The 80s-est

In this episode of The 80s-est, it’s (7)The Big Chill vs (10)National Lampoon's Vacation. We're diving into a fascinating Boomer clash from the Sixteen Candles Region between two very different sides of 1983: the serious Boomer introspective ensemble drama versus the Boomer-as-dad broad family road trip comedy. Both have more than a whiff of ass to them. Which is more essentially 80s? You decide!

This week on a super-sized The 80s-est, we tackle a fascinating clash between two very different sides of the decade: the epic space opera that defined blockbuster filmmaking versus the domestic comedy that captured Reagan-era anxieties. One film launched a thousand space operas and toy lines; the other launched Michael Keaton's career and reflected the economic uncertainty many families were actually living through. But which one truly represents the most "totally 80s" experience?

If you love the nostalgia of the 70s-80s Star Wars stuff, and enjoyed our interview with him, please check out John Booth’s book, Collect All 21: Memoirs of a Star Wars Geek - The First 30 Years.

In the Sixteen Candles Region, sixth-seeded Airplane! meets eleventh-seeded Streets of Fire in a matchup that is tough to quantify. Airplane! invented the modern spoof, launched Leslie Nielsen's second career, and gave the world "don't call me Shirley." Streets of Fire slapped "A Rock & Roll Fable" on the poster, put Willem Dafoe in shirtless leather overalls, and dared you to take it completely seriously — and somehow it works. One is the 80s laughing at the 70s. The other is the 80s at its most gloriously self-unaware. Only one can advance! Vote now!

This week, it’s a battle of 1982 with (4)Tootsie up against (13) Rocky III . On one side, you've got Rocky III which practically sweats neon. You’ve got Mr. T in his film debut, Hulk Hogan in a wrestling cameo, Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" blasting over a montage, and Sylvester Stallone looking less like a boxer and more like a man who ate a bodybuilder. On the other side sits Tootsie, a sophisticated comedy about gender and a Dustin Hoffman performance so committed it earned him an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe win.

Rocky III is the 80s as pure spectacle: loud, muscular, and gloriously unnecessary. Tootsie is the 80s trying to say something meaningful while wearing big shoulder pads. Both have things that make them 80s. Only one can be the 80s-est.

Here is the training montage from Rocky III that we mentioned that shows a lot of man-thigh:

Blade Runner was near-future sci-fi; Amadeus was far-past musical composer drama. Since neither film is anchored in the 1980s, which will capture our votes for most 80s? Listen and see how we navigate the pillars of this interesting matchup!

Vote below, and if you don’t have time to revisit the films, we have included the trailers so that you can get a quick refresher!

Well, this is it, the hypothetically closest matchup in the tournament, as 8-seed “Hot Dog…the Movie” takes on 9-seed “A Nightmare on Elm Street.” These two were right in the middle of the rankings, 32 and 33 overall. Hot Dog defined the raunchy ski-movie genre, Nightmare re-defined the teen slasher film. Which is better? Well, that’s not much of a contest. Which is more 80s?? You decide!

Vote below, and if you don’t have time to revisit the films, we have included the trailers so that you can get a quick refresher!

Season 4 starts off with a matchup of a dialogue-heavy teen movie against a dialogue-sparse post-apocalyptic action flick. Sixteen Candles struts in with John Hughes cred and a cast of 80s stalwarts, but MM2:TRW is making a case with the look and feel that defined a franchise.

Don’t get confused: the one seed has the word “sixteen” in its title, and the sixteen seed has the word “two” in its title. We trust you to be smart enough to figure this out.

Vote below, and if you don’t have time to revisit the films, we have included the trailers so that you can get a quick refresher!

Hello, friends! We have returned for The 80s-est, Season 4! This season is called Reel A: 1980-84, and in it, we will explore the 64 most 80s movies, as voted by you, our loyal listeners! Today’s pilot episode will get us started down a road to finding the most 80s film in the United States from the beginning of the decade! In the pilot, we discuss the methodology used to arrive at the top 64 (thanks to all who voted!), and then we reveal ALL the matchups that were generated as a result of the vote.

As in any season, there are favorites and dark horses, and Joe & I will advocate for our choices, but as always, everything comes down to the votes of the listeners!

Here, then, are the four regions as determined by our OpinionX poll:

For those who want to see how their movies did, here is the full list from OpinionX:

It’s the end of the season, and yes, we reveal the winner of the Duets Region, and the ultimate winner of Season 3: Legends Only. No spoilers here in the post!

BUT FIRST…

Before we reveal those things, instead of posting a “best moments” episode this season, we decided to do something more interesting! We instead had a lengthy, interesting discussion with Keith’s friend, a professor, a communicator, a citizen of Córdoba, Argentina, a lover of music, and a lover of the 80s, Alejandro Saya!

There were so many things we discussed on today’s show, but here are some of the great takeaways:

Here’s Charly’s version of “Los dinosaurios” from MTV Unplugged:

Soda Stereo playing “De música ligera” to a Mexican audience in their 2007 comeback tour:

This is a really cool cover of Serú Girán’s “La grasa de las capitales”:

This is a beautiful live version of “Himno de mi corazón” by Los Abuelos de la Nada:

And this is a TV ad that represents the spirit of “El destape”: young people would smoke indoors and lose their clothes and inhibitions for no particular reason!:

Alejandro’s International Top 10:

Alejandro’s Top 5 Makeout Songs!

Alejandro’s 80s-est de Argentina:

I have decided to just do a separate post about Season 4! Just enjoy this finale, and wait for that post to have the Season 4 discussion!

This is all that there is, there is no more. You have one more decision to make. Which of these incredibly legendary 80s songs will win this whole damn bracket, and take the Season 3: Legends Only crown? (OK, you have one other decision to make—which song will win 3rd place?)