1982: Movies Sorted By Tier
Submitted by jim on Mon, 03/14/2005 - 12:53
Tags:
Loved
Blade Runner
E.T.
Gandhi
... I watched Gandhi while standing, bouncing a fussy infant in my arms, in 3 to 15 minute segments, and I still thought it was terrific. Ben Kingsley was simply perfect. The cinematography was beautiful, and Gandhi's story is compelling and important. It amazes me that such a man existed.The Thing
Tootsie
Really Liked
48 Hrs.
Diner
... Great fun to watch this case of then up-and-comers work with a good script. Like High Fidelity, this is a "guy" movie that didn't really resonate with me personally, but I found it much more enjoyable.Fitzcarraldo
... Where would we be without dreamers and lunatics? This movie is for them (and us). Klaus Kinski was great as the fascinating wacko, but I understand perhaps it wasn't too big a stretch. This is the story of a man who is determined to bring an opera house to the jungles of Peru, but to do so he first has to raise a fortune. The scheme he cooks up involves dragging a riverboat over a mountain. Don't ask, as it needs to be seen to believed. As near as I can tell, they really did all the fictional stuff in the course of making the movie, so in a way they knit reality out of thin air. Wish I could do that.An Officer and a Gentleman
The Return of Martin Guerre
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
The Verdict
... A terrific legal drama, what really worked for me about this movie was how the ending allowed you to feel your own feelings, rather than telling you what to feel via swelling music or some other manipulative overture.Glad I Saw
The World According to Garp
Guilty Pleasures—I was twelve! Beware!!
The Beastmaster
Conan the Barbarian
Firefox
First Blood
Night Shift
Rocky III
Swamp Thing
The Sword and the Sorcerer
Zapped!
Could Have Missed
- None Yet
Should Have Missed
- None Yet
El Sucko Grande
Pink Floyd The Wall
... Traumatized me.Unranked
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Creepshow
The Dark Crystal
Fanny and Alexander
... Hated at the time, but I was way too young, and it was way too long.Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Poltergeist
The Secret of NIMH
The Toy
Cloned From:
Shame about Fanny and Alexander, one of his very best. Reminds me of seeing Wild Strawberries aged 13. That's not the right age for Bergman! The most boring thing i'd ever seen, and may still have affected me when i saw it again years later.
Try: Night of the Shooting Stars (year?), The Draughtsman's Contract, Veronika Voss, Yol, Sophie's Choice, Tootsie, Deadly Run.
Yes, I'm worried about lingering resentment towards Fanny & Alexander when I get to the rewatch. I think that's why I keep putting it off!
Tootsie is already listed above (easy to miss with no review), but the others would all be new to me. Somehow I keep meaning to rent Sophie's Choice and have been unable to follow through to date. Something in my brain says "no." I'll have to tell my brain to mind it's own business.
The Thing and Fitzcarraldo are two of my favorite movies of 1982 as well. I think the remake of The Thing is underrated, as it is a completely different type of movie than the original. One thing that always strikes me about is the soundtrack. The eerie, spare bass sounds playing in the background always get me. And Fitzcarraldo? I am also astounded that they really did drag that boat over a mountain. Have you seen My Best Friend? It is a documentary by Herzog on his friendship with/hatred of Klaus Kinski. You're right, Kinski didn't have to stretch to play wackos!
Johnny Waco
I greatly prefered this Thing to the one from the 50s. It's not really fair to compare them though, as they really are totally different movies, as you note.
I just queued My Best Friend, thanks for the tip! I'd also like to see Burden of Dreams, which is a documentary about the making of Fitzcarraldo, but it doesn't seem to be out on DVD.
Sir Waco, I've watched (and enjoyed) the Herzog/Kinski documentary, thanks! Something I didn't notice until the opening title sequence though: it's not My Best Friend; the word is Fiend. :-)
Lord Jim (how Conradian that sounds...), I missed this post until today. I'm glad you liked it, or maybe "liked" isn't exactly the right word. I never picked up on it being My Best Fiend! I'm shocked that I could overlook that somehow.
Johnny Waco