Cast: Richard Donner (Director, Producer); Steven Spielberg (Story, Executive Producer); Chris Columbus (Screenplay); Frank Marshall (Executive Producer); Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, Martha Plimpton, John Matuszak, Robert Davi, Joe Pantoliano, Anne Ramsey, Lupe Ontiveros, Mary Ellen Trainor
What It’s About: A group of friends from the wrong side of the tracks (“The Goonies”) stumble on a treasure map that just might allow them to save their neighborhood-or lead them to their deaths in the booby-trapped caves below their town. That is, if the family of bank robbers they stumble upon doesn’t get them first.
Why Watch it Today?: Today is National Inventor’s Day (thanks Ronnie) and one of the more memorable members of the gang is Data (Jonathan Ke Quan), whose inventions work-some of the time. The Goonies is good 80s fun, taking the Rube Goldberg Death Traps from Raiders of the Lost Ark and putting them in a more kid friendly context, with a cast of actors who would go on to greater things.
Other Choices: The Prestige, A Grand Day Out, Gremlins, The Curse of the Wererabbit, A Close Shave
The League of Dead Films 
I don’t know if I thought any movie was cooler than this when I was a kid. I loved it. I watched it a million times.
Question: could someone get away with the depiction of the asian kid or the fat kid in a movie now?
Maybe? I don’t watch a lot of current kid stuff. If not, it would probably be more PC, but actually worse-the movie clearly loves those kids
I agree–the stereotypes are ‘loving’. Even of the circus freak. I just can’t get over how many parts of that movie wouldn’t fly now.
It is a good thing Rudy was too young to ruin that one.
Did he ruin other things?
LOTR!
I am not sure I blame him, rather than PJ’s complete inability to be subtle.