Here are Nos. 1-5:
5. Trading Places
Trading Places is a comedy that gets everything right: from the pitch perfect teaming of Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd to a stellar secondary cast to director John Landis at the top of his game. There's so much to love about this movie that it's hard to pick out favorite moments. But the indelible image from the movie (outside of Jamie Lee Curtis's topless scene) is Eddie Murphy scooting around, trying to con anyone and everyone. 48 Hrs. might have made Eddie Murphy a movie actor, but Trading Places made him a mega star. Trading Places isn't just a classic '80s movie, it's one of the best comedies ever.--Daddy Geek Boy
4. WarGames
"Shall we play a game?" I didn't know much about computers when I first saw WarGames. I had no idea that they could talk. The word internet was still a decade away from the common lexicon. I didn't know you could connect a computer to a phone. But I did know that computers were cool and video games were cooler. Because of school and the news, I also knew that the Soviet Union was our enemy and that nuclear war was something to fear. Because WarGames was the first movie to combine all of these elements, I was simultaneously engrossed and freaked out--as were audiences everywhere. WarGames might not hold up today, but at the time it seemed terrifyingly real, which made it all the more cool.--Daddy Geek Boy
3. A Christmas Story
This has been mandatory annual family watching at my house for as long as it's been on cable. And we don't have a ton of annual family traditions at my house. I'm not big into schmaltzy holiday films, so it's right up my alley. The scene in which Santa boot stomps Ralphie in the face to push him down the slide? Cracks me up every single time. And the family dinner at the Chinese restaurant? We actually used to do a Chinese buffet dinner on Christmas Eve for years. And one year, I'm not kidding, the family that owned the place (it's a lovely family-owned and operated place in St. Louis) had all the staff come out to sing "Deck The Halls" to everyone in the restaurant like they did in the film. We were all laughing so hard we cried. It was amazing. You can have your classics like It's A Wonderful Life. I'll be just fine with A Christmas Story.--Archphoenix
2. Return Of The Jedi
For such a pop culture phenomenon, Return Of The Jedi is a divisive movie and how you feel about it depends on how old you were when you first saw it. I was ten, which was old enough to be blown away by the image of the under-construction second Death Star and the speeder bike chase and young enough not to be bothered by the Ewoks. It's those Ewoks, the cute and fuzzy teddy bear-like creatures that populate the latter half of the movie, that caused such controversy. The Ewoks symbolized the death of the Star Wars franchise (in a post-prequel world this honor is now bestowed upon the deserving Jar Jar Binks and reminds us how many "deaths" this franchise can endure). Yes, Jedi isn't as good as Empire Strikes Back (what is, really?), but it's a solid Star Wars movie with a lot of fun set pieces and a satisfying conclusion to one of the most influential movie trilogies ever. So don't listen to the cranky fanboys who had lost touch with their inner child when they saw Jedi. My inner ten year-old loves it and always will.--Daddy Geek Boy
