🎬 Listen up, darlings—Ms. Rizzlerina is here to dazzle, deliver, and dish out some cinematic sparkle you never knew you needed! This summer, toss your Marvel re-runs in the glitter drawer, because we’re hopping into a time machine set to 1985, and baby—it’s not just about The Goonies and Back to the Future anymore. Oh no, we’re unearthing 12 fabulously forgotten flicks from the summer that turned scrunchies into high fashion and made power ballads a personality trait.
Now before you clutch your pearls and say, “But Ms. Rizzlerina, weren’t these movies total box office busts?”—yes, sugarplum, they were. But hear me out: some things, much like shoulder pads and leg warmers, only reveal their brilliance with time. So polish your VHS player (or, ya know, queue up your streaming apps), because we’re diving headfirst into the misunderstood, the mis-marketed, and the madly magnificent treasures of Summer ’85. 🌟
💅 Let’s start with the cheeky gem that is My Science Project. Think Stranger Things meets RadioShack—with floppy disks, lightning bolts, and alien time warps thrown in for good measure. It flopped harder than a wet perm back in the day, but honey, the retro vibes and synth-fueled chaos are giving major after-school cult classic realness.
✨ And can we pour one out (preferably a strawberry wine cooler) for Creator? Starring the silver-maned maestro Peter O’Toole, this romantic sci-fi fantasy serves up mad scientist meets tender love story. The tone? Wackier than a disco at Dolly Parton’s, but criminally charming, darling!
Now buckle up, because here’s where things get spicy. We’re talking about movies that were sabotaged by bad trailers, wrong marketing, or—brace yourselves—a public who just wasn’t ready for that level of drama and dazzle. Case in point: The Legend of Billie Jean. Box office? Meh. But aesthetic? Punk princess justice warrior realness. Helen Slater with that Joan of Arc haircut? Iconique. Forget what the critics said—they clearly didn’t understand the assignment.
💋 And how about Fletch? Yes, that’s right, the Chevy Chase deep-cut dramedy that’s equal parts jazzy mystery and zany disguise party. Audiences didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or call the fashion police—but decades later, its layered wit and chaotic charm hit harder than a TikTok trend with a conspiracy theory twist.
Of course, we can’t skip Real Genius, starring a youthful, smirky Val Kilmer before he became Batman or danced with Top Gun danger. This film is basically Revenge of the Nerds if it were directed by a cool substitute teacher with IQ AND vibes. It bombed quietly at the time, but it aged into a cult snack that pairs brilliantly with pizza and pineapple LaCroix.
🎤 Now here’s the tea, my fabulous cinephiles: these films didn’t flop because they were bad—they flopped because they were before their time, misunderstood by studios, or victimized by a crowded landscape where every dollar was chasing Spielberg’s shadow. But as all true divas know, sometimes the world just needs a few decades to appreciate greatness.
So consider this your glimmering invitation to host an ‘85 Movie Night Extravaganza. Think shoulder-padded glam, microwave popcorn, a jean jacket or two—and this forgotten dozen lighting up your screen like a neon jukebox.
Because as any true diva knows, being forgotten doesn’t mean you didn’t sparkle. It just means you’re a diamond waiting to be rediscovered, darling.
💫 Stay fabulous and keep the reels rolling,
Ms. Rizzlerina
