1987

1987 was the year the Minnesota Twins won the World Series. They did it with Puck, Hrbee, Gaetti, Bruno, Lombo, Gagne, Viola, and Reardon. While the Twins were playing a fantastic season, there wasn't much playing at the movie theatre that I was interested in. The top movie of the year was "Three Men & a Baby". Some of the other movies in the top 5 for '87 were "Moonstruck" (with Cher), "Good Morning Vietnam", and "Fatal Attraction". I wound up going to 5 movies that year. One was the critically acclaimed "The Last Emperor" which wound up winning Best Picture. I found it a bit tedious, though. Spielberg's WWII drama "Empire of the Sun" was a well-made flick. I also went to "*batteries not included" and "Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol". Sorry to say, though, that "PA 4" wasn't my fave of the year, though it is somewhat tempting to name it as such due to the fact that Motormouth Jones had a cool rap over the opening credits.

What is my favorite movie of '87, then? Well, one sunny Saturday afternoon in the summer of 1987 (Incidentally, my mom's twin girls were conceived this summer. They were born on March 1st, 1988. If they had been born a day earlier, they would have been Leap Day babies), I went with my Mom, stepdad, and siblings to LaCrosse, Wisconsin for a day of fun at the Valley View Mall. I was able to talk my Mom and Phil into taking us all to a new movie from Mel Brooks that would mix my love of Star Wars with some good comedy. I'm referring, of course, to "Spaceballs". The movie featured a cameo from Motormouth Jones (He's everywhere!) as Dark Helmet's radar technician. He got to show off his awesome vocal skills for the millionth time. One of my favorite lines is near the end of the movie when Lonestar and Dark Helmet are battling with lightsabers. Dark Helmet has some problems with his stick and says, "I hate it when I get my Schwartz twisted". I hate it when that happens myself, Helmet...