Matinee Idols
When my parents took me to the video store as a kid, I always went for movies that I had already seen. This annoyed my dad to no end, but now I realize that probably had more to do with my choices than anything else. I mean, who really needs to watch La Bamba several times a week? My taste refined over time and John Hughes played an integral part in a lot of my choices (Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Pretty in Pink, etc.). His untimely passing yesterday made me think of my favorite films from my childhood and ones that still hold up today.
1. Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken. I renamed all of my dolls “Sonora” and contemplated chopping off my hair to look like her.
2. The Princess Bride. ROUS’s are still one of the best creatures ever put on film. They were even funnier once I realized it was just a person in a furry suit.
3. Now and Then. This movie spawned several unsuccessful seances at slumber parties.
4. Newsies. The beginning of a 17-year long crush on Christian Bale.
5. A League of Their Own. There may not be “crying in baseball,” but I know every line in this movie.
What were your favorite childhood films?
140 comments
oh man, Newsies is for sure at the top of my list, and those are all awesome movies that I still love to watch! I also love My Girl, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, The Rocketeer, Sandlot, and Mighty Ducks
Awesome movie pics! I love so many of John Hughes movies. I think Breakfast Club is my #1, but Pretty in Pink is great too. He definitely left his mark in the movie world and will be missed!
I LOVED Now & then as a kid! My sister and I and 2 of our friends had our own little club when we were younger and we would pretend to be the 4 girls.
Now & Then is such a classic! I’m pretty sure that most of my childhood slumber parties revolved around this movie.
A beautiful story, I would like to ask me these links: http://look10.blogspot.com/
greetings
i loved Now and Then!
I’ve always wanted to watch “now and then” again! my favorite childhood films were “it takes two,” “pretty woman” and I loved jim carry movies.
I had forgotten about how much I loved Now and Then!
I need to look for a copy.
I haven’t seen any of these! My faves were the old ones everyone loves, Clueless, Breakfast Club, Homeward Bound, Paulie, Labyrinth etc!
The nightmare before christmast….i love the movie, i thought i had found my jack but we just broke up..little mermaid, anything cheesy and with a princess…
I’ve always loved “The Sandlot.” Such a cute movie!
His passing is so sad and sudden. One of my favorite movies from my childhood and still one of my favorites to date is his movie, Some Kind of Wonderful. It’s classic 80s. I also loved the Rainbow Sprite movie (forget the name but it was about some diamond), The Goonies (which I still love), Spaceballs, Back to the Beach, and Real Genius!
We saw Christian Bale filming for his new movie in MA yesterday! Great movie reviews, I’d have to go with a League of Their Own being one of my all time classics, and of course Father of the Bride (1 & 2)!
You are the only other person on earth who I know who knows about Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken!!!! It is one of my all time faves! I sold my VHS copy in a garage sale recently and was really sad about it!
I am so sorry to hear about your father.
Newsies and A League of Their Own were and still are two of my favorite movies. My other fav is SHAG.
Can you believe, I’ve never seen ‘Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken’?!
I love EVERY single film you posted after that though. Oh the memories!
Rest In Peace John Hughes.
ugh, TOTALLY agree with you about christian bale! I will always have a place in my heart for him.
HAHA, i totally forgot about now and then, i was obsessed with watching labrynth, goonies and never ending story…. okay , i still am.
HOLY CRUD!! I love it that you watch Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken and Newsies! I grew up on these shows and watch them both at least twice a year
I grew up watching a lot of John Wayne movies and my favorite ones are Audrey Hepburn and Alfred Hitchcock.
I LOVED Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken!! I haven’t thought of that movie in YEARS…so many memories just came back! I always wanted to rent the same movies too. There is no telling how many times my parents had to rent Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken and Mannequin for me. I was also slighlty obsessed with The Goonies.
Newsies inspired me to become a dancer – cheesy as that sounds. Also, Christian Bale = the hotness.
