Outstanding list. I don’t know that I ever saw The River’s Edge. All the other ones I would say definitely define our generation. Pump Up The Volume is one of my absolute favorite movies that I would rent out and rewatch over and over. I still own a copy which I will on occasion watch, and I think I might quote High Fidelity more than any other movie.
Thank you! River's Edge is good, definitely worth watching. Early Keanu also, he was great. Love Pump Up The Volume, one of those films that I find a lot of folks have not watched. High Fidelity is an absolute gem for sure!!
I absolutely love Repo Man. I thought about adding it in here tbh. I think this is just a starter list, and there are quite a few others I would definitely add as honorable mentions. Appreciate you reading!
Fast Times and Slacker should make it (maybe need a longer list). Would have predicted most of these but iffy on Fight Club being #1. Amazing film but doesn’t feel like it particularly hits a broader gen X experience. Some mentions here of John Hughes films but don’t think a lot of them aged well. Sixteen candles is kind of icky to me now. Pretty in Pink better but I was team Ducky so a no go there. Ferris Buellers Day off is still hilarious and I’d put it on a longer list but lower than what you’ve got. Also for those of us who grew up with a crush on John Cusack, how about Say Anything and Better Off Dead? But I get you’re doing grittier stuff and these are comedies. Oh and I think either Dazed and Confused or Heathers should be #1.
I'm a teacher who has worked with teens for years. When I compare current generations to mine, I think of how huge a part music played in our identity: style, outlook, language -- as you point out in three of your titles. Kids today use gender identities and social media to achieve the same thing.
This is a good list, but I would mention movies that we watched but represented someone older than us. I will use Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire as an example. I was 12 when these came out but watched them a lot. My buddies and I still quote St. Elmo's Fire.
All of the National Lampoon's movies may have been created by Boomers, but were very influential in shaping the guys I knew. Again, I don't think they are an example of how Gen X lived but they do explain a lot about our sense of humor.
Solid additions. I like both BF and St. Elomo's Fire for sure. They have a place in this conversation indeed. I wanted to focus on grittier films. Love the National Lampoon flicks also!
Thanks for adding those films, all excellent cinema. Boyz in the Hood absolutely has a place in this list for sure, I thought about that film while I was writing this post. Definitely deserves to be mentioned. Cheers!
Fast Times at Ridgemont High? I mean I was 3 when it came out, but my 1980 birth makes me a millennial/gen x tweener. I’m guessing for the older gen x it kind of set the template that you are talking about.
My Private Idaho could have definitely been on this list. Recently watched this with my teens and it’s still hits, River Phoenix’s performance is amazing.
c'mom!! dazed and confused at number 5? that ought to be number 1. That movie was "the fucking shit" when i was 16. I showed to like 30 friends in the spam of one year. It is everything my generation (i was born in 98) never got to live yet lived half-backed at the same time. What a masterpiece.
Lost me with Fight Club, but I had all the others named before I read. Yay me.
Honorable mentions to Grease, Fame, Ice Castles, Flashdance, & Star Wars for those of us old enough to have seen them first run. Those movies made me the person who loved all the movies on your list (except for no. 1).
Love it, thanks for sharing that! I also grew up on Star Wars, Grease, and actaully even The Warriors (1979), having grown up in Detroit, we related to that also... and The Last Dragon, lol
really enjoyed this. I often think that Gen X is reduced to a few pop hits and feel good movies (and neon colors)—but there were deep cuts and disturbing narratives that said a lot about us, like this list you’ve put together here!
Boomers were selling us the American dream to us then, but it had a dark side that not everyone could handle or wanted to see.
(it’s demonstrative of Crispin Glover’s talent that to this day I have a hard time watching any film he’s in).
Glad you enjoyed the list. Totally agree, I think some of these grittier films are missed in the conversation so I wanted to highlight them. Totally agree about Crispin Glover. Did you know he voiced one of the rag dolls in the movie "9" (2009)?
no, I didn’t! (but I’m not putting it on my watchlist, I’ll tell you that). his death scene in the film ‘Teachers’ freaked me out as much as the death of the young cadet in ‘Taps.’ River’s Edge was all I could take. I can’t get over it, which is to say, he’s an actor of haunting ability.
Outstanding list. I don’t know that I ever saw The River’s Edge. All the other ones I would say definitely define our generation. Pump Up The Volume is one of my absolute favorite movies that I would rent out and rewatch over and over. I still own a copy which I will on occasion watch, and I think I might quote High Fidelity more than any other movie.
Thank you! River's Edge is good, definitely worth watching. Early Keanu also, he was great. Love Pump Up The Volume, one of those films that I find a lot of folks have not watched. High Fidelity is an absolute gem for sure!!
Pump Up The Volume is the only one on this awesome list I haven’t seen, now I can’t wait to check it out! The River’s Edge is special, a real mood.
This is a good list, I'm an old Gen Xer and for me Repo Man most speaks to my experience of growing up in the eighties.
I absolutely love Repo Man. I thought about adding it in here tbh. I think this is just a starter list, and there are quite a few others I would definitely add as honorable mentions. Appreciate you reading!
This. Great list, but Repo Man should have been in the top 3.
