Many of these films are also available in DVD format.
American Graffiti (1973)
Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard. Director: George Lucas.
Here's how critic Roger Ebert described the unique and lasting value of George Lucas's 1973 box-office hit, American Graffiti: "[It's] not only a great movie but a brilliant work of historical fiction; no sociological treatise could duplicate the movie's success in remembering exactly how it was to be alive at that cultural instant." The time to which Ebert and the film refers is the summer of 1962, and American Graffiti captures the look, feel, and sound of that era by chronicling one memorable night in the lives of several young Californians on the cusp of adulthood. DVD Version
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Diner (1982)
Starring: Steve Guttenberg, Mickey Rourke.Director: Barry Levinson.
Barry Levinson's debut film as a writer-director nearly got lost in the shuffle before New York critics rescued it from oblivion. Set in his native Baltimore in 1959, it focuses on a group of pals coping with life post high school. Each of them has problems with women, it seems, whether it's Steve Guttenberg (as a guy about to get married who forces his fiancée to pass a test about the Baltimore Colts), Mickey Rourke (as the womanizing hairdresser with a gambling problem), or Daniel Stern (as the married one who makes his wife miserable with his carefully cataloged record collection). The only time these guys seem like they have it together is when they gather at the diner to sling the bull.
DVD Version
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The Graduate(1967)
Starring: Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman. Director: Mike Nichols.
Few films have defined a generation as The Graduate did. The alienation, the nonconformity, the intergenerational romance, the blissful Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack--they all served to lob a cultural grenade smack into the middle of 1967 America, ultimately making the film the third most profitable up to that time. Seen from a later perspective, its radical chicness has dimmed a bit, yet it's still a joy to see Dustin Hoffman's bemused Benjamin and Anne Bancroft's deliciously decadent, sardonic Mrs. Robinson.
DVD Version
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The Last Picture Show (1971)
Starring: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges. Director: Peter Bogdanovich.
Brilliant study of life in small Texas town during 1950s, and how characters' lives intertwine, from Larry McMurtry's novel (he and Bogdanovich wrote the script). Oscars went to Johnson and Leachman for sensitive performances, but entire cast works at same level. Beautifully photographed in black & white by Robert Surtees.
DVD Version
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The Breakfast Club (1985)
Starring: Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson.
John Hughes's popular 1985 teen drama finds a diverse group of high school students--a jock (Emilio Estevez), a metalhead (Judd Nelson), a weirdo (Ally Sheedy), a princess (Molly Ringwald), and a nerd (Anthony Michael Hall)--sharing a Saturday in detention at their high school for one minor infraction or another. DVD Version
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The Big Chill (1983)
Starring: Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Kevin Kline, Jeff Goldblum.
Director: Lawrence Kasdan.
Entertaining, surface-level look at a group of former college-radical friends who've dropped back into Society. Wonderful acting ensemble, irresistible soundtrack of 60s hits.
DVD Version
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St. Elmo's Fire(1985)
Starring: Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore.
Director: Joel Schumacher
A collective vanity piece for the so-called Brat Pack of the 1980s, this coming-of-age movie--written and directed by Joel Schumacher (A Time to Kill)--an ensemble piece about college grads having trouble getting a lift-off into adulthood.
DVD Version
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