What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in Time

[Ron Burgundy]

Heres a bunch of 80s movies ive watched in the last 3 months:

Altered States (1980)
So-so psychedelic thriller starring William Hurt as a scientist who trips out on various substances as a professional guinea pig. One particular substance goes too far. Based on a noval by Paddy Chefesky.
4.5/10

Scanners (1981) - rewatch
Another old thriller which sees clairvoyants use their power to control other humans, generally for worse- led by a very evil Michael Ironside. Some really good stuff in here.
6.5/10

The Postman Always rings Twice (1981)
Jack Nicholson stars alongside Jessica Lange in a screenplay written by David Mamet. Nicholson starts a steamy affair with Lange. Not your average romantic flick and not bad.
6/10

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
From the classic novel by George Orwell, this movie seems really dated now, while its idea's seem timeless. Imagine Brazil without all the hoo-haa, you get this.
5.5/10

Bachelor Party (1984)
Tom Hanks is about to get married, so his mates decide to throw him a little party. Things don't quite go to plan and his feeling also get in the way of a good time. But all in all, its not unwatchable.
5.5/10

Lost in America (1985)
Al Brooks stars, directs and writes this 80s satire on the yuppie american couple going out of the city into the wilderness or more so, small town america. So many wtf moments, but not horrible.
5/10

Out of Africa (1985)
Romantic Drama by Sydney Pollack starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. I have no idea how this movie sold so many movie ticket back then, its quite the snoozefest. Streep plays an empowered women who for most part goes it alone in wild africa, until Redford joins in.
4/10

Teen Wolf (1985)
Michael J Fox is a talentless basketball player with nothing special. Until one night, he becomes a werewolf, which is great for his basketball game but not so great for his relationships. Overall its poor but cheesy and if you like cheese, then this is for you.
4/10

Pee-Wees Big Adventure (1985)
One of Tim Burton's first films. It was actually a complete surprise to find this movie had a great sense of humour and was a rollicking adventure too. The title says it all, except for his bike
7/10

Clean and Sober (1986)
A motor mouth real estate agent hooked on booze and drugs find himself hiding from the police in a recovery hospital of all places. Michael Keaton stars and Morgan Freeman is the recovery help in an early role. Not bad
6/10

The Hitcher (1986)
Rutger Hauer plays 'The Hitcher' a guy who for no apparent reason (except for getting kicked out of the car he was getting a free ride in- he was being a complete jerk) decides he's had enough and goes on a murderous rampage. Weirdly entertaining
6/10

The Mission (1986)
Jeremy Irons and Robert De Niro pair together as jesuit priests in South America set a few hundred years ago. They attempt to bring the local people into gods ways though its not easy.
6/10

Angel Heart (1987) - rewatch
I had forgotten most of this. In the late 40s circa east/south america Mickey Rourke plays a street smart detective hired by a mysterious My Cyphre (played by Robert De Niro) to find a missing person. This movie is all about atmosphere which it has plenty of. Great movie.
7.5/10

The Thin Blue Line (1988)
This fast becoming a staple doco for me, ever since six listed it in his top 100. A terrific doco
9/10

Mississippi Burning (1988) - rewatch
Classic law enforcement vs KKK movie. Willem Dafoe is the young buck hot shot FBI agent and Gene Hackman is the old hand former sheriff FBI agent, together they go after a town of merciless racists. Its not actually cheesy at all, in fact its real good.
7/10

The Big Blue (1988)
Really good movie about a couple of divers who form a special friendship, they also happen to be the worlds best free divers (diving without oxygen tanks) and makes for some amusing scenes. Some terrific cinematography on display here.
7/10

Talk Radio (1988)
A late night radio talk show host with a wicked sense of humour and boatload of smartass comebacks finds himself the center of the airwaves on one night of importance for the radio station. Eric Bogosian stars and writes adapted screenplay directed by Oliver Stone. Surprisingly decent.
6/10

