Blasts from the Past (Not the Movie)

I recently watched a film about body switching called The Change Up.  The movie starred Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, Olivia Wilde, and Leslie Mann among many others.  The plot can be summed up fairly easily in “Two guys wish that they had each other’s lives while relieving themselves in a fountain.  They wake up the next day to find that their wish came true.”  I know, it’s an innovative plot.

Watching The Change Up led me to another thought.  I love the resurgence of 1980s movie stars in more modern television and film.  There’s something about having these actors and actresses around that, in my opinion, makes things more enjoyable.  Here are a few examples.

Let’s start with the man that brought this thought about: Jason Bateman.  Jason Bateman was known in the 1980s for the television show Valerie, and the movie Teen Wolf 2.  Maybe they aren’t the best work out there but they are what I can point out that he was in.  He was also a recurring character in Silver Spoons.  He’d been doing mostly lesser parts for the next decade until 2003 when a new television show aired.  Arrested Development lasted three seasons and made Jason Bateman a wanted commodity.  Now he’s been in stuff like Hancock, Juno, Horrible Bosses, and Up in the Air.  I, for one, like him as an actor in almost everything I’ve seen him in so I am glad he’s back.

Rob Lowe was a part of the Brat Pack having been in The Outsiders, Class, and St. Elmo’s Fire. Then he did Wayne’s World.  He was also featured in the television mini-series of Stephen King’s The Stand.  After that, Rob Lowe was in bit parts in movies just because he was known from the 80s.  That was until he was on The West Wing from 1999 until 2006. He is now a solid tv actor having also been in Brothers and Sisters and now having a starring role on Parks and Recreation.

Robert Downey Jr.  Need I say more?

Two actors a little on the lower end are Wil Wheaton and Anthony Michael Hall.  Wheaton was in Stand By Me, and Anthony Michael Hall was a brat pack member who was in The Breakfast Club, and Weird Science.  Both have become notable television actors.  Anthony Michael Hall starred in the tv series based on the Stephen King novel, The Dead Zone.  He has also been in two or three episodes of Community as Mike, a school bully.  Wil Wheaton is a recurring actor on many television series including playing himself on The Big Bang Theory.

All of these actors came from the 80s and have had reinvigorated careers as of lately.  They each shine in their own way and bring something that I’m not sure many others would bring.  I like to see them around.