The Opportunists is dominated by the weird fascination Christopher Walken exerts as a New York safecracker trying to go straight, but it also gives Cyndi Lauper — where's she been? — a chance to show acting chops maybe you didn't know she had. Perhaps you're still holding Vibes against her. That vile 1988 comedy certainly stalled the singer's film career. Lauper's role isn't much in this modestly made and modestly charming caper flick from writer-director Myles Connell. She plays Sally, a bar owner who loves Vic (Walken) and tries to keep him from getting involved in a heist organized by Michael (the excellent Peter McDonald), a visitor from Ireland who claims to be Vic's cousin. The real fun comes in watching Lauper spar with Walken and hold her own nicely, thank you.

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.