For the birds

HITCHCOCK REVISITED: The recent Hollywood edition of Vanity Fair featured one of their best photo portfolios ever, stars in famous Hitchcock scenes. Jodie Foster playing Tippi Hedron in "The Birds" is my favorite, but also great are Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem as Grace Kelly and Jimmy Stewart in "Rear Window."

Get on the bus

THE TIME OF THE SEASON: I've always loved these old VW buses. If only my parents had one so I could've inherited it and drove it until it died, I would've been thrilled! But I have another chance, as Volkswagen is releasing a new bus later this year. At just $20,000, it's not exactly cheap, but totally reasonable for an amazing slice of the past.

Joe lies when he cries

I GAVE HER MY HEART AND SHE GAVE ME A PEN: When I was in high school there was no movie couple cooler than Ione Skye and John Cusack in "Say Anything." Every girl I knew had a major crush on Lloyd Dobler, and I still always look for that bit of Lloyd in the men I know. And Ione Skye, in real life, was the girl you wanted to be. She's Donovan's daughter, went out with Ad Rock, started a clothing label and was in "River's Edge," a great '80s movie. It didn't get much better than that. But "Say Anything" is still the pinnacle of both their careers. Watch for the best Red Hot Chili Peppers song ever, "Taste the Pain," Eric Stoltz dressed as a chicken, a lovelorn Lili Taylor and a very young Jeremy Piven.

Corn nuts, croquet and Christian Slater

Before she was convicted of felony theft, Winona Ryder used to be the coolest girl in movies. She was (quite literally in this case) the Veronica to Julia Roberts' Betty. At the height of this period she starred in "Heathers," an alternative to popular John Hughes movies like "Pretty in Pink." Christian Slater was her Jack Nicholson-wannabe boyfriend who hates her popular friends almost as much as she does. They go on a murder spree, complete with vocab test words and mineral water. And along the way Winona Ryder looks fabulous in looks straight out of the 80s. Bonus point: Watch for a pre-90210 Shannon Doherty.

Cry me a river

I was a junior in high school when River Phoenix died, and it felt like the coolest guy in school, the one you're afraid of and really into at the same time, was gone forever. Like there would never be anyone that out-of-this-world amazing again. Christian Slater came close, but he was like the commercial River Phoenix, and Johnny Depp came even closer, but he was way too gorgeous. And when River Phoenix was dating Martha Plimpton, they seemed like the perfect match, way too cool and different for everyone else. His movies were so good too, "Mosquito Coast," "Stand by Me" and "My Own Private Idaho" are unforgettable, and "Running on Empty" is a classic. But then he was gone, and it was all over. And it was so sad.

Seems like old times

OF MINISKIRTS AND MASCARA: Goldie Hawn is one of my favorite actresses ever, and it's not just because of her comedic timing. She is the poster girl for late sixties style, which was all about psychelic colors, minidresses and mascara. She was a free spirit with cropped hair, and was totally different than actresses who starred on screen just 10 years earlier. For classic Goldie Hawn check out "Cactus Flower," for which she won her Oscar, and "Shampoo," the seventies classic starring style icons Warren Beatty and Julie Christie.

Indie Magic

In 1994 independent movies were given a huge boost by Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction," but the success of independent movies really began years earlier with "Sex, Lies and Videotapes," Steven Soderbergh's masterpiece. Alison Anders was one of the successful female film directors during this stretch, and "Gas, Food and Lodging" was her most successful, and best, film. Ione Skye and Fairuza Balk play sisters in New Mexico; Skye is the adventurous wild child in search of a way out, and Balk is the shy misfit fascinated by her surroundings. The film is so true to life it's a definite must-see, and you'll hardly recognize Balk if you've seen "The Craft." Also great in the film are Balk's clothes, which look like incredible thrift-store finds. Watch for J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. in a cameo, and the gorgeous Donovan Leitch in a small supporting role.