1978
Days Of Heaven.* Early 20th century love triangle of 2 farm laborers and the boss, is probably the most beautiful color film of all. How can farm country be so breathtaking? Nestor Alemandros does the cinematography. Terence Malick (in one of this too rare films) directs.
La Cage aux Folles. * (Fr/Ital). Gay couple try to go hetero to impress his son's fiancee's family with hilarious results.
Trees of the Wooden Clogs. (Ital) Early 20th century Italian farm family saga.
An Unmarried Woman. Jill Clayburg struggles through a difficult divorce.
Who Is Killing The Great Chefs of Europe? Mystery a la carte! Robert Morley plays the gourmet.
Wu Du. (Chin.) Dying teacher, sets up kung fu plot.
I Wanna Hold Your Hand. Beatlemania has swept NYC and kids will do anything to see them on the Ed Sullivan TV show.
Beatle fans like me will love this.
1979
Manhattan. * Both a comedy of relationships and a salute to NYC with music by Gershwin. My favorite of Woody Allen's.
Black Stallion. * Story of boy and his love for a horse is the most beautiful horse film made. Note National Velvet star Mickey Rooney as trainer.
All That Jazz. Bob Fosse directs his life dancing on Broadway. Roy Scheider in top form as Fosse.
Apocalyse Now. Extraordinary Vietnam War film falls apart at the goofy ending. See documentary , Hearts of Darkness (91) And seems to end the string of masterpieces by director Coppola.
Richard Pryor Live In Concert. * Hilarious stand up comedy concerts for adults. Also see sequels in 82,83, and 85.
Mad Max. (Aus) first major Aussie hit is about post nuclear biker gangs. Incredible action stunts!
Castle Of Cagliostro. Adventure and fantasy anime from Hayao Miyazaki.
DIRECTOR: Miyazaki is anime's king.
In-Laws. Dentist becomes involved with his daughters fiancee's father, who may be in the CIA or may be nuts! Peter Falk and Alan Arkin star.
1980 Raging Bull. Scorsese directs the bio of fighter Jake LaMotta played by Robert De Niro.
The Empire Strikes Back. Part 2 of the Star Wars saga.
Kagemusha. * (Jap.) Thief as warlord look alike. Kurasawa directs.
Stardust Memories. * Woody Allen at a film seminar. May be his most artistic film.
Who Sings Over There? (Yugo.) Dark comedy of Serbian bus going to Belgrade. A lost gem.
Airplane. Very pun-ny take off of disaster films.
The Return of The Secaucus Seven. Influential sleeper about hippies reunion by John Sayles, later ripped off in The Big Chill. See the original.
1981
Raiders of The Lost Ark. * Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones looking for the ark of the covenant in this salute to Saturday morning serials. Speilberg directs. Great action throughout.
Das Boot.* (Ger.) Tense story of German U-boat in WW2.
Four Seasons.* Best 3 couple film story in 4 vignettes, each preceeded by the corresponding piece from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Directed, scripted, and starring Alan Alda. An overlooked delight.
S.O.B. Blake Edwards satire of filmmaking may be too dark for most, but I found it hilarious. It's the scandalous, greedy Hollywood you always imagined it was. See Julie Andrews (Edward's real life wife) half nude!
This is Elvis. * Unique bio mixes documentary footage with staged scenes to portray the real E. I made a pilgrimage to Graceland to see it and wasn't disappointed.
Gallipoli. (Aus) WW1 drama staring Mel Gibson.
My Dinner With Andre. Great premise of filmed dinner conversation between 2 well educated friends, covers a lot of verbal ground. It's fascinating to eavesdrop on their table. Louis Malle directs.
Mad Max 2. (Aus) More madness with even better car stunts!
Arthur. Lovable drunk must decide between a convenience marriage to keep the millions, or true love and lose $$$. Dudley Moore is Arthur. Also note marvelous butler John Gielgud.
Pixote. (Braz) Story of 10 year old street tough is hard and gritty.
Video Killed The Radio Star. First music video played on MTV, Aug. 1. ,b>1982 (note the great double bills)
Fitzcarraldo.* Obsessed man wants to bring opera to the Amazon jungle. A one of a kind epic by Werner Herzog. &
Burden Of Dreams. * Documentary on the filming of Fitzcarraldo by director Les Blank. Which is better?
Tootsie.* Dustin Hoffman as difficult actor who must disguise himself as actress to get work. Ånd in the transformation becomes a feminist. &
Victor/Victoria. Julie Andrews masquerading as a man in drag! James Gardner tries to sort it all out in this Blake Edwards comedy.
E.T. * Children adopt an extra-terrestrial that just wants to phone home! Spielberg directs. &
Tron. * Groundbreaking computer special effects kept my mouth open in awe throughout silly story about man swallowed by computer. Unbelievable graphics, the first of it's kind and from Disney!
