Anyhow, this movie and my yearning for a "Raiders of the Lost Ark" DVD got me thinking about movies that had a big impact on me...for more than one reason. Many of them are not recent, but whenever I see them on television, I am compelled to watch because it reminds me of being a kid.
- Raider's of the Lost Ark - Harrison Ford when he was younger = smoking hot. Let's just say this movie was released during formative years and I thought tall men were as dashing and looked as good in a fedora with a whip, meow!
- Aliens - Scared me beyond belief and made me scream out loud like, well a little girl in the theater
- Jaws - Yep this movie has made me scared of the water, including bathtubs
- The Muppet Movie - I grew up on "The Muppet Show" so I'll always love Jim Henson, but I used to hide behind my parents big brown chair when Animal got big near the end. There is something about Miss Piggy though that makes me laugh
- Star Wars - I wasn't born yet when this came out in theaters, but I do remember watching it in my stepmom's basement on Christmas Eve as a teenager thinking, whoa this is cool. And again, Harrison Ford = hot (but in need of a better haircut)
- E.T. - This is the first movie I ever saw in the theaters and of course, I hid behind my hands most of the time
- Back to the Future - I don't remember if I saw this in the theater, but it sure made time travel fun, and of course introduced me to the words "flux capacitor," which I thought was real. And, of course, who doesn't love Huey Lewis?
Okay these are probably the cliched choices (minus the Muppet Movie) but I vividly remember a strong emotional reaction to each. But looking back on my list, three or four of these movies scared me in some way, so maybe that just goes to show I'm a sissy, scardey cat.
And while it's not movie-related, my first real teenage celebrity crush was Luke Perry. I used to have pictures of him from Bop and Teen Beat magazines on my wall. Jason Priestley was a close second. Look how adorable and tortured they look!
Oh and what the heck, I'll throw this in too to see if anyone remembers her....
I used to LOVE watching her cartoon on Saturday morning, dancing along. Plus her name is similar to mine so I used to call myself "Jem." It sort of sounds like Jess. I was so misguided. But this video brought back some serious memories.
So what movies hold special memories for you?
I loved Jem! I had her stage and the Holograms, ahhh such fun childhood memories.
ReplyDeleteI love The Goonies movie. My friends and I always wanted to go on an adventure like the goonies. :-)
I love the Indiana Jones trilogy! And I'm going keep calling it a trilogy, because that fourth one, didn't even feel like part of the series!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteevery movie-tv show-song has a way of taking me back into the past.
ReplyDeleteeven smells....especially smells.
Hmm...I don't remember Jem. But, when I played the video a second ago my husband said "Jem?" So, one of us remembers.
ReplyDeleteThere are a ton of movies that made impressions on me as a child. Jaws still has me scared of the water! When I was a kid I had a hard time getting in the pool at the YMCA because of it.
The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland (live Disney version with tons of actors like John Stamos and Sammie Davis Jr.), Labyrinth. I still watch Oz though, so I guess it still leaves a big impression on me!
Haha, Harrison Ford WAS quite the hottie. (okay.. still is..) I think the movies that impacted me the most were E.T. and Alice & Wonderland. Not so much the movies themselves, but a memory tied to them. Of my brother & I rooting through the kitchen pantry, and upon finding both of these movies, calling my mom at work asking why she hid them. Some Christmas gift :)
ReplyDeleteI loved the Muppets. Fozzie Bear was my favorite.
ReplyDeleteE.T. was the first movie I saw at the movies and I so remember my mom carrying me out cause I was crying at the end.
I also loved Jem, didn't she touch her earring or something like that to change into Jem?
I had a Jem doll! That's something I hadn't thought about in a while!
ReplyDeleteThe movies that I remember from my childhood were E.T. (so sad I was sobbing), The Witches (scared me like none other), Edward Scissorhands (I saw this at 6 and was horrified), and Home Alone, which my brother watched non stop for several years. My favorite movie was always the Disney animated version of Robin Hood though.
Harrison Ford? Yes, please.
ReplyDeleteI loved Jem too. But not as much as She-Ra, Princess of Power.
The movie that always reminds me of being a kid is Labryinth. Whenever I was home sick from school I would rent this movie, it become a little bit of a tradition.
