Soft Spots from my Childhood and into Adolescence
List activity
1K views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
43 titles
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsDean JonesMichele LeeDavid TomlinsonDown-on-his-luck race car driver Jim Douglas teams up with a little VW Bug that has a mind of it's own, not realizing Herbie's worth until a sneaky rival plots to steal him.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsHelen HayesKen BerryStefanie PowersThe living Volkswagen Beetle helps an old lady protect her home from a corrupt developer.
- DirectorClyde GeronimiHamilton LuskeWolfgang ReithermanStarsRod TaylorBetty Lou GersonJ. Pat O'MalleyWhen a litter of Dalmatian puppies are abducted by the minions of Cruella De Vil, the owners must find them before she uses them for a diabolical fashion statement.
- DirectorClyde GeronimiWilfred JacksonHamilton LuskeStarsBarbara LuddyLarry RobertsPeggy LeeThe romantic tale of a sheltered uptown Cocker Spaniel dog and a streetwise downtown Mutt.
- DirectorJohn LounsberyWolfgang ReithermanArt StevensStarsBob NewhartEva GaborGeraldine PageTwo mice of the Rescue Aid Society search for a little girl kidnapped by unscrupulous treasure hunters.
- DirectorPixote HuntJoe JohnstonStarsMacaulay CulkinChristopher LloydKanin HowellA cowardly boy, who buries himself in accident statistics, enters a library to escape a storm, only to be transformed into an animated illustration by the Pagemaster. He has to work through obstacles from classic books to return to real-life.
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsVal KilmerTommy Lee JonesJim CarreyBatman must battle former district attorney Harvey Dent, who is now Two-Face and Edward Nygma, The Riddler with help from an amorous psychologist and a young circus acrobat who becomes his sidekick, Robin.Obviously I was a tremendous Batman fan as a child. I was only in 1st grade, but I became fascinated with film titles and credits, wondering what an “executive producer” and “director of photography” were, and why the director of photography was the only one with extra letters next to his name. I’m such a geek that to this day, I know the exact order in which the cast is billed, and I haven’t seen this movie for at least a decade.
- DirectorJohn LasseterStarsTom HanksTim AllenDon RicklesA cowboy doll is profoundly threatened and jealous when a new spaceman action figure supplants him as top toy in a boy's bedroom.
- DirectorMartin CampbellStarsPierce BrosnanSean BeanIzabella ScorupcoYears after a friend and fellow 00 agent is killed on a joint mission, a secret space based weapons program known as "GoldenEye" is stolen. James Bond is assigned to stop a Russian crime syndicate from using the weapon.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsJohn BelushiDan AykroydCab CallowayJake Blues rejoins with his brother Elwood after being released from prison, but the duo has just days to reunite their old R&B band and save the Catholic home where the two were raised, outrunning the police as they tear through Chicago.
- DirectorJerry LewisStarsJerry LewisStella StevensDel MooreA timid chemistry teacher discovers a magical potion that can transform him into a suave and handsome womanizer.Funny enough, every other 8-year-old was watching the Eddie Murphy version, but my parents bought me the VHS of this version instead. I ended up not bummed at all as I watched this campy farce quite a few dozen times.
- DirectorMel BrooksStarsCleavon LittleGene WilderSlim PickensIn order to ruin a western town, a corrupt politician appoints a black Sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary.The fact that it’s a brilliant master class in meta-humor and social satire blending with film tradition has no bearing on how this movie is burned into my mind and why I know every single line of every single scene and yet still laugh every time.
- DirectorChris ColumbusStarsMacaulay CulkinJoe PesciDaniel SternOne year after Kevin McCallister was left home alone and had to defeat a pair of bumbling burglars, he accidentally finds himself stranded in New York City - and the same criminals are not far behind.Some movies are on every Christmas. And what softer spot from childhood is there than memories of actually being excited and warmed by Christmas?
- DirectorJonathan LynnStarsJoe PesciMarisa TomeiRalph MacchioTwo New Yorkers accused of murder in rural Alabama while on their way back to college call in the help of one of their cousins, a loudmouth lawyer with no trial experience.A family fave.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordKate CapshawKe Huy QuanIn 1935, Indiana Jones is tasked by Indian villagers with reclaiming a rock stolen from them by a secret cult beneath the catacombs of an ancient palace.I remember being 9 or 10 and trying to rationalize just whether or not Mola Ram’s extraction of the sacrificial guy’s heart was real or hallucinatory. It’s filmed in a way that can’t be intended as realistic, but it does indeed happen…Also one of the first screenplays I ever read.
- DirectorJohn HughesStarsJohn CandyMacaulay CulkinJean Louisa KellyLaid back commitment-phobe Buck babysits his brother's rebellious teenage daughter and her cute younger brother and sister.Another family fave, mainly for the scene where Buck tells off the authoritarian school principal.
- DirectorCarl ReinerStarsSteve MartinBernadette PetersCatlin AdamsA simpleminded, sheltered country boy suddenly decides to leave his family home to experience life in the big city, where his naivete is both his best friend and his worst enemy.
- DirectorHarold RamisStarsChevy ChaseBeverly D'AngeloImogene CocaThe Griswold family's cross-country drive to the Walley World theme park proves to be much more arduous than they ever anticipated.
