summer of 1986
NewsEthan Alter'Stand by Me' Turns 30: The Screenwriters on That R Rating and Showing the Movie to Stephen King
The screenwriters of "Stand by Me," Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon, recall the making of Rob Reiner's coming-of-age classic on its 30th anniversary and showing the film to Stephen King.
NewsEthan AlterLard-Ass Speaks! Andy Lindberg Revisits the Epic Barf-o-Rama in 'Stand by Me'
Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the coming-of-age classic "Stand by Me," Andy Lindberg tells what it was like to be the central character in an unforgettable scene: the blueberry pie Barf-o-Rama.
NewsGwynne Watkins'Labyrinth' Turns 30: Brian Henson Shares Memories of David Bowie, Jim Henson, and the Grouchy Goblin Hoggle
Thirty years ago this week, the fantasy film Labyrinth brought together the talents of two legendary, gone-too-soon artists: Jim Henson, who conceived and directed the dark comic fairy tale, and David Bowie, who starred as goblin king Jareth and composed the film’s songs. Working alongside them was Jim’s son Brian Henson, who served as the film’s “puppeteer coordinator” and co-performed the dyspeptic goblin Hoggle. Already an accomplished puppeteer and effects artist at age 21 (he figured out how to make the Muppets ride bicycles in The Great Muppet Caper), Brian Henson went on to become a director (The Muppet Christmas Carol) and producer (Farscape, Sid the Science Kid), and now serves as Chairman of the Jim Henson Company. To celebrate the film’s anniversary, Yahoo Movies spoke with Brian Henson about his experience working at the center of Labyrinth.
NewsNick SchagerThat Time 'Top Gun' Director Tony Scott Tried to Commandeer an Aircraft Carrier for a Scene
Legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer talks 'Top Gun' memories
NewsEthan AlterSummer of ’86: Our Personal Favorites
All last week, we’ve been covering the 10 essential classics from the Summer of ’86. But the list of great movies that opened in theaters that summer doesn’t stop at 10. Whenever big hits like Aliens, Top Gun, and Stand by Me were sold out at the movie theater — or checked out at the video store — there were plenty of other, less-heralded films to keep us entertained. The Yahoo Movies staff dug into our memory banks and revisited some our personal favorites from the Summer of ’86, films that imprinted themselves on our minds… and maybe yours as well.
NewsSteve KornSummer of '86: A Look at the Weekly Box-Office Champs
Inforgraphic shows the biggest money-makers of the season 30 years ago
NewsYahoo Movies ContributorsSummer of '86: Revisiting 5 Big Sequels
'The Karate Kid, Part II' made money; 'Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives' foreshadowed 'Scream'; 'Poltergeist II: The Other Side' haunted by memories of Spielberg; plus, 'Psycho III' and 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2'
NewsKevin PolowySummer of '86: 'She's Gotta Have It' Showed Spike Lee Definitely Had It
Technically, the first film Spike Lee directed was his head-turning, $11,000 student effort, Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads. But the movie most people consider to be the first official “Spike Lee Joint” is She’s Gotta Have It, his breakthrough, sex-laced comedy that will celebrate its 30th anniversary this August. She’s Gotta Have It established several Lee trademarks, and its biting satire and sociological pot-stirring laid the foundation for the filmmaker’s entire career, including classics like Do the Right Thing (1989), Malcolm X (1992), and The 25th Hour (2002).
NewsSteve KornSummer of '86: An All-Star Year for the Razzies
Prince, Madonna, George Lucas, Tim Robbins, and many more A-List talents were in the mix for "honors" due to some of their more dubious achievements, another reason moviegoers never had a more interesting popcorn-movie season than 30 years ago
NewsGwynne WatkinsSummer of '86: How 'Labyrinth' Achieved Peak Practical Effects
Muppets, puppets, and jugglers
NewsYahoo Movies ContributorsSummer of '86: Some Quack Analysis of the Mega-Bomb 'Howard the Duck'
The not-so-great of 1986
NewsMarcus ErricoSummer of '86: 'Aliens' and the Adrenaline Jolt of a Lifetime
All this week, we’re celebrating the great movies that hit screens 30 years ago in 1986. Go here to read more.
