'Purple Rain' or 'Off the Wall'? An '80s fan wants your help deciding

Just got this urgent Facebook message from Stuck in the '80s listener Jennifer Reynolds. She's asking for your help. Let's not let her down!

Hey Steve and Sean. I am stuck on a purchase on amazon.com. I have a $20 gift card to spend. I've already decided on getting Michael Jackson's Thriller Deluxe Edition, but I have a few dollars left and I can't decide between the Purple Rain special edition DVD or MJ's Off the Wall deluxe album.

Can the '80s nation give me some input? Just your input would be fine, but the last time I asked for advice on whether to go to the prom or not, I didn't follow it.

-- Jennifer Reynolds

Autobots! Transform into DVDs and roll out!

Here's a radical idea: Instead of plunking down that debit card for two tickets to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen this week, use that valuable moola and pick up the newly released 25th anniversary edition of "The Transformers: The Complete First Season" instead.

Oh, I'm sure your kids won't mind. (Just remember to hide all sharp objects and matches before going to bed tonight.)

The 3-disc collection has 16 episodes from the original 1984 season, each with remastered audio. Also included are some cool special features that follow the origin of the Transformers series and some retro toy commercials. (Because your kids don't think you're a dork enough already until you wax poetically about your beloved Merlin toy.)

By the way, if you're feeling really nostalgic for your beloved autobots, wait until latter this summer. That's when the 16-disc Transformers: 25th Anniversary 'Matrix of Leadership' Edition Collector's Set is due out.

Iron Maiden's 'Flight 666' arrives on DVD

Run to the hills, headbangers: A new film documentary on Iron Maiden hits DVDs today. With the catchy title Iron Maiden: Flight 666, the flick follows the band on the first leg of its 2008 "Somewhere Back in Time" tour.

Filmmakers boast that they had total access to the band, even in the cockpit of the custom jetliner the band infamously uses on its tours. Flight 666 also was shot in high definition and surround sound.

Metalinjection.com is giving away some free copies of the DVD. Click here for details.

'Spinal Tap' comes to life onscreen in Anvil documentary

Are you dying to see Anvil, the new movie/documentary on the misfortunes of a real heavy metal band? Vegas Girlfriend, who gets all the breaks, caught its premiere up in Detroit on Saturday night. Here's her review.

How did two nice Jewish boys from Toronto become the poster children for unrealized rock 'n' roll dreams?

Anvil: The Story of Anvil tells the sad, funny and ultimately heartwarming tale of Lips (Steve Kudlow) and Robb Reiner, best friends for over 35 years who still keep hoping that they will finally become the huge metal band it looked like they would become back in 1984 when they played the Japan Super Rock Festival alongside the Scorpions, Bon Jovi and Whitesnake.

Lips is the emotional heart of the band, while Robb is the steady-as-a-rock head. A scene where they are fighting in the studio comes across as something straight out of couples counseling, with the producer as therapist.

It’s really hard not to root for the guys, as they fumble their way through a disastrous European tour, day jobs such as delivering school cafeteria trays, and always thinking that their big break may be just around the corner.

The Spinal Tap parallels are uncanny; the amps go to 11 and the band even takes a trip to Stonehenge.

The film is definitely bittersweet, and some may consider Anvil totally pathetic, but as Slash of Guns N' Roses says in the film, “There’s not many bands that have been around for over 30 years. There’s the Rolling Stones, the Who and Anvil."

I’m looking forward to getting a genuine Anvil tuque (as modeled by Lips in the movie), and finally hearing Thumb Hang, the first song Anvil ever wrote after hearing about the Inquisition in high school history class. And seeing Anvil at the Oscars for a Best Documentary nomination next year would be the greatest '80s moment since seeing Mickey Rourke there this year.

Click here to watch the movie trailer. Or click here to visit the band's official website.

[Getty Images photo]

Eight lost campy classics released on DVD

Just in time to take away the pain of Tax Day, Lionsgate today released DVDs of eight movies you've probably long forgotten from the '80s. (Though seriously, tell me you didn't forget about Hiding Out, with the great Jon Cryer!)

Dubbed "The Lost Collection," the set features some of our favorite stars from the decade in movies that didn't make quite the biggest splash in their careers. Names like Drew Barrymore, Keanu Reeves, Jim Belushi and Cryer.

Each movie is available for $14.98 and includes a "Pop-Up Trivia" track. They're available at the usual stores and online retailers, including lionsgateshop.com. (While you're there, pick up Care Bears: Cheer, There & Everywhere.) Here's the list.

IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES (1984): Ryan O'Neal, Shelley Long, Drew Barrymore. Remember Drew before she was obnoxious and overexposed? Think WAY back. "That bimbo stole my husband! They drank their lover's wine in glasses I stood in line to buy!"

MY BEST FRIEND IS A VAMPIRE (1988): Robert Sean Leonard, Rene Auberjonois. This was Leonard's first big role before The Dead Poets Society the following year. "This blood's for you."

THE NIGHT BEFORE (1988): Keanu Reeves, Lori Loughlin. Never saw this flick in the '80s, but Keanu was funny in Youngblood and Parenthood, so who knows? "Gee, am I overreacting? Well, I guess being sold into prostitution has made me a little edgy; or maybe it's the thought of almost losing my virtue to the Goodyear blimp - and then again it could be simply the sleazy feeling of vinyl against my skin."

HOMER & EDDIE (1989): Jim Belushi, Whoopi Goldberg. "Probably more unpleasant couplings are imaginable, but none springs immediately to mind," the Washington Post said about the casting of this movie, which is described as "unlikely friends who go on a rollicking road trip together." Hey, Belushi and Whoopi were good together in Jumping Jack Flash.

MORGAN STEWART'S COMING HOME (1987): Jon Cryer, Lynn Redgrave. A highly underrated Cryer movie -- aren't they all -- with a great performance by the late Paul Gleason. Cryer appeared in four movies in 1987 -- Morgan Stewart, Superman 4, Dudes and the next movie on this list. (Trailer)

HIDING OUT (1987): Jon Cryer, Annabeth Gish. "I used to be just like you: a short, horny, hopeless dork." I've always been baffled why this movie -- along with Pretty in Pink -- didn't immediately spring Cryer into stardom. Instead, it'd be almost 20 more years before TV's Two and a Half Men did the trick. (Trailer)

REPOSSESSED (1990): Leslie Nielsen, Linda Blair. A '90s movie on the list? For shame! But the plot -- about a girl who needs a repeat exorcism -- is very '80s and Naked Gun-esque. "What's going on, father? I just had to tie my wife down to the bed. I've never done anything like that before, well except for that one time when the kids were at camp." (Trailer)

SLAUGHTER HIGH (1986): Caroline Munro, Simon Scuddamore. The plot goes exactly the same as your own 10-year high school reunion. Only you don't get to murder quite so many people with sharp instruments. But how bad can the movie be? It was reviewed by Eat Horror, Fatally-Yours.com and SlasherPool.com. (Trailer)

No more words ... just a live Berlin DVD

Terri Nunn and Berlin are recording a live DVD and CD this Saturday, April 4, at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, Calif. And of course, if you're lucky enough to live out there, you can be part of the taping if you buy a couple tickets.

The double DVD/CD -- tentatively titled "Terri Nunn Featuring Berlin at the House of Blues Live" (wow, catchy) -- is expected to be available in June, according to the Berlin website.

Tickets are available online from this House of Blues link. Don't forget that Berlin is also part of the Regeneration Tour 2009, which begins in June. Sadly, no Florida or Las Vegas dates on that tour this time around, so if you want a SIT80s get-together again, it's time to officially consider alternative cities.

[Publicity photo]

Jon Cryer is 'Hiding Out' again

Jon Cryer goes from adult to high school punk again on April 14 as a new edition of his 1987 classic Hiding Out is released again on DVD. (View trailer)

The new "Lost Collection" edition of the movie (co-starring the beautiful Annabeth Gish) includes a pop-up trivia track and ... well, we're not sure what else the new version includes. It has new packaging though. ("Hey, a new box! The recession is surely over now!")

Suffice to say Hiding Out is a classic flick and probably worth the investment on DVD (if it wasn't playing on cable every other week already). But where does it rank in the great hall of Jon Cryer films of the '80s? Time to find out.

TOP 5 JON CRYER MOVIES OF THE '80s:

5. DUDES (1987): "We're talking about real life here, okay? Real life is not California. Real life is a s--t sandwich and every day you gotta take another bite."

4. NO SMALL AFFAIR (1984): "Have a girl, Chuck?" ... "No thanks, I'm full."

3. MORGAN STEWART'S COMING HOME (1987): "Home is where the heart is (slapping a rubber heart on his bedroom wall)."

2. HIDING OUT (1987): "I used to be just like you: a short, horny, hopeless dork."

1. PRETTY IN PINK (1986): "His name is Blane? Oh! That's a major appliance, that's not a name!"

Top 5 reasons to love 'Howard the Duck'

Howard the Duck, the 1986 flick by George Lucas, is perhaps the most infamous flop of the '80s. (Worse than Ishtar? Maybe.)

