Chasing the Magic of the 80s

Very few movies in recent years have managed to nail that magical plateau the block busters of the 1980s were able to achieve. I mean that era gave birth to the epic series of Indiana Jones and Star Wars, the brat pack of Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club, and the phenomenal children's stories of E.T. and The Goonies. And that's only naming a very select few.

I'm dying to see more of that enchanting magic in today's films. Not to say that we haven't had our own epic films in recent generations, because we definitely have. But they don't have that 80s touch. And I'm not even going to try to pretend to compare Harry Potter to anything as it's in a whole universe of its own. I mean yes it's a children's series and yes it's freaking brilliant, but (don't get me wrong - I'm a diehard fan of the series) there's something to be said about an average group of kids who stumble onto an adventure of a lessor scale than a decade-long series.

The only teen and children's movies on a smaller than HP level that I can honestly say have accomplished the great feat for me are Easy A and Super 8. They each brought back a legendary feeling that can only be achieved by brilliant writers and sensational casting. But I'm still waiting for more like these. More of that gut wrenching teen angst and more of boys' adventures that dig deep into your soul, making you want to watch them over and over again to capture that special feeling.

Recently, Hollywood seems to be set on either remaking old films or adapting best sellers to the big screen (you'll hear no complaints from me on the latter). But where is that old magic? Are screenwriters not able to understand what it was it about those 1980s movies that made them so amazing? Is it just because it was such a simple time and things weren't so complicated?

Maybe I'm just getting old and nostalgic.

What do you think?