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Trading Places
Good 66 Points 1983

Trading Places hasn’t aged well. A morality tale full of shopworn caricatures more than a continuously effective comedy, it remains notable for its rich production values and big stars — Aykroyd, Curtis, etc. Eddie Murphy – in particular – rescues the movie in one of his early smash performa…

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WikChip Image Eddie Murphy rescues the movie.
Local Hero
None Yet 0 Points 1983
Gremlins
Very Good 66 Points 1984

Gremlins remains amusing all these decades later. Written and directed by Chris Columbus and Joe Dante respectively, it feels like a Stephen Spielberg hyper American movie, set in small town America on Christmas. No surprise then that Spielberg was the executive producer.

Finally turns into…

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Witness
Really Great 66 Points 1985

Harrison Ford came down to earth in Witness, proving his stardom transcended SciFi and Fantasy. More importantly, Peter Weir’s big hit proved a heartwarming thriller. Still is, some 30 years after its premier.

Ford plays an ambitious Philly Detective who holes up with a nearby Amish family a…

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WikChip Image Ford & Haas: Heartwarming & Thrilling
Lost in America
Good 66 Points 1985

Lost in America’s reputation exceeds its reality. Modestly funny in 1985, its four memorable scenes live on in the mind’s eye, but fail to sustain this mere 91 minute movie. Turns out its nest-egg wasn’t enough.

Not that it doesn’t have a great line here and there.

Don’t use “nest”! D…

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WikChip Video "Oh I know, you mean the $100,000 box."
Heartburn
Very Good 66 Points 1986

Perfect credits lead to a fitfully entertaining movie about some monumentally smug people in Heartburn. Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson – in his prime – lead the credits. The great Mike Nichols directs, fifteen years after directing Nicholson in the scandalous Carnal Knowledge

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WikChip Image Jack in his prime
Star Trek IV: T...
Great 66 Points 1986

Like fine wine, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home has gotten better with age. It was too cheesy when it came out, even for Star Trek, the ultimate in SciFi fondue. That was then, this is now.

It’s set in the 23rd Century and now, when Now was 1986. I remember that ’86 Now just as I remember n…

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WikChip Video Sitting in a pickup on Marina Green: ...
Big Trouble In ...
Good 80 Points 1986

Classic Kurt Russell can’t fully rescue an otherwise charmless martial arts fantasy. That spells moderate trouble for John Carpenter’s Big Trouble In Little China, which lost a ton of money upon its premiere and lives on to this day mostly out of the affection that we Kurt Russell fans have for…

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WikChip Video Jack Burton's Best Quotes
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Ferris Bueller'...
Very Good 66 Points 1986

Fun for kids of all ages, Ferris Bueller’s harmless hi-jinks, energetic panache and gentle farce make it the ultimate ditch day movie. Matthew Broderick will be forever associated with the title character, a charming conniver prone to belting out a Beatles song in the middle of a parade.

Jo…

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WikChip Video Twist and Shout Ferris
Top Gun
None Yet 0 Points 1986