Tucker, the Man and His Dream (1988)
About a guy who has a clear vision of how to create his dream car back in the 40s. Starring Jeff Bridges, its just not that good.
4.5/10

Akira (1988) - rewatch
Classic anime rich with colour and gore. About a bike gang member who is unexpectedly given god like powers and then proceeds to wreck havoc in the modern city.
8/10

Shocker (1989)
Cheap 80s horror flick by Wes Craven starring Peter Berg, whose close friends and family find themselves prey of the serial killer who jumps out of the TV and uses electricity as a 4th dimension. Not really as bad as it sounds but its nothing amazing.
5/10

[numbersix]

I really need to rewatch Scanners. Been literally decades.

[Buscemi2]

Somewhat of a mixed bag seeing it today. On one hand, the musical numbers are excellent and the flashback scenes that build Hedwig do a good job of developing the character. On the other hand, Hedwig in the present day scenes is a very unlikeable character and probably one of the most pathetic main characters in a film that's trying to be a positive depiction of somewhere (even though the ending seems to be intended as a homage to the superior All That Jazz). I was convinced I would hate this film a second time after the disaster that was How to Talk to Girls at Parties but maybe that film would have been terrible under any director. Mitchell does give Hedwig an interesting story but maybe he could have been a little campier with the elements. There are times when he plays things too straight and it enters unintentional parody. But once Hedwig gets into Kansas, it gets going.

Despite the film's cult following, it's odd that there are people who don't see John Cameron Mitchell as Hedwig but rather Neil Patrick Harris, who played him in a stage revival. Of course, those people don't watch movies period or only see what their peers see. Good thing I'm out of that scene.

Up next: Hairspray (1988).

[Buscemi2]

How is this film not as held in high regard as Grease? It's a far superior film and doesn't depend on false nostalgia to sell itself. As one might have guessed from watching his other films, John Waters is a man of the 60's. And this film is steeped in the early part of the era without it feeling like an excuse to pander to a certain audience. The music, the styles, the politics, Waters does not shy away from controversy or the problems of the era to make a few extra bucks (oddly, this might his most accessible film). It's also probably one of the more progressive films of the 80's with its anti-racism message. But most importantly, it's a fun movie made in a way only Waters could make it. I wish we could get one more movie from him. It's been 15 years since his last one.

Up next: Rear Window.

[Buscemi2]

Alfred Hitchcock's best film. Expanding the concept he used for Rope, Hitchcock puts an inventive spin on the murder mystery by incorporating humanity's voyeuristic tendencies and creating tension in the most unlikely place: through people watching. On paper, it would seem boring but Hitchcock's expert direction and excellent performances have made this among one of Hitchcock's most imitated films (and was the source for an excellent Simpsons episode). It's the kind of film that's so good that you can't take your eyes off it and are never bored despite its premise. The artistry puts this one above and beyond most thrillers.

Up next: Network.

[Buscemi2]

A master class in acting, screenwriting, and directing. The cutthroat nature of television is depicted at its darkest and scariest...and might have inspired a few future television moguls (you can a lot of Rupert Murdoch and the creation of the Fox networks as well as how the then-young cable industry grew here). The performances are universally excellent and Paddy Chayefsky's script might be one of the best ever written. The film is one of the most engrossing possibly ever made and it's definitely the kind of film you wouldn't see a studio touch today (amazingly, this was a co-production between two studios, MGM and United Artists), mainly because it's so critical of the things that are held sacred today. It might not be entirely prophetic but it certainly did get a lot right about modern mainstream media.

Up next: Millennium Actress.

[Buscemi2]

The intellectual Inception. Rather than using action scenes and visual effects to tell this story of dreams, Luis Bunuel chooses to focus on surrealism and world events to tell this darkly humorous tale of the French elite getting into one strange situation after another. Nowadays, when surrealism is presented on screen, it seems as if the filmmaker is trying too hard to create a cult product. Bunuel, on the other hand, had surrealism come natural to