I Got A Request For Some Classics To Stream So Here's Part One Of Some Rear-commendations

Ask and ye shall receive.

I could understand when people in the ’70s and ’80s didn’t like old movies because, frankly, the ’50s and ’60s were loaded with a lot of shit and there were very few classics that my generation could get into. But I don’t get how movies from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s are slept on by today’s audiences. There are tons of great movies to stream that get ignored in favor of ‘The One Where Chandler Gets Caught’ for the 738th time. So that’s why I was glad to get the DM above.

Here’s Part 1 of my streaming recommendations for some flicks from those decades. Some are classics, some are merely good but all serve as time capsules from a different era. All of these are all on Amazon Prime. Enjoy.

AIRPLANE! My man here has the first reco for you, the sublime 1980 comedy that essentially invented a movie genre is legit one of the Top Three funniest movies ever. We had seen satire and spoofs and screwball comedy before. But nobody put these elements, plus many more, together before in a such a fashion like the Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker team did. Goofing on disaster films of the ’70s, AIRPLANE! is about a PTSD-ridden fighter pilot who follows his stewardess girlfriend onto her flight hoping to save their relationship but instead gets tasked with saving the plane and its hilarious passengers. The jokes start during the opening credits and they never stop. And because it came out in 1980, the words “political” and “correctness” had yet to be used in succession so much of the comedy is very much of that era. And it still slays. If you’ve never watched AIRPLANE! and like to laugh your balls/tits off, then flare one up and make it your weekend night plans. It’s currently streaming on Prime and Hulu. (AIRPLANE II: THE SEQUEL is also on both outlets and while it’s not the classic its predecessor is, it’s pretty funny in its own right and at just 84 minutes, it makes for a good doubleheader if you follow the original.)

NORTH DALLAS FORTY. This 1979 gem starring a ruggedly handsome Nick Nolte as a veteran pro football player learning that business trumps all is both prescient and relevant as ever. The great Charles Durning plays the team’s coach. ND40 has the realism ANY GIVEN SUNDAY wanted. The NFL would squash an effort to make a movie like this today. On Prime.

WARGAMES. One of the ’80s tropes that ST3 leaned on heavily was the paranoia about Russia during the Cold War and WARGAMES captured it perfectly. The idea that a nerdy kid hacking into companies could inadvertently start WWIII was oh so real in 1983. Boyish Matthew Broderick is excellent in his second ever feature and Dabney Coleman kills it as always. Seeing the hardware in WARGAMES is also a reminder just how much tech has advanced since the ’80s.

MR. MOM. This was the future Bat-and-Bird man’s second feature role and it’s fun to see the patented Keaton smart-assery and tics in their full bloom. Here he plays something that was a rarity in 1983, a stay-at-home dad. Recently laid off, Keaton’s Jack Butler struggles taking care of three small children while his wife, Teri Garr (always the best), returns to the workforce. It probably seems full of cliches and stereotypes today (“dads are so dumb, they can’t parent”) but at the time, it was pretty accurate. Also takes some sly stabs at corporate culture and has a #MeToo moment. Has to be the only movie that has an Eric Hipple poster in it.

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES. Definitely more of a winter holiday movie but there’s truly no bad time to fire up this 1987 John Hughes road movie classic. Steve Martin and John Candy play strangers who are both trying to get home for Thanksgiving but hit every conceivable roadblock to keep that from happening. A very funny movie that finishes with a nice sentiment. Perhaps Candy’s best work. More movies should have this much empathy.

THE FIRM. This Tom Cruise thriller about a lawyer who gets hired by a fancy-pants law firm (i.e. The Firm) only to find out it’s dirtier than Congress was a huge hit back in ’93 when John Grisham novels were all the rage. Though it can get a little convoluted, the Sydney Pollack-directed flick drips with star power, has terrific performances, and entertains until the very end. And that score is dynamite.

ROCKY. I know this Best Picture winner is on TV all the time but sometimes I think a lot of people know about the legend of ROCKY but never actually saw it. Chuck Wepner’s Sylvester Stallone’s story about a tomato can who gets a shot at the champ still delivers goose bumps like it did 43 years ago, its inspirational score Pavlovian at this point. Sly does tremendous work as the dim-witted Philly boxer as does Talia Shire as his mousy love interest. Here’s ROCKY’s little secret: it’s as much a love story as it is a sports movie. About half of the movie is Rocky and Adrian courtin’. And it ends with “I love you!” being said about a dozen straight times to end the movie. Carl Weathers turn as Apollo Creed makes the movie crackle with electricity and he helps put the “sports” in “sports movie”. If you haven’t seen ROCKY…

MAJOR LEAGUE. Without question the funniest baseball movie ever made, MAJOR LEAGUE tells the story of a fictional Cleveland Indians team that was built to fail (as opposed to the real-life versions that were built to not fail but always did) so the owner could move the team to Miami. Starring ’80s titans Charlie Sheen, Rene Russo, Tom Berenger, Corbin Bernsen, and Wesley Snipes, the team gets hot and bonds after early struggles and throws a little spin on the climactic scene. Bob Uecker steals the flick as announcer Harry Doyle. Keep an eye out for the same fat guy who runs on the field twice during the ending.

RESERVOIR DOGS. Quentin Tarantino’s debut is a masterpiece about a diamond store robbery that goes awry because of a mole in the crew and the remaining crew tries to figure out who the snitch is. The non-linear story line was something many folks hadn’t seen before and made for a clever telling of the story. But the dialogue is what propels ‘DOGS’ to soaring heights. Whether its analyzing Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” or Joe Cabot’s hilarious doling out of robbery aliases, this script will always be one of QT’s best. This film doesn’t shy away from the gore either and has one of the more wince-inducing scenes of the ’90s even if the cameras ultimately pans away. This flick sucks you in from the hop and doesn’t let you go until the Mexican stand-off.

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FARGO. The Brothers Coen’s snow-globe black comedy about a kidnapping gone very wrong and the bloody fallout won two Oscars, was nominated for five others, and frankly should’ve beaten the boring-ass THE ENGLISH PATIENT for Best Picture. FARGO is simply one of the best movies of the last 25 years. The acting is top-notch as Frances McDormand (Best Actress winner) and Bill Macy (Best Supporting nominee) both have career peaks as, respectively, a pregnant cop piecing together the criminal mystery at hand and a doddering dipshit whose idiotic kidnapping plan falls apart more by the hour. Though the material is dark as night, it’s still uproariously funny at times. Steve Buscemi hands in some of his finest work here. One of the best from the Coens.