On last night’s Greek, Cappie (Scott Michael Foster, pictured) lamented that he’d placed The Goonies in his Top 10 Movies Ever list, only to re-screen it as an adult and realize "MAN, did those kids chew the scenery!" That’s always a low blow to one’s self-esteem — you suddenly wonder whether you had any taste growing up. Then you immediately get to work on rationalizing all your questionable decisions to your ego. (Uh, Annie, that "Cold-Hearted Snake" dance routine featuring your sister, you, and a number of log rolls across your basement’s dingy carpet didn’t choreograph itself. You committed to that thing.)
As for movies, I was particularly horrified after a recent viewing of the 1987 Madonna vehicle Who’s That Girl? And 1990′s The Wizard, starring "TV’s Fred Savage" (and music’s Jenny Lewis!) is just embarrassing, especially when the DVD (that I am still 100% glad I bought, mind you) stares at me from the bottom shelf whenever I watch TV, which is always.
What about you — what childhood staple has left you somewhat disillusioned after a more recent look?
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I used to think Teen Witch was THE coolest movie ever. I wanted to be Robin Lively when I was a kid. But watching her friend Patty rap “Top That” doesn’t have the same it factor these days….
the wizard is still awesome. all the fred savage movies are. i have them all on DVD. the wizard, vice versa, little monsters… all classics!
Loved me some Dirty Dancing as a grade schooler, but when they re-released it in the theater during high school, I realized how cheesy the dialogue was.
About a year ago I rewatched E.T., and I wish I hadn’t, because now I kind of hate the movie I used to remember so fondly!
I’ll go the opposite route — The Monster Squad is still undeniably awesome, and arguably even better today than it was in the 1980s. I mean, it had kids who used cuss words — in other words, REAL kids!
I was so excited to buy some of the cartoons I grew up with on DVD – GI Joe, He-Man, Transformers, etc. Not only do they not hold up, but they really are basically unwatchable.
When I was a kid, I used to LOVE Hard to Hold (cheesy 80s movie starring Rick Springfield in his glory days). I used to scour the TV Guide to make sure I never missed a single showing of it. Stayed up to watch it at 3am one time.
About a year ago, my husband bought it for me on DVD as a cute Christmas stocking stuffer. So I sat down to watch it for the first time in 15 years.
OMG – what a perfectly awful movie. WHAT was I thinking???
point break. a recent viewing point breaked my heart!
Thundercats! Was my favorite cartoon EVER! I ran around with a stick, shoving it in the air every so often, and shouting “Thundercats, Ho!” Upn repeat viewing a little while back, it wasn’t so awesome. Bugs Bunny holds up. Tom & Jerry holds up. Thundercats? No so much. So sad. Whatver–it’ll remain awesome in my memory!
I 100% agree with the Teen Witch comment. Exactly what I was going to say. That movie rocked it when i was a kid…Another movie that didn’t disappoint me when I rewatched it as an adult, but definitely shocked me was Crybaby. I took it completely seriously as a kid. It was a shock to revisit it and realize…hey, this is a farce! But both “versions” are good!
Really liked “The Pirate Movie” and “Grease 2″ when I was young (very young). Also was quite the fan of “The Cannonball Run” and “Bosom Buddies.” Over the past few years, I have run in to all of these delights on TV, much to my horror.
Ahh, those were simple times.
Angie, I completely agree with you. When I read this posting, I immediately thought of Teen Witch. Don’t get me wrong, I love that movie and own it on DVD, but I make fun of the song Top That now b/c it just doesn’t have the same effect. Now, if Jay-Z was doing the rapping, it would be different. Lol.
Superfriends. I loved it as a child. Turns out that show was utter crap. And when they brought in the “multi-cultural” heroes, it somehow got even crappier. Ka-zha-na-gooooo, nee hi-a-ku!
Oh, and the movie Surf Ninjas is in the same category as Teen Witch. I loved it as a kid, but now, it doesn’t have the same effect. But it’s cute to reminisce.
The Incredible Hulk. I loved that show as a child, but watching re-runs in the mid-90′s at 2am, it just wasn’t the same-it was awful.
However, The A-Team has stood the test of time. In fact, I think it’s better now.