Flashback 1986: My top 10 favorite movies from 30 years ago

Hey there loyal readers -- it's been a while, but I am sure you will forgive me since I was off getting married and then on honeymoon.

Now I am back and freshly tanned, and eager to get back into the swing of things with this movie blog. That said, I have probably never been this out of the loop in terms of pop culture -- I haven't been keeping up with the summer movies at all (I just don't think any of them appeal to me). Although I am holding out some hope for the new Jason Bourne movie, and Suicide Squad does intrigue me.

So I haven't watching anything new lately -- mostly just catching up on older films I've wanted to revisit, or new blu rays that I have indulged myself with.

But to get back into the groove -- for now -- I thought I'd do another one of my top 10 lists. This one looking thirty years back to 1986.

It's a tough year for me as there are a lot of films I really like that wound up on the bubble. For instance, the underrated erotic thriller 9 1/2 Weeks just missed the cut for me. I think it contains one of Mickey Rourke's great early career performances but this is a place for favorites.

That said honorable mentions also would go to Pretty in Pink, Star Trek IV, Manhunter and At Close Range. Now, without any further caveats, here is my top 10:

10)  The Hitcher - Critics savaged this undeniably opaque and sparse horror film, but I am obsessed with it. Rutger Hauer, in an unforgettable performance, plays the demented hitchhiker who proceeds to torment a whiny drifter (played by the appropriately pathetic C. Thomas Howell) who initially picks him up on the side of the road but then abandons him when he becomes unbearably creepy. A strange, somewhat trippy film which almost benefits from not making a lot of narrative sense.

9) Platoon - While it's probably just my fifth favorite Vietnam war film (the top four would be Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, The Deer Hunter, and Casualties of War), it's still an excellent movie, made more personal by the fact that it's loosely based on director Oliver Stone's actual experience as an infantryman. Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe light up the screen as diametrically opposed father figures for the protagonist, played adequately as an audience surrogate by Charlie Sheen.

8) Something Wild- When people opine about how Melanie Griffith became a thing I would point them no further than this quirky gem from director Jonathan Demme. Before bad roles and surgeries torpedoed her career she was the manic pixie dream girl before it became a tiresome trope. And Jeff Daniels is her equal as a mild mannered guy who needs to be dragged out of his comfort zone. A fun and unpredictable romantic comedy that kicks into high gear when Ray Liotta shows up as a particularly sadistic villain.

7) The Fly - Jeff Goldblum does an incredible job here under heavy make-up in the supremely icky but fascinating allegory of the HIV-AIDS crisis from director David Cronenberg. This sci-fi gross-out became an unlikely hit and turned Goldblum into an even more unlikely sex symbol, but its the heart at the center of the film that helps it still hold up, even more than the state-of-the-art special effects. Geena Davis is luminous as the love interest, but make no mistake, this movie can give you nightmares.

6) The Color of  Money - Director Martin Scorsese's follow-up to the 1961 classic The Hustler, is unjustly maligned in my opinion. Sure, it's a faster, flashier movie, but Paul Newman is still dynamite in the lead role of "Fast" Eddie Felson and so is Tom Cruise, who is more vulnerable than you'd expect in probably his last role without top billing. Their generation clash, the hard rocking soundtrack and Scorsese's whiplash editing make this an 80's tour-de-force.

5) Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Easily my favorite film to come out of the John Hughes factory. This comedy had a huge influence on me as a younger person. Clearly, although Matthew Broderick's titular hero was a bit of self-serving, self-involved jerk, you still looked up to him and kind of wanted to be him. And the movie's attempts at depth, while earnest, land because they come with an element of truth, even if the movie stretches its credibility on a regular basis. A great coming-of-age movie.

4) Aliens - One of the best sequels of all time, and a reminder of what director James Cameron is capable of when he tamps down some of his more pretentious inclinations. A truly riveting action film that expands on the mythology of the first film while providing even more of a showcase for its star, Sigourney Weaver. Once this movie kicks into high gear it easily becomes one of the most relentless action movies ever made -- and that's a good thing.

3) Hannah and Her Sisters - This is one of Woody Allen's most satisfying and refreshing films (it's no surprise that it was one of his few crossover box office hits). Although he plays a small, funny and pivotal role in it, the movie is a showcase for women and he creates three very complex, plausible sisters who are fully fleshed out and exceptionally portrayed. And Michael Caine delivers an Oscar-winning turn that is similarly sublime. A real masterpiece.

2) Three Amigos - One of my all-time favorite comedies, that was a huge touchstone for me growing up. My two siblings and I used to play 'Three Amigos' in our backyard (my brother and I fought passionately over who got to be Chevy Chase). It's essentially a one-joke movie (vapid silent film adventure movie actors get mistaken for the real thing), but it's told so well and with such goofy delight, its irresistible. The performance of "My Little Buttercup" should be in any time capsule of American comedy.

1) Blue Velvet - One of the greatest, most daring and haunting movies ever made. This David Lynch masterpiece has only grown in stature in my mind over the years. It is not for everyone's tastes -- but viewers who are willing to be taken on a journey and who can handle uncompromising (and yes, sometimes uncomfortable material) will not be disappointed. It sort of defies summation but what this film is about is the dark heart that lurks within perhaps all idyllic American towns. And boy does Lynch rip it out with this one.