WHCBB (Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken) is one of my top 3 favorite movies, along with My Father the Hero and A Leauge of Their Own. What a great post, bringing back such great memories!
xo
ahhhh, wild hearts can’t be broken. the last film michael schoeffling was in. since i heart jake ryan, i really like that movie. wish he hadn’t given up acting to make furniture in pa. hello stalker! haha. i loved e.t., the goonies, the princess bride, 16 candles (anything john hughes really), and poltergeist began my love for scary movies.
Wow, this is a great blog topic! Here’s my list:
1. The Wiz
2. Too Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (thus sparking a love and admiration for Drag Queens)
3. Big Girls don’t cry…they get even!
4. Troop Beverly Hills
5. Teen Witch
6. Charolette’s Web
7. Sixteen Candles
8. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
I had totally forgotten Bale was in “Newsies” until I saw him in “I’m Not There.” Swoon! I was a huge “Princess Bride” fan growing up, too. But, I mean, who wasn’t?
Ohhhh, Now & Then, definitely my favorite!
A League of Their Own and Gone With the Wind
Oh I’ve never seen Newsies and Ive heard so much about it over the years, I might have to look into that!
Umm… we did seances all.the.time. We LOVED Now & Then!
I love princess bride and wild hearts can’t be broken! So sad about John Hughes. His movies were the best. I’ve seen sixteen candles and Pretty in Pink many many times!
I completely forgot about Wild Hearts … I loved that movie too! Now and Then and Princess Bride are such classics for me and bring back so many memories. Great post!
all of your list (for real!) and add Troop Beverly Hills and Annie. My sister and I know literally EVERY word to these films. HA! Now my 6 year old niece watches these with us and laughs at her crazy mom and her crazy aunt!
i love the movies you have listed! i would have to add the goonies, honey i shrunk the kids and the neverending story in there too!
have a happy weekend!
I was the same, always going for movies I’d already seen! for some reason i was obsessed with that movie “camp cucamonga”, i would rent it like, once a week. hmmm!!
omg now and then and newsies are such great picks!!!
I LOVE the newsies too!!!!
oh my gosh i totally forgot about wild hearts can’t be broken! what a great movie. and newsies? yes, please!
This post makes me want to watch Now and Then sooooooooooo bad!!!!
omg! These take be back!
woops, typo.
I meant to say theses take ME back.
Love your list! I must also add Adventures in Babysitting, She’s Out of Control, Dirty Dancing, Flight of the Navigator, Willow and the Dark Crystal! And as others have mentioned, Troop Beverly Hills, The Labyrinth and OMG I forgot about Big Girls Don’t Cry…They Get Even! Hahahaha! Nice one!
We are so on the same wavelength today, Em! Let’s see… mine were definitely St. Elmo’s Fire, Goonies, The Breakfast Club, and E.T. I could watch any of those films again and again to this day.
Don’t forget Dirty Dancing and The Cutting Edge!!
Wow, this post put a huge smile on my face… Ahh, simpler times, huh?
My parents owned a VHS a store while I was growing up, so I watched all sorts of random things, but my top 3 faves were: old Yeller, Robocop, and The Little Mermaid (Random assortment, I know).
But OMG Now and Then??? I Totally forgot how amazing that movie is! Still confuses me as to how Christina Ricci grew up to be Rosie O’Donnell… Oh well, I still love it!
Wow, this post put a huge smile on my face… Ahh, simpler times, huh?
My parents owned a VHS a store while I was growing up, so I watched all sorts of random things, but my top 3 faves were: old Yeller, Robocop, and The Little Mermaid (Random assortment, I know).
But OMG Now and Then??? I Totally forgot how amazing that movie is! Still confuses me as to how Christina Ricci grew up to be Rosie O’Donnell… Oh well, I still love it!
Ah! We have similar taste in movies…2 of my favorites include Now and Then and A League of Their Own. I also LOVE The Sandlot, Pretty Woman, The Little Mermaid, Big, and Dirty Dancing!