NewsEthan AlterFrom 'American Anthem' to 'Shanghai Surprise,' the Best Bad Movies of 1986
A dozen reasons to believe an epic bad movie from the '80s can provide just as many thrills — and be as endlessly rewatchable — as a quality effort
NewsYahoo Movies ContributorsSummer of ’86: The Triumph of 'About Last Night...' and the Sounds of David Mamet
Don't let Rob Lowe and Demi Moore's presence fool you: This adaptation of David Mamet's "Sexual Perversity in Chicago" is no Brat Pack movie
NewsMarcus ErricoSummer of '86: Celebrating David Cronenberg's Freaky 'Fly' — and the Freakier Monsters That Didn't Make the Final Cut
By the dog days of the summer of 1986, inveterate horror junkies (including yours truly) were in a funk. Not even James Cameron’s white-knuckle Aliens could wipe out the stench of Critters, Poltergeist II: The Other Side, and Psycho III. All that changed, however, in mid-August, when a freaky film announced itself with five immortal words: Be afraid. Be very afraid. David Cronenberg’s The Fly arrived in theaters Aug. 15 of that year, an instant classic that seared itself into the pop consciousness thanks to star Jeff Goldblum’s mesmerizing, metastasizing “Brundlefly,” a twitchy, oozy monstrosity made of bug parts and slime.
NewsJen Chaney on TumblrSummer of '86: The 'Top Gun' Music Editor Remembers How He Took Audiences Right Into the Danger Zone
The smash hit also had a blockbuster soundtrack
NewsNick SchagerSummer of '86: The Wild, Wacko Genre Mashup of 'Big Trouble in Little China'
John Carpenter's sly, subversive comedy adventure
NewsJen Chaney on TumblrSummer of '86: 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' Let John Hughes Graduate from Teen Movies With Honors
Life movies pretty fast...
NewsNick SchagerSummer of '86: The Terrifying Madness of 'Manhunter' — and Our First Introduction to an Infamous Serial Killer
Hannibal Lecter became a legendary big-screen bogeyman in Jonathan Demme’s 1991 Best Picture winner The Silence of the Lambs — but it wasn’t the first time the iconic villain appeared on-screen. Instead, that momentous debut took place in Michael Mann’s 1986 crime thriller Manhunter. An adaptation of Thomas Harris’ first Lecter-related novel Red Dragon (it was remade — terribly — in 2002 by Brett Ratner), Manhunter helped usher in an age of serial-killer dramas that were as interested in twisted psychology as they were in fast thrills.
NewsEthan AlterSummer of '86: 'Stand by Me' Takes on Life, Death, and One Epic Barf-O-Rama
Had it been our choice, we probably would have pushed for “Transformers: The Movie,” which opened the same weekend. Since there was no way my parents were going to a “Transformers” feature, “Stand By Me,” based on Stephen King’s 1982 novella, “The Body,” became the default option. Up on the screen, I saw kids not that much older than myself — Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O’Connell were just entering their teen years when the movie was shot — smoking cigarettes, firing guns, dodging trains and cursing with wild, wonderful abandon on their weekend journey to find the body of Ray Brower.
NewsEthan AlterSummer of '86: 30 Years Later, We're Making the Case for the Best Summer Movie Season Ever
(Photo: Everett)
NewsJen Chaney on TumblrRick Rossovich Shares 'Top Gun' Memories as Movie Turns 30: 'The Volleyball Scene's Like an Eighth of a Page...'
By 1986, actor Rick Rossovich had several film credits to his name, including The Lords of Discipline, Streets of Fire, and The Terminator. Not only did that movie lead to more high-profile parts—in the years that followed, he starred in numerous film and TV projects, including Roxanne, Navy Seals, and E.R.—it also gave Rossovich the opportunity to power-flex his way into the Movie Abs Hall of Fame. Rick Rossovich: It’s funny because we had a read-through of the script…and the volleyball scene’s like an eighth of a page, a quarter of a page.
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