This week I give you a classic John Cusack film: 1985’s Better Off Dead. The first of his two movies with director “Savage” Steve Holland, and probably my favorite, Better Off Dead tells the tale of down-on-his-luck Lane Meyer. Lane’s beautiful and popular girlfriend, Beth (Amanda Wyss), has just broken up with him for jerk ski jock Roy Stalin (Aaron Dozier). He begins thinking of elaborate ways to kill himself, only to fail miserably in the execution.

In addition to dealing with Stalin, who constantly goads Lane until he throws down a challenge to ski one of the most dangerous slopes in the area, Lane has to contend with his bizarre family, his crazy neighbors, and the overly persistent paperboy. In the midst of all this, Lane manages to find someone he can truly connect with: his wacko neighbors’ French exchange student, Monique (Diane Franklin). She shows him that there’s more to life than Beth and helps him stand up for himself and realize he has the confidence to beat 12 Roy Stalins at their own game.

Better Off Dead was always one of my favorite movies growing up. I can’t tell you how many times I heard “I want my TWO DOLLARS!” around my household. Not only did my brother and I recite the film’s more famous quotes, so did my parents. Of course, I have two of the coolest parents in existence, but that’s beside the point. If you’ve never seen this movie, you should run out and rent it right now. I promise, you won’t regret it.

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Well, hello, Popdose! My name’s Kelly and I’m the new kid on the block. A few of you might know me as the writer of the almost-defunct blog Looking at Them. I’m very excited to bring my favorite feature from my blog, Soundtrack Saturday, to Popdose. With Soundtrack Saturday, I plan to bring you rare, obscure, out-of-print, never-in-print, and just plain fun soundtracks from some of my favorite movies. I’ll be starting out with some of the soundtracks that were most popular with Looking at Them’s readers. Then I’ll be moving on to new territory. I hope you enjoy!

I’ve decided to kick things off with the soundtrack that I’ve gotten the most requests for and e-mails about: Real Genius. This 1985 film stars Val Kilmer as Chris Knight, a brilliant but not quite serious student at a Cal Tech-type university. His new roommate is 15-year-old Mitch Taylor, one of the youngest students ever accepted to the university, played by Gabe Jarret. They’re assigned to work on developing a powerful laser for their demanding professor, Dr. Hathaway (William Atherton), who has made a deal to give the laser to the government for military uses. Between dealing with obnoxious kiss-ass Kent (Robert Prescott), getting to know the brilliant man who lives in their closet, and handling their grueling studies, Chris and Mitch form a unique friendship. The chemistry amongst the cast, which also includes Jon Gries, Michelle Meyrink, and Patti D’Arbanville, is outstanding, and the film is well executed by director Martha Coolidge. In my opinon, this is one of Val Kilmer’s best movies.

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