Aw The Princess Bride is definitely at the top of my list… along with the Labyrinth! I love me some david bowie:) Great post!
http://www.coquettishfacade.blogspot.com
Love these movies, such classics and RIP John Hughes =(((((
hmm… let’s see. My childhood was all about Labyrinth, The Worst Witch, Ernest Goes to Camp, A League of Their Own, and the Care Bears movie. I’ve never even seen Spaceballs, The Princess Bride, or Sandlot, and really have no desire to.
Fun fun topic! Here’s my list, in no particular order:
- Dirty Dancing
- The Journey of Natty Gann
- The Man from Snowy River
- Clueless
- The Cutting Edge
- Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael
Ooo I LOVE my childhood movies!
Goonies!!
The Neverending Story
The Wizard of Oz
Escape to Witch Mountain
Oh my God – I was OBSESSED with Newsies. In fact, I recently considered purchasing the DVD. Sixteen years later. As a thirty year old adult. I’m going with that being awesome, not weird.
Also, there was a good two years where I rented National Velvet about once a week.
Now & Then — I must have watched that movie 4364674764664 times at least. It was the beginning of my Devon Sawa obsession!
John Hughs movies seriously shaped my view of what I thought my teenage years would be like…still love Ferris Bueller and 16 Candles. Is there any better kiss than the ending of 16 Candles?? And those soundtracks? The best.
All those were my favorites…I also remember being in like sixth grade and watching sandlot over and over because the boys were sooooo hot!
I know I am lame, but I loved My Girl also, I still cry watching it for whatever reason!!!
so many that my sister and I loved…of course all of the John Hughes films were my favorite but there were so many others…when we were really small we were quite obsessed with Black Beauty, The Wizard of Oz and the cartoon of The Lion, The Never Ending Story, The Witch and the Wardrobe…
if you want to read an incredible tribute to John Hughes..check this out. I found it via gawker…
http://wellknowwhenwegetthere.blogspot.com/2009/08/sincerely-john-hughes.html
We have very similar tastes in movies!
I loved Adventures in Babysitting… “Don’t f*** with the babysitter!” best line in a movie ever.
I had SO many, but the one that sticks out in my mind is “The Worst Witch…” By the time I was 12, every friend that had slept at my house had seen it {probably unwillingly}. On my 21st birthday I actually met the star of TWW, Fairuza Balk, in a bar in NYC and told her she was my idol…I am SURE she was just thrilled!!
awww .. what a sweet post! my cousins and i used to watch the princess bride every new year’s eve! such memories!
i loved all those same movies! still do! in fact, i own most of them. i also rented the same movies week after week (sister act 2, anyone?)
That is so funny, I watched ALL these movies as a kid. With the exception of Now and Then. I wasn’t so into it.
It’s such sad news, RIP John Hughes
Great movies, all of them!
such great choices… most mine were definitely more of a boy’s type of choice. I was obsessed with Goonies, Ghostbusters, Return of the Jedi Sleeping Beauty, Labryinth, The Never Ending Story, and The Last Unicorn [animated film that further fueled my obsession for unicorns!] I watched all of these a million times as well as my favorite musicals as a child – Grease & 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, LOVED that movie!
I will miss the magic of John Hughes, thankfully we have excellent cinema to remember him buy – I adore Ferris and Pretty in Pink!
I was so sad about John Hughes! I spent all of high school trying to look like Molly Ringwald. I LOVE Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken
Goonies (my sisters and I can quote this entire movie), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Adventures in Babysitting, Princess Bride, Sleeping Beauty, Sword In The Stone, and Labyrinth. I’m sure there are others, but these were quintessential of my childhood.
Every time I saw Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken I cried incessantly. Don’t ask me why. My favorites were:
-Harriet the Spy
-Matilda
-Angels in the Outfield
-The Big Green
-ET
-The Babysitter’s Club
-Little Giants
-The Sandlot
Considering I don’t like sports, I watched quite a few films during my childhood on repeat that revolved solely around the subject.
