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There are some movies that define generations. The 80s - what a decade. What defined them? The Breakfast Club? That can certainly be placed in the category of generation-defining. John Hughes created an epic of teenage proportions with that one. Naturally we can't forget Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Lost Boys, and of course The Goonies. But one film that people seem to forget about until it's brought up is the greatness that is Chris Columbus' first directorial effort, Adventures in Babysitting.

With all of the other big teen flicks that came out of the 1980s, it's easy to overlook a gem of a cult classic like Adventures in Babysitting. It's a classic case of "from bad to worse," forcing the audience to suspend reality for a while to believe that everything that happens to this band of kids could actually happen; but as we've done for many years and many films before, we do, and the result is just what we need.

As young Chris Parker prepares for her date, her boyfriend suddenly cancels on her and she's left with nothing to do. Naturally she agrees to babysit and make some extra cash, and is soon looking after a young girl and her on-the-cusp-of-puberty brother. One of Chris' girlfriends calls and desperately needs Chris' help, for she's trapped at a bus station and is scared to death, what with all the creepy people around. Against her better judgment, Chris takes the kids and one of their friends and hightails it to the big city in search of her stranded girlfriend. But a Playboy magazine and a flat tire later make this simple trip to the city one big adventure involving the Mafia and superheroes.

Chris Columbus has always had a knack for making his films family friendly but memorable for everyone else. Seriously, who doesn't miss a simpler time when Home Alone was the funniest thing you've ever seen? And how can one not love Adventures? It's safe enough for the younger kids, which is how many of us saw it, but great enough for the older ones to not only appreciate it but embrace it as a benchmark of the 80s. The crazy, over-the-top scenarios of the film, like most of his other films, just enhance what makes it so darn loveable.

And why do we care? Because we all wish something this cool or fun had happened to us while we were either babysitting or getting babysat. My babysitter gave me putty to play with. How cool would it have been to be hanging on the side of a glass building avoiding mobsters, all the while trying not to be seen by your parents inside the glass building - and not plunge to your death? Totally cool, that's how cool! Throw in a mix of notable, trivia-worthy actors like Elisabeth Shue, Bradley Whitford, and of course Vincent D'Onofrio all doing some of their earliest work, a wild night of desperation to get home, and a first-time director and you get a classic of a film that'll bring back all those blissful memories of youth.

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