Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Everyone remembers this film for stoner slacker Spicoli (Sean Penn), although he's very much the secondary character to all the ensemble drama around him.

Amy Heckerling's first film, based on the non-fiction book by Cameron Crowe (in which he posed as a high school senior for inspiration), is never quite as perfect as my memory of it purports to be, but it certainly captures the wild zeitgeist of American culture in the '80s. It's an iconic coming-of-age comedy with mammorable performances from Jennifer Jason Leigh and Phoebe Cates.

4 fapus interruptus out of 5

National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985)

Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo return, while the rest of the cast gets a shakeup (a running gag that continues throughout the series). The Griswolds win an all-expense-paid trip to Europe and we're off to the races. This film is noticeably rougher compared to its predecessor, and the jokes are broader, but it's still fun to see the Griswolds causing carnage across the world, from Chicago to London, Paris, West Germany and Rome. I don't know why this stuff tickles me so. To see someone trying so hard and failing is relatable, I guess.

3½ unlucky bike riders out of 5

Clueless (1995)

This is a movie that will always be elevated by my own nostalgia, but I still think it's pretty good for what it is.  Cher is too obviously ditzy and most of its cast is underdeveloped, but there's some genuinely great dialogue here, and it's one of the better modern adaptations of a classic I've seen.

It's not as smart as some of Amy Heckerling's other films, but it's not as dumb as its leading characters often are. The fictional slang is especially well crafted. If you can get past the annoying tendencies of the leads and the fact that the love interests are former step-siblings, it's a pretty fun movie. Paul Rudd will forever make me swoon.

3 virgins who can't drive out of 5.