SHORTLIST VINTAGE FILM OF 1988

Bruce Willis doesn’t save the entire world in this first installment, but he does save a skyscraper full of hostages held by a gang of greedy Eurotrash led by Alan Rickman. Is John McLane America’s James Bond? Let’s see who plays him next.

Had Tim Burton’s bizarre, scary, slapstick tale of home-sharing between the dead Maitlands and the living Deetzes been a flop, perhaps we might never have seen “Batman” and other superhero flicks “rebooted” in the first place. If nothing else, Beetlejuice forever holds the distinction as the first DVD shipped by Netflix.

“Keep your pantyhose on,” Ms. Mastrantonio is repeatedly admonished by Mr. Harris as they confront an alien undersea force – but he may as well be talking to the audience directly. Described as science fiction, a mystery and a suspense thriller, The Abyss is all of those things at their best.

Incredible filmmaking is required to attract millions of people watch a story with such somber subjects – death, debt, and institutionalization among them – and that’s just what the director, writers and actors delivered in this cross-country drama that swept the awards in 1999..

There were mean girls long before Mean Girls, but here the Brooding New Guy’s plan to end their rule of the school involves the kind of violence historically reserved for the royals of things bigger than proms.

There are people who believe abstract artists don’t have the talent to make something that scans as “art” for a wide audience, but John Waters called their bluff here. And while it made sense to keep trying with A Star Is Born, why did anyone feel the need to remake Hairspray?

A refreshing reminder, at the time it was released, that greed and corruption weren’t born in the USA in the 1980s. The fact that all of the French aristocrats on the screen have regional American accents doesn’t help, but then Dangerous Liaisons is primarily a feast for the eyes (which the actresses might have reminded the audience, were there a gag reel, “are up here”).

Achingly sad and romantic, the story of Salvatore Di Vita is a must-see for film-lovers. If you haven’t seen it since its original release (or if you have never seen it), the director’s cut released in 2002 adds nearly an hour and explains what happened to Elena, Salvatore’s long-lost love.

Why do so many grown men act like children today? For some, it may be because Elizabeth Perkins found it so charming in this delightful fantasy, in which a 12-year-old from the Jersey suburbs becomes a 30-year-old in Manhattan. Ah, to be young again.