Ha ha! I loved all of these (particularly Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken). I guess I would add Willow, The Neverending Story, and The Dark Crystal.
clueless and KINDERGARDEN COP
“who is your daddy and what does he do?”
“SHAT UPPP SHAT UPPP”
Now and Then and A League of Their Own were definitely 2 of my favorites. I lived vicariously through Geena Davis and secretly wanted to be a baseball player when I was 9 (as long as I got to wear the same cute uniform!) Home Alone was and still to this day is a movie I can watch at any time, especially around Thanksgiving and Christmas!
Wild Hearts Cant Be Broken = Best Movie Ever
Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitters Dead and Troop Beverly Hills!!
Ahhh such great picks! My all time favorite, that played like a broken record at many a sleep over, was Girls Just Wanna Have Fun! SJP is so adorable in it and the soundtrack will never get old to me : ) Great blog btw!
Oh my god. NOW AND THEN. i just got goosebumps. LOVE THAT.
-meream
I used to rent Wild Heart Can’t Be Broken a million times over too! I always used to get scared when the horse would jump off the diving board. And I have to agree with Troop Beverly Hills. I actually watched it at work the other day, don’t tell anyone I told you that. XO!
such a nice tribute
i was a disney dork…little mermaid, beauty and the beast… and a star wars nerd
Great picks! A League of Their Own is still one of my favorites. You laugh, you cry, there’s great music and the costumes and hair styling are perfectly done!
newsies was epic. My favorites though were Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the Sandlot, 3 Ninjas, and FREE WILLY!
Newsies also spurred the beginning of a lifelong crush on Christian Bale. Excellent choices!
merricksart.blogspot.com
Your blog is great, and I have a whole new level of respect for you now that I know we have the exact same taste in childhood movies. I can’t tell you how many slumber parties I had with double features from this list.
I loved:
Heavyweights
Matilda
Leave it to Beaver The Movie
Mighty Ducks
Now and Then…loved Devon Sawa.. haha
oh, i forgot, and Home Alone. I have that whole movie memorized.
Great post! I’m with you on Newsies.
these are all such amazing films
What a great list! I loved “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken” too! I would also add “The Sandlot”, “Clueless”, and “The Neverending Story”.
Does anyone remember Jonathan Brandis? I used to LOVE him…he was on SeaQuest!!!
My big film growing up was Dirty Dancing. It was so much more than just a movie, and seeing it now reminds me of all those experiences of adolescence– braces, awkwardness, crushes on 15yr old boys, and my love of dance…
“You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!”
Vizzini has some serious words of wisdom. Anywho, give me old school Christian Bale and a magical Alan Menken-composed soundtrack and I’m there…love Newsies!
Maddy
The Princess Bride is still an all time favorite of mine. I have the Buttercup Edition DVD because I can no longer use my VHS of it since we no longer have a VHS.
Now and Then – I love that movie! And my fave….so cheesy, so eighties – Teen Witch.
1. Annie – I used to sing the entire soundtrack on my stage/fireplace. My mom even entertained my imagination by providing a red dress, red curly wig, and a broken locket necklace. I also wanted to be an actual orphan. I don’t think I actually understood what it would really be like to not have parents.
2. Space Camp – I dreamed of going into space
3. Girls Just Want to Have Fun – I loved SJP before Sex and the City. And the music just makes me want to dance. It also gave me the idea of sneaking out of the house, which I did many times in high school.
Newsies is my ALL TIME FAVORITE
my sister and i did the same thing with Matilda! we rented it ALL the time! but my other childhood obsessions were Land Before Time (i named my fish Petri after the cute bat in the movie), ET (even though it would scare the crap out of me i would still watch it!), Berenstain Bears, and Scamper!
