1980: Movies Sorted By Tier
Submitted by jim on Fri, 07/23/2004 - 09:41
Tags:
Loved
Breaker Morant
... Courtroom dramas are often entertaining, and there's a rich tradition in the sub-genre of court martial dramas. This is surely one of the best, delivering the goods not only in the courtroom, but in tackling such themes as duty, honor, revenge, and the politics of war (and peace).The Empire Strikes Back
... While all the Star Wars movies are fun, innovative, iconic, etc., only Empire can lay the claim to being good.Really Liked
The Changeling
... Even if it was relatively late in life, I like to think I've gotten over my childhood fears of the dark, basements, attics, and strange noises when I'm home alone. I'm obviously kidding myself though, as this movie brought those fears right back to my forebrain (although it's really not fair to hit me with the "strange noises in a darkened attic" triple whammy). As with almost all ghost stories, it's important not to question why the ghost doesn't behave in a more sensible fashion, but since that's par for the course we'll forgive it here (I'm sure there's some "frozen forever in agony at the moment of their death so that clouds clear thinking" explanation, not to mention the complete lack of corporeal neurons). George C. Scott is his usual stellar self.The Elephant Man
... For some reason I'm having a hard time writing about this movie. It was excellent, in turns sad and uplifting, and sometimes both simultaneously. Black-and-white was an excellent choice, and John Hurt does a fabulous job acting through the make-up. To paraphrase on of Gielgud's lines: "can you imagine what his life must have been like? I don't think you can. I don't think anyone can." So true, but the movie helps a bit, if not in the reality of it then at least in the subjective emotional experience.Hopscotch
Raging Bull
... If you've only seen De Niro's more recent efforts and you wonder where all the "greatest actor ever" talk comes from, this is the movie to see. His portrayal of Jake La Motta, who was his own worst enemy but managed to channel enough of his self-destructive rage to be middleweight champ for two years, is truly remarkable. Oh, and then there's the little detail about this being Martin Scorsese's best film (although I think Goodfellas is my favorite by him).The Shining
Superman II
Glad I Saw
Airplane!
Altered States
Any Which Way You Can
Atlantic City
... This was my second movie swap with JohnnyWaco. The first time around I agreed to watch The Verdict if he'd watch A Fish Called Wanda and the second time around he watched Panic in exchange for me watching this. I don't know which of us is getting the better of the exercise, but I certainly feel well-served by it. Both movies have a low-key feel and feature flawed heroes. I don't know how flawed a hero has to be to qualify as an antihero, but I'd say Lancaster's "hero" here certainly qualifies. Even when his character is riding high you can't really forget that he's a small-time loser, and neither can he. And when his triumphant moment arrives, his triumph is on a very skewed scale. And yet I couldn't help rooting for him. Kudos to Lancaster; great performance. And I don't care what AJDaGreat says, even with big 80s hair Susan Sarandon is *miles* sexier than a forklift. :-) While the movie is Lancaster's, she's very good as well.The Blues Brothers
Caddyshack
Dressed to Kill
... I'm not sure I'd go so far as to recommend this one, but it has a lot of interesting stuff going for it. The pornish opening (figures my folks would babysit for us the night this was here from Netflix :-) is somehow disturbing rather than erotic, even if I'm not sure that was the intent. The rather abrupt change in our main character () is a goodly shock, and it's hard to fault the direction or the look of the film. But I didn't really go for the 80s acting, and I absolutely hated the ending. You can pull crap like that in the middle of a movie for a cheap thrill, but not at the end! I also can't help but think De Palma was having a bit of a laugh at our expense when he showed all the asylum inmates leering asSpoiler: Highlight to viewfrom alive to dead. The leering inmates are us, are they not? Or maybe I'm reading too much into it.Spoiler: Highlight to viewour villain undressed the dead nurseThe Gods Must Be Crazy
My Bodyguard
Nine to Five
Shogun
Stir Crazy
Guilty Pleasures
Flash Gordon
... I used to watch this on HBO every time we'd visit my relatives when I was a kid. But I just had a chance to rewatch this, and it was AWFUL! I'm going to leave it on here for nostalia's sake, but OOF. The pinnacle of MST3K fodder. I don't know how Timothy Dalton and Brian Blessed survived (and went on to do Shakespeare with Branagh!). You know you're in trouble when your hero has his name emblazoned across the front of his shirt. Even Superman has enough taste to only use a single initial.Could Have Missed
- None Yet
Should Have Missed
- None Yet
El Sucko Grande
Friday the 13th
Popeye
Cloned From:
totaly agree with star Wars : Empire strikes back, being the best of all the series.
The Changeling!
I finally watched this one not too terribly long ago, and I also deem it groovy. Good, creepy stuff, and that wheelchair...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I think this ended up in my queue because of your review here, making up for that whole Intolerable Cruelty thing. :-) Actually, karmically you're way ahead of the game, at least as far as movie recommendations for me are concerned.
Movie Swap? That sounds cool! Jim, you wanna do one with me? Either that or I'll ask everyone else here on Listology, one at a time :-)
Only qualifier would be that the movie I'm asked to watch should be on Netflix so I can actually get a copy (I'll just place it atop my queue so I get it in a few days).
Or, am I misunderstanding? Does 'movie swap' mean you actually swap physical discs/cassettes? If so, far less interested, as I own few movies.
Sure, I'm game for a swap. The trick is finding a movie the other person hasn't seen. Might be trickier for me than for you - you've seen a lot. :-) What Zhang Yimou movies have you seen, and what did you think of them?
None, yet!
I can't tell by your lists, have you seen any of the following films? If so, what did you think of them?
Safety Last! (1923)
The General (1927)
The World of Apu (1959)
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)
And, do you like silent films at all?
also, The Thief of Bagdad (1924)?
Of those, I have only seen The General, which I liked. And yes, I like other silent films too. A few of those are on my "to see" list. Shall I pick one, or do you want me to see one in particular? Either way is fine with me.
As for you, how 'bout throwing To Live into your queue? You should also definitely go see Hero in theaters if it opens anywhere near you this Friday. But that's not my swap movie, because you were going to do that anyway, right? :-)
Actually, I very rarely see movies in theaters these days (too many older movies to see anyway, not enough money to spend $9 for every film I see, etc). But yep, I'll put To Live at the top of my queue.
And, why don't you give The Thief of Bagdad (1924) a viewing? If you use Netflix, the link is here. Do you use Netflix? Or GreenCine? Or something completely different?
Shall we both agree to post at least a mini-review after we're done?
Oh, To Live is already on my Netflix queue! I can either bump it to #1 or you can suggest another movie...
Go ahead and bump it up. I have Thief of Bagdad locked and loaded.
And I, To Live. :-)
I plan to write a Snapshot Review for To Live when I've watched it, and I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on Theif of Bagdad once you've seen it.
I write up everything I see, so no worries there.
Your queue says you currently have Thief of Bagdad out! So you just saw it?
Yes, and that's why I added it in a seperate post, I was watching it (well, paused when Listologing). :-)
It's a fantastic story that starts out great. I kept thinking it couldn't keep up it's fun and greatness for 2.5 hrs, but it just kept getting better in both fun and heart! A fantastic Arabian Nights adaption!
Alrighty, my Thief of Bagdad review is up. Thanks for the swap!
Okay, I just finished watching To Live, and added my mini-review here. Summary: loved it!
So glad you liked it! Zhang's da man (and Gong's da woman). As for my end, I have my fingers crossed that Thief of Bagdad will arrive from Netflix tomorrow.