Caesar is a Salad Dressing Dude

Contributed by Keira-Anne

As Becky and I sat here in her living room on a semi-sunny Saturday afternoon, we decided to recapture a sliver of our youths by watching Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989). As the first notes of Big Pig’s “I Can’t Break Away” filled our ears during the opening sequence, Becky turned to me and said “you know, movie soundtracks now just aren’t the same as they used to be. Now it’s all Top 40 stuff instead of good songs.” And you know what? She’s right. And from there we discussed how movies, in general, are nothing like they used to be.

The years between 1980 and 1989 were a cornucopia of films that haven’t, nor will they ever, be duplicated in a way that lives up to the quality of that decade. Movies of that era are ones that are forever imprinted in the minds of people in my and in Becky’s age group. Everything from Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) to The Princess Bride (1987), Working Girl (1988) to Uncle Buck (1989). The numerous moments are still celebrated, from Tom Cruise sliding across the living room floor in his skivvies and Ray Bans in Risky Business (1983) to Mr. Miyagi’s lessons in waxing on and off in The Karate Kid (1984). Moments like that can never be replicated or recaptured. Countless “teen” movies of the 1990s and 2000s have tried, but crashed and burned miserably. There’s something so untouchable about movies from the 80s – a quality that neither Becky or I were able to place our fingers on. There was a certain magic to them.

Photo courtesy of Answers.com‘s List of Fictional Music Groups.

What is most beautiful and most exciting, aside from being able to relive those moments today through the medium of DVD, is that when our children are pre-teens, we’ll be able to watch a whole new generation of kids find the magic that enchanted us so long ago. Of course, if one were to do the math, and the first child I have in, say, five years from now first travels back in time with Bill and Ted when he or she is ten, that movie will be an astonishing 35 years old. Put that in your phone booth and dial it.

Blogathon: Post #27