The Goonies (1985) Film Review

It’s small town USA in the mid-eighties. A couple of brothers, asthma-sufferer Mikey (Sean Astin) and muscle-bound Brand (Josh Brolin) are coming to terms with the fact that they are about to be torn away from their friends unless they can come up with a whole heap of money. Then Mikey finds a treasure map, and him and his mates set out on the journey of a lifetime. There’s Chunk (Jeff Cohen), an overweight kid with a huge heart, Mouth (Corey Feldman) the smartarse of the group and Data (Jonathan Ke Quan), the inventor who sometimes manages to get his inventions to work. Brand ends up accidentally joining them, as do Brand’s crush, Andy (Kerri Green) and her mate Stef (Martha Plimpton). Then they come across a family of bad guys and… watch out!

Oh, I was so fearful of watching this… what if it didn’t hold up? What if I ended up *gulp* hating the Goonies? Fear not. It was as fabulous as I remember. Yes, slightly over-written, and overly sentimental, but great. I watched it at a free outdoor screening in a park and it was just ace. A warm enough night, a whole heap of people revisiting their childhood, and a whole heap of kids discovering the Goonies for the first time.

And for an extra-special blast of the past, go check out Cyndi Lauper’s  “The Goonies R Good Enough” clip – it’s all Goonies – and 80s wrestlers!

The Lost Boys (1987) Film Review

Michael (Jason Patrick) and Sam (Corey Haim) move in with their grandfather (Barnard Hughes) in Santa Carla, California, with their mother (Dianne Wiest) after she is divorced. Michael falls in love with Star (Jami Gertz), but she is already involved with David (Kiefer Sutherland). David spots the attraction and challenges David to a motorcycle race against him and his gang. Meantime, Sam meets the Frog brothers (Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander) who tell him of the vampires that roam through the area. Sam doesn’t believe them until he discovers that David has turned his own brother Michael into a vampire. Only one this is left to do  – kill the leader of the vampires before the half-vampires Michael, Star and her young son, Laddie, make their first kill. But who is the leader?

This film was awesome when it was released in 1987 and is still awesome. Sure, the effects are a bit average, but the vampires did look pretty scary. Films these days really don’t have the same element of the kooky sidekicks that films of the 80s enjoyed – no wonder Corey and Corey have so little work.

Researching this today, I discovered that the film was directed by Joel Schumacher, who has made a number of films I enjoyed (including Falling Down, Flatliners and St Elmo’s Fire). I’ve also just discovered that Corey Haim passed away in 2010. Far too young to die. But, if you want to reminisce on Corey Feldman’s career, there is a place in Melbourne where you can do just this – and eat some magnificent pizza at the same time. Feldman’s in Fitzroy. Check it out.