Netflix '80s Fix: Girls Just Want A Verdict On Steel Magnolias In Hot Pursuit

I'm a little late posting the Fix this month as (cricket noise) I was waiting for Netflix to release some movies! After Netflix started 2015 with a pretty solid class of new movies, it appears February will be a real downer. Just 8 total movies released in the '80s were added this month. I'll highlight a few, but it looks like it will be a good month to dig into your backlogged queue and choose a few favorites to rediscover.

This month's exclusive features include the 80s Pop Twenty and a one newly-added film that just missed the decade. It's time to get your fix!

Girls Just Want To Have Fun (1985)

Rated PG Add to queue

When Lynne convinces her shy friend Janey to sneak out to audition for her favorite TV dance show, Janey makes the cut. Soon, the girls find themselves on a wild adventure filled with cute boys, mean rich kids and parents that just don't understand.

Who does want to watch a young Sarah Jessica-Parker, Helen Hunt, and Shannon Doherty? Well, me I guess but I was only 9 when this movie came out so girls weren't a hot topic yet. Trying to watch it now might be a little creepy. "Hey, what did you watch this weekend? Really? Sounds like your man card expired. Might want to renew that."

Steel Magnolias (1989)

Rated PG Add to queue

Featuring a star-studded cast, this bittersweet drama follows the abiding friendship among five tight-knit women who congregate at a beauty parlor in a small Louisiana town to laugh, cry and discuss their lives.

Gotta say, I've never seen this movie but I'd probably say most males would admit to the same. The Rotten Tomatoes score is 89% audience and 67% critics, so it's safe to say that it has been a well received movie over the years.

We're No Angels (1989)

Rated PG-13 Add to queue

A pair of bogus priests are really escaped convicts who haven't got a prayer of sidestepping a police blockade and making it across the U.S.-Canadian border -- unless they manage to successfully pass themselves off as clergymen.

This is another movie I've never seen. Rotten Tomatoes shows about 50/50 so unless you've seen it before and want to catch up, you're probably taking a chance if you decide to watch for the first time. But hey, it's Penn and DeNiro...Forgetaboutit!

The Verdict (1982)

Rated R Add to queue

A washed-up, ambulance-chasing attorney gets a chance at redemption when his friend tosses him an open-and-shut medical malpractice case. But instead of accepting an easy cash settlement, he takes the powerful defendant to court.

Recurring theme this month: I haven't seen this movie either. Having said that though, if I had to press play on any new movies this month, it would be this one. Rated 3.8 on Netflix and 96/88% on Rotten Tomatoes, The Verdict even got an approval from Roger Ebert saying "The performances, the dialogue and the plot all work together like a rare machine."

Hot Pursuit (1987)

Rated PG-13 Add to queue

John Cusack stars as Dan, a plucky-but-unlucky prep school kid whose plans to join his girlfriend, Lori, on a Caribbean cruise go haywire when he misses the flight. To catch up, he'll have to foil pirates, drug runners and other shady islanders. And unfortunately for Dan, finding Lori doesn't put an end to all the high jinks. This entertaining comedy also features Robert Loggia, Jerry Stiller and Ben Stiller.

Again, never seen it but the plot sound ridiculous enough to work for an action comedy. Loggia and the Stiller boys would seal it for me to give it a try even though its 3.1 on Netflix and just 47% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

New adds this month also include Mel Brook's To Be Or Not To Be, the campy horror flick Reanimator, and the prehistoric Quest For Fire starring Ron Perlman.

'80s Pop Twenty
Here are the 20 most popular '80s movies currently available on Netflix and their location on the previous month's countdown. Netflix dropped just two in the top 20, but with not that many adds, the top 12 didn't change.

1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (9th consecutive month)
2. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (no change)
3. Das Boot: Director's Cut (no change)
4. Good Morning, Vietnam (no change)
5. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (no change)
6. Manhunter (no change)
7. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (no change)
8. The Thin Blue Line (no change)
9. Clue (no change)
10. Trading Places (no change)
11. Day of the Dead (no change)
12. Romancing the Stone (no change)
13. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (+1)
14. The Cook, Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (+2)
15. Heathers (+2)
16. The Fox and the Hound (+2)
17. Labyrinth (+2)
18. Stand By Me (+2)
19. The Dark Crystal (new)
20. Pretty in Pink (new)

Removed from Netflix was The Burbs and Adventures in Babysitting.

Just missed...

Here's a movie that just missed the '80s that is newly available.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze (1991)
Rated PG Add to queue
Crack reporter April O'Neil does a story on Professor Perry and his efforts to uncover toxic waste, and from this, the evil Shredder concludes ooze is what gives the ninja turtles their power. So, he gets his hands on some of the toxic junk and creates dangerous mutants of his own. Armed with Professor Perry's anti-mutant antidote, it's up to the crime-fighting turtles and a pizza delivery boy to conquer these mutants.
I remember seeing this in the theater and loving it! C'mon, who didn't like the "Ninja Rap" back in '91? Did I wish Tokka and Rahzar were Beebop and Rocksteady? Yes, but hearing Shredder say "they're babies!" made up for it.

If you've missed a previous month's post, check the Netflix '80s Fix archive. Some featured titles could still be available to stream. Also, feel free to comment with any movies or shows you've recently rediscovered.

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