In Cinemas This Week - Awesome 80s Kids Film Edition!!

Two films staple to my cinematic diet back in the 80s are returning to the big-screen this weekend for a limited run around the country.

Gremlins and The Goonies.

If you grew up on them, like I did, they're both worth catching again in a cinema to bring back those great childhood memories. Although, if you're too young to remember, this is your opportunity to catch up on a couple of absolute bonafide old-school classics!

(Big cheers to SkyCity Cinemas for making this possible. Bookings can be made HERE).

Trailer (Unofficial): The Expendables

The first footage of Sylvester Stallone's star-studded action-fest The Expendables has leaked online in the form of an unofficial bootleg teaser. As far as I know there seems to be two versions doing the rounds: one's a version that was shot by an audience member at the Venice Film Festival and the other's a proper, non-shakey cam version. Either way they seem to be getting yanked off the web by Lionsgate really quickly, so better get in fast if you're itching to get a glimpse of this much-anticipated star-studded project. The trailer's only so-so and put together in a really slapdash manner. We do get to see Dolph Lundgren duking it out with Jet Li though, and it does promise a lot of bang - and cheese - for your buck.

R.I.P. John Hughes

Found out a few hours ago that director John Hughes passed away at age 59. News reports say that he suffered a heart attack during a walk in Manhattan. Hughes left behind a body of work that was one of the most iconic and influential of '80s American cinema. If you grew up in the '80s, Hughes' films served as a kind of guiding beacon throughout your years in school; they spoke to teenagers like very few films did at the time. The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller's Day Off - they're all perennial teen favourites. Planes, Trains and Automobiles - which interestingly enough we've named one of our subgenres after - is probably still one of the funniest comedies of the '80s. Hughes' biggest hit would be Home Alone, which he wrote and produced. I always thought he directed Some Kind of Wonderful, and I think most people think he did Pretty in Pink, but these common misconceptions just show how much of his distinctive voice came through even on the scripts he only penned and didn't direct. Click here to rent some of this films, and here for Variety's obituary.