Home > Work > Life Moves Pretty Fast: The Lessons We Learned From Eighties Movies (And Why We Don't Learn Them From Movies Any More)
1 " Life has changed a lot in the past 30 years: men don't tend to sport Michael Douglas-style bouffant hair, more's the pity. "
― Hadley Freeman , Life Moves Pretty Fast: The Lessons We Learned From Eighties Movies (And Why We Don't Learn Them From Movies Any More)
2 " One of the jokes in 'Back to the Future' is how people in the 1950s don't get 1980s fashion. People in the 1950s were right. "
3 " Wow, you really... like my drawings." he eventually replied. When Tim Burton pretty much tells you that you're an obsessive nerd, you know you've crossed a line. "
4 " Just the thought of Michael Douglas dirty dancing is faintly traumatizing. "
5 " I only managed to last a week on a dating website. You see, because of 'The Princess Bride' I have high standards when it comes to love and I just didn't believe that any beautiful farm boys would be on match.com. How would he have wifi up in his mountainous hovel? "
6 " Both Pope John Paul II and Bill Clinton told how much they loved the movie, proving that 'The Princess Bride' appeals to saints and sinners alike. "
7 " Refusing to go on a second date with someone because they failed to recognise a completely random Ghostbusters quote over dinner? Well, why waste time with losers? (It really is astounding I was single until the age of 35.) "
8 " When most people think of masculinity in eighties movies, they probably think of that strange genre that sprouted and bulged up in that decade like Popeye's biceps after eating spinach, consisting of men who look like "condoms stuffed with walnuts," speaking their lines in confused accents and emphasising random syllables, strongly suggesting they'd learned the words phonetically: Schwarzenegger, Lundgren, Stallone (technically, if not obviously, a native English speaker). "
9 " Top Gun isn't just about falling in line with the military. Hell no! It's about rebelling against it, too! Because that's what real men are like, you see. A real man isn't a pencil pusher - he's the lone wolf, the renegade, the MAVERICK. Real men ride their motorcycles against a sunset into the danger zone. Women have sex with the mavericks, but men ARE the mavericks. High five low five! Yeah! And just in case that isn't entirely clear in the script, Tom Cruise's character's name is, of course, Maverick (real men also don't bother with fey subtlety). "
10 " Take My Breath Away (from Top Gun): This song is so good it makes having sex with Tom Cruise seem almost sexy. "
11 " Daddy's Girl' (from 'Three Men and a Baby'): This song is about the love a daughter feels for her father. Sweet, right? Wrong! Here's the chorus: 'Little baby wanna hold you tight / She don't ever wanna say good night / She's a lover, she wanna be Daddy's Girl.' I love the movie but someone needs to call CPS, stat. "
12 " Pretty Woman has suggested that it is possible to lift oneself out of one's class (even if one has to become a prostitute and -even worse- spend a week with Richard Gere to do so). "
13 " Fans say they prefer the 'realism' of Nolan's films compared to Burton's. (..) If these films were realistic, they would consist of crowds of people pointing at Batman and saying 'It's one of those Fathers4Justice morons! What a DICK.' Also, take it from a reformed fashion writer: no man can wear a full-length cape in the real world without sparking serious mockery. Who comes looking for realism when they watch a movie about some dude who flies through the air dressed as a freaking bat? "