Steve and I share an appreciation for older movies. Not the black and whites, but the movies from the sixties to early nineties that were all the rage during our childhoods. Tonight, we were watching Mr. Mom for the umpteenth time (it really is that good). We talked about how the movies from back then seemed so much more authentic: you really believe Michael Keaton and Teri Garr are a family, rather than celebrities playing a role.
Maybe that’s because being in movies didn’t just require being genetically blessed back then (it also required knowing Aaron Spelling or John Hughes). Or maybe it’s because we weren’t so involved in the actors’ personal lives. I never heard of Hayley Mills snorting coke in a bathroom stall or Rick Moranis going to rehab for sex addiction (shivers).
Here are some of my favorite non-animated movies from pre-Y2K and pre-Us Weekly subscription (or as some call it, “the good old days”):
1. Mr. Mom
2. Multiplicity
3. Groundhog Day
4. Rookie of the Year
5. Houseguest
6. Sister Act II
7. Home Alone
8. Uncle Buck
9. Freaky Friday
10. Parent Trap
11. Hook
12. Old Yeller
13. The Swiss Family Robinson
14. The Absent-minded Professor
15. The Love Bug
16. The Mighty Ducks
17. Parenthood
18. The Goodbye Girl
19. The Sound of Music
20. The Burbs
holly pelesky 
I watched Hook recently and had forgotten how long the movie was and how long it takes them to actually get to Never Never Land. And why the heck does Julia Roberts have to be Tinkerbell? That just ruins it for me.
patrick, what do you have against julia roberts?
i would add the jerk and overboard and angels in the outfield to that list… my mom and i once fought in the middle of walmart over the last copy of mr mom they had in the discount bin. there was no way i could pry it from her kung-fu grip.
UNCLE BUCK!!
“I don't think I want to know a six-year-old who isn't a dreamer, or a sillyheart. And I sure don't want to know one who takes their student career seriously. I don't have a college degree. I don't even have a job. But I know a good kid when I see one. Because they're ALL good kids, until dried-out, brain-dead skags like you drag them down and convince them they're no good. You so much as scowl at my niece, or any other kid in this school, and I hear about it, and I'm coming looking for you!
Take this quarter, go downtown, and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face! Good day to you, madam.”
Bum bum bum bum bum.
Wild Thang!
I just watched Uncle Buck…And Donna…I LOVE THAT LINE!
I do think it is true that the older movies were more believable…maybe it's because we've run out of ideas…or that people these days have no imagination…