This right here
Fast Times and Slacker should make it (maybe need a longer list). Would have predicted most of these but iffy on Fight Club being #1. Amazing film but doesn’t feel like it particularly hits a broader gen X experience. Some mentions here of John Hughes films but don’t think a lot of them aged well. Sixteen candles is kind of icky to me now. Pretty in Pink better but I was team Ducky so a no go there. Ferris Buellers Day off is still hilarious and I’d put it on a longer list but lower than what you’ve got. Also for those of us who grew up with a crush on John Cusack, how about Say Anything and Better Off Dead? But I get you’re doing grittier stuff and these are comedies. Oh and I think either Dazed and Confused or Heathers should be #1.
Thanks Andrea! I love Better Off Dead btw!! Great points here!!
Fast Times was big in the 80's
I'm a teacher who has worked with teens for years. When I compare current generations to mine, I think of how huge a part music played in our identity: style, outlook, language -- as you point out in three of your titles. Kids today use gender identities and social media to achieve the same thing.
Point Break ….. anyone …….. anyone. Budhist bank robbing surfers is the best poodle metaphor for GenX.
Love Point Break!
Don’t forget Blade Runner
https://open.substack.com/pub/kennetheharrell/p/the-rain-drenched-beauty-of-cyberpunk
Definitely one of the greatest flicks of all time!
This is a good list, but I would mention movies that we watched but represented someone older than us. I will use Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire as an example. I was 12 when these came out but watched them a lot. My buddies and I still quote St. Elmo's Fire.
All of the National Lampoon's movies may have been created by Boomers, but were very influential in shaping the guys I knew. Again, I don't think they are an example of how Gen X lived but they do explain a lot about our sense of humor.
Solid additions. I like both BF and St. Elomo's Fire for sure. They have a place in this conversation indeed. I wanted to focus on grittier films. Love the National Lampoon flicks also!
For me St Elmo's Fire would easily be on this list.
I was very influenced by this movie, so much so thst it played a part in the college I attended. 😄
my own private idaho.
river phoenix dying on the street in front of the viper room fucked all of us gen x up hard.
honorable mention to The Crow. not distinctly gen X thematically but brandon lee and j.o barr are gen x legends..
slacker.
donnie darko.
apologies but fuck clerks. or swap in mall rats..
could also mention boyz in the hood or menace 2 society or fuck. just realized spike lee and do the right thing aren't on this list.
otherwise killer collection awesome breakdowns
river's edge would be my number one
very welcome distraction from mad world.
peace.
Thanks for adding those films, all excellent cinema. Boyz in the Hood absolutely has a place in this list for sure, I thought about that film while I was writing this post. Definitely deserves to be mentioned. Cheers!
Will, I was at the Viper Room the night River died- on the street when it happened— horrible. Will never forget the sense of helplessness.
1. Reality Bites - fixed that one 😉
Other contenders for the list: Lost Boys, the Outsiders, the Legend of Billy Jean… all themes of alienation and misfits
Love it, and love those films! Thank you!!
Fast Times at Ridgemont High? I mean I was 3 when it came out, but my 1980 birth makes me a millennial/gen x tweener. I’m guessing for the older gen x it kind of set the template that you are talking about.
My Private Idaho could have definitely been on this list. Recently watched this with my teens and it’s still hits, River Phoenix’s performance is amazing.
c'mom!! dazed and confused at number 5? that ought to be number 1. That movie was "the fucking shit" when i was 16. I showed to like 30 friends in the spam of one year. It is everything my generation (i was born in 98) never got to live yet lived half-backed at the same time. What a masterpiece.
Repo Man!
Lost me with Fight Club, but I had all the others named before I read. Yay me.
Honorable mentions to Grease, Fame, Ice Castles, Flashdance, & Star Wars for those of us old enough to have seen them first run. Those movies made me the person who loved all the movies on your list (except for no. 1).
And always… Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Love it, thanks for sharing that! I also grew up on Star Wars, Grease, and actaully even The Warriors (1979), having grown up in Detroit, we related to that also... and The Last Dragon, lol
Singles?
I thought of Singles too, but I would put it near #9 or 10 on the list.
Yes, yes, yes! One of my favorites EVER!
really enjoyed this. I often think that Gen X is reduced to a few pop hits and feel good movies (and neon colors)—but there were deep cuts and disturbing narratives that said a lot about us, like this list you’ve put together here!
Boomers were selling us the American dream to us then, but it had a dark side that not everyone could handle or wanted to see.
(it’s demonstrative of Crispin Glover’s talent that to this day I have a hard time watching any film he’s in).
Glad you enjoyed the list. Totally agree, I think some of these grittier films are missed in the conversation so I wanted to highlight them. Totally agree about Crispin Glover. Did you know he voiced one of the rag dolls in the movie "9" (2009)?
no, I didn’t! (but I’m not putting it on my watchlist, I’ll tell you that). his death scene in the film ‘Teachers’ freaked me out as much as the death of the young cadet in ‘Taps.’ River’s Edge was all I could take. I can’t get over it, which is to say, he’s an actor of haunting ability.
I haven't seen Teachers in ages... I remember Ralph Macchio in that!
I am no longer alone in the universe! It felt like no one else had ever heard of TEACHERS. Such an awesome film!
JoBeth Williams was/is one of my favorite actresses, so yes I’m familiar with the movie! I even got to meet her once 🙂
"Half those kids won't come back after the alarm."
"But half will. I think they're worth it."
I have used this quote in so many presentations to teachers (and students.) And the whole movie still feels relevant today.