It’s natural to want to remember the good things from our past, regardless of where you’re at in your life. I’ve loved movies since I was four, and I love that I can pinpoint the age when it all happened. However, I admit I tend to be in the present vortex when it comes to them; I focus on films that are coming up and ones that are just a few years old. Every now and then I’ll think about to the movies I saw as a kid, and I’ll have a few fond memories. That’s how I normally operate.

Without going in too deep or boring y'all too much, things in my life have been a little rocky going on a couple of years now. Lately, if there’s anything good or positive around, I’ll latch onto it. Hard times equals remembering better days which can either help me or make me heartbroken that things couldn’t stay the same. The only time thinking back brings me absolute joy is when I remember movies I treasured as a kid. I’m referring to those days when you get home after school and you munch down half of the Little Debbie’s brownie two-pack, just to save the other half as you pop in a VHS of your then-favorite movie. I remember stress eating that snack pack while I watched Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves for the fifth time that week. Combining the aspect of putting on a physical copy of a film with the comfort of being home under some blankets is my absolute zen. My happy place. My time to not let negativity out there or even within come out. “To hell with you, demons. I’m watching a movie.”

From being a child to a teenager to a childish adult to a less childish adult (kind of), and from VHS tapes to laserdiscs to DVDs to Blu-rays, watching movies in the comfort of my home has been a genuine saving grace. So this is my tribute to the ones that got me through as a kid.

“I have always liked...Cowabunga.”

Raise your hand if you too made a giant turtle out a cardboard box! (Hey, not everyone could afford the real thing) The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were a colossal part of my childhood as they were for countless others during the early 90’s. The 1987 animated kids show, born from a comic that was actually pretty dark, featured the action-packed saga of four brothers and their master as they kicked evil’s ass and ate pizza. But wait... they were also turtles and a rat? “Forget it-- take all the money in my piggy bank. It’s yours”.

I had the tapes, the toys, and even the cookies. The Ninja Turtles were a breakout hit, so naturally, a big-screen movie was summoned. And let’s face it, movies that are born out of murky lakes of merchandising don’t really have to be of sound quality, they just have to keep kids entertained and push out more toys in 80 minutes or less. I don’t think kids or parents were expecting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to be anything more than fluff, nor do I think they were expecting it to be live-action. My six-year-old-self ate this up and then some. I walked around the house quoting it nearly word for word (especially Donatello), adored the movie poster (it still gives me goosebumps), and was convinced for awhile that the sequel was just as good. As I got older and wiser, even I knew there was something about the first cinematic incarnation of the Turtles that lingered within me. After sitting down with my Blu-ray - 15 years since last seeing it - I realized what it was, like a snap of my fingers: this has stayed with me because the filmmakers treated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles like an actual film.