Summer … the season for pina coladas and margaritas, bikinis and highlights, baseball and beaches … you get the point. Though it is nice outside and the sun beckons us out to soak up as much vitamin D as we can hold, we still need to retreat back indoors at some point.

So if you are indoors, watch some hilariously cheesy ’80s flicks. With their dated clothing and hairstyles, synthesizer-dominated music and the trend of casting adults in teenage roles, these movies are lighthearted and bring a smile after a long day of chlorine and sunscreen.

Though not all of my favorites are available on Netflix at the moment, there are some great choices. For something just plain stupid, but iconic nonetheless, throw on Pee Wee’s Big Adventure to travel cross-country with an overgrown man-child (before his indecent exposure) to find his stolen bicycle. Continue your nonsensical journey with The Burbs and wonder what your own neighbors are hiding in their basements.

Can’t find Ms. Right anywhere in Worcester? Put some vintage computer hardware and bad graphics together, and you can design your very own girlfriend. See how it is done in Weird Science. If payback for all the relentless wedgies you may have received in high school is more your thing, get some bully-handling advice with Revenge of the Nerds.

When your friend gets stranded and you want to help, but you’re responsible for a bunch of bratty kids, what can you do but take them along? Adventures in Babysitting takes you on a journey all over the city to do the, ummm, “right” thing. Don’t feel up for adventure? No problem, just take a vacation day with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and let those exams worry about themselves. Better yet, take a vacation to the Outback and find someone to help you navigate the dangers in Crocodile Dundee. On the flip side, help someone travelling to our country find a strong, intelligent wife in Coming to America.

Some other great movies– The Money Pit, Sixteen Candles, Can’t Buy Me Love, The Breakfast Club and E.T.

Can’t bear the thought of sitting through a whole movie and just want a quick Netflix fix? Try The Lizzie Borden Chronicles for an edge-of-your-seat series and watch at your own pace. She was a local girl, after all.  If axes are not really your cup of tea, try the very binge-worthy A Young Doctor’s Notebook, which chronicles a doctor during the Russian revolution and allows us to see how the young doctor (played by Daniel Radcliffe – yes, he can do other things besides be Harry Potter) developed into the same character 16 years later (played by Jon Hamm).

By Jennifer Russo