Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981

An old, familiar favorite of mine, this is the movie that inspired Mike to collect.
In the Spring of 1985 this was playing on television. Our newborn son and I were spending the first day home from the hospital. Mike and I decided to relax and watch the movie together.
The beginning of Raiders is spellbinding. Mike and I were hooked, hearts pounding hoping Indiana, Harrison Ford, would survive the first scene though we knew the odds were good.

Then the baby fussed. Nothing we did appeased him. We had missed a big chunk of the movie by the time he settled down and we could hear. It occurred to Mike and I that our carefree movie watching, popcorn munching days were over, at least for the near future. If we wanted to follow the all action again we would have to make serious use of the VCR player; something beyond Debbie Does Dallas.
At first Mike rented. Gradually renting shifted to collecting as we came to understand that for some reason movies, like books, don’t stay “in print”.

Raiders has everything I like in a movie. It has a plot with a definite beginning, middle and end,
a leading lady(Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood) who does not simper and twist an ankle while her man is getting the snot beat out of him, very important Hollywood!! It has nail biting suspense, action, and plenty of laughs.
It one of those rare movies to which I have managed to memorize many lines. The music is fabulous and memorable and has been played during many a Fourth of July firework display.
By now there must be a whole generation who have not yet enjoyed this movie!
It gets a thumbs-up from all ten of my thumbs!

Roxanne, romantic comedy from 1987.

Mayor Deebs:,Fred Willard ” I would rather be with the people of this town than with the finest people in the world”

"Cyrano de Bergerac" written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand, is the inspiration for the movie “Roxanne”.
In the movie Cyrano is “Charlie” nick named C.D. Funny.
Played by Steve Martin C.D. has an unusually large nose, a big heart and sense of humor. He is intelligent and articulate. He will ignore nearly any offense except insults or jokes about his nose. C. D. has learned to defend himself and is quick to attack when he feels his nose has been slighted.

C.D. is the fire chief and recent recruit Chris McConnell, Rick Rossovich, is the opposite of C.D. in some ways. Chris’s nose is “normal”, he is inarticulate and shy around women. He is so shy in fact that he is unable to speak to them.

Both Chris and C.D. are attracted to Roxanne, Daryl Hannah. They join forces in a creative scheme to gain her interest. C.D. supplies the words and Chris supplies the looks.

This movie is a light hearted spin on the importance of knowing and accepting who we truly are.

"Roxanne" might be fun to watch outside under the stars. The character Roxanne’s passion is astronomy. She spots a comet, something I thought I would never live to see. So far I have seen three of them.

80's movie: Xanadu

80's movie: Xanadu
Butter the popcorn.  An uninspired painter Sonny Malone, played by Michael Beck meets his muse: Kira., played by Olivia Newton-John.
Xanadu’s plot is short and sweet but it has one and you can dance to it.
Or sing along with Olivia:
http://www.stlyrics.com/x/xanadu.htm

Danny McGuire, played by Gene Kelly,  is one of Kira’s past charges.
Together, the odd threesome sing, dance and bring all their dreams alive.

I loved “Whenever You’re Away From Me” the song and dance Gene Kelly and Olivia did together.