Monsters University
Pixar has been on cruise control for three summers now... With a straightforward "aim for the six year olds and sell toys" cash-in with Cars 2... and even with some relatively unique 'girl power' underpinnings "Brave" was fairly forgettable... and now we have another sequel... err prequel. Well, I give those guys credit... they sold out to Disney right at high tide. The Pixar name will still be a license to print money for decades to come, but I'm starting to think that they had their 15 year run of brilliance and now it's the long plateau of above average-ness.
Nothing wrong with this movie, just like there wasn't really anything wrong with Brave or Cars 2. The plot framework was lifted from any handful of campus farce movies dating back 30+ years... but the message was solid and the laughs were plentiful enough... Even if Pixar can't quite seem to consistently deliver the 'magic' factor anymore, their gradual decline and/or leveling off will still be an entertaining ride.
Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2
For about a decade starting in the mid-80s, Hollywood kept throwing Bill Murray "lovable asshole" roles and he kept hitting them out of the park. The Ghostbusters movies, Scrooged, What About Bob?, Groundhog Day... the man had a gift. Ackroyd, Ramis and Hudson could have been replaced with just about anybody competent... but you lose Murray (and to a lesser degree, Moranis in support) and it's not a pair of movies that I rewatch 30 years later. Also, the original movie features another one of my "William Zabka Plays a Great Prick" Lifetime Achievement Award Winners: William Atherton... You may remember him as the prick in: Ghostbusters, Die Hard and Real Genius.
The Goonies
My wife really digs this one and bought the DVD for our sons to watch. Most kids in my generation... let's say those that were between the ages of 10 and 14 when this released in 1985, absolutely adore this movie. I gotta say, it's never done a whole lot for me. There are pre-teens saying "shit" alot... which my wife and I completely forgot about and we sorta cringed more than once as our 5 and 7 year olds watched it... And there are some genuinely funny moments and a few good action scenes... But it just never clicked for me, even when I was 12 years old watching it on cable for the first time. When anybody my age ever brings it up, only two things stuck with me... Short Round and his chattering teeth utility belt and the Cyndi Lauper theme song... and the Lauper theme song is not one of her stronger efforts.