Flight of the Red Balloon (2008)

      Flight of the Red Balloon (French: Le voyage du ballon rouge) is a 2008 French/Taiwan film directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien. It is the first part in a new series of films produced by Musée d'Orsay, and tells the story of a French family as seen through the eyes of a Chinese student. The film was shot in August and September 2006 on location in Paris. This is Hou Hsiao-Hsien's first Western film. It references the classic 1956 French short The Red Balloondirected by Albert Lamorisse.

       The film opened the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival in May 2007.

Kindergarten Cop (1990)

      Kindergarten Cop is a 1990 American comedy thriller film directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger stars as John Kimble, a tough police detective, who must go undercover as a kindergarten teacher to catch drug dealer Cullen Crisp (Richard Tyson), before Crisp can get to his ex-wife and son, while along the way he discovers his passion for teaching. Pamela Reed plays his partner Phoebe O'Hara, and Penelope Ann Miller plays Joyce, the teacher who becomes Kimble's love interest. The original music score was composed by Randy Edelman. Schwarzenegger received a salary of $12 million for the film.

Dick Tracy (1990)

        Dick Tracy is a 1990 American pulp action film based on the 1930s comic strip character of the same name created by Chester Gould. Warren Beattyproduced, directed, and starred in the film, which features supporting roles from Al Pacino, Charles Durning, Madonna, William Forsythe, Glenne Headly,Paul Sorvino, Dick Van Dyke, and Charlie Korsmo. Dick Tracy depicts the detective's love relationships with Breathless Mahoney and Tess Truehart, as well as his conflicts with crime boss Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice. Tracy also begins his upbringing of "The Kid".

       Development of the film started in the early 1980s with Tom Mankiewicz assigned to write the script. The project also went through directors Steven Spielberg, John Landis, Walter Hill, and Richard Benjamin before the arrival of Beatty. Filming was entirely at Universal Studios. Danny Elfman was hired to compose the film score, and the music was featured on three separate soundtrack albums.

       Dick Tracy was released in 1990 to mixed to positive reviews, but was generally a success at the box office and at awards time. It picked up seven Academy Award nominations and won in three of the categories: Best Original Song, Best Makeup and Best Art Direction. A sequel was planned, but a controversy over the film rights ensued between Beatty and Tribune Media Services, and the lawsuit continues, so a second film has not been produced.

Total Recall (1990)

        Total Recall is a 1990 American science fiction action film. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone and Michael Ironside. It is based on the Philip K. Dick story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale". Directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Ronald Shusett, Dan O'Bannon, Jon Povill, and Gary Goldman, it won a Special Achievement Academy Award for its visual effects. The soundtrack composed by Jerry Goldsmith won the BMI Film Music Award.

       The plot concerns an apparently unsophisticated construction worker, Doug Quaid (Schwarzenegger), who is either a victim of a failed memory implant procedure or a freedom fighter from Mars relocated to Earth. He attempts to restore order and reverse the corrupt influence of commercial powers, all while faced with the possibility that none of these events are real and pursuing them could damage his brain.

Pretty Woman (1990)

        Pretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film set in Los Angeles, California. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, this motion picture features Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and also Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. Roberts played the only important female character. The story of Pretty Woman centers on the down-on-her-luck Hollywood prostitute Vivian Ward who is hired by a wealthy businessman, Edward Lewis, to be his escort for several business and social functions, and their developing relationship over the course of Vivian's week-long stay with him.

       Originally intended to be a dark drama about prostitution in New York City, this motion picture was reconceived as romantic comedy with a large budget. It was widely successful at the box office, and it became one of the highest moneymakers of 1990.

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

      The Hunt for Red October is a 1984 novel by Tom Clancy. The story follows the intertwined adventures of Soviet submarine captain Marko Aleksandrovich Ramius and CIA analyst Jack Ryan.

      The novel was originally published by the U.S. Naval Institute Press — the first fictional work they ever published, and still their most successful.

     The book is inspired by the failed mutiny on board the Storozhevoy by Valery Sablin in 1975; however, the military response depicted in the novel is likely from events surrounding the sinking and subsequent salvaging of K-129.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

       Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a 1990 American live-action film adaptation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise directed by Steve Barron. The film was followed by three sequels: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze in 1991, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III in 1993, and TMNTin 2007. This film presents the origin story of Splinter and the Turtles, the initial meeting between them, April O'Neil and Casey Jones, and their first confrontation with Shredder and his Foot Clan. The film is distributed by New Line Cinema and outside the United States is internationally distributed by Golden Harvest.

       When the New York Police Department is unable to stop a severe crime wave caused by the Foot Clan, four vigilantes — Leonardo, Michelangelo,Donatello and Raphael — come forth to save the city. Under the leadership of Splinter and together with their new-found allies April O'Neil and Casey Jones, they fight back and take the battle to Shredder. The film kept very close to the dark feel of the original comics, with several elements also taken from the animated series that was airing at the time, such as April being a news reporter, and the turtles having different-colored masks, as opposed to the uniform red masks of the comic. The film was the highest-grossing independent film of all time when it was released, and became the ninth highest grossing film worldwide of 1990 and the most successful film in the franchise.

When Harry Met Sally... (1982)

        This is Rob Reiner's second film on the list. This wonderful romantic comedy harkens back to the golden days of Hollywood. Nora Ephron's script sparkles with humor, intelligence and a simple conversation style that relates to the way normal people might talk. This style would go on to effect other film and T.V. (Seinfeld) dialogue. The cast of Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan shine together as likable, quirky characters who develop a relationship over a 10 year period. It made a star out of Harry Connick, who arranged old music standards for the film. The scene of Sally in the resturant showing off a woman's acting abilities is timeless, with Reiner's own mother adding the classic line, "I'll have what she's having!"

