1988: Movies Sorted By Tier
Submitted by stooky on Sun, 06/13/2004 - 12:03
Tags:
- Great
- The Accidental Tourist
- Apartment Zero
- Bird
- Bull Durham
- Dangerous Liasons
- Drowning By Numbers
- A Fish Called Wanda
- Hotel Terminus: The Life And Times Of Klaus Barbie
- Midnight Run
- The Navigator
- Sherlock Holmes: The Hound Of The Baskervilles (TV)
- The Thin Blue Line
- The Vanishing
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
- Women On The Verge Of Nervous Breakdown
- Very Good
- The Bear
- The Blob
- China Beach (TV)
- Chocolat
- Clean And Sober
- Colors
- A Cry In The Dark
- Die Hard
- Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
- Eight Men Out
- Gorillas In The Mist
- Hairspray
- Lady In White
- Lair Of The White Worm
- Married To The Mob
- The Milagro Beanfield War
- The Moderns
- **Alan Rudolph has always been a quixotic director whose output could be seen as a combination of Altman and Rafelson. Deeply romantic parables examining the subject of interaction between people. His movies usually contain many stylistic conceits that can alienate the uninitiated but on which he’s created a singular cinematic language. Expectations must be abandoned because they won’t be met, his movies aren’t about satiating the viewer’s needs because more than half of the charm is the atmosphere. The Moderns is probably the most complex of Rudolph’s eighties output. He’s taken a specific period in time, Paris 1920, a place buzzing with the last gasps of artistic inovation. Using historic personalities such as Hemingway as background characters he injects a noirish love story into their midst. Before I go any further I should explain something, Keith Carradine is Rodolph’s best hero, a strong emotionally powerful man who could easily be compared to Sam Spade or other great fictional detectives. He is imbedded with a mithology that remains consistant throughout each film. Keith Carradine plays “Hart” a talented artist too advanced for his time and place who by pure chance meets an old flame, now being kept by a rich ruthless businessman. The obvious complications abound in the standard storyline yet the situations are a jumble of conflicting motivations, a standard conceit used by Rudolph. The richness of the film seems to come in the details, maximist sets, georgeous textured cinematography and interesting intelligent dialogue. The film lacks conventional pace, tottering on the edge of monotony as most of this directors films do, the scenes are tableaux rich with intricacies and the viewer must decipher these before moving to the next. The Moderns would not be a good movie for a Rudolph newbie to attempt watching. The pleasures of this movie are subtle, they linger under the surface like flesh under silk and exact a sultry appeal on the experienced viewer.
- The Naked Gun
- Paperhouse
- Running On Empty
- Stand And Deliver
- Talk Radio
- The Unbearable Lightness Of Being
- Good
- The Accused
- Another Woman
- Appointment With Death
- The Attic: The Hiding Of Anne Frank
- BAT 21
- Beaches
- The Beast
- Big
- Biloxi Blues
- Brain Damage
- **This film is a hilarious nugget of ruthless mirth and disgusting special effects. Aylmer is a tiny blue parasite that talks, sings and eats human brains and he’s decided Brian is the person to take him places. He controls Brian with the use of a powerful narcotic that basically fries the brain. Brian blacks out which leaves Aylmer with the opportunity to get a little brain tartar. In one scene a woman attempts to go down on Brian only to find Aylmer in his pants…sufficed to say this scene puts a new slant on the phrase “giving head”. By the time Brian figures it out he’s too hooked on the little fellow’s juice to put a stop to it. This isn’t the most disgusting film I’ve ever seen, but it did put me off my fish sandwich. A fine accomplishment for such an entertaining horror cheapie.
- Camille Claudel
- Child's Play
- Clara's Heart
- Comic Book Confidential
- The Couch Trip
- Crusoe
- Dead Ringers
- Dominick & Eugene
- Earth Girls Are Easy
- The Good Mother
- Imagine: John Lennon
- Jack The Ripper (TV)
- Jack's Back
- Jackie Chan's Police Story II
- The Land Before Time
- The Last Temptation Of Christ
- Mississippi Burning
- Mystic Pizza
- Pin
- The Presidio
- Shoot To Kill
- Tapeheads
- Twins
- U2: Rattle And Hum
- Without A Clue
- Working Girl
- Guilty Pleasures
- Above The Law
- Bad Dreams
- Bloodsport
- Dead Heat
- I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
- Killer Klowns From Outer Space
- Satisfaction
- They Live
- Traxx
- Vibes
- Willow
- Average
- 1969
- After School
- Alien Nation
- Appleseed
- **Disappointing anime that's just too disjointed to enjoy. A good story is aborted by not very good animation even for 88. Just not worth anyone's time.
- Big Business
- Big-Top Pee-Wee
- The Blue Iguana
- Casual Sex?