It nearly destroyed the career of everyone involved, particularly actror Lea Thompson, who pretty much ran screaming from Hollywood after this movie came out. (She had to be dragged into doing Some Kind of Wonderful by director/future hubby Howard Deutch.)

Still, it's beloved -- enough -- to force the release of a special edition DVD, which hit store shelves last week. Among the new features: lots of little featurettes and mini-documentaries to chronicle the history of the movie and the comic strip that inspired it.

Lest you think your own secret love of Howard should be kept secret, blogger Christopher Campbell at SpoutBlog has written a brilliant 10-point defense of Howard the Duck. Here's an abbreviated version of the top 5, along with his rationale verbatim. Please visit his excellent blog item for the full, unedited list.

TOP 5 DEFENSES OF HOWARD THE DUCK:

5. JEFFREY JONES IS A GREAT DARK OVERLORD: "Between Howard the Duck and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Jeffrey Jones was one of the biggest and best villains of the summer of ‘86. For kids, anyway."

4. PUNS AND PARALLELS: "For those of us who love corny jokes and puns, the idea of an alternate world where everything’s the same, just with descendants of ducks rather than apes, is a lot of fun."

3. THE DUCK SUIT ISN'T THAT BAD: "Those of us who grew up with Muppets, Chewbacca and other non-computer-generated fantasy creatures had no problem with Howard the Duck's titular fowl being represented as a dwarf in a duck suit."

2. THE SPECIAL EFFECTS ARE TECHNICALLY BRILLIANT: "Those of us who prefer go-motion and other non-CGI effects work will always pay respect to ILM’s achievements on Howard the Duck, particularly their efforts with the Dark Overlord creature in the movie’s final act."

1. IT'S NO LONGER THE WORST LUCASFILM PRODUCTION: "Take your pick — there's The Phantom Menace or there's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, either of which could certainly take the prize for being the worst movie to come from George Lucas in his 40 years producing films."

Coming soon ... a very special 'Mr. Belvedere'

Mr. Belvedere is finally coming to DVD. Don't worry about rushing to the store. After co-stars Christopher Hewett and Bob Uecker buy their copies, there will still be 999,998 copies gathering dust for years to come.

The TV show, based on the 1947 novel Belvedere, miraculously lasted from 1985 to 1990. In it, a British butler (Hewett) arrives in America and works for a middle-class family, led by Uecker. Cue the laughs and guffaws.

The 5-disc set has a March 17 release date and will have all of seasons one and two.

BTW, there's an unofficial Mr. Belvedere Fan Club on the Web and even a Mr. Belvedere Blog. Maybe those DVDs won't be sitting on store shelves very long after all.

[Publicity photo]

Wax ... off: The rejected '80s movie list

It's no surprise that I have an extensive library of '80s movies of DVD here in the Spears Lair. Snapping up old movies at Target, Best Buy and the like is a sickness to me. But here's the really bad part: I can't get any of my friends -- Vegas Girlfriend included -- to watch many of them with me.

Here then is the official list of ...

'80s MAINSTREAM MOVIES NOBODY WILL WATCH WITH ME:

SUMMER LOVERS (1984): Okay, it's a little creepy to watch this movie of vacationing lovers in Greece with Sean Daly, but why won't VGF watch it? "I'm not in a lesbian kind of mood right now -- maybe later," she says.

JUST ONE OF THE GUYS (1985): Who doesn't love a little gender bending? But star Joyce Hyser has a voice deeper than 90 percent of my male friends, so that probably explains it.

FLETCH (1985): This one baffles me. Great lines -- "It's all ball-bearings these days!" The ultimate guy's movie. "It's a boy movie. I've never met a woman who liked it," VGF explains.

FLASHDANCE/KARATE KID/FOOTLOOSE: The troika of flicks that can't quite be called "chick flicks" and can't be called "guy flicks." Nobody wants to claim that they've watched these movies, yet they're icons of the '80s. Poor Daniel-san. He deserves better.

THE BREAKFAST CLUB (1985): Our official theory is this: We've seen this one way too much. There's nothing left to discover. This mine has been stripped bare and needs to sit in a DVD cocoon for 10 years and then ... maybe.

VICTORY: Ah, my beloved Max von Sydow (never a bad movie ... ever!). What's not to like about a movie with soccer-loving Allied POWs in World World II? Plus, it's quite possibly the only Sly Stallone movie that's watchable post Rocky 3. Okay, VGF ... explain away. She offers none, except staring blankly at me.

Help me out, gang. What fave '80s movies do you own that nobody wants to watch?