Say Amen Somebody. Documentary on Gospel music. &
The Weavers. Documentary on blacklisted folk singers.
My Favorite Year. * Best Golden Age Of Television film, loosely based on Sid Caesars Comedy Show. Peter O'Toole as actor/guest/drunk perfomring LIVE?
Fanny & Alexander. (Swe) Bergman's film chronicles a turn of the century Swedish family.
Eating Raoul.* The Blands kill people for dogfood and money to open their restaurant (They also rid the world of weirdos!). May be the best of B movie fare. A deliciously black comedy.
Also note these notable comedies of the year: 48 Hours, detective Eddie Murphy goes to Hollywood / Fast Times At Ridgemont High, crazy antics at highschool with Sean Penn as the surfer dude / Nightshift, Morgue is turned into brothel, comedy / and Diner, the Baltimore teen hangout
1983.
A Christmas Story. * Kid wants a BB gun, but he'll probably shoot out an eye with it. A Christmas toy classic.
Return Of The Jedi. Star Wars part 3.
The King Of Comedy. * Robert De Niro plays an ambitious and looney comic who kidnaps famed talk show host, played amazingly low key by Jerry Lewis. Scorcese directs.
Koyaanisqatsi. (Hopi for life out of balance). Series of stunning shots of natural and manmade places across the country set to hypnotic Philip Glass music. The best segments are time elapsed sequences. A big film.
Project A. Jackie Chan fights more bad guys. (* for all his Hong Kong films) ACTION STAR Jackie Chan has made a number of extremely enjoyable Kung Fu films that mix his simple and often comic charm with unbelievable stunts that he does himself. All his Hong Kong films are recommended as great entertainment.
Nostalgia. (Rus) Poet on quest through Italy.
Never Cry Wolf. Documentary style film of biologist studying arctic wolves.
Entre Nous. (Fr.) Film of 2 women friends.
Pauline At The Beach. (Fr.) Another Erick Rohmer film of relationships.
Double bill of business related comedies: Risky Business. Tom Cruise chooses pimping as his high school assignment to start his own business.
Trading Places. 2 brothers bet that down and out panhandler, Eddie Murphy, can do as well in the market as every advantage in life, broker, Dan Aykroyd.
1984
Amadeus. Milos Foreman directs this campy bio of Mozart and his nemesis the hack composer Salieri.
The Terminator. Arnold Schwarznegger as relentless assassin cyborg.
Ronia The Robbers Daughter. (Swe.) Another children's gem from the author of Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren.
Wannsee Conference.* (Ger.) Nazis plan genocide. Based on the actual minutes taken at the meeting.
Broadway Danny Rose. * Woody Allen's look at a small time manager and his weird collection of clients.
Sexmission. (Pol.) 2 men go into hibernation and wake up in an all girl world.
Stop Making Sense. Talking Heads concert movie. Added to the list because David Byrne looks like me.
This Is Spinal Tap. Hilarious send up and satire of heavy metal bands. Note volume control nob gag.
1985
Shoah. * 9 and 1/2 hours of holocaust details from survivors.
The Official Story. (Arg.) Woman investigates the past of her adopted daughter in this political drama.
Mask. Story of Rocky Dennis who has a deformed face and a wild mother played by Cher.Bogdanovich directs.
DIRECTOR: A Peter Bogdanovich film is not easy to recognize. Compare "The Last Picture Show" "Paper Moon" and "Mask". The hallmark of his style seems to be to take a great story and then let the actors shine in their roles.
Re-Animator. H.P.Lovecraft horror film of surgeon who developes a serum that re animates the dead. Not for the faint of heart!
Ran. (Jap.) Kurasawa does King Lear.
Brazil. Terry Giliam's look at a very dark future world will surely dazzle with special effects and depress you too.
1986
Luxo Jr. * The first notable computer animation starring a big desk lamp, a small desk lamp, and a ball. Short and adorable, from John Lasseter.
Hannah And Her Sisters. * Woody Allen's story of 3 sisters, their lives and loves.
Tampopo. * (Jap.) Woman is determined to make her noodle shop the very best in the land. Little subject makes big film!
Jean De Florette / Manon Of Spring. * (Fr.) film and sequel of farmer and neighbor saga. Epic storytelling.
Abel. (Neth.) 31 year old won't leave home.
The Castle In The Sky. More anime fable and adventue from Miyazaki.
Blue Velvet. A good example of director David Lynch's quirky and outlandish films. Quaint little town is the setting of kidnappers, drugsmugglers, etc.
1987
Babette's Feast. * (Den.) 2 spinsters have a french maid with an extraordinary hidden talent. A very great film.
Brave Little Toaster. * Warm and genuinely touching animated film of a number of household appliances and the boy who loves them.
Au Revoir Les Enfants.* Louis Malle directs this story of a French Teacher who tries to shelter Jewish students from the Nazis.