- Cherry 2000
- The Christmas Wife
- Coming To America
- Crossing Delancey
- Da
- The Dead Pool
- Deadline
- Far North
- Full Moon In Blue Water
- Georgia
- The Great Outdoors
- Homeboy
- Leap Of Faith
- Madame Sousatzka
- Maniac Cop
- Monkey Shines
- A New Life
- Oliver And Company
- Rain Man
- Red Heat
- School Daze
- A Soldier's Tale
- Stealing Home
- Stormy Monday
- The Telephone
- Tequila Sunrise
- Two Moon Junction
- A World Apart
- Young Guns
- Dissapointing
- Alien From L.A.
- Blood Money
- The Boost
- The Brain
- Bright Lights, Big City
- Bulletproof
- Buster
- Cool Blue
- Dakota
- A Dangerous Life
- Dark Age
- D.O.A.
- Distant Thunder
- Dracula's Widow
- The Dreaming
- Everybody's All-American
- The Expendables
- Eye Of The Eagle
- Frantic
- Fresh Horses
- Gleaming The Cube
- Haunted Summer
- Hawks
- Heart Of Midnight
- Hellbound: Hellraiser 2
- High Spirits
- Hollywood Cop
- Illegally Yours
- Kansas
- Light Years
- Little Nikita
- Mac And Me
- Masquerade
- Messenger Of Death
- Moonwalker
- Moving
- Moving Target
- Mr. North
- Off Limits
- Obsession
- Powasqqatsi
- Powwow Highway
- Prime Evil
- Promised Land
- Pucker Up And Bark Like A Dog
- Pumpkinhead
- Punchline
- The Raggedy Rawney
- Rent-A-Cop
- Return Of The Living Dead Part II
- Return To Snowy River
- Salsa
- Scarecrows
- Scrooged
- Search And Destroy
- Switching Channels
- Tokyo Pop
- You Can't Hurry Love
- Young Einstein
- Cellar Dwellers
- Action Jackson
- And God Created Woman
- Arthur 2: On The Rocks
- Betrayed
- Black Eagles
- Bloodspell
- Braddock: Missing In Action III
- C.A.T. Squad: Python Wolf
- Caddyshack II
- The Carpenter
- Crime Zone
- Critters 2: The Main Course
- Crocodile Dundee II
- Dead Man Walking
- Elvira Mistress Of The Dark
- Fright Night Part II
- Ghost Town
- Halloween 4
- Hannah's War
- Ghoulies 2
- House On Carroll Street
- Howling 4
- In A Shallow Grave
- In Dangerous Company
- Iron Eagle 2
- Johnny Be Good
- Last Rites
- License To Drive
- Miles From Home
- Miracle Mile
- Moon Over Parador
- My Best Friend Is A Vampire
- My Stepmother Is An Alien
- Night Of The Demons
- Nightfall
- Nightmare On Elm Street 4
- Paramedics
- Phantasm II
- Phobia
- Platoon Leader
- Police Academy 5
- Poltergeist 3
- Pulse
- Rambo 3
- The Serpent And The Rainbow
- The Seventh Sign
- Shakedown
- She's Having A Baby
- Short Circuit 2
- Slugs
- Tiger Warsaw
- To Kill A Priest
- Under The Boardwalk
- The Unholy
- The Uninvited
- Viper
- War Party
- Watchers
- Waxwork
- White Ghost
- Witchcraft
- The Wizard Of Speed And Time
- The Big Stink
- Angel III: The Final Chapter
- The Big Blue
- **It was the great trailer which tempted me into renting yet another Luc Besson, promised an adventure involving a fish-boy, his love interest and discovering the secrets of The Big Blue. Well…the trailer didn’t exactly lie, but what it glossed over what the sheer boredom of this immensely long and tepid picture about free divers and free divers groupies. Of course our hero is a magnificent diver with a proclivity for dolphins and shocked looks when he’s in the sack; in fact, he’s almost supernatural. Apparently he’s supposed to be the offspring of a diving dad and a mermaid, but that’s never actually made clear so I can only surmise. I came to this supposition because the length of this dud forced me to find ways to occupy my shrieking brain. Just when you think it can’t possibly get worse you have to endure the most off-putting sex scenes ever put on film and the chemistry of the two leads, which incidentally is quite a bit like a slimy, gutted fish. Everything apparently comes full circle in Besson’s movies. Then you have to endure Jean Reno’s annoying performance for a large part of the film and then suffer through the hilariously bad moments when his macho façade vanishes. The Big Blue is so bad on so many levels, a reeking, endless, macho, dorky marathon of crap, yikes!
- Black Roses
- Cellar Dweller
- Cheerleader Camp
- The Curse Of The Blue Lights
- **Probably the worst film ever made. To see it is to feel your eyes burn.
- Unnameable
- Vampire At Midnight
- Vampire's Kiss
- Unfortunately Haven’t Seen
- 36 Fillette
- Alice
- Bad Taste
- Distant Voices, Still Lives
- A Handful Of Dust
- Hanussen
- High Hopes
- Landscape In The Mist
- The Murder Of Mary Phagan
- Salaam Bombay!
- Story Of Women
- Things Change
Cloned From:
Ahhhh, Bull Durham, Wanda, and Midnight Run all "Great". Life is good.