Jumanji
xo noah (Indie Music Blog)
Wow, I’ve been a huge fan of your blog for some time now, mostly because of the fashion but as I was reading this latest entry I got so excited. I kept scrolling down to see another movie you mention and I loved every one of them to as a kid and still today. Perfect! I’m so sad about John Hughes as well! Keep up the awesome blogging and cute outfits.
Princess Bride is a#1 for me! I have a general distrust of anyone who doesn’t like this movie…. It’s a great test of character
I probably watched Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Dirty Dancing on a daily basis at some point…80′s clothing + Solid Gold-style dancing is my LIFE.
I also loved Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Phoebe Cates!) and still know all the songs from The Chipmunk’s Great Adventure. I was *such* a Brittany.
I did a blog post referencing Troop Beverly Hills not too long ago…I guess these movies still carry a lot of influence with me!
~Tamia
http://thestylesample.com
#1 brought my fellow blogger and I together way back as 16 year olds. On a boardwalk in Atlantic City, life can be peaches and cream!!!
wow… it’s like we’re the same person. You might have been writing my own childhood there. wow…
great movies (still a bit in love with Christian Bale – he SINGS!)
actually… I just remembered our annual May long weekend ritual of three day slumber parties and every Christian Bale movie ever made… including “Pocahontas” (because, of course, he was the voice of young Thomas)!!!
I loved now and then! brilliant film! i also loved batteries not included and of course the little mermaid and dumbo! great post idea!
much love from Ireland
magpie-girl.blogspot.com xx
Oh, Now and Then and A League of Their Own were on my heavy rotation. I have always been big on soundtracks also and successfully annoyed my mother into getting the Now and Then soundtrack for me. Little Women spawned an early Christian Bale crush for me!
amen to christian bale in newsies!
i often break into various newsies songs.
The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies of all time! I was more of a Disney princess junkie.
XO.
Wow! I loved all the same movies! However I also need to add: Adventures in Babysitting, Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, Troop Beverly Hills, and The Sandlot!
Funny, I was thinking about “Wild Hearts Can’t be Broken” yesterday.
Every time I brought it up to someone, no body knew what I was talking about. It’s one of my Favorites.
Love watching movies that I’ve watched before!
-Hayanna&Cathy
loved loved loved wild hearts can’t be broken!!!
hi emily! i love your blog! so inspiring to me
ps i totally agree with all your picks of movies! pretty much the EXACT same when i was little.
I love Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken!!! My babysitter when I was little had me watch it. I always rememvered how much I loved it and just watched it again recently.
http://sass-pot.blogspot.com/
The Little Mermaid! Still is. I watch it a few times a month
http://miensie.blogspot.com
OMG!! I also thought my sister and I were the only ones who watched Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken. I love this movie. I cry all the time when I watch it. The main guy is fine!!! I also watched The Sandlot because of that cute guy who helps the geek learn baseball. Other movies I loved are The Wiz, League of Their Own, NeverEnding Story, Labrynith, and Muppets Take Manhattan. Sorry for the last one but it is classic.
I always love to watch Now and Then movie. =D
Summer
A Writers Den
The Brown Mestizo
ha i was in love with wild hearts cant be broken- but no one i knew had ever seen it! i still own the vhs and break it out on those rare lonely, rainy days.
other childhood favorites? abbot and costellos jack & the beanstalk. i re-watched the other day and i now understand why my parents hated it. other than that, pretty sure just disney.
Oh my goodness, Now and Then is one of my all time favorites! Best soundtrack too.
Oh. My. Goodness. You have got my heart racing with all the memories these movies bring! I hadn’t thought of ‘wild hearts’ in years, but how amazing is it?
and if I had a dollar for every time i tried to learn the choreography to all those newsies dance routines? i even pulled my mom’s broom into service to use the broomstick as a prop…
Another fave? The mighty ducks—how cute was joshua jackson back in the day?!