Moonstruck.* Italian family in NYC is moonstruck with romantic problems. Cher yells "Snap out of it.!"
Taxing Woman. (Jap.) Woman tax collector on the trail of cheats. Also see sequel, Taxing Woman Returns.
The Last Emperor. (Chin) Epic film of rise and fall of last emperor is visually lavish and stunning!
Tin Men. Comedy of duelling aluminum siding salesmen Richard Dreyfuss and Danny DeVito. Barry Levinson directs.
Swimming To Cambodia. Talkie. Spalding Grey talks for 87 minutes on his life etc., including his time in Cambodia. Mesmerizing monologue.
Belly Of An Architect. Brian Dennehy , world famous architect, fears he's being poisoned. Peter Greenaway directs. Absolutely stunning visuals by Sachu Vierny.
DIRECTOR: Peter Greenaway quote: "I don't think we've seen any cinema yet. I think we've seen 100 years of illustrated text." His films are often difficult to understand and mix great beauty with real, not cartoon, violence.
1988 (Notable year for Anime)
Cinema Paradisio. * Boy discovers a life long love for films in a small Italian town. Best collage ending of any film. As an usher I watched it 50 times or more and never tired of it.
My Neighbor Totoro. (Jap.) 2 Sisters and forest spirit. Anime from Miyazaki
Akira. (Jap.) Anime of boy with telekinetic powers in post apocalyptic Japan.
Grave of the Fireflies. (Jap.) Siblings try to survive WW2 , anime.
Rain Man. Story of idiot savant, Dustin Hoffman, and brother, Tom Cruise who feels duty bound to care for him. Hoffman is amazing!
A Short Film About A Killing. &
A Short Film About Love. (Pol.) Both directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. The first on a murderer and capital punishment, the 2nd on love through binoculars. These 2 films grew out of Kieslowski's "Dekalog" of 1987, 10 dramas for tv with each one based on one of the 10 commandments. All *
DIRECTOR: I don't know why Kieslowski films are so special.Perhaps it's the suddent twists or the poetry of them. But they effect me like no other. His tri color trilogy in the 90's is as good as film gets. Extremely moving filmmaking.
Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown. (Span.) Trials of a woman's love life. Pedro Almodovar directs.
DIRECTOR: Franco dies and Spanish culture seems liberated. Almodovar's film are a mix of frenetic surprises and kinkyness that somehow redeems itself and uplifts you in the end. A personal favorite.
Thin Blue Line. This documentary on drifter wrongly convicted of murder in Dallas, helped to set him free. Errol Morris directs.
1989
Do The Right Thing. * Spike Lee directs this film about a hot summer day in Brooklyn, the people who live in the neighborhood, and the race riot that follows. Simple superb storytelling.
Thelonious Monk, Straight No Chaser. * Bio of jazz piano great is the coolest.
Crimes & Misdemeanors. * Martin Landau is being blackmailed, in Woody Allen film.
The Match Factory Girl. (Swe.) trials of a nobody named Iris.
Kiki's Delivery Service. Anime from director Miyazaki about 13 year old witch.
The Killer. John Woo directs this Hong Kong ballet of blood, thriller.
Time Of The Gypsies. (Yugo.) 1st Gypsy language film of boy tempted into thievery.
Monsieur Hire. (Fr.) Peeper sees too much!
Roger & Me. Michael Moore documentary of the effect of 40,000 layoffs in the small automobile factory town of Flint. Serious message with plenty of satire and comedy too.
1990
Goodfellows.* Martin Scorcese directs this days in the lives of wiseguys.
Tie Me Up,Tie Me Down. (Sp.) Captive falls in love with captor. Almodovar directs.
Dances With Wolves. Kevin Costner goes west and learns there are 2 sides to Calvary versus the Indians.
La Femme Nikita. (Fr.) 007-ette.
Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer. Creepy killer confesses.
Tale of Springtime. (Fr.) Relationships, relationships. Eric Rohmer directs.
1991
Hearts Of Darkness. Director Coppola's wife Eleanor 's documentary on the pitfalls of making the film "Apocalypse Now"
Zentropa. (Den/Swe/Fr/Ger/Swi) American in post WW2 still faces war issues. Dazzling and innovative throughout by director Lars Von Trier. Ending is hard to forget!
Raise The Red Lantern. (Chin.) Story of 50 year old Chen and 4 wives in 20's China. Beauty Gong Li stars.
Prospero's Books. Peter Greenaway does Shakespeare's The Tempest.
High Heels. (Sp.) Almodovar directs this mother daughter struggle.
Barton Fink. Hit and miss film about NYC writer in LALAland has 2 meet and greet the director scenes, played by Michael Lerner, that are some of the best entertainment on film. Coen Brothers are the real directors.
End of part 2. Look for part 3 in the April 2000 Musea
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