Sleigh bells are ringing, snow is flying and temperatures are dropping. One of my favorite activities on a cold, snowy day is watching a movie in a cozy theater.
December 1987 is a good month for movies filled with comedies, action and Academy Award winning epics.
Put another log on the fire and let’s look at the movies on the silver screen in December 1987.
Movies from December 1987
Eddie Murphy Raw
Last month we saw the movie debut of Eddie Murphy. In five short years he starred in eight movies, a TV stand-up special on HBO and was a starring cast member on Saturday Night Live.
I’m a big fan of Murphy and his stand-up comedy. But this isn’t his best bit. The jokes are good but not great. There’s some call back to his last stand-up on HBO as well.
When I think of Eddie Murphy stand-up I picture him in the bright red leather suit. That special was Eddie Murphy Delirious, which aired on HBO in 1983. I think Delirious is a better show than Raw.
Eddie Murphy Raw was a big hit at the box office making over $51 million. If you like Murphy’s comedy you’ll enjoy this one.
You can watch Eddie Murphy Raw on Netflix.
Overboard
This is a great comedy starring two of the best actors from the 80s, Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. Overboard was directed by Garry Marshall and produced by Roddy McDowall.
Hawn plays a spoiled heiress, Joanna who hires a local carpenter, Dean (Russel) to remodel her closet while her yacht is docked. Joanna refuses to pay for the remodel and throws Dean and his tools into the water.
As the yacht sails away during the night Joanna loses her balance and falls overboard. She is rescued but has amnesia. Dean see’s her story on the news and decides to get his revenge. He goes to the hospital and claims Joanna is his wife.
She moves in with Dean and his four sons and enters a life of much different from her upscale socialite lifestyle. She is now cleaning, cooking and taking care of four crazy boys all day long.
Will Joanna and Dean fall in love? Or will she get her memory back and leave him? You better watch and find out.
The movie received mixed reviews from critics. It wasn’t a big hit at the box office. Overboard made a little over $26 million on a $22 million budget.
Hawn and Russell have great chemistry in this movie. Maybe it’s because they were a real-life couple at this point. They started dating in 1983 and are still together today.
I enjoy this movie and over the years it’s become a cult classic. If you haven’t seen it, you should.
You can watch Overboard on HBO Max.
Moonstruck
I never saw this in the theater. It wasn’t a rental either. In fact the first and only time I’ve seen this movie was a month ago during Thanksgiving week. My mom and mother-in-law were in town and one of them turned on this movie.
It’s a decent movie. Cher plays a widow with graying hair, her character is 37. I guess that was old in 1987. She is engaged to Danny Aiello but then meets his brother played by and up-and-coming Nicholas Cage.
Cher and Cage fall in love and she decides to marry him instead. There’s some side stories with Cher’s parents too.
Cher was nominated and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for this role. While she does a good job I would have given the Oscar to Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction.
Moonstruck made over $80 million at the box office. Placing it at number 5 for the highest grossing movies of 1987.
You can watch Moonstruck on Tubi.
Wall Street
An Oliver Stone movie starring Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen and Daryl Hannah.
This movie encapsulates the 80s Yuppie culture perfectly. Gordon Gekko (Douglas) is a great villain who lies, cheats and steals to get what he wants. No matter who it hurts, or destroys.
Greed, … is good
Bud Fox (Sheen) is a young, naive stockbroker from a blue collar family trying to gain his riches on Wall Street. Fox admires Gekko and quickly spirals into a world of insider trading and shady dealing to gain his wealth.
Wall Street is a great movie with a successful box office run. It made over $34 million on a $16 budget. Critics gave it high marks too. Roger Ebert gave it three and half out of four stars.
It wasn’t without behind-the-scenes turmoil though. Stone admits he should have fired Daryl Hannah but his pride got in the way and tried to make Hannah fit the role. Stone was also warned against hiring Micheal Douglas for the part. In an interview Stone recalled “I was warned by everyone in Hollywood that Michael couldn’t act, that he was a producer more than an actor and would spend all his time in his trailer on the phone.”
Douglas would go on to prove everyone wrong. He was nominated and won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the role of Gordon Gekko.
You can watch Wall Street on Tubi.
Good Morning, Vietnam
This is another great comedy for the month. Maybe the best comedy of the month.
It’s pure Robin Williams. There was a script for the movie but not the entire movie. All the radio DJ scenes are Williams doing improv and it couldn’t be better. I don’t think any other comedian could have played this role.
Williams has a knack for comedy and it’s always coming at you like a machine gun. Once he gets started there’s no stopping.
Good Morning, Vietnam lets Williams loose with his comedy while also telling a great story set during the Vietnam War.
If you like Robin Williams’ comedy this movie is for you. When he’s on the radio talking to the troops he shines. It’s a great comedy that everyone will enjoy.
Good Morning, Vietnam was a smash hit making over $123 million at the box office. Putting it at the number 4 spot for highest grossing movie of 1987. Robin Williams was nominated a Best Actor Academy Award but lost to Michael Douglas.
Other movies released in December 1987
Here are the rest of the movies released in December 1987. Like December 1982 there are some big movies on the list I should watch at some point but probably never will.
After the disaster of Stop, Or My Mom will Shoot, I couldn’t bring myself to watch Throw Momma from the Train. I’ve heard good things about *batteries not included too.
Leonard Part 6 confused me. Was there five other movies I needed to watch before part 6? I don’t think I’ll ever watch it.
I remember the ads for The Last Emperor. It wasn’t high on my list and still isn’t. It was however an Oscar powerhouse. The Last Emperor was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won them all!
Empire of the Sun is a Steven Spielberg movie. I saw parts of this on TV in the late 80s but not the entire movie.
Broadcast News is another one I’ve heard is worth watching. Guess I better add a few more movies to my watch list.
Tell me in the comments if there’s anything I should watch.
What are your favorites from December 1987?
Let us know in the comments below. Or you can tag us on Twitter. The main channel is @TRNSocial and I’m @MileHighSamurai
Next time we’ll look at December 1992.
Until then the balcony is closed.
Check out the previous installments of
1982 Friday Flix | 1987 Friday Flix | 1992 Friday Flix | 1997 Friday Flix
Throw Momma From the Train was a big deal when it came out. I watched it as a kid and didn’t think much of it. I may have to give it another watch now as an adult.
I know I’m probably in the minority, but I didn’t enjoy Good Morning Vietnam.
I thought Wall Street was great, but I’ve only see it once. I’m going to have to revisit it.
I loved Overboard when it came to rental stores, but I haven’t seen it since.
I love Wall Street. Might be my favorite move from that year. Robin Williams is brilliant in Good Morning Vietnam. Can’t remember if I saw Raw first on HBO or VHS, but after seeing Delirious I was highly anticipating it. It was very funny, but Delirious ranks a little higher for me. Of your films in the “other” category, Throw Momma From the Train is a very good dark comedy that you should check out if you never have.