1985, Warner Bros., 90 min, USA, Dir: Tim Burton

The ’80s were precarious. If you weren’t careful you could be forced to feel sorry for the yuppie ratsticks in WALL STREET or find yourself actually rooting for egomaniacal Jerry Lewis to free himself in KING OF COMEDY. But the decade triumphantly launched PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE, the movie that lionizes the 90-pound weakling and propelled Tim Burton and Danny Elfman into the goth cinematic darkosphere. Part caper, part road movie, PEE-WEE is an homage inside a tour-de-france with every kitsch genre mined to full potential. It's the story of a lovable weirdling (Paul Reubens) who lives alone with just his beloved bicycle. When the bike is stolen, Pee Dub rightly suspects his bratty neighbor Francis (Mark Holton), but Francis has paid a thug to ditch the bike and the chase is on all the way to the basement of the Alamo. Drunken bikers, a ghostly lady trucker and Godzilla all show up with madcap consequences. '80S WARNING: This movie contains James Brolin being ironically hilarious. No one will be seated during Twisted Sister.

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