Agent Palmer

The line between a film being a classic and a cult classic will sometimes blur as a film ages, but in respect to Animal House as the classic and arguably one of the best college movies ever created, PCU is a cult classic Animal House of the 90’s, brought about by the political and social climates of the time.

Even more amazing is that PCU is just as relevant in today’s political and social climates as it was when it was released back in 1994. When you think of all the things that have changed for colleges and universities, as well as America on the whole, it’s amazing how the more things change, the more they stay the same.

From the Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra, singing “Fly Me to the Moon” over the opening credits to the Board of Teldar Paper at the annual stockholders meeting where “Greed is right,” and from the showdown in Central Park to the battle of father versus mentor and the morality of Lou, it all adds up to Wall Street, a film that will always be relevant so long as there is either a stock market or someone looking to make a quick buck.

And, no, the two are not mutually exclusive.

In 1982, two years before Charles in Charge teamed up Scott Baio and Willie Aames, they were together in Zapped!, a cheesy 80’s science fiction romp if ever there was one.

It had everything a teen 80’s movie required: a heartthrob as the lead character Barney Springboro played by Baio, a best friend played by Willie Aames, high school drama, your standard teen angst, a crazy old wise-cracking character in Scatman Crothers as Dexter Jones, a standard Eddie Deezen playing a geek character, your typical 80’s tunes and, well, lots and lots of boobs.

On Sept. 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy addressed the United Nations General Assembly in which he can be quoted as saying, “Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident or miscalculation or by madness.”

This was three years before his assassination would move the original release date of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, which was eventually released on Jan. 29, 1964.

In the August 1980 issue of Future Life, published just three months after the release of The Empire Strikes Back, a quote appears in the science and science fiction magazine that references Empire as the “‘second act’ of a proposed nine movie Star Wars series.”

This cannot be debated as I physically have a copy of the magazine.