Mike S's Top Five of Rick Moranis's Non-Ghostbusters Performances

Rick Moranis, you may not know, is Canadian. The more you look into it you find that, pretty much, everything you ever loved growing up was either Canadian, featured Canadians, was shot in Canada or owes some debt, in a way, to the great white north. 

Our new contributor, Mike S. is Canadian and so I have set him the task of cataloguing and listing a series of Top 5s about Canada. Some Canadians log, others catalogue. Deal with it. 

So, enough from me, here's Mike S! - Jon Cross, Ed.

Mike S here, accepting an invite from The After Movie Diner to recite a Top Five List for all of you.

The topic of this one is the Top Five of Rick Moranis's Non-Ghostbusters Performances (in order of year of release)!

 1. Strange Brew (1983).  Two Canadian brothers (Bob and Doug MacKenzie) set out to get free beer- only to wind up getting a job, solving a murder, and thwarting a diabolical plan to take over the world... while drinking beer and calling each other "Hoser", eh!  A spin-off movie from the Canadian TV Series, SCTV, it helped to launch Rick Moranis (Bob MacKenzie) into movie theaters.  I'm also pretty sure that MOST Canadians have a special warm spot for this movie in their hearts.

2. Streets of Fire (1984).  After a beautiful singer is kidnapped, her ex-boyfriend sets out to rescue her.  A simple premise, but a great movie with phenomenal music, stupendous action... and Rick Moranis!  While, he's not the lead in this particular entry, he does an excellent job as Billie, the singer's booking agent.  One of the most under-rated movies ever in my opinion.

 3. Little Shop of Horrors (1986).  Seymour works in a flower shop in the worst part of town, before he finds a new breed of plant and gains fame.  Soon, however, he must contend with a greedy boss, the woman of his dreams, and murder... murder most botanical.  This music version of the black and white 1960's movie really showcased Moranis's comedy AND singing talents.  Certainly deserves a watching.

4. Spaceballs (1987).  I don't think a list would be complete with out this Sci-Fi spoof.  Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet was just great, and his style of comedy acting fit perfectly with Mel Brooks' style of comedy writing.  I'm currently on the hunt for a Blu-Ray version for my library.

5. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989).  A scientist creates a shrink ray in his attic... and it accidentally shrinks his kids.  This movie helped to show that Moranis could do "family friendly" fare, in addition to more satirical stuff.  While not my favorite Rick Moranis movie, it does deserve a spot on this list.

Rick Moranis, never not funny in a helmet. This list easily could've been Moranis' top 5 helmets...

So, there you have it.  Feel free to let us know what you think- agree?  Disagree?

Now, I have to go figure out if The Tragically Hip had any of their songs in movies...