'To All the Boys 2: P.S. I Still Love You.' Yes, 'Adventures in Babysitting' is a Real and Amazing Movie

By Kate Hudson | Film | February 16, 2020 |

By Kate Hudson | Film | February 16, 2020 |

One of the most galling aspects of getting older is that sometimes the favorite movies of your youth are regarded as kicky, nostalgic throwbacks. It’s unavoidable, especially when it comes to the teen movies of the ’80s and ’90s because those were the years for those types of movies, although Netflix’s originals are getting within the ballpark, and I’m pleasantly surprised. Yes, I am 35, but I’m not sure you ever really escape those high school years, especially if you were raised on a steady diet of 90210 and Molly Ringwald.

Which leads me to why we’re here today—Adventures in Babysitting. I love this movie. Seeing it in the Totem theaters in Anchorage Alaska in 1987 with my mom and a teenage family friend is one of my earliest and fondest memories (because I had a “cool mom”, read: a young mom, who would take the Mormon teenage girls in our church to go see PG-13 teen movies when their own moms wouldn’t.) I watch this movie a lot. Like, a lot a lot. If you were to estimate I watched this four times a year, I’d quickly agree with you because maybe it’s kind of weird the more accurate guess is 7 times a year and I don’t need to tell you my business like that.

via GIPHY

Last week Kevin Smith tweeted at Dustin (King Pajiba, to you (Publisher’s Note: 👀) that his was the review he was most looking to for his movie Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. Which is cool and all, but you know what made me lose my shit? Keith “Dishes are Done, Man” Coogan was the one who alerted Smith to the review:

I’ll be honest: @pajiba was the only review of #JayAndSilentBobReboot I’ve been dying to read! Dustin was a fan of Clerks II, and Reboot is the most Clerks II-ish movie I’ve made since… Well, Clerks II. Was happy to read this on the shitter this morning! Thanks, @keithcoogan! https://t.co/ojXyrwWcQQ

— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) February 9, 2020

Friends, Keith Coogan is one of the stars of Adventures in Babysitting. He plays Brad Anderson, the dorky teenage boy, along with his sister Sara (Maia Brewton) and his horn dog friend, Darryl Coopersmith (Anthony Rapp) that Chris Parker (Elisabeth Shue) is tasked with babysitting the night everything goes off the rails, when hijinks ensure and yes, love blossoms.

Who is Chris Parker, you might ask? Only the coolest person, ever. She was also responsible for the greatest opening scene to a movie of all time, which was emulated in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: P.S. I Still Love You. Here, watch for yourself.

I have a Pavlovian response whenever I hear “Then He Kissed Me” that makes me want to dance due largely in part to this movie and that opening scene, which again, is one of the best opening credits scenes of all time. Yes, I will fight you on this. Apparently the people behind To All the Boys 2: P.S. I Still Love You agree, because out of all the movies they could have paid homage to, they chose Adventures in Babysitting. The best.

via GIPHY

Look. I’m going to say this plainly because I could talk about Adventures in Babysitting for hours—if you haven’t seen this movie, you need to. The soundtrack is killer. The cast is amazing. It even has a superhero in it for all you Marvel fans—and all I can tell you is that Chris Hemsworth is not who I think of when I think of Thor.

If none of that convinces you, well, I can only share this scene, which may be one of my favorites:

So I’ll leave you with this—nobody gets out of this post without watching the movie.