“I’m all about sharing misplaced pop culture gems from the 80s, 90s and sometimes early 2000s. Really love all things kitsch camp and iconic. When Ladycult invited me to pick my 5 summer movies to watch, my response was “Just five?!” 

So, counting down and in the words of C+C Music Factory One two ready go, go, go, go, go, go, go!

5. Cutthroat Island (1995)

Before Captain Jack Sparrow and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, there was Cutthroat Island with Morgan Adams (Geena Davis) a female buccaneer and her crew racing against her treacherous pirate uncle to find a hidden island that contains a fabulous treasure.

The film was one of the biggest box office flops like… ever! All these years on it deserves to be revisited because it was one of the first “female lead” action films. It’s fun, silly and full of action with Gina Davis performing most of her own stunts. Watch out for the scene where she comes flying out a first story window forward rolls off a roof and lands in the driver’s seat of a horse drawn carriage *metaphorical chef’s kiss*

Did I mention that the super dreamy Matthew Modine co-stars? Looks like I just did.

The Castle (1997)

You’ll find that a couple of Australian films have made it onto this list and no it’s not a mistake. As an Australian cis gendered white proud gay man, I feel obligated to educate the children. The Castle is a quintessential Aussie film and follows a working-class family in Melbourne’s outer suburbs who fight to keep their home from being demolished to make way for an airport expansion.

The film was shot in 10.5 days on a budget of $705k, grossed over $11M in box office sales and created some of Australia’s enduring 90s pop culture references and lines – you can take that straight to the pool room! It shot Michael Caton into stardom and set Eric Bana on his way to becoming a household name. 

Working Girl (1988)

This film centers around Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith), a secretary from Staten Island who dreams of climbing the ladder and making it big in corporate NYC. It’s a real rags to riches story with fun performances from Sigourney Weaver, Harrison Ford, Joan Cusack, Alec Baldwin and Oliver Platt. Watch out for a bit part from Ricki Lake! If nothing else, it’s worth watching just for the 80s hair and fashion. 

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)

Growing up in a single parent family during the 80s, going to see a movie was a special event. In December 1989, as an 11 year old, I was lucky enough to see this film at the cinema. Re-watching the movie for this list brought back all of those memories of first seeing the film.

It’s a fun and thrilling film with twists, turns and tears. The kids in this movie hold it all together and it must have been a lot of fun to be on sets with giant Oreos and Lego bricks. I can’t not mention iconic 80s comedy stars Rick Moranis, Matt Frewer and Marcia Strassman.

Muriel’s Wedding (1994)

If you’ve seen my Instagram profile, I love and adore Muriel’s Wedding. The reel that I have celebrating one of the film’s most iconic scenes has had over 4M views and counting. It’s the second Australian film to make it onto the list and the story centers around Porpoise Spit native Muriel Heslop (Toni Collette) who spends most of her time in her bedroom listening to ABBA songs. She desperately wants to get married and have a life as good as ABBA’s Dancing Queen.

Rivaling The Castle, Muriel’s Wedding has created some of Australian films most iconic popular culture moments and later into the 2000’s generating some unforgettable memes.

Just quietly add in here that Toni Collette lives just one suburb over from me in Sydney.

I’ve bumped into her a few times coming out of the Naturopath & Acupuncturist that we share. I’ve almost died each time!

If you would like to learn more about Matt . His instagram is @thisguymattford

Until next time!!