Journalism

Just One of The Guys (1985)

When Terry Griffith (Joyce Hyser) loses her high school’s writing competition, she’s convinced that it’s because she’s a girl. So Terry decides to change high schools and pose as a boy to prove her point. Her brother, Buddy (Billy Jacoby), helps her pass as a guy so well that she is soon making friends with the boys at school, including the attractive Rick (Clayton Rohner), who becomes her new best friend. But her gender-swapping makes things difficult when she falls in love with him.

Perfect (1985)

When investigative journalist Adam Lawrence (John Travolta) is assigned to write an exposé on Los Angeles’ fitness scene, he meets aerobics instructor Jessie Wilson (Jamie Lee Curtis), whose charisma and intensity complicate his story. As Adam navigates the glitzy world of health clubs, romance sparks between him and Jessie, but their personal and professional lives soon clash in a struggle for truth and trust. Perfect offers a blend of drama, romance, and 1980s fitness culture, wrapped in a story about ambition, love, and journalistic integrity.

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Stanley Kubrick’s take on the Vietnam War follows smart-aleck Private Davis (Matthew Modine), quickly christened “Joker” by his foul-mouthed drill sergeant (R. Lee Ermey), and pudgy Private Lawrence (Vincent D’Onofrio), nicknamed “Gomer Pyle,” as they endure the rigors of basic training. Though Pyle takes a frightening detour, Joker graduates to the Marine Corps and is sent to Vietnam as a journalist, covering — and eventually participating in — the bloody Battle of Hué.

Fletch Lives (1989)

Irwin “Fletch” Fletcher (Chevy Chase) is one of the best investigative reporters in the country, and he’ll need all his skills when he becomes the main suspect in a murder case. After inheriting a Louisiana plantation from a distant relative, Fletch makes the journey from Los Angeles to check it out. When he winds up in bed with a lawyer — who in turn winds up dead the next morning — Fletch has to solve the crime before he ends up behind bars for someone else’s misdeed.