Boy, Cellar Dweller must have really stunk for you to go out of your way to file it lower than its namesake category, "Cellar Dwellers".
Finally, as low as you've listed Action Jackson, you've still listed it too high. :-)
One of my favorite years in cinema. Movies were fun in '88, no pretentions, just silly fun. Do you agree or disagree?
Cellar Dweller is about a penis-less sex addicted mutant "cellar dweller." I think it's supposed to be a play on The Man Who Laughs but with no little fellah to go along with the lips. It has a really disgusting scene of nipple decaptiation. The horror...the horror.
You know what it is, it's the fact that I saw action jackson when I was 12. And my raging hormones "made" liked it. Puberty is such a grand, haze-inducing experience.
You didn't say anything about The Lair Of The White Worm and the gigantic rhinestone studded stomach puncturing dildo. Have you not seen?
Tallyho
;?)
Agree. '88 was a good year in a cinematic decade that generally gets a bad rap.
Indeed, I have not seen The Lair of the White Worm. Have I been remiss?
By the way, of the three recommendations of yours I've seen recently (Candyman, The Bride with White Hair, and The Passion of Joan of Arc), all have been varying degrees of good, but Joan was flat-out marvelous. Review forthcoming in the usual places.
You've been remiss if you like sleazy british horror sci-fi movies involving archeology and said instrument of torture. It's classlessness is it's greatest charm in my estimation. It's a Ken Russell film if that gives you any indication.
You can understand why Joan of Arc has gone on and off the sight and sound critics and directors polls several times. It's a stupendous movie. Glad you loved it.
Correction on Cellar Dweller, I've crossed the plot of Castle Freak (another "classic") just get rid of the missing appendage and its basically the same movie. Sorry for being misleading. They all seem to blend together after a while.
What's next on the netflix?
Tallyho
:?)
I posted reviews for Joan of Arc, Matilda, and Ripley's Game today. Next up from Netflix is Who is Cletis Tout?, Manhattan, and The Big Blue. None have arrived yet, though.
I searched for the reviews in vain...
%?| <---confused stook
I'll look again tomorrow.
Tallyho
:?)
The search index is only updated daily, in the wee hours of the morning. You should have better luck today. Let me know if they're still missing. Or, I've tweaked the "recent updates" page to make it filterable (although I still have to add a friendly user interface). Here's my recent content changes (this link excludes discussion and weblog posts, but that too is tweakable).
Thanks. Good reviews too. Makes me wanna watch Ripley pretty soon.
Matilda is very cute too.
Tallyho
:?)
Underrated: Coming to America. Among Murphy's best half-dozen.
Grossly Underrated: Miracle Mile. I see you aren't a serious fan of apocalyptic movies.
Maybe, but I just didn't like C.T.A., I found it predictable and boring.
Miracle Mile: somewhere on listology I flew off into a long, intense rant about my dislike of Miracle Mile. It should explain my feelings if you can find it. Does anyone know where it is?
Tallyho
:?)
Here ya go.
Thanks. I owe you...about 50 by now. :?D
Tallyho
:?)
And...this.
Tallyho
:?)
You seem to have missed the point of the movie. It wasn't about escaping the city (to become dead-envying survivors). It was about becoming part of the fossil record (to be put on display in a far future museum for the edification of intelligent cockroaches). It's all in the opening and closing scenes.
Ohhhhh! Intelligent cockroaches, now how come I didn't think of that? :?)
I would say "I'll watch it again but...
That's a mighty fine Apocalypse list you've got and I see "Miracle Mile" places high. Could you please elaborate?
Tallyho
:?)
Whoa, it's the ninth circle for The Big Blue, eh? I liked that movie, but not enough to be perturbed by your review, and it was definitely too long (the movie, not your review).
So I gather from "yet another" that you don't like Luc Besson? Not even The Professional? Nor the silly-but-lord-help-me-I-love-it The Fifth Element?
"yet another" means that I've seen everything Besson has ever directed and he's not even close to being a favourite director. I still haven't watched all of John Ford's films, it's a travesty. But you bring up an interesting point, no I don't especially like his films, I could only list La Femme Nikita among films I really truly enjoy, with La Dernier Combat holding second place. After that I can mostly take 'em or leave 'em. He makes films that are often amazingly imaginative and then snubs them up with the way he tells them. Which is really weird since without the need for The Fifth Element to hold tightly to action movie cliches it would be fabulous, but he does get the scale right. The Professional is possibly too claustrophobic, and while it subverts action movies in excellent ways it's scope is so miniscule as to hinder the film. I'm constantly aware I'm going to be slightly irritated by one of his films, but it always comes in a form I didn't expect, it's just plain weird.
What's your opinion?
T'ho
:?)
I've enjoyed everything of his I've seen to varying degrees. The Big Blue would bring up the rear, I loved The Fifth Element but have vague guilt over it, and unreservedly love La Femme Nikita and The Professional (haven't seen the international cut, Leon, yet). I have been intentionally avoiding The Messenger.
Good choice, no distance is too far between you and that movie.
T'ho
:?)