The Terminator (1984)

      This film's biggest impact was how it was made. All of the 80's movie industry was interested in making money. They did this by buying out the smaller movie companies and sticking with cookie-cutter blockbusters (especially through sequels) that made lots of money, but had very little substance. This film was made without a studio company and with a budget of about $3 million. Known as an independent film, it would soon make more money, percentage wise, than any other film to that date and it would begin the creative "Indie" films of the 90's. The story centers around a yuppie lawyer who is cheating on his beautiful wife with her carefree sister. One of his old school buddies shows up and begins interviewing people, especially the lawyer's wife, on videotape. The conversations become more intimate and so does their relationship questioning the lawyer's double standard. This was director Steven Soderbergh's first film and went on to win the Cannes Film Festival's top honor. It was the closest an American film would come to the Ingmar Bergman style.

Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989)

       This film's biggest impact was how it was made. All of the 80's movie industry was interested in making money. They did this by buying out the smaller movie companies and sticking with cookie-cutter blockbusters (especially through sequels) that made lots of money, but had very little substance. This film was made without a studio company and with a budget of about $3 million. Known as an independent film, it would soon make more money, percentage wise, than any other film to that date and it would begin the creative "Indie" films of the 90's. The story centers around a yuppie lawyer who is cheating on his beautiful wife with her carefree sister. One of his old school buddies shows up and begins interviewing people, especially the lawyer's wife, on videotape. The conversations become more intimate and so does their relationship questioning the lawyer's double standard. This was director Steven Soderbergh's first film and went on to win the Cannes Film Festival's top honor. It was the closest an American film would come to the Ingmar Bergman style.

The Princess Bride (1987)

      I have a few personal favorites on this list and this is one of them. This is a movie that every aspect of the production was just right: story and script (taken from the William Goldman book) casting, directing by Rob Reiner, and art production. The movie begins with a grandfather arriving at his sick grandson's house to read him a book. The story tells of a farm boy who has fallen in love with a maiden named Buttercup, but must leave to find a fortune, so he can marry her. While gone, he's supposedly killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts. Five years pass and the evil Prince Humperdink wants to take Buttercup, as his bride. She becomes kidnapped by a trio of likable mercenaries only to be pursued by a mysterious man in black. The sick grandson occasionally interupts the movie to make comments only a small boy would make which just added to its fairy tale charm. The movie is filled with memorable characters and some of the most recitable dialogue of the 80's.

ET The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

          This film is the simple story of a little green alien being left behind on planet Earth and making friends with a 10-year-old boy as he tries to send a message back home for rescue. This was Speilberg's second "Science-Fiction" film after 1977's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and he changed the way space aliens were viewed. Gone were the 40's - 60's aliens who were just coming to Earth to take it over or destroy it. Speilberg's aliens were friendly. They want to be our friends, but it is us who are hunting them. Just about every adult in this film is the bad guy with their faces hidden in the dark or with scary space suits. Only the children understand. The visual effects, specifically the creature design, are stellar. It's quite amazing the emotion Speilberg got from the animatronic E.T., the small actor Henry Thomas and a very young Drew Barrymore. Some people have stated that this is just a retelling of the Christ story; Coming to Earth, healing, death, resurrection and ascension to heaven. I see the similiarities, but that may be pushing it. It spawned an amusement park ride, but luckily no sequel. The film was the highest moneymaking film for about 10 years and truely a part of film mythology. It appears on AFI's list of top 100 films of all time at number 25.

Back To The Future (1985)

       This movie has always just made me smile. It blends science fiction, fantasy and comedy. Michael J. Fox stars as a teenager from the 80's who accidently travels back to the 50's with a time machine invented by the crazy scientist, Doc. Brown, played wonderfully by Christopher Lloyd. He meets his parents as teenagers and must reunite them so as not to alter the future and his own existence. It contains high production values, great special effects and sound, but it's the screenplay and actors who make this one shine. Looking back on this movie now, I believe this is the quinessential 80's film. Since the film wanted to play up the differences and humor between the 2 eras, they had to emphasis the cultures even more. Because of this, the film becomes a time capsule of the 80's themselves, from the star, clothes, language, music (supplied by Huey Lewis and the News) and look. It spawned an amusement park ride and 2 sequels which were good, but never reached the simple , charming feel of this film.

Ghost (1990)

       Sam and Molly are a very happy couple and deeply in love. Walking back to their new apartment  after a night out at the theatre, they encounter a thief in a dark alley, and Sam is murdered. He finds  himself trapped as a ghost and realises that his death was no accident. He must warn Molly about the danger that she is in. But as a ghost he can not be seen or heard by the living, and so he tries to  communicate with Molly through Oda Mae Brown, a psychic who didn't even realise that her powers were real. (Written by Sami Al-Taher <staher2000@yahoo.com>)

Home Alone (1990)

       Home Alone is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. The film stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, an eight-year-old boy, who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to Paris for their Christmas vacation. While initially relishing time by himself, he is later greeted by two would-be burglars played by Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci. Kevin eventually manages to outwit them with a series of booby traps. The film also features Catherine O'Hara, John Heard, Devin Ratray, Roberts Blossom, and John Candy. As of 2009, Home Alonewas the highest grossing comedy of all time.

     Culkin was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, becoming the youngest actor ever to be nominated for the award at the age of 11. The film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score. <www.wikipedia.com>