Totally awesome! It's '80s week on AMC

Time to pull a Ferris and fake the old clammy hands routine to get out of work: Beginning Sunday, it's '80s movies week on cable's AMC network. Get ready to veg out with some classic flicks from our favorite decade that you don't already own on DVD.

Aww, who am I kidding? Even if I own them, I'll still watch them again on TV. And AMC seems to know that: Most of the best movies ("Fletch," "Blues Brothers," "Vacation") are repeated at least once during the week.

And my all-time favorite flick from the underpopulated child/guerrilla genre -- "Red Dawn" -- is playing three times! "Wolverines!" I swear I watch it every time on TV. It's like finding a dollar bill on the street -- it's just an unexpected blessing to be unquestioned and savored.

I'd love to say there are no truly awful movies in the mix, but that would mean I'd have to lie about "Fletch Lives" and "Any Which Way You Can."

Click the link below for day-by-day highlights. Times shown are Eastern so check your local listings for exact time and channel:

Sunday, June 3
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (8 p.m.): It's always fun to watch the TV version of this movie to see which scenes are completely deleted and what words they substitute for the curse words.

Monday, June 4
The Lonely Guy (1:30 a.m.): Largely forgotten Steve Martin flick.
The Three Amigos (3:30 p.m.): A guilty pleasure.
National Lampoon's Vacation (8 p.m.): One of Chevy's three best flicks.

Tuesday, June 5
The Blues Brothers (11:30 a.m.): Hard to remember this is actually an '80s flick.
Fletch (8 p.m.): I dub thee Chevy's all-time best performance.

Wednesday, June 6
Stakeout (1:30 p.m.): Emilio Estevez with a mustache. Worth watching for that alone.
Red Dawn (8 p.m.): Need I say more?

Thursday, June 7
No Way Out (10:45 a.m.): Next to Untouchables, one of Costner's underrated performances.
Commando (3:45 p.m.): A nod to the action-movie fans out there.

Friday, June 8
Hoosiers (12:30 p.m.): Best ... basketball ... movie ... ever.
Black Widow (6 p.m.): Theresa Russell, you dirty dirty girl.

Saturday, June 9
Glory (1:30 p.m.): Three Oscars for this flick, including a statue for Denzel for supporting actor.

Comments

[chase]

DANG IT! "Any Which Way You Can" is a fantastic film, highly underrated.

From the opening sequence where Ray Charles and Clint Eastwood sing a duet ("Beers to You") to the musical stylings of Sondra Locke (live, tonight at the Palomino). And when the ape poops in the policeman's car? Classic.

I urge everyone to watch it again. "It's like art, sometimes you have to just let it wash over you"

Wolverines!

[Johnny B. Goode]

Red Dawn was truly an underappreciated classic. And the way Putin's been talking lately, it may have just been a couple of decades ahead of its time.