Daily Dirt: Was ‘When Harry Met Sally’ best of the best decade? Or was it Spicoli?

Daily Dirt for Saturday, June 1, 2024

Of the films listed below, the one that currently has a reboot in the works is “Escape from New York.” There is no word on an ETA … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 967 of The Daily Dirt.

1. Ahh … finally, the 1980s, possibly my favorite decade for movies in the modern era of film (1960-99).

Obviously, it’s only a personal opinion, but any of at least the top five films of the 1980s could make a case to be No. 1 in any of the other three decades we are dealing with in this four-day look at the best of the silver screen.

Without further ado, let’s look at The Big ’80s:

1. When Harry Met Sally” (1989): At this point in her career, the whole world was in love with Meg Ryan, and this movie illustrated why. One of the best lines from any film at any time came when Harry Burns (Billy Crystal said): “I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” 

2. “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” (1982): Back before Sean Penn started to take himself so seriously, he was Jeff Spicoli. The world was a much better place.

3. “Die Hard” (1988): Bruce Willis as John McClane and Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber — arguably the best good vs. evil battle of the 1980s.

4. “Back to the Future” (1985): What’s the first thing you think of when this movie is mentioned? Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) playing the guitar? I thought so.

5. “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981): Remember Indy’s snake phobia? Classic.

6. “The Breakfast Club” (1985): What a superb cast of misfits for a day of high school detention: A rebel (Judd Nelson), a princess (Molly Ringwald), an outcast (Ally Sheedy), a brainiac (Anthony Michael Hall) and a jock (Emilio Estevez).

7. “Escape from New York” (1981): How can a movie not be a classic when the lead character is named Snake Plissken?

8. “Mad Max 2” (1981): This is the film that sent the series into overdrive. Rarely is a follow-up better than the original, but this is one of those cases.

9. “An American Werewolf in London” (1981): Carnage, comedy and music (thank you, Warren Zevon) … what more could you ask for?

10. “Beverly Hills Cop” (1984): This was definitely the apex of Eddie Murphy’s movie career. From here on, it was pretty much downhill.

2. Did you know (Part 27) …

• The famous house in the movie “Home Alone” (located in Winnetka, Ill.) is back on the market for the first time in more than a decade. It can be yours for $5.25 million.
• Bulletproof vests, windshield wipers and laser printers were all invented by women.
• “Summer of ’69,” “Like A Virgin,” “The Heat Is On,” “Sunglasses At Night,” “Ghostbusters,” “Boys Of Summer,” “We’re Not Gonna Take It,”  “Rock You Like A Hurricane,” “Time After Time,” “Let’s Hear It For The Boy” and “Born in the U.S.A.” are among the songs turning 40 years old in 2024.
• Nerf balls were introduced in 1970.
• The blood used in the famous shower scene in “Psycho” was actually chocolate syrup. Since the film was in black and white, the syrup looked more realistic than “stage blood.”

3. The best of this week’s “Found on Facebook”:

• “My definition of an intellectual is someone who can listen to the ‘William Tell Overture’ without thinking of ‘The Lone Ranger.'”
• “Stan Musial collected his final two hits in 1963, both past the glove of Reds second baseman Pete Rose — 18 years later, Rose would break Musial’s N.L. hit record of 3,630.
• “If Chuck Norris was in real estate, he would sell only round houses.”
• “Avoid being bothered by wasps at barbecues this summer by putting a blob of jam on a small child.”
• “People out here living their lives but no one is addressing the fact there is a ‘D’ in fridge but not refrigerator.”

Steve Thought O’ The Day
I have always found this pretty impressive, but it’s probably for MLB fans only. Back on May 31, 1961, a journeyman player named Carroll Hardy pinch-hit for Carl Yastrzemski. Hardy was the only man to ever pinch-hit for both Ted Williams and Yastrzemski.