This is the movie I use to test people. It's how I measure exactly how much chaos, grime, and manic visuals a person can tolerate before they snap, and say, No. Absolutely not. Joe's Apartment (1996). Many don’t make it past the first 10 minutes. But when they do? I know I've found my people. -Pop

Authentic Miak is so hard to find this time of year... I’ll tell you what, Vern. If Jim Varney's oeuvre taught me anything, it’s that it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. Ok, Rocky taught me that, but so did Ernest. Pass the Miak. -Pop

Mr Dark isn't the villain in Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) - he's just the enabler. The scariest part is watching your entire town queue up for obviously impossible promises while you scream the truth and nobody listens... momandpopvideostore.com/something-wicked-this-way-comes-1983

WildCalts (1986). A touch of football Feminism. That's what Wildcats gave me at 13. In between the training montages, it showed how unfair the world could be when you let certain biases call the shots. I started rooting for her. And by her, I mean all Hers... momandpopvideostore.com/wildcats-1989

"Loyal, lethal... stupid." Koopa's plan was so straightforward. He ran a depleted world where the infrastructure was collapsing, the resources were gone, and the only functioning systems were surveillance and propaganda... Sound familiar? Read on... momandpopvideostore.com/super-mario-bros-1993

"I can't feel my legs… I HAVE NO LEGS!!!" Party like it’s 1998: That’s Charlie Korsmo in the 90s party movie that drinks like an 80s party movie; Can't Hardly Wait. momandpopvideostore.com/cant-hardly-wait-1998

We need to talk about David Bowie's codpiece. Not the goblin king. Not the crystal balls. Not even the M.C. Escher stairways. The codpiece. momandpopvideostore.com/labyrinth-1986

The Breakfast Club (1985) isn't the teen rebellion manifesto it thinks it is. It's meant to be this triumphant middle finger to authority. They grew. They connected. They won. Except... they didn't. Not really... open.substack.com/pub/themoman...

Fast Food (1989). Director Michael A. Simpson served up some tasty comedic chops with Sleepaway Camp II, but he really delivers the goods with this saucy tale of fries and Spanish fly co-starring Jim Varney and Traci Lords. Sadly, the flick’s fallen into history’s deep fryer. -Pop

White of the Eye (1987). This was a video store staple back in the day, I must have spotted it on every bottom shelf of every thriller section I pored over. I’d wager this neglected masterpiece of genre-bending cat-and-mousery is one of the 80's best and most underrated thrillers. -Pop

This is what happens when the system breaks down and leaves the worst people in charge. This movie wasn’t supposed to be fun. If you wanted to party, you could go hang out at the Uneeda Medical Supply warehouse with Burt and Ernie. This was detention. momandpopvideostore.com/day-of-the-d...

We are Jack’s wasted potential. They told him he could be anything. Not out loud, perhaps, not directly, but the stories did. momandpopvideostore.com/fight-club-1999

"When I was your age, my dad shared a beer with me and I thought it was the best thing in the world." Anthony Michael Hall and Chevy Chase are having a moment while on National Lampoon's Vacation (1983).

Party like parents on a school night in 1982. The free wheeling Freelings: JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson get Lit after the kids are tucked away in Poltergeist (1982).

The Running Man (1987). Stories are dangerous. Always have been - they’re older than most gods and sneakier than any ideology. A good story will take your hand and walk you straight into the fire before you realise that the smell of burning... is you. momandpopvideostore.com/the-running-man-1987

The size of Watermelons (1996). Paul Rudd, Marissa Ribisi and a manic Donal Logue star in this amazing (if obscure) comedic time-capsule of Generation X angst and art school ennui. momandpopvideostore.com/the-size-of-watermelons-1996

Being small isn't cute, it's terrifying. And adults forget what that's like. When the world towered over you - and every trip home from school felt like you were crossing a continent. And half the time, we were on our own. momandpopvideostore.com/honey-i-shrunk-the-kids-1989

"The cup.... was empty." Probably one of the greatest scenes in cinematic history: Corey Haim and James Avery in License to Drive (1988).

"No Wheezing the Juice!" That's Brendan Fraser and Pauly Shore in Encino Man (1992). I adore this flick, and I'm not above admitting that I still use Pauly Shore-speak daily, so don't tax my gig so hard-core, cruster. -Pop

If you're like me, you didn’t remember Witches of Eastwick accurately. Back then, it seemed like a feminist movie: Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer reclaiming their power against the literal devil. But it’s not that film, Not really. momandpopvideostore.com/the-witches-of-eastwick-1987

Less Than Zero arrived on Home Video this week in 1988. The filmmakers leaned hard into the visual grammar of the times. Every decision - from the power-fashion to the lighting gels - is hyper-tuned to the moment it was made. This movie feels like 1987. momandpopvideostore.com/less-than-zero-1987

The NeverEnding Story (1984) isn’t an escape. It’s about grief. A child loses his mother, enters a dying world but learns how to carry what can’t be fixed. Fantasia doesn’t come back. But he does... momandpopvideostore.com/the-neverending-story-1984

We were all partying like it's 1999. By the time Strange Days hit theatres, the 90's were already too loud to notice it. Hackers had brought the vibes and the tunes. The Matrix was still loading. But this was the one that felt like the moment... momandpopvideostore.com/strange-days-1995

And speaking of Dazed and Confused... The Stoned Age hit shelves in 1994 and got written off almost immediately as a cheap Dazed knockoff - which is a shame, because it’s doing something else entirely. It just never bothered to explain itself... momandpopvideostore.com/the-stoned-age

The most fun you’ll ever have cheering for fascism. When I watched Starship Troopers in the theater, I thought I was watching a very fun, very loud bug-exploding movie. Then I watched it again on video. How did I ever miss it the first time..? momandpopvideostore.com/starship-troopers

It’s not a coming-of-age story. More like a hanging-out-near-the-exit story. No big epiphanies. No life-changing decisions. Just one long, perfect night of cruising, loitering, and trying to stretch the moment before the real world kicks in... momandpopvideostore.com/dazed-and-confused-1993

Dead Poets Society was always about the importance of strong role models. The hope that someone might look past the performance, the posturing, and still believe there was something in you worth seeing. Robin Williams would have been 74 today. momandpopvideostore.com/dead-poets-society-1989

Spookies is a bit of a Frankenstein’s monster. It’s a film with a split personality, cobbled together from two separate shoots, and stitched with just enough care to hide the seams but keep it compellingly schizophrenic... momandpopvideostore.com/spookies-1987

Is Amazon Women on the Moon the greatest movie ever made? Well, it certainly tried to be. Like UHF or Stay Tuned, this is a movie made by and for pop-culturally obsessed weirdos – those of us who spent our youth daydreaming in front of the TV... MomandPopVideoStore.com/amazonwomenonthemoon1987

Some movies linger in the imagination in ways that feel almost uncanny. Like E.T. or The NeverEnding Story, they don’t just exist as films we watched – they feel like memories, things we lived... MomandPopVideoStore.com/the-boy-who-could-fly-1986

I get so many comments about how this movie is "anti-woke". Back then, this was seen as a pushback against the right - the pearl-clutchers that railed against rap, video games, and anything that made kids too cool. This was the “family values” endpoint. momandpopvideostore.com/demolitionman1993

Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare was buried on Home Video today in 1992, after a September 13th, 1991 theatrical release. Of course, this wasn’t really the end. Wes Craven would resurrect Krueger just a few years later with the excellent New Nightmare. momandpopvideostore.com/freddys-dead

There was a certain ritual to it. You’d walk into your local video store with the leftover change you pocketed after buying a pack of smokes for your dad, and you’d get hit by that distinctive hope that something interesting had been put back on the new release shelf...

Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi finally arrived on home video today in 1986, after a May 23, 1983 theatrical release. Yes, Return of the Jedi finally hit video store shelves, thus bringing the Star Wars saga to a satisfying and definitive conclusion. Right? momandpopvideostore.com/return-of-the-jedi

"Personnel..." Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead arrived on Home Video this week in 1992. A Gen X classic, a middle finger to job qualifications, and proof that sometimes, just sounding like you know what you’re doing is enough to survive a high stakes job. -Pop

You don’t own anything anymore. Not your music, not your movies, not your data. Your social feeds belong to advertisers and your hardware can be forced into obsolescence. But at least you can make up your own damn mind. That belongs to you. For now... momandpopvideostore.com/total-recall-1990

Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs was a cathartic experience for those of us who, at the time, were just getting old enough to leave this far-far-away-galaxy silliness behind... Momandpopvideostore.com/spaceballs-1987

ROTKT makes the classic mistake of trying very hard to be a cult film. Is it intentionally bad? Is it a satire of unintentionally bad movies? Or is it a genius piece of performative meta pop-art? The answer to all three questions is Yes. momandpopvideostore.com/return-of-the-killer-tomatoes-1988

Darkman landed on Home Video today in 1991, after an August 24th, 1990 theatrical release. In a post-Batman (1989) world, Sam Raimi’s pulpy homage to Universal horror helped usher in a new wave of 90’s comic book cinematic heroics. The tone was set, Dark was in. momandpopvideostore.com/darkman1990

Falling Down isn’t the right-wing manifesto the MAGA crowd wants it to be, and D-FENS was never the hero. Time to take it back. momandpopvideostore.com/falling-down-1993

There was a time - let’s call it the mid-to-late ‘80s - when you couldn’t walk into a video store without seeing that iconic New World Pictures logo plastered everywhere. They weren’t always the best thing on the shelf, but they were always a reliable rental gamble.

The Rocketeer landed on Home Video this week 1992, after a lukewarm June 21st, 1991 theatrical takeoff. More about this effortlessly cool love letter to golden-age adventure serials: momandpopvideostore.com/the-rocketeer-1991

Canadian Bacon (1995). It took 30 years for life to imitate art. But here we are. The film is practically Carl Sagan-level prescient about politically manufactured conflicts and the effect of propaganda on the xenophobically predisposed... momandpopvideostore.com/canadian-bacon-1995

Based on Mary Norton’s beloved novel, The Borrowers (1997) beautifully captures that heightened Roald Dahl-esque child's-eye view of the world - where everything is off-kilter, vast, and unknowable. momandpopvideostore.com/the-borrowers-1997

It’s Ferris Bueller’s Day Off for kids who can program in Basic and build Tesla coils in the garage… or at least wish they could. It’s that rare 80s teen comedy where the wizkids don’t just outsmart the adults - they can throw a damn fine pool party. momandpopvideostore.com/real-genius-1985

There’s something about O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2001) that feels like a half-remembered tall tale you might have heard your great-grandparents tell you when you were a kid... momandpopvideostore.com/o-brother-where-art-thou-2001

“This means something… This is important.” Those were my exact thoughts when I first saw "Weird Al" Yankovic's "UHF". Finally, we daydreaming MTV slackers had a movie of our very own. That’s right, UHF arrived on home video this week in 1990, after a July 21st, 1989 theatrical release.

Flight of the Navigator landed on home video today in 1987, after an August 1, 1986 theatrical release. Some childhood favourites hit differently 40 years later. Like DARYL, and Cloak and Dagger, this film blends wish-fulfilment sci-fi with an emotional depth that sneaks up on you as an adult. -Pop

"I'm just marking my territory." Wolf first howled on Home Video this week back in 1995, after a June 17th, 1994, theatrical release. Unlike the early-to-mid-80's where Werewolves (there, wolf) were the monstre-du-jour, our misanthropic lycanthropic fiends were fairly scarce around this time.

Back to School graduated to Home Video this week in 1987, after acing a June 13th, 1986 theatrical release. For us 80s teens under the minimum height required for Caddyshack or Easy Money, this was THE introduction to Rodney Dangerfield. Billy Joel video notwithstanding. Respect, Rodney. -Pop