This issue will feature the trailer for the 1989 film Say Anything... which starred John Cusack as "Lloyd Dobler" and Ione Skye as "Diane Court." It is a romantic comedy written and directed by Cameron Crowe and happens to be one of my very favorite films of all time.

Cusack's character is an average guy on the surface and he pursues a relationship with the school valedictorian who seems to be out of his league. "Lloyd Dobler" turns out to be much more than an average guy and "Diane Court" eventually realizes they are right for eachother. Here is the original trailer for Say Anything...

Roger Ebert, who is one of my most respected movie reviewers, called Say Anything... "one of the best films of the year - a film that is really about something, that cares deeply about the issues it contains - and yet it also works wonderfully as a funny, warmhearted romantic comedy." That is high praise which I whole-heartedly agree with.

Ebert went on to also say, "Say Anything... is one of those rare movies that has something to teach us about life. It doesn't have a lesson or a message, but it observes its moral choices so carefully that it helps us see our own. That such intelligence could be contained in a movie that is simultaneously so funny and so entertaining is some kind of a miracle." That, again, is high praise which might be a tad bit superlative but really lets you know that this is a special movie. If interested, you can ready Ebert's entire review of the film by clicking on that link.

The characters are well developed and well performed. John Cusack's performance is of course my favorite. It is rumored that this role almost went to Robert Downey Jr., Kirk Cameron or Christian Slater, but I cannot picture anybody other than Cusack as "Lloyd." Here is what Ebert has to say about Cusack's performance. "Cusack, a unique, quirky actor with great individuality, turns in a fast-talking, intensely felt performance that is completely original. He is so good here that if you haven't seen him in The Sure Thing or Eight Men Out, you might imagine he is simply playing himself. But his performance is a complete and brilliant invention." I feel that Cusack has given several brilliant performances, but none better than "Lloyd Dobler." Here is a link to my Top John Cusack Movies List which is from one of the very first issues of Kickin' it Old School.

There is also what I feel is one of the most iconic film moments of the 80s (and probably in my lifetime) where "Lloyd" holds the boombox over his head blaring the Peter Gabriel song "In Your Eyes." This song ranks #1 on my very popular Best Songs from 80s Movies list. Click on that link to see the rest of the song and read more about how this song ended up being chosen.

Say Anything... is absolutely one of my favorite movies from the 80s or any decade for that matter. Hope you enjoyed the original trailer and hope it puts you in the mood to watch this great classic again.

That will do it for this issue of Kickin' it Old School. Trust you enjoy the "Preview Review" issues and please let me know if there are any 80s movies that you want to see me cover. Thanks as always for reading. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column to find any other issues you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: I came across this Okay Samurai Multimedia which includes these interesting acoustic versions of a couple 80s hits. You should know by now that I am a big fan of acoustic music and acoustic versions of songs. I thought this guy did a great job, so I decided to share them with you here. They are not new, both done about 3 years ago (in 2006), but they are new to me. The first song is "Straight Up" originally by Paula Abdul in 1989...

The second is "Like a Prayer" originally by Madonna also in 1989 which includes a little bit of "Cherish" interestingly thrown in the middle...

Quote of the day: "I'm a great believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." -Thomas Jefferson