I love this post. I really got me thinking of all those movies we loved back in the day. (Many of which I now own on DVD) My all time favorite is Cutting Edge. Other favorites already mentioned include – Goonies, Dirty Dancing (Great Soundtrack – Patrick Swayze singing?), Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Sandlot, Space Camp.
Others not mentioned:
Lost Boys!
My Science Project (My brother and I wore out the VHS tape.)
Short Curcuit
Outsiders (Started my short crush on Tom Cruise)
Liar’s Moon (with Matt Dillion)
The Big Chill (For months in high school, my friends and I watched this every day. This has the absolutely best soundtrack ever!)
I loved Iron Will, Say Anything, The Cutting Edge, Man In The Moon & Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. I did really love Wild Hearts… too. When her husband organized her clothes by color so she could dress… it melted my heart!
Oh wow, totally with you on Wild Hearts Can’t be Broken and Now and Then, 2 of my all time faves!!
Jeez, I really loved to see Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Stand By Me.
I love your blog! Keep visiting every single day.
Cya!
Oh wow… Now and Then… that really brings back some great childhood memories…
XO
I LOVED Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken–thought I was the only one because it is so random
You NAILED it here! My sis and I watched all of these endlessly. Especially,…Newsies! Christian Bale, who would have thunk it?
I also loved the soundtrack. A pair of new shoes with matching laces,…
Oh man – Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken… I was obsessed with this film! And Newsies is still a fave.
I love all of your picks- I don’t know many people who know of Wild Hearts.
My name is Sonora, incidentally. I wasn’t named after the movie, but I’ve always loved that the main character’s name matched mine. 
omg. i LOVE wild hearts cant be broken. one of my all time faves. i also don’t know many peeps who know about that movie. awesome.
I love Now & Then! I remember when it came out I wanted to see it with all my best friends! Thanks for the flashback!
~Montreal Fashion Minds is BACK!!~
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haven’t seen the rest, but absolutely adored The Princess Bride
1. Sound of Music
2. Troop Beverly Hills
3. Mary Poppins
4. Annie
I watched Newsies on my 13th birthday and promptly fell in love with Christian Bale. I then proceeded to watch a VHS tape that my friend taped off of the Disney channel for 6 months straight. On the one tv that was in my house. I am sure my parents loved that.
Also a huge fan of “Wild Hearts Can’t be Broken”.
Hahaha, my friends and I were definitely guilty of the Now & Then seances as well!!
My all time favorite move is “Wild Hearts Can’t be Broken” and I am so glad that there are so many people who love this wonderful movie as well.
Your blog is wonderful. Thank you for sharing.
LOVE all the throwbacks!
I don’t believe anyone has mentioned some of the best comedic movies from the early to mid-90′s; how about Heavyweights?? Prob. one of my all-time favorites next to A League of Their Own
Um, I was seriously obsessed with EVERY SINGLE ONE of those movies. Especially “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken..” My sister and I used to quote it to no end!!
http://seejaneworkplaylive.blogspot.com/
Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken, Now and Then, and A League of Their Own are def in my top 5 too!! Im home sick today as well, maybe Ill Netflix those.
LOVED Now and Then and A League of Their Own! Other faves: Beaches, Little Women, Bed of Roses (so bad but so good)!
Now & then! cutest movie ever.
I love Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken!! I had the biggest crush on Al and went so far as to google him. FYI – he now builds furniture in Pennsylvania.
two of my favorites were little monsters with fred savage and troop beverly hills, soo good!
There’s no telling how many times I watched “Now & Then” at sleep overs. In the scene were the girls get the boys clothes, we always tried to pause it to see Devon Sawa’s business. It never worked.
AHHH- randomly looking through your old posts and I love these movies. The Newsies was seriously underrated! Who can resist a teenage Christian Bale? To this day I get upset that Jo doesn’t accept his proposal in Little Women.
As always, your blog is brilliant. It would mean so so much if you stopped by mine. http://sometimeshavingitall.blogspot.com
xo
Taylor
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