ReplyDeleteOh, and my first celeb crush was Jonathan Taylor Thomas (JTT!) :)
I loved Jem!! I also watched She-Ra, Thundercats, and Exo-Squad... we had such great cartoons back then!!
ReplyDelete@mandy: I loved the Goonies too. I have it memorized, I watched it so many times. ;)
i've been going down memory lane quite a bit these days, your list was fabulous!
ReplyDeleteobviously i loved jem. and back to the future has a power over me that whenever ANY of the movies are on tv i must watch them
I think the moral of movies is that young Harrison Ford = hot.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the whole not loving the new Indiana Jones, but I went into it with the knowledge that it would probably make me sad as now Harrison Ford = old.
Ever watch Captain Planet?
Oh, I still love a ton of those movies--for me Labrynth, The Goonies, The Princess Bride, The Muppets Movie definitely remind me of childhood!
ReplyDeleteHaha! I love that you actually called yourself Jem--that is awesome! And you know what movie I still remember vividly from my childhood and haven't seen since then? Big Bird Goes to China!
ReplyDeleteLOVED Jem and the Holograms. And She-Ra (the best episodes were when she teamed up with He-Man; I was always disappointed they were brother and sister 'cause I wanted them to hook up).
ReplyDeleteAnd for scary movies - Gremlins. Those puppet things were terrifying.
And the 90210 sleeping bag was THE must-have accessory for sixth grade summer camp.
About Aliens... totally a classic! Loved it sooo much.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the picture love! I sent you an email...just let me know which one(s) you're interested, and what size and I'll get everything together!!!
ReplyDeleteI remember we used to rent The Strawberry Shortcake movie 24/7. My mom used to ask the video guy if we could buy it since I watched it so much. My brother and I used to watch Beverly Hills Cop a lot too. A friend of our family was trying to learn how to speak english so he bought the movie to teach himself. Needless to say, he handed it over to us instead!!! I love Christmas Vacation...if I still had it on dvr, I'd watch it year round!
Oh and I'm so jealous that you were allowed to put a picture of Luke Perry up on your wall. My mom never permitted me to hang anything on my wallpaper...not even my man Dylan, Dylan (my heart still skips a beat.) haha
I can't believe I left off the Muppets and Muppet babies....my two favorites!!!
ReplyDeleteFor some strange reason I remember hearing about Jem, but never watched it...or at least I don't remember!
Jaws scared the crap out of me. If I couldn't see through the water to the bottom I was convinced Jaws was in there. Bathtubs, pools, nothing was safe.
ReplyDeleteTruly truly truly outrageous!!!
ReplyDeleteMy nostalgic movies are always strange. Whenever I was sick as a kid, I would watch two things... Fern Gully and this 1985 made for tv movie musical of Alice in Wonderland starting everyone from the 80s ever. It's wonderful. And so bad when you watch it now...but I still watch it today. And I just realized--it's the same Alice that stephanie was talking about! I found it on e-bay on VHS.
I'm also a big fan of The Wizard of Oz (I played Dorothy in high school also, so that could be why) and Labyrinth (I actually have a Jareth T-shirt...)
My cartoons though were Jem, the Snorks (which no one remembers...), Thundercats, and the X-Men.
Jem! Being named Jessica I used to fake my name as Jerrica. So close, yet so far.
ReplyDeleteI just about fell off my chair when I saw Jem.... I've been trying to explain her to the husband for a while now. Thanks! I also had her and her rockers' dolls, which were pretty awesome. She was about three times the size of a Barbie... mostly because she was far superior.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! I loved Jem.. I'm actually dressing as her for Halloween this year =) And I used to pretend my name was Jem too. My name is Jen.. so it wasn't much of a stretch =)
ReplyDeleteHow could we not remember Jem. Jem is excitement! Ha. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
ReplyDeleteMovies?
ReplyDeleteShawshank Redemption
The Color Purple
Batman 2
Jurassic Park
The Little Mermaid
As for Jem, my mom wouldn't buy her for me because she wasn't the same size as Barbie which would mean I would have to buy a whole new wardrobe for her. Before I was a mom I was bitter about it, now that I am a momI want to high five her for her cleverness
Hmmm, I haven't even watched half of those movies! I love Disney movies. They're the ones that remind me of when I was little. Oh, and Miracle on 21st Street - Christmas as a kid :D
ReplyDeletethis is so fun to read what other people say they watched - mostly cause I am trying to guess their ages based on their preferences!
ReplyDeleteI cracked up on the poster thing - they always did look tortured, didn't they?!!?
SO, I was a big fan of Luke Perry's. I even have a Dylon Barbie doll!!! I wish he'd come back to the silver screen...
ReplyDeleteThe Little Mermaid
ReplyDeleteClueless - i have the ENTIRE movie memorized (and I probably should have kept that to myself)
Beauty & the Beast - I just really loved Belle's dress, so much so, that for one halloween, I was her!
The Wizard of Oz
I wanted to marry Luke Perry when I was younger. I thought he was so hot!
ReplyDeleteAnd Jem was awesome! One of my friends actually dressed up as her for Halloween last year...it was pretty cool.
Movies that I loved when I was a kid were: The Journey of Natty Gann, Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, Little Monsters and White Fang. I guess I had a thing for animal movies.
She's truly outrageous...truly, truly, truly outrageous. Jem is my name, no one else is the same...Jem is my NAME. JEM!
ReplyDeleteWe had this bootleg tape that was Beetle Juice, Terminator 2 and Wayne's World. Once my sister, brother and I were all home sick for like three weeks, and we just watched that tape on repeat the entire time.
ReplyDeleteOh and Batteries Not Included used to be my favorite movie. When I was like 6.
The movie theaters at Woodfield have all the old classic movie posters framed. I think I might have done a verbal "aww" by myself when I saw the Little Mermaid one. Then I thought of Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and all the rest. But Little Mermaid, I even had the video game!
ReplyDeleteI loved all the Indiana Jones movies when I was a kid. I haven't seen them since, though. And pretty much any Disney movie had a HUGE impact on me.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't allowed to watch any scary movies like Jaws or Jurrasic Park until I was older. And even at 23, Jaws made me jumpy. I'm a wimp.
seriously i love jem. i even posted about it a while back, haha. loooove.
ReplyDeleteas for some of my fave movies, definitely back to the future and the original indiana jones movies too. i am not a fan of the new one.
Aw, Jem, the memories!!! I had the doll, and loved it. and books too!
ReplyDeleteI tagged you on my blog!
ReplyDeleteHow funny, I'm having some serious 90s nostalgia at the moment too! I'm dressing exclusively like Daphne from Frasier, and I plan to have a "Blossom" phase before too long!!
ReplyDeleteI loved Jem! And Back to the Future, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, and The Muppet Movie. The latter was my favorite, actually.
ReplyDeleteAs for the new Indy, I enjoyed it. It was cheesy like the originals and completely fun. Yes, a bit weird with the aliens, but still overall entertaing.
I STILL think Harrison Ford is hot.... He and Shia LaBeauf are the only reasons I saw the new movie.
ReplyDeleteHook, TMNT 2: The Secret of the Ooze, Bill & Ted's Most Excellent Adventure
ReplyDeletethere's a white castle not far from my house... and you could visit with Jack Daniels and Vanilla Butterscotch Rum (gods i love having alchoholic beverages as my babie's names!!!) and we could all have white castle and play video games!
ReplyDeleteWow, I don't know many of these at all. Either I was a bit too young or a bit too sheltered.
ReplyDeleteI rented Avonlea nearly every time we went to the movie store.
My first crush was Andrew Keegan. I LOVED him. In 3rd grade I had a dream that I married him and sometimes I still think it could probably come true! Move over LeAnn Rimes! (Maybe that's old news?)
JEM! Awesome!
ReplyDeleteIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Fake Plastic Skull was lame. Such a disappointment compared to the trilogy!
JEM and the Holograms, now that is a trip down memory lane. The Misfits were my personal favorite.
ReplyDeleteJEM is truly outrageous.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite movies from childhood: The Goonies
Mac & Me (we watched this on the last day of school in elementary school. It's a less-scary version of ET.)
Dirty Dancing (My parents didn't worry about things like ratings. This and ET were the first movies they bought with our brand new VCR.)
Teen Witch (THE movie for sleepovers.)