'Die Hard,' 'Beaches,' 'Rain Man' (Photo: Everett Collection)
"Die Hard" (July 15, 1988). As his groundbreaking television dramedy "Moonlighting" (co-starring Cybill Shepherd) was in its death throes, Bruce Willis was making a floundering transition to the big screen, with dead-on-arrival comedies like "Blind Date." Then he made a 360-degree turn into pure unadulterated action and ironically got typecast as an action hero for years. In this first of a series, Willis waged a one-embittered-cop war against bank robbers disguised as terrorists, memorably led by Alan Rickman. The thriller, based on Roderick Thorp's novel "Nothing Lasts Forever," was almost a vehicle for Frank Sinatra and later Arnold Schwarzenegger. Just in time for its silver anniversary, sequel No. 4, "A Good Day to Die Hard," brings in McClane Jr. (or actually Jack, played by Australian actor Jai Courtney) with Dad for Valentine's Day. Yippee-ki-yay.
"Rain Man" (Dec. 16, 1988). The year 1988 was a danged good one for notable dramas. This Oscar winner, starring Tom Cruise as a car dealer and Dustin Hoffman as his hitherto-unknown savant brother, was a generational hand-off of sorts from one leading man to another. The film combined a number of movie themes — inheritance, coming-of-age and road trip tropes — but also publicized autism at a time when the neurodevelopmental disorder was becoming more widely diagnosed.
"Scrooged" (Nov. 23, 1988). Contemporary holiday classics are hard to come by, and frankly, another remake of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" is kind of a cheat, since they're guaranteed at least to be revived in an annual debate on who's the best Scrooge. Bill Murray as a TV executive in need of ghostly interventions got mixed reviews from critics, but the film has proved to survive the passing of Yuletides.
Honorable 2013 silver anniversary mentions
- "The Accidental Tourist" (Dec. 23, 1988)
- "The Accused" (Oct. 14, 1988)
- "Beaches" (Dec. 21, 1988)
- "Beetlejuice" (March 30, 1988)
- "Big" (June 3, 1988)
- "Big Top Pee-Wee" (July 22, 1988)
- "Bright Lights, Big City" (April 1, 1988)
- "Bull Durham" (June 15, 1988)
- "Coming to America" (June 29, 1988)
- "Cocktail" (July 29, 1988)
- "Dangerous Liaisons" (Dec. 21, 1988)
- "Eight Men Out" (Sept. 1, 1988)
- "A Fish Called Wanda" (July 15, 1988)
- "Gorillas in the Mist" (Sept. 23, 1988)
- "Hairspray" (Feb. 26, 1988)
- "The Last Temptation of Christ" (Aug. 12, 1988)
- "Mississippi Burning" (Dec. 9, 1988)
- "Mystic Pizza" (Oct. 12, 1988)
- "Police Story 2" (Aug. 20, 1988 Hong Kong)
- "School Daze" (Feb. 12, 1988)
- "Stand and Deliver" (April 1, 1988)
- "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (Feb. 5, 1988)
- "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (June 22, 1988)
- "Willow" (May 20, 1988)
- "Working Girl" (Dec. 20, 1988)