You’ve reached the place where all the bad, but oh so satisfying, entertainment exists. Here, in the Trash Vortex, we exist to provide you with only the trashiest, most bingeworthy recommendations. It’s a dark hole you won’t escape!
February 25, 2022
’80s Movies
Get ready to dive into a time of perms and easy nostalgia. These ’80s movies will serve all your lighthearted needs!
Pretty in Pink is the kind of teen movie that helped solidify the “Brat Pack” era. For reference, this term was coined by New York Magazine for a group of popular actors who frequently starred in coming-of-age movies in the eighties. This ripple of cinema introduced a golden time of teen movies that were both relatable and aspirational.Naturally, Pretty in Pink’s plotline is one we’ve seen before. The movie centers around Andie, a working-class high school girl who lives on the wrong side of town. Her mother is not in the picture, and throughout most the movie, Andie takes on the role of responsible adult in the family—her father is unemployed. She works at a record shop, and like most teens, she’s concerned with prom. Andie ends up falling for one of the wealthy kids at her high school. Meanwhile, her best friend Ducky cannot understand how this would happen. He is, after all, out to win Andie’s heart. It’s the classic story of poor kid falls in love with rich kid, and high-school hierarchies make this impossible. Throw in a little unrequited love, and you have a classic, teen rom-com.It’s maybe not the most profound exploration of classism, but Andie’s sincerity is palpable, and we root for her happiness. Pretty in Pink is a heart warmer, and the cliches work. You’ll know the ending before it’s over, but you’ll love it anyway. It’ll be one journey you won’t regret. Available on Hulu and Amazon Prime.
—Shannon Ribich, Trash Vortex Editor
The Lost Boys: When teen brothers Michael and Sam move to Santa Clara, California, little do they know that it’s the “murder capital of the world.” Michael, at 18, soon disappears into the local night life, so Sam heads to a local comic shop where he meets Edgar and Allen Frog, two brothers with a knack for melodrama. The brothers unceremoniously hand him a comic on vampires and warn him in throaty, Apocalypse Now tones that there’s more to sunny Santa Clara than meets the eye. Sam scoffs at first, but then Michael shows up at home acting very strangely—avoiding sunlight and drinking what looks like blood out of a bottle. Oh, and at one point, he accidentally floats up to the ceiling and can’t get down. Meanwhile, a pack of good-looking if big-mulleted boys led by Kiefer Sutherland’s David stalk menacingly in the shadows. The Frog Brothers soon convince Sam that Michael is likely a half-vampire, and the only way he can be human again is for Sam to join them on a quest to kill the head vampire. Problem is, they’re not quite sure who holds that distinction. Is it David? Or someone else entirely? The film fails the Bechdel test miserably—the lone woman in the cast, Jami Gertz’s Star, is a more ethereal version of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl stereotype whose only purpose seems to be serving as Michael’s damsel-in-distress and saying people’s names with tear-filled eyes. But The Lost Boys also packs edge-of-your-seat suspense with laugh-out-loud one-liners and a terrific ’80s soundtrack. If I can tell my inner feminist to pipe down and let me enjoy this Trash Vortex classic, you can, too. —Available on Netflix.
—Tracy Fernandez Rysavy, Driftwood advisor