Mister D: I think I would add Outrageous Fortune to this list as well!
Tampa Bay
Girls Gone Wild: Top 10 Girl-Power Movies of the ’80s
By Steve Spears
Friday, March 1, 2013 10:20am
TOP 10 GIRL-POWER MOVIES OF THE 1980s:
10. SATISFACTION (1988): Liam Neeson probably long forgot he co-starred in this movie about an all-girl band named The Mystery. Whereas Justine Bateman probably considers a career highlight. The ’80s are funny that way.
9. GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN (1985): Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt want to be on Dance TV but have to defy their parents so they can be stars. Sure, it’s the same plot as a dozen other movies. But the actresses are superior, the soundtrack is absolutely cheese-tastic and, ironically, we never get to hear Cyndi Lauper.
8. BEACHES (1988): The men are merely pawns in the lives of CC Bloom (Bette Midler) and Hillary Essex (Barbara Hershey). Sure it’s a weeper; that’s why we all need some wind beneath our wings.
7. SHAG (1989): Bridget Fonda, Phoebe Cates and Annabeth Gish are the foundation of this forgotten period piece about teenage girls escaping their parents’ clutch to attend a shag dancing competition in Myrtle Beach. Best moment: Fonda’s burlesque dance with a Confederate flag.
6. LABYRINTH (1986): Bewitching David Bowie should be considered Jennifer Connelly’s crowning achievement. Next time, don’t give away your baby brother to the goblin king.
5. ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING (1987): Elisabeth Shue graces so many ’80s classics, but this one always stands out as her best, playing a babysitter who’s forced to go into big, bad Chicago to retrieve a lost friend. “Nobody leaves without singing the blues.”
4. PRETTY IN PINK (1986): “What about prom, Blaine?!? WHAT ABOUT PROM, BLAINE!?!” Molly Ringwald’s best work.
3. VALLEY GIRL (1983): It might be best known as the coming out party for Nicolas Cage, but Deborah Foreman called all the shots in this SoCal classic. And the soundtrack, starting with Bonnie Hayes’ Girls Like Me, is practically full of girl anthems.
2. PRIVATE BENJAMIN (1980): Goldie Hawn transforms herself from newlywed to widow to “Be all you can be” in this too-often-forgotten classic. Hollywood, if you want to remake an ’80s classic, try this one.
1. FLASHDANCE (1983): The ultimate girl-power flick from the welding job to the lobster dinner scene to “What a feeling!”
