#contemporary classics

* NOES 3: Dream Warriors - 3/1/87

* Angel Heart - 3/6/87

* Lethal Weapon - 3/6/87

* Evil Dead 2 - 3/13/87

* Street Smart - 3/20/87

* Raising Arizona - 4/10/87

* The Untouchables - 6/3/87

* The Believers - 6/10/87

* Predator - 6/12/87

* The Witches of Eastwick - 6/12/87

* Spaceballs - 6/24/87

* Innerspace - 7/1/87

* Adventures in Babysitting - 7/3/87

* Full Metal Jacket - 7/10/87

* RoboCop - 7/17/87

* La Bamba - 7/24/87

* The Lost Boys - 7/31/87

* The Monster Squad - 8/14/87

* The Whales of August - 8/19/87

* Fatal Attraction - 9/18/87

* Hellraiser - 9/18/87

* Near Dark - 10/2/87

* The Princess Bride - 10/9/87

* House of Games - 10/14/87

* Barfly - 10/16/87

* Prince of Darkness - 10/23/87

* The Hidden - 10/30/87

* Less Than Zero - 11/6/87

* The Running Man - 11/13/87

* Planes, Trains & Automobiles - 11/25/87

* Wall Street - 12/11/87

* Throw Mamma From The Train - 12/11/87

* Eddie Murphy: Raw - 12/18/87

* Empire of the Sun - 12/25/87

When I was growing up 1939 was popularly remembered (back then) as a great year for movies and it was…but it was no 1987. For the last ten or so years, 1999 has been celebrated as a great year for movies (American Beauty, The Matrix, Boys Don’t Cry, Fight Club, The Insider, Three Kings. Being John Malkovich, The Blair Witch Project, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Office Space, Deep Blue Sea, etc.) and it was, but it was no 1987.

Admittedly 1999 was a year of heightened consciousness for movies. Frustration with the status quo was palpable and the movies definitely reflected that. Pre-millennial tensions blended with existential angst to bring about a refreshing alchemy of spiritual reclamation. But still…it was no 1987.

I was thirteen going into my fourteenth year and 1987 was very formative for me. The sheer amount of modern classics released that year is mind-blowing to me still to this day. We were simply spoiled for choice. The best NOES sequel was amazing, to be quickly followed by Angel Heart and Evil Dead 2!! Read the list, it was an astonishing time for the movies.

And July of 1987 is still hands-down the best July for movies ever. Full Metal Jacket this week, fucking jaw-dropping Robocop the next. La Bamba the next, followed by The Lost Boys. HOLY SHIT!

*With Hellraiser, Near Dark, The Princess Bride, Barfly, House of Games, etc. October was pretty freaking awesome too.

1987 is the year I relish most when I think about contemporary movie classics. Compared to 1999, some of these titles might appear somewhat shallow, but I’d say look again. There is a lot of intense sociological depth to a lot of these films…but it’s not the overriding point they’re trying to make. Entertainment was thoughtful, but not in your face.

A new level of storytelling intensity was reached that year. A stunning year for genre films.

Never again will it ever be that incredible.

*While I did see them, I didn’t really care about Moonstruck, Beverly Hills Cop 2, Mannequin, or Dirty Dancing…but they certainly had their fans too.

Much Love, T. Stickle

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (Chocolate War, book 1)

(ebook, 168 pages; realistic fiction, YA, contemporary classics, banned books)

A new sickness invaded Jerry, the sickness of knowing what he had become, another animal, another beast, another violent person in a violent world, inflicting damage, not disturbing the universe but damaging it. He had allowed Archie to do this to him. (158)

I found this a little anticlimactic, but I can appreciate that it's a very Cormier book; it really fits with his style. As @peregrination-studies and I discussed a little bit, it really deals with these ideas of adolescence - of teenagehood. There's this vicious place of liminality inherent in being a teenager, where these characters are stuck between childhood and adulthood, independence and dependence. And to deal with this, the characters in The Chocolate War make power and control their currency. This is a novel that really explores the difference between authority and control. It's not about the chocolate or selling the chocolate - it's about control in a world that gives these characters no control.

I felt like it was a little young for me, which is why it wasn't super impressive to me. But it was an intellectually interesting read. Ultimately, it wasn't enough to entice me into reading the sequel.

Trigger warnings: violence, mentions of death, homophobia and homophobic slurs, illness, vomiting, injury, blood.

My final opinion: More intellectually interesting than entertaining.

Diverse Authors in Modern Classic Literature Part 1

I truly believe that classic lit written by an individual from an underrepresented group is way more interesting of a story than one written by authors from groups that are highly represented. Because their story is one that had to fight to be told to the public, it’s likely that they suffered a lot of hardships to be published, and their struggles are... well, more diverse and help minorities feel represented. As they should.

And let me be clear: nonwhite, nonhetero, and mentally ill authors are a minority, because there are less books published by authors from these groups.

I plan on making this “diverse classic authors recommendation” a series of at least 6; two posts for three types of diversity (racial, sexual, mental illness). Some you have probably already heard of... but hopefully you discover a couple of new reads to broaden your tbr.

The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse - Louise Erdrich

Winter In the Blood - James Welch

The Inconvenient Indian - Thomas King

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents - Julia Alvarez

The Aleph and other stories - Jorge Luis Borges

Pedro Paramo - Juan Rulfo

Kindred - Octavia Butler

The Selected Poems (1968-1995) - Nikki Giovanni

The Essential Gwendolyn Brooks - Gwendolyn Brooks

Interpreter of Maladies - Jhumpa Lahiri

Selected Poems of Gabriela Mistral - Gabriela Mistral

The Space Between Us - Thrity Umrigar

Hello friends, and welcome to Top 5 Tuesday! This week’s topic is top 5 books that should be modern classics. Some books just feel like they’re going to last. You know the ones. The stories that linger long after you’ve finished them, the characters that feel real enough to miss, the writing that quietly reshapes how you see the world. They might be contemporary, they might be speculative, but…