all of the first 20 minutes of Crusade and that's it. I thought the familial relationship and the sentimental-yet-suspenseful Holy Grail ending made this movie especially memorable not more than a year-and-a-half ago, but Spielberg's half-assed foray back into the legendary character completely ruined all that. Well, maybe I should thank him, otherwise I would have gone on thinking these movies would still be fun to watch 15-20 years later. They're not, and it's sad. But we must move on.

Lethal Weapon 2: Now here's what I'm afraid of. Richard Donner comes out of retirement (oops, my bad, he made 16 Blocks in 2006 starring Bruce Willis as Riggs and Mos Def as Murtaugh) thinking that the Lethal Weapon franchise needs a reboot. Only this time it's not too amiable and arguably talented people like Willis and Def, it's hot young things like Chris Pine and Nick Cannon. Oh how my heart would break. But, at the same time, I would also certainly put myself through a marathon of the original buddy cop movie trilogy (maybe even Lethal Weapon 4 if I found the gall) as I eagerly anticipated the return of the famed line "I'm gettin' too old for this shit!" I am deathly afraid that if this happened, we would have a repeat of the Indiana Jones fiasco. I'm particularly fearful because I cannot tell the difference between any of the first three other than the fact that I know Pesci isn't in the first one. On the other hand, in my head, they're all awesome, full of bomb diffusing, random shootouts, and hilarious quips between two best friends, one of which is the lovable family man and the other the archetypal depressed rogue agent, who inspired everyone from Jack Bauer to Mike Lowery (that's a Bad Boys reference!).

Look Who's Talking: A baby that talks. Voiced by Bruce Willis. And if that doesn't drive you away - his parents are John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. Still interested? Really? Interested enough that not only will you help make the #4 grossing film of its year but also your $4 evening ticket (srsly, isn't THAT depressing?) will go directly toward inspiring TriStar picture to greenlight not one but TWO sequels, the first of which will also feature a baby voiced by Roseanne, and the second of which will feature talking DOGS. Mega-sigh. I deeply regret, America, that my mom and I contributed to the disease known as the Look Who's Talking trilogy not once, not twice, but THRICE. Wow I sure am CAPITALIZING a lot of words in this paragraph! Maybe I'm pissed because this film made almost six times as much money as Sex, Lies, and Videotape that year, or maybe it's because I actually remember laughing hysterically while also being disturbed by the idea of talking sperm along with my mother, but mostly I just think it's because this movie and its sequels plague my memory more so than any of the other movies nominated here, except...

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: Thank God for Rick Moranis. That's all I have to say. Well, no, it's not, but that's just an expression anyway, right? This is my official vote for this bank of five nominees for 1989. The giant lego, the giant oreo, the giant ant (I shed tears when he passed, SPOILER ALERT), and more all contributed to this being one of, if not the most, eye-widening and deeply entrancing fantasy worlds of my youth. I still remember sitting in that Hartford, Connecticut movie theater and straining my neck to fully take in the enormity of the entire backyard as our protagonists traversed it, inch by adventurous inch (much like how it feels in general for a child in a movie theater full of gigantic figures and special effects, I might add), back into the arms of their parents. Out of all the movies discussed herein, this is the one that I have the most urge to fire back in the DVD player and enjoy with everyone from start to finish, reliving all those glorious moments of mind-boggling absurdity and harrowing escapism. I think I could definitely get back into that groove with ease. Anyone up for trying this one out again with me?

This entry was posted by chris, on Tuesday, December 08, 2009. You can leave your response.