Hey, remember the '80s?

Well, it's nearly time to kiss 'em goodbye, ya Day-Glo yuppie freak. It's the end of an era. No more Cold War (almost). Gone (or nearly so) is the decade that did this to Mick Jagger and this to a young George Costanza. Herein lieth your last chance to reminisce: Welcome to 1989.

It's the fall of the Wall and the debut of The Simpsons. (Coincidence? Almost impossible, really.)

It's the Exxon Valdez, and two-hundred-some-odd-thousand gallons of eco-nightmare effluent (about which I was taught, primarily, by Saturday Night Live and Mad Magazine). It's the tragic Loma Prieta earthquake, reaching 7.1 on the Richter scale and devastating the Bay Area during the A's/Giants World Series.

It's Tiananmen Square.

Also happening: Zsa Zsa smacks a cop; Pete Rose is excused from baseball. Along with the births of Time Warner, Disney-MGM Studios, and the Game Boy, out pop Freddy Adu, Lil Romeo and Daniel Radcliffe. Mel Blanc, John Cassavetes, Salvador Dali, and Lucille Ball shuffle off their respective mortal coils. (Ted Bundy, too.)

Thanks to a worldwide ban on a lucrative ivory trade, tusked folk prepare to breathe a bit easier during the '90s. Oh, and guess what? BAM! Just like that, one million Ford Tauruses sold in three short years. Meanwhile, down south, Kim Basinger plunks down $20 million and flat-out buys the town of Braselton, Georgia.

Speaking of the erstwhile Vicki Vale, you won't be seeing her name in connection with the following top 10 list of luminary films from '89 (which is what we've been building to all along, in case you hadn't divined it), because Tim Burton's Batman didn't make the cut. It may be the best big-screen representation of the coolest caped dude ever (don't give me that Begins stuff -- yeesh), but it's still a little goofy in parts. Also notably absent: Last Crusade. Sorry guys. I'm a Temple of Doom man. Any more? Feel free to scream at me.

Giddyap!

1.) Field of Dreams
Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Stars: Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones, Gaby Hoffmann, Ray Liotta, Timothy Busfield, Burt Lancaster
Why a favorite? I wrote an entire article on why it's the best American film. Check it out.

2.) Do the Right Thing
Director: Spike Lee
Stars: Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Rosie Perez, John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito
Why a favorite? Kinetic, lyrical, and challenging, this searingly original helping of Brooklyn poesy is every bit as good as you remember -- or have heard. Watch it. Again.

3.) Glory
Director: Edward Zwick
Stars:Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman, Andre Braugher
Why a favorite? Heck, you could bawl your eyes out and swell your heart to exploding just by listening to the soundtrack on this one. 'Course, then you'd miss Morgan "I'd-pay-to-hear-him-read-the-Bennigan's-menu" Freeman, and Denzel Washington's eyes boring a hole into your soul.

4.) When Harry Met Sally...
Director: Rob Reiner
Stars:Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby
Why a favorite? Come on, fellas. Respect. Despite the years of inferior copycats we've endured thanks to this Nora Ephron masterpiece, you've got to admit that the habitual groan you release when your wife/girlfriend/mom pops it in is at least 70 to 90 percent for show. (Higher, in some cases.)

5.) My Left Foot
Director: Jim Sheridan
Stars:Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Ray McAnally, Alison Whelan
Why a favorite? If the "mother" scene doesn't get to you, you're a certifiable cyborg. Except, without the human half. That scene, and the one where he kicks a goal with his face.

6.) Nuovo cinema Paradiso (Cinema Paradiso)
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Stars:Philippe Noiret, Jacques Perrin, Antonella Attili, Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi, Agnese Nano
Why a favorite? Technically, Paradiso opened in Italy in 1988, but we didn't get it stateside until its '89 international release, when it snapped up both the Best Foreign Language Oscar and Cannes Grand Jury Prize for that year. In many ways, this growing up tale of a grubby-faced, wide-eyed cinephile seems the tenderhearted precursor to Roberto Benigni's 1997 crowd-pleaser Life is Beautiful. (But which kid's cuter?)

7.) Driving Miss Daisy
Director: Bruce Beresford
Stars:Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Aykroyd, Patti LuPone
Why a favorite? Not a whole, whole lot happening here, just a couple of impeccably first-rate actors having subtly at it. Possibly the tenderest parting shot I've ever seen.

8.) Dead Poets Society
Director: Peter Weir
Stars:Robert Sean Leonard, Robin Williams, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles, Kurtwood Smith
Why a favorite? Winner for Best Original Screenplay. What's more high pressure than trying to please your overbearing father by stifling your dreams and staying afloat at a top-tier prep school? Try Clarence Boddicker as your dad. G'head, try it.

9.) Born on the Fourth of July
Director: Oliver Stone
Stars:Tom Cruise, Raymond J. Barry, Caroline Kava, Tom Berenger
Why a favorite? Two Oscars + one of those performances that counters the usual Cruise bashing = worthy.

10.) UHF
Director: Jay Levey
Stars:"Weird Al" Yankovic, Victoria Jackson, Michael Richards, Kevin McCarthy
Why a favorite? Everyone gets his/her guilty pleasure pick, yeah? Seriously, if you don't know why this is here, I can't really tell you. Just ... look here. And here. Here. (Aw, what the heck? Here, too.)

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Brian Villalobos lives in Austin, Texas (practically), writes on film and TV, and totally cried at Stuart Little.
[email me]

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