Nobody, not even the Boomers, seems to be able to stop talking about Millennials and Gen Z these days. People born between 1965 and 1980 are classified as Gen X. Essentially, the 1980s and 1990s were formative years, with a handful great films defining the age during those decades. Here are ten of those films, ranging from the brat pack to slackers to swing dance.
1. Pretty In Pink (1986)
Director- Howard Deutch
Duckie has been trying in vain for years to summon the guts to express his secret love to Andie, his best friend and equally unpopular high-school senior. But things will soon take an unexpected turn when Blane, the affluent kid and Andie’s long-time admirer, develops an interest in her: the awkward girl from the wrong side of the tracks. Andie’s already convoluted world has been turn upside down. As if that weren’t enough, the long-awaited prom is fast approaching, and Blane’s snob pals are looking down on her. Blane seemed to sincerely care about Andie.
2. The Goonies (1985)
Director- Richard Donner
Jake, a criminal, manages to elude capture with the help of his brother Francis and his mother Mama Fratelli. Meanwhile, a group of boys known as The Goonies who are about to get evict from their homes in Goon Docks because their parents are unable to pay their mortgages. They gather at the home of the Walsh brothers, Mikey and Brand, to celebrate their last day together. Mikey discovers the map of the pirate One Eyed Willis’ treasure in the attic and shows it to his friends Data, Chunk, and Mouth. They resolve to find the treasure in order to rescue their homes, but they discover that the location is the Fratelli family’s hideout. They partner up with their friends Andy and Stef soon after, but they are pursued by the Fratelli family, who want the riches for themselves.
3. Beetlejuice (1988)
Director- Tim Burton
Unfortunately, the generally happy Maitlands, Adam and Barbara, have died in a freak accident. The ghostly couple emerges from their weird purgatory to discover that their lavishly adorned New England mansion has been taken over by the insufferable New York yuppies, Charles and Delia Deetz. Of course, sharing their cherished home with the bothersome intruders is impossible; nonetheless, the Maitlands’ haunting abilities are pitiful to say the least. Only the crazed, rotten-toothed veteran exorcist Beetlejuice can get rid of the uninvited visitors in those dire conditions.
4. Heathers (1988)
Director- Michael Lehmann
Heather Chandler’s gang is the most popular but dreaded clique at Westerburg High School, consisting of three affluent, gorgeous, and snooty girls with the same first name. Veronica Sawyer, who despises herself for hanging out with the three socially nasty Heathers, teams up with the seductive and enigmatic newcomer, Jason Dean, to soothe her conscience and teach the gorgeous tyrants a lesson. Their plan is foolproof, and it appears to be all fun and games until someone is accidently killed. However, there is no turning back now.
5. Do The Right Thing (1989)
Director- Spike Lee
This film depicts life in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood on a sweltering summer Sunday. Sal Fragione opens the pizza business he’s owned for 25 years, as he does every day. The area has changed dramatically in his time there, and it now predominantly consists of African-Americans and Hispanics. Pino, his son, despises being there and would prefer to move the restaurant to their own neighbourhood. Sal, on the other hand, considers the restaurant to be a part of his life and a member of the community. Buggin Out – who asks why he only has images of renowned Italian-Americans on the wall when the majority of his customers are black – begins with a simple complaint from one of his customers. As frustration seems to bring out the worst in everyone, it eventually devolves into violence.
6. Say Anything… (1989)
Director- Cameron Crowe
Lloyd Dobler, an unambitious youngster, has a crush on Diane Court, a beautiful bookworm, and invites her to date him at the high school graduation celebration, which she accepts. Lloyd currently lives with his sister Constance and has no plans for the future. The goal Diane lives with her father, James Court, who owns a retirement home and has recently been awarded a scholarship from a British university. They quickly fall in love, but James is being probed by IRS investigators, so Diane urges him to break up with Lloyd and move to England.
7. Reality Bites (1994)
Director- Ben Stiller
Lelaina Pierce, the valedictorian of her college class, records her pals in a faux documentary about post-education life in this study of Generation X manners. Troy Dyer, her best friend and an unemployed musician, is her constant companion. Vickie Miner, a Gap manager, is concerned about the findings of an A.I.D.S. test, while Sammy Gray struggles with his sexuality. Lelaina must choose between yuppie Michael’s consumerism and Troy’s philosophical musings when she meets Michael Grates, an ardent video executive who takes her amateur film to his MTV-like channel.
8. Clerks (1994)
Director- Kevin Smith
Dante Hicks isn’t having the best of days. He works as a cashier in a tiny convenience store and is required to work on his day off. Dante believes that life is a sequence of bad luck, and today is no exception. He sees his ex-girlfriend Caitlin getting married in the papers. His current girlfriend turns out to have a little more sex experience than he expected. His main concerns are a hockey game he has that afternoon and a friend’s funeral. Randal Graves, Dante’s friend, works as a cashier in the video store next door and despises his job just as much as Dante despises his.
9. Wayne’s World (1992)
Director- Penelope Spheeris
Wayne Campbell is a die-hard heavy metal fan who lives in a Chicago suburb. Wayne and his quirky best buddy, Garth Algar, host “Wayne’s World,” a public cable network TV show that is immensely popular, on Friday nights in Wayne’s basement. “Wayne’s World” attracts the attention of gorgeous TV network CEO Ben Oliver, who wants “Wayne’s World” to air on his downtown Chicago television network, which is sponsored by millionaire Noah Vandahoff, one of the major arcade owners. Wayne and Garth find themselves on the rise, and Wayne falls in love with Cassandra Wong, the Chinese-American lead singer of a heavy metal band, now that “Wayne’s World” is on a Prime Time TV network.
Ben, on the other hand, has a hidden motive and intends to wreck their show by stealing Cassandra from Wayne if Wayne and Garth fail to make “Wayne’s World” the most popular show on television. The concert isn’t the same for Wayne and Garth, and Wayne intends to assist Cassandra with her career aspirations.
10. Pump Up The Volume (1990)
Director- Allan Moyle
Mark, a bright but introverted adolescent from the East Coast, has recently relocated to Arizona. His parents buy him a short-wave radio so he may chat to his friends, but he instead becomes pirate deejay Hard Harry, who becomes a hero among his peers while inciting the fury of the local high school principle. When one of Harry’s listeners commits suicide, the school is thrown into chaos, and the authorities are dispatched to halt Harry’s transmissions.
