I've heard Jenny was into music now, right?

A decade that brought us movies like Terminator, Sid&Nancy, Blue Velvet, RoboCop, Indy, EFNY, Blade Runner, Poltergeist, Hellraiser, Evil Dead, Clockwise, A fish called Wanda, First Blood, Batman, Conan (I'm forgetting so many great flicks it's depressing)

Video games? The 80's invented everything. Mario, Zelda, FF, DraQue, Metal Gear, Bionic Commando... The only other equally important period was the rise of the 3D in the early 90's.

Music? Man, the cheap keyboards and overuse of VoCoder were a pain in the ass, I give you that. But for ONE mediocre band like Sigue Sigue Sputnik there were DOZENS of great artists: Prince, Michael Jackson, Naked Raygun, New Order, Public Enemy, Iron Maiden, Queen, Nirvana, The Smiths, The Pixies, REM, Stone Temple Pilots... And I'm not even citing foreign, non-english speaking musicians.

No offense, but calling the 80's the "Worst decade ever" is not only a cheap meme, but rather clueless.

Hell, if I wanted to be spoonfed by the mainstream media, every fucking year would be the "worst. year. ever". The 80's had a REAAALLY bad vibe, and sewn seeds of real actual shit on a political standpoint, but the false perception that it was the shittiest decade ever makes me wonder if people saying so were watching anything else than MTV, to be so adamnt about it.

"Shut that damn door!"

So, how many Wonder Years questions do you think he'll get at the Q&A?

The 80's did give us some cinematic gems but Christ the music was shit! The alternative scene was a reaction to that but only came about towards the end of the decade The beginning and middle parts were dominated mainly by swill.

That said, I'd offer up LOTR trilogy as a significant theatrical release of the present decade. No, it doesn't represent "culture" of this decade like, say, "The Wizard" or "License to drive" or "Revenge of the Nerds" did for the 80's, but it does prehaps reflect two things that have come into their own in this decade: amazing digital effects and the omnipresence of "geek" material in pop culture (comics, sci-fi, and fantasy are all pretty much standard fare, if not over-used in entertainment more so now thatn ever. I guess the "geeks' who grew up on that stuff in the 70's and 80's are now in decision-making positions.)

Just my 1.5 cents on the subject....

When I was there the T-rex was closed to visitors, but the Brach is open and has a gift shop inside. It was a big disappointing to see that this icon of the former Rt 66 roadway is now a shill for an owner who uses it to shout down evolution in favor of "intelligent design", but whatever. it's still amusing to see those dinos in person.

The Wizard is the first movie I actually recall seeing in movie theaters. I was 6 years old and the prospect of Super Mario Bros. 3 was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. For those of you who didn't see it as a stupid kid, well, you won't get it. Because you shouldn't get it. Because for all intents and purposes, it's a TERRIBLE movie.

But one filled with all sorts of fun nostalgia. AND one of the first appearances by Tobey Maguire. Yeah, that's right. He's in some goofy 80s clothes standing around near the end of the movie.

Oh, it's just that fucking Fred Savage movie. Never mind then...