- DirectorTom ShadyacStarsJim CarreyMaura TierneyAmanda DonohoeA pathological liar-lawyer finds his career turned upside down when he inexplicably cannot physically lie for 24 whole hours.
- DirectorBarry SonnenfeldStarsTommy Lee JonesWill SmithLinda FiorentinoJames, an NYC cop, is hired by Agent K of a secret government agency that monitors extraterrestrial life on Earth. Together, they must recover an item that has been stolen by an intergalactic villain.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsEddie MurphyDan AykroydRalph BellamyA snobbish investor and a wily street con artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.
- DirectorMartin BrestStarsEddie MurphyJudge ReinholdJohn AshtonA freewheeling Detroit cop pursuing a murder investigation finds himself dealing with the very different culture of Beverly Hills.
- DirectorGreg FordFriz FrelengChuck JonesStarsMel BlancMel TorméRoy FirestoneDaffy Duck opens a detective agency for the supernatural along side his Looney Toon buddies.Not a great movie, nor is it much of a good one, but that doesn’t matter to me. In some indescribable way, it has a placebo effect because all I’ve ever known of it has been as a videotape in a yellow-sleeve with Warner Bros. heading that my parents must’ve grabbed for me at Half-Price Books. Couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8. I would watch it repeatedly with no developed need for coherent plot progression, beginnings, middles, ends, any capacity to judge performances, frame compositions, narrative consistency or whether a comedy sketch could hold up as a concept at all were it not comprised of anthropomorphic animals with goofy stereotypical voices.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsEddie MurphyPaul BatesGarcelle BeauvaisAn extremely pampered African prince travels to Queens, New York and goes undercover to find a wife that he can respect for her intelligence and strong will.
- DirectorCarl ReinerStarsSteve MartinKathleen TurnerDavid WarnerA brain surgeon marries a femme fatale whose life he saved, causing his life to turn upside down. Things go even more awry when he falls in love with a telepathic brain.Parents weren’t supposed to be back from vacation in Italy till very late, and my brother rented this for us to kill the time. 20 minutes in, we were laughing so hard we weren’t even thinking about mom and dad or how their epic, life-changing trip went.
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsMel GibsonDanny GloverJoe PesciWith personal crises and age weighing in on them, LAPD officers Riggs and Murtaugh must contend with deadly Chinese triads that are trying to free their former leaders out of prison and onto American soil.
- DirectorFrank OzStarsSteve MartinEddie MurphyHeather GrahamWhen a desperate movie producer fails to get a major star for his bargain-basement film, he decides to shoot the film secretly around him.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsPeter WellerNancy AllenDan O'HerlihyIn a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerLinda HamiltonEdward FurlongA cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.
- DirectorMark DindalStarsDavid SpadeJohn GoodmanEartha KittEmperor Kuzco is turned into a llama by his ex-administrator Yzma, and must now regain his throne with the help of Pacha, the gentle llama herder.
- DirectorWalter HillStarsNick NolteEddie MurphyAnnette O'TooleA hard-nosed cop reluctantly teams up with a wise-cracking criminal temporarily paroled to him in order to track down a killer.
- DirectorPeter FarrellyBobby FarrellyStarsJim CarreyJeff DanielsLauren HollyAfter a woman leaves a briefcase at the airport terminal, a dumb limo driver and his dumber friend set out on a hilarious cross-country road trip to Aspen to return it.
- DirectorBobby FarrellyPeter FarrellyStarsWoody HarrelsonRandy QuaidBill MurrayA star bowler whose career was prematurely "cut off" hopes to ride a new prodigy to success and riches.
- DirectorHarold RamisStarsRobert De NiroBilly CrystalLisa KudrowA comedy about a psychiatrist whose number-one patient is an insecure mob boss.
- DirectorKevin SmithStarsBen AffleckMatt DamonLinda FiorentinoAn abortion clinic worker with a special heritage is called upon to save the existence of humanity from being negated by two renegade angels trying to exploit a loop-hole and reenter Heaven.
- DirectorKevin SmithStarsShannen DohertyJeremy LondonJason LeeBoth dumped by their girlfriends, two best friends seek refuge in the local mall.
- DirectorGeorge Roy HillStarsPaul NewmanRobert RedfordRobert ShawTwo grifters team up to pull off the ultimate con.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroSharon StoneJoe PesciIn Las Vegas, two best friends - a casino executive and a mafia enforcer - compete for a gambling empire and a fast-living, fast-loving socialite.I can never decide whether this is a great film or not because whatever flaws it has I dismissed so readily the first hundred times I watched it as a 13-year-old lover of violent gangster movies.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsBrad PittEdward NortonMeat LoafAn insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsGeorge ClooneyJennifer LopezVing RhamesA career bank robber breaks out of jail, and shares a moment of mutual attraction with a U.S. Marshal he has kidnapped.
- DirectorGuy RitchieStarsJason StathamBrad PittStephen GrahamUnscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookmakers, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers and supposedly Jewish jewelers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.
- DirectorGuy RitchieStarsJason FlemyngDexter FletcherNick MoranEddy persuades his three pals to pool money for a vital poker game against a powerful local mobster, Hatchet Harry. Eddy loses, after which Harry gives him a week to pay back 500,000 pounds.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsGeorge ClooneyBrad PittJulia RobertsDanny Ocean and his ten accomplices plan to rob three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously.