Working Girl (1988)

#91 on Passions, #87 on Cheers

Oh the 80s.  The shoulder pads.  The overly big hair. So ugly, yet so endearing.  Working Girl is a good example of the fashions of this time, plus it highlights a woman trying to make it in the workforce, and having a brain in her head while still being able to have some fun.

Seriously. Just look at the trailer to see what we are dealing with:

Melanie Griffith plays Tess, a secretary who is taking business classes trying to work her way up in the world. After leaving her job with her pigheaded male coworkers, she is assigned to work for Katharine Parker (played ever so snottily by Sigourney Weaver) who presents herself not as a boss, but as a sort of peer. Of course, Katharine says this, and then treats Tess like a servant. When Katharine tries to steal a business idea that Tess has, Tess gets in touch with Jack Trainer (Harrison Ford in one of my favorite roles of his. Seriously, if you only know him as an action star, watch this.) to help her pull off the idea.  Deception and some hijinks ensue (like crashing an ugly 80s wedding!), and of course there is tons and tons of horrendous 80s fashion and hairstyles. Note: its not all bad, but it is just SO 80s.  Alec Baldwin and Joan Cusack help to round out the cast, and give us some of the typical 80s looks that we would all expect. 

Random: The main song in the film is "Let the River Run" by Carly Simon.  The womens choir sang this when I was in high school. I kind of hated that song then.  I kind of still hate it now. I don't find it to be that thrilling as songs go, but it won all kinds of awards, so maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about. But I really do hate it. Mind you, this does not stop me from singing along if I can recall the words….

Favorite Quote:

Cyn: Sometimes I sing and dance around the house in my underwear. Doesn't make me Madonna. Never will.

Stand and Deliver (1988)

#86 on Cheers

Basic premise:  A teacher sees the potential in a group of trouble making students, and wants to teach them way advanced math.   This is based on a true story.

Sometimes it takes other people acknowledging your potential for you to flourish. The students were pushed by a teacher, and he was able to get them to show their full potential. They were so use to people giving up on them, and not expecting things from them, that they had stopped trying.  When this teacher did push them, he got amazing results. 

I did find myself wondering how they were all doing in their other classes, because they spent so much time in math.  I also really liked that the teacher fought for them, after they were accused of cheating on the AP Calculus exam.  Those AP exams are no joke.  (Side Note: I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about those or Regents anymore.)  Sometimes all you need is for somebody to have your back in order to succeed.  A little support goes a long way.  

Also, I’ve always been terrible at math.  I cannot imagine going through all of this to learn AP Calc.  I probably would have ended up quitting, or being the one person who did not pass the AP test.  Stupid math. To quote my friend Dr. Time, "I always say that the part of my brain that should have been used for math was  used for Star Wars."  Replace Star Wars with Beatles and you probably have my brain.

Favorite Quote:

Jaime Escalante: You only see the turn, you don't see the road ahead.