The Weekly Links: 'Batman' Turns 25, New 'Super Mario Bros.' World Record, 'Gremlins' Easter Egg

'80s '80s '80s...I'm living in the '80s!!! Time to wrap up another great week of nostalgia with The Weekly Links! Lucky for you I keep good notes and organize them in my Trapper Keeper. Remember those handy conversion charts on the Trapper Keeper folders when they tried to push the metric system on us? Least it gave us an excuse to use our Trapper Keepers even more.

Here's what I learned this past week:

• I heard doves cry on Wednesday when the Purple Rain soundtrack turned 30.
• Phil Collins apparently takes the phrase "remember the Alamo" very seriously.
• There are some weird objects in the world of Dungeons and Dragons. The "wand of misplaced objects" sounds like a good one for an infomercial.
• They almost put monkeys in Gremlin's costumes before they went with puppets.
• There are many different ways to pay tribute to Tim Burton's Batman film turning 25.
• Fast Times at Ridgemont High was based on a book. "The book was better" said no Phoebe Cates fan ever.
• "The Hoff" is trying to revive his career in the UK...and will film it.
• After being shot over 30 years ago, the swordsmen from Raiders of the Lost Ark has passed away.

The Video of the Week was one I discovered on Reddit and featured in a blog post this past Saturday. It's a mini-documentary on the video game crash of 1983 and debunks the myth that a handful of games like E.T. was the sole purpose for the industry collapse. I've always felt the games carry way too much of the blame and this is the best video I've found to back it up.

TWL Video of the Week

"Rev. Rob Presents: The True Causes of the Video Game Crash of 1983"

Movies

30 Facts About The Karate Kid - mental_floss
Viva ‘Top Secret!’ Why 1984′s Bomb Should Be A Blueprint For Today’s Spoofs - UPROXX

'National Lampoon's Vacation': Could It Happen Today? - Yahoo! Movies

30 Things We Love About…RAD! - Cult Film Club
MGM Is Still Trying to Reboot WarGames - io9
30 Years Later… Bet You Never Noticed This About GREMLINS. - Team Hellions
Which "Back To The Future" Character Are You? - BuzzFeed Rewind
Fox Rebooting 'Predator' With Shane Black - Yahoo Movies!

15 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Tim Burton’s ‘Batman’ On Its 25th Anniversary - UPROXX

Watch a 15-Year-Old Jennifer Connelly Audition for ‘Labyrinth’ - Flavorwire

26 Magical Facts You Probably Never Knew About "Labyrinth" - BuzzFeed Rewind

TV

This '80s Synth Version Of The "Game Of Thrones" Theme Is Ridiculously Good - BuzzFeedRewind

Here’s Why The Voice Actors From The ’80s ‘Transformers’ Cartoons Seem So Familiar - UPROXX

Video Games

Super Mario Bros. Beaten In Under Five Minutes, A New World Record - Kotaku

The new Atari goes digital with its back catalog - Polygon

'The Story of the ZX Spectrum in Pixels' Book Hits Kickstarter - RetroCollect

Music

Flashback: Pearl Jam Dress Up Like Devo, Cover 'Whip It' - Rolling Stone

What Happened The Night Bon Jovi Met Michael Jackson - Billboard

Aimee Mann of the '80s: You're My Dream Girl - New Times Broward Palm Beach

Joe Satriani Reflects on 30 Years of Mind-Bending Guitar Daredevilry - Rolling Stone

You're the Best Around: The Greatest Movie Anthems of the '80s - Yahoo! Movies

Casey Kasem Reached The Stars: A Tribute - Billboard

George Michael's 7 Biggest Hits - Do You Remember

Culture

8 Items from the 1985 Montgomery Ward’s Catalog We Wish Were Still for Sale - mental_floss

32 Essential Toys Every '80s Preschooler Kid Had - BuzzFeed Rewind
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Ultimate Visual History [Review] - Strange Kids Club
This Comic-Con Exclusive Features Classic Transformers At Their Cutest - io9
10 Reasons Aerobics In The 1980s Was Crazy Awesome - Anaorak
Lego Ghostbusters Ecto-1 30th Anniversary Set hits the shelves - Retro To Go
Everything You Wanted In The '80s Was A Prize On Double Dare - Kotaku
Young Christian Bale Rocking the 1980s Like a Champ - GeekTyrant