Revisiting Movies from Childhood

With HBOMax access right now, Corrie and I have been watching movies that meant things to us when we were kids, and trying to see how they hold up, or, maybe, see what effect watching them has on us now, so many years later.

In an odd twist, the three movies I'll be talking about here today were watched in the chronological order of their release. That wasn't planned. There's also a strange connective thread through them that reminded me of a post I wrote years ago while laid up on the couch with my broken leg.

Anyway, to start, we travel back to 1987:

This was a movie that my parents rented for our Friday night movie and a pizza tradition, and I was definitely one of the kids who saw the name and thought, "Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...I don't know..."

And, like with The Princess Bride, the movie turned out to be an instant favorite. I'm sure it was my first time seeing Elizabeth Shue, and I remember being infatuated with her, but I don't think it was a real fanboy style of a crush. I remember pretty vividly that happening two years later with Kim Basinger in Batman. But I did develop a soft spot for Liz Shue.

I remember thinking, as a kid, that the story was so outlandish and wild: the babysitter's friend runs away from her abusive home (sounds reasonable); she leaves with the kids to go rescue her friend at the bus depot (umm, bad idea much?); it goes so far off the rails with car thieves, gangsters, gang-fights, and climbing out the window on a Chicago high rise that, of course, it needs to have the day saved by Thor. Because it's the '80s, it turns out Elizabeth Shue's bf is a d-bag, and it turns out she's a great blues singer...as a white high school-aged girl (umm...sounds reasonable?).

The movie is a classic of the so-absurd-and-exciting-for-kids-and-adults-alike that it retains some charm this many years later. The f-bomb on the subway; everybody mistaking a high school senior for a Playboy playmate (that sets off the chase in the third act); each episodic scenario made both Corrie and me say, "No effing way!" over and over. That kind of ludicrous-osity, if I may coin a word, usually spells doom for my experience as the film curmudgeon I've developed into, but here it was nostalgic, and being a parent meant the stakes were different for us watching it now.

Also, Corrie said early on, "Okay, so I babysat plenty, and taking the kids I was babysitting ANYwhere was, like, not something I would've ever considered." So there's that...

The fascia that connects this movie to the next is the fact that the concept of babysitting is in the title, and starring in a supporting role was Keith Coogan, the oldest brother in both, and king of, "Hey...it's that guy from..." references.

Let's head back to 1991:

This was another Friday night pizza and a movie movie I'm sure, but I remember seeing commercials for it, and being generally excited to put eyes on it. Christina Applegate occupied a different position in the level of fanboy crush than even Kim Basinger, but here we're another two years down the line, four years removed from Adventures in Babysitting.

I don't think I was really watching too much Married...with Children at the time, but I was surely aware of it. Maybe I had started watching it on the downlow, because I knew my folks didn't like it. I think they warmed up once the realized the main conceit. 

Anyway, once this movie hit HBO and Dan and I could view it whenever, we surely did. The song that plays during the end credits, during the setup of the plot twist, during the trailer---a cover of "Draggin' the Line"---is so ingrained in both my concept of "The Summer" and this movie, that this movie became my stand-in for "The Summer" for some reason. This movie and Point Break (which also came out in 1991) came to define summer for me, or, maybe the Platonic form of Summer. Maybe because it was the summer when I went from year round elementary school to middle school with a more traditional schedule. Besides, both movies would have been on HBO come fall or winter or the next summer...

I'm not really sure why a movie about kids dealing with things beyond their ability and control and essentially losing summer would come to symbolize Summer...maybe I was maturing in real time.

Watching it again, now, as an adult, made me realize a few things, the first being: Rose is terrible! Rose is the name of Christina Applegate's character's boss. Sue Ellen, known by her friends and family as Swell, come's into the office with a resume she's essentially copied from a How-To book. Rose meets her while looking for the in-house lady vying for the gig, takes a quick glance at the resume, and hires her on the spot. 

I have extensive work history with this age group, and seventeen year olds simply do not look mature enough to have accomplished very much in their time on Earth, especially some crazy office-knowledge details. Rose should be able to sniff that out immediately. Christina Applegate herself was 20 when they filmed, and she does look young, and to the believability-index's credit, she doesn't look 17...she looks 20-ish. From experience, I can say there is a difference.

And Amanda Gorman this is not.

Anyway, the situations unfold in the most serendipitous way, as time after time somehow Swell's backside is saved, until it all comes crashing down. Because, you know, she's seventeen. Her love interest is Josh Charles, another reason for the fond memories for me, since he played Knox Overstreet in Dead Poets Society, another movie I really like.

Considered a box off bomb, it gained fame and cult status. Many critics felt like it was a clone of Home Alone, which is funny because the writer's conceived it as a version of Risky Business, and written before Home Alone was made.

I still really enjoy this movie, and it's absurdities and funny lines. The fact it turns 30 this year makes me a bit nostalgic for hot lazy summer days burning up time with HBO.

The connection for the next movie on the list is that, just like the previous entry, it has BOTH a verb and the word "mom" in the title; from 1992:

This is another movie that Dan and I watched repeatedly on HBO as kids on weekends or at night or during the summer or whenever. It's so absurd and ridiculous that it boggles the imagination. If you don't like Jon Lovitz, please STAY AWAY.

I liked that Jefferey Jones was playing against type as the heroic lead, even if he plays a weenie early on. Teri Garr, upon re-watching, was far sexier than my adolescent brain recognized. Kathy Ireland, Wallace Shawn, Eric Idle, and what turned out to be Thalmus Rasulala's last performance round out a pretty stacked cast for a highly ludicrous plot and film. 

The practical special effects are good, and the reality of anything in the story is unscientific and stupid. But if you like Jon Lovitz-inspired idiocy, this is great.

I still find myself laughing at elements, even as I type this. One scene happened and Corrie looked over and said, "Oh...now I get that line..." because I'd been making referential jokes for years. And then I try not to be too embarrassed by it all, by quoting one of the silliest movies I still hold dear.

**

"Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead" remains my favorite of these three, and I don't think it's aged as poorly as the shoulder pads in the coats everybody's wearing have.