Every Friday night at 7 p.m. from August 14 – November 20, the Fashion History Museum (74 Queen Street East) is screening a free fashion film essential from the 1980s to accompany our feature exhibition ‘Back to the Eighties’. The series is made possible by a grant from the Cambridge & North Dumfries Community Foundation. We have already screened Can’t Stop the Music (1980), and Pretty in Pink (1985) – coming up are:
August 28 – Mannequin (1987)
Kim Cattrall plays a blond-haired ancient Egyptian princess who is cursed to live out her life as a mannequin until true love comes along. Fast Forward to Wannamaker’s department store in 1987 Philadelphia, and the curse may be lifted forever.
Comedy (mild expletives, suggestive scenes)
September 4 – True Stories (1986)
Various quirky characters are visited in this mockumentary of a Texas town’s sesquicentennial celebrations. One of the most bizarre mall fashion shows ever! David Byrne of Talking Heads is the narrator.
Musical comedy
September 11 – Flashdance (1983)
Jennifer Beals plays a Pittsburgh welder by day and exotic dancer by night, who finds love, and auditions for a ballet company. The dancing sequences save this film, and the fad for cutting out the necklines of sweatshirts started here.
Romance (expletives, suggestive scenes)
September 18 – Earth Girls are Easy (1989)
Jeff Goldblum and Gina Davis star in this story of three hirsute aliens who splash down in an L.A. swimming pool, get a make over, fall in love and have an adventure. Fun musical sequences include ‘Cause I’m a Blonde’, and ‘Brand New You’.
Musical comedy (expletives, comedic suggestive scenes)
September 25 – Valley Girl (1983)
Two worlds totally collide when a grody Hollywood punk rocker (played by Nicholas Cage) falls for a bitchin’ mall rat from the valley.
Romance (expletives, nudity, suggestive scenes)
October 2 – Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985)
Classic teen flick that is better than most. Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt star in a tale of two girls who share a passion for dancing and want to win a contest to become regular dancers on a television dance show.
Romance/Musical comedy
October 9 – Starstruck (1982)
Australian film by Gillian Armstrong about a New Wave wannabe singing star who tries to make it big in time to save her family’s business.
Musical Comedy (expletives)
October 16 – Slaves of New York (1989)
Amusing tale of Manhattan gallery openings, fashion shows, and trendy bars filled with wannabe artists and one hat designer, played by Bernadette Peters, who is looking for her big break. A Stephen Sprouse fashion show is featured.
Comedy (expletives)
October 23 – Where the Heart Is (1989)
Dabney Coleman plays a conservative father who forces his artistic adult children to make it on their own. The tables turn in the volatile economy of the 1980s and the children end up taking in their parents. The film ends with a fashion show finale!
Comedy (expletives, nudity)
October 30 – Xanadu (1980)
Fantasy musical filmed during the winter of 1979/80 about a struggling graphic artist who opens a roller derby with the help of a Greek muse, played by Olivia Newton John, and Gene Kelly. It’s so bad its good. Xanadu and Can’t Stop the Music inspired the creation of the Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies) for bad films.
Musical fantasy comedy (two mild expletives)
November 6 – Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
A bored housewife is mistaken for a punker wanted by the mob. This is probably Madonna’s best role.
Comedy (expletives)
November 13 – Troop Beverly Hills (1989)
Shelly Long plays a Beverly Hills housewife in the middle of a divorce when she finds focus in her life by becoming the den mother of her daughter’s Wilderness Girl troop and gives the organization a makeover in the process.
Comedy
November 20 – Ruthless People (1986)
Bette Midler is held captive as the wife of a manufacturer who steals the idea for lycra miniskirts from a young designer.
Comedy (many expletives, brief nudity, suggestive scenes)