Yesterday I saw a poster advertising a special July 24 screening of the movie War Games, which I thought was a rather arbitrary and weird choice of flicks, until I got to the part of the poster that said, "...to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the film." Allow me to explain why that hurt me.

Twenty-five years ago I was 13 years old. I was a greasy haired nerd with a headgear, Cheetos hands and a voice that cracked and quivered every time I tried to speak. I was a seventh-grader at Sequoia Junior High School, and I think I was the only member of the geek squad without his own calculator watch. For a nerd in the early 1980s, a movie about a computer that thrusts the world into nuclear war was as stimulating as a vinyl pocket protector with a picture of a naked lady on the front.

It was the middle of the so-called Cold War. In school, we were shown how to properly hide under our desks in the moderately unlikely event of a Russian nuclear attack -- although were were too young and dumb to recognize that a thin metal and plywood desk was as likely to protect us from nuclear annihilation as vitamin C was to protect us from Cheeto hands.

I remember wanting to be Matthew Broderick. I dreamed of nailing Ally Sheedy and forcing the entire world headlong into DEFCON 3. I pretended my bed was the big mainframe computer. I named one of my testicles Joshua.

How is it possible that a quarter of a century has passed since then?

Is there a particular movie from your youth that has the same impact on you?

P.S. -- Would you like to know how cool I am? Cool enough to have been blogged about by a NY Times bestselling author.

Comments

No, I don't have testicles.

Anne of Green Gables. Yes corny as all get out I know. But I dreamed of wearing those poofy dresses, of accidentally dying my hair green, and speaking so properly.

I shall bear this mortal wound forever (insert back of hand on forehead here).

Goonies. I know, I'm a girl and it was kind of a boy movie, but I really wanted to be the one girl in it. Especially when she her hands were tied and she went over board. Then the really cute guy saved her and he put her still tied hands around his neck... My my my. Had my 8 year old little heart all aflutter.

I nearly cried the other day when I walked in and my 5 year old was watching it. He was all like, "Mom, check out this cool movie. They made it like a hundred years ago!"

www.notesfromthesleepdeprived.blogspot.com

Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Just saw it a couple of weeks ago on cable and it totally messed with my head. I can't be 25 years out of high school, can I?

Goonies!

I was convinced that a treasure filled pirate ship was buried beneath my sandbox. Not much excitement growing up in Saskatchewan.

Shall we play a game? Loved that movie!

You know this already, but Meatballs is my number one, favorite movie of all time. Have to watch it at least once every summer. It just doesn't matter!

It was Revenge of the Nerds for me. First time in my young life I was actually proud of the fact that I was such a big nerd myself.

Pretty in Pink.....I always thought Sam's style was the best and how she wasnt afraid to be her....and I wanted someone to long for me like Duckie did her! Greatest movie!

I absolutely loved Anne of Green Gables. I used to watch that over & over again. I dreamed of dating Gilbert and having the nerve to talk back to adults like she did.
In fact, it was on a few months ago on PBS. I was extremely excited to watch it!

I'm the exact same age and had the same reaction to War Games. Of course TRON was another computer-geek dream come true. I can pretty safely say Fast Times at Ridgemont High had a huge impact. Of course nothing could really beat The Blue Lagoon, could it? I mean really. Nude Brooke Shields? Need I say more?

Any of the Star Wars movies (Episodes 4-6) would be my films, but particularly Return of the Jedi. Not only would I watch ROTJ whenever possible, when I wasn't watching it, I was listening to the LP of the movie (a shortened version of the story) that my dad bought for me. About a month ago, ROTJ was on Spike and I decided to watch it. It was SCARY how much of the dialogue I could recall as the movie progressed, but I guess that is all stored away somewhere in the depths of my brain!

I think WarGames hit me so hard because I thought the modem was the coolest thing ever. I remember begging to get a modem even though we had no computer then. But I think the movie that had the biggest impact on me was Top Gun. I looked into joining the air force. I wanted Kelly McGillis so bad and I wanted to be that bad ass fighter pilot.

Stand by me.

1 word - Leeches.

I'd have to say Goonies as well. Even now, I'll watch it (if it's on at some random hour on some random channel) Maybe it's because I still dream of finding treasure and could pay off my house, my mom's house, etc.

There is not enough space here to list them all. WarGames is, of course, on the list, but I could also add nearly every John Hughes film or any that included John Cusack.

RE: hiding under desks. In basic training there was a section of the Soldier's Manual of Common Tasks that provides instruction on what to do in case of a nuclear attack. The gist of it was to find cover - in a foxhole or something improvised - lie down on your stomach with your head toward the blast. basically, just a convoluted way of saying, "You're screwed. Enjoy the show."

I loved War Games. I saw that in the movie previews and was VERY bummed I'll be out of town.
On Golden Pond..ET...Animal House..those come to mind. Then as I got older it was the Brat Pack.. St Elmo's Fire, Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink , Less Than Zero...

I was 10. It is freaking me out, too! How can I possibly remember 25 years ago?

Also, how come all the bloggers in my age group are married and have kids and stuff? Or more to the point, why don't I? I need to get a life.

I have to second Tron. The bikes, the tanks, the babe in the tight outfit. I don't know how many times I watched that movie. Romancing The stone also comes to mind.

Better Off Dead. I wanted to be that French foreign exchange student. "Do they have Christmas in France? Chriiistmas."

At that age, I remember seeing The Poseidon Adventure and being utterly fascinated/horrified. I've never been on a cruise, and I would be thinking about The Poseidon the whole time if I did go on one. Oh yeah, there was Pamela Sue Martin's formal gown that conveniently had matching hot pants underneath. I always wanted a dress like that.

BTW, War Games is the 99 cent movie rental special at the iTunes Store this week.

I'm with Xbox, Stand by Me was the best. I hate the leeches, but the pie eating contest and cherry flavored pez always brought me joy.
Also, Sam was Molly Ringwald's character in Sixteen Candles, not Pretty in Pink. Her name was Andy in that one. Why does she always seem to have guy names?

I'm sooo confused. You blog about your inner geek and then about how cool you are. It's the best of both worlds and I'm just glad you embrace it. You're the coolest geek I sorta-but-not-really know.

Raiders of The Lost Ark - I still can't watch the part where that guy's face melts off. Or Back to The Future. I always get so blue when I think of Michael J. Fox and the illness he lives with.

Bueller?

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade...I can't even remember how many times we went to see it at the movie theater...and I was only 7. Also on my list is Land Before Time...loved it so much in fact that my bf bought it for me on DVD last Christmas. Oh, and Ghostbusters...I still secretly want to be a Ghostbuster.

I won't tell you how old I was when this movie came out, but I will tell you I love it, and I had pretty much the same feelings as you (particularly re: a 1980s Ally Sheedy), just offset by 10 years. Luckily I own it on DVD, because after reading this, I must watch it again. It still holds up great, and I think everyone in the Bush administration should be forced to watch it at least 5 times. That and Project X, just because I think that would be funny. If they're good, they can get a little Ferris Bueller time, too.

As for my own movie, I guess I'd have to pick "Cloak and Dagger", starring Dabney Coleman. Go look it up, if you didn't just have an "Oh my god, I remember that movie!" moment right now.

Ah yes, Andy, thank you for the correction. As you can see, I am a BIG John Hughes film fan....that era of movies was the best, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club.......

Jacqueline-totally just had a I remember that movie moment.

Any molly ringwald film as I had red hair too and always thought that I could be her...

Oh, and Footloose. I saw that 14 times at the little walk-in FIVE screen theater. I used to think that maybe my little baptist school would have a dance. In fact, when it was my turn to read a Bible verse, I chose Kevin Bacon's Ecclesiastes verses, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven....a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance"

A time to dance! Rock on, Ren (remember how cool that name was? and the dance in the warehouse? my god, be still my 12 year old heart.)

We never did get our school dance...but I do love War Games...the modem was the best.

We're the same age !!!

And believe it or not- I left a comment on a blog today referencing "The Sure Thing" (John Cusack). I kid you not.

I know you remember it, it was awesome !

Happy 4th !

I was, and remain, Princess Leia.

Mine had to be Flashdance... Not that I wanted to be an "exotic dancer”, but I totally wanted to do all of those wild dances she did. I would always fantasize about having an audtion like she did at the end of the movie. Plus I thought she was TOTALLY cool to have the job she had. I used to put my leg warmers on and tape up my feet (with masking tape, mind you) and re-create the infamous running in place scene.

Now that is totally ridiculous.

Yeah, I was a little younger, too so Ferris Bueller was my hero...and first connection to Broderick.

However, one of the most influentail movies of my youth was, ironically, very related. Red Dawn was the first pg-13 movie that my dad ever took me to, and it blew my mind. It was single-handedly responsible for my love of camping, not because I had the big itch to get into nature, but I felt it my civic duty to hone my survivalist skills. To this very day I would still like to start a biker gang called "Wolverines".

I'm your age. While I liked Wargames, I was having extremely carnal thoughts about Mark Hammill, all in black. *sigh* I had been in love with him for 6 years at this point, but when I fell in love with him in 1977, there were no carnal thoughts.
Oh yeah, watching SW tonight.

I realise that at 23 I may not be able to reflect as fondly back on movies like those listed above, some of them having been released before I was born, but Jurassic Park. Can you believe that it was made 15 years ago?!

I was looking for beginner "scary" movies for my daughter and came across another one that will soon hit its 25th anniversary, Gremlins. What a lovely Christmas that was, wondering if something was going to jump out the Christmas Tree and try to eat me!

Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, ET

ugh..I'm going to my 20th High School reunion this weekend...doesn't that sound like fun??

The Princess Bride.

INCONCEIVABLE!!!!!

Loved Ferris Beuhler's Day Off (Buehler, Buehler, anyone?)

War Games was too cool. A little older than that - for me was Logan's Run. Scared the crap out of me to turn 'my age'...

Wow-great movies!! I was 10 when War Games came out. Still love the Goonies and Ferris Beuller's Day Off!

I think the movies that I love the most were ones that I wasn't supposed to watch. I watched Cujo while hiding under mom's sewing table one night. We had a beautiful St. Bernard, of course mom was afraid Cujo would bother/scare/freak us out. It didn't scare me, but I cried through most of it knowing the dog needed to be shot. I first saw Jaws and Smokey & the Bandit at the drive-in even though my sisters and I were supposed to be asleep. Jaws scared the crap out of me, but I loved it and never was afraid of the water, lol. I still love Smokey & the Bandit and cracks me up that my kids love to hear East Bound and Down by Jerry Reed. :-D

Great post!

Pump Up the Volume. Angsty, politico-emo, disenfranchised Christian Slater rocked my 1991 world. SO HOT. The Shirtless helped too. Oh, and Henry Rollins, yum.

Echoing the sentiments above, I gotta say that I think the best actor to come out of that brat pack generation is John Cusack. I just saw Grace is Gone, and it simultaneously blew my hair back and put me on my fucking knees - SO GOOD. RENT IMMEDIATELY.

Oh no... I just had another 'moment'... has it really been 25 years? I heard someone who looks like an adult say that they really liked Wonder Years... they watched it all the time on Nick at Night!? :-)

Well, I've decided that all of you are my new best friends, or else my old best friends, and we all had the same favorite movies. My parents used to rent movies and then copy them; we had Better Off Dead and Revenge of the Nerds on one tape, and Stand By Me and something else on a second tape. It was AWESOME!

BTW, I also think I'm in an Escher painting. I was reading Jennsylvania, and she said something about her friend Danny; I clicked the link and came here. (Even though I had read the post yesterday, I clicked through just being lazy.) Then, when I read NY Times blogger, I clicked the link, and was back at Jennsylvania. I won't tell you how many times I went around this loop. Must find something to do. (Maybe read one of Jen's suggested books??? Here we go on the loop again...)

She once blogged about me, too. Doesn't it make you feel all tingly inside?

Well, The Breakfast Club registers pretty high on the old teen emotometer, but Raising Arizona rates equally high and caused a life long thing for Nick Cage. Some sort of unfortunate developmental window or something, I truly can't help it...

I had to watch "The Right Stuff" in school and I think Ed Harris is single-handedly responsible for kickstarting my puberty! All these years later whenever I see an Ed Harris film, be it some sappy flick like "Step-mom" or watching him be all studly-unflinching in "A History of Violence" I can smell chalk and feel the need to clench my thighs. Siiiiigh

--Anissa
www.hope4peyton.org

Weird Science! Holy crap! Who wouldn't want their very own Kelli LeBrock to do as they pleased with...esp. when you're an inexperienced 14 year old!

Even today, I envy that one guy who got to make out with her. I bet that is STILL the best day of his life.

Logan's Run. Loved the blonde in the short white dress. Farrah Fawcett was in that too. Michael York was cool! ("RUNNER"!) Another favorite of mine was The Clash of the Titans. Yeah, I know...dork.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, out in 1969, when I was 13. I thought Robert Redford and Paul Newman were gorgeous (I had a thing for "older" men), and The Sting, in 1973, confirmed it. I still think Newman is hot. I can't believe he's 83.

Wait. I blogged about you the other day! Not quite the same, now is it?

I have a feeling that you still think your bed is the mainframe computer, and that Hot Wife has to call your testicles Joshua. It's just a hunch.

I loved that movie! I am a computer nerd now, in part because of that movie! Seriously, I work on servers and hang out with other nerds! ::sniffs:: That does hurt man... 25 years. Are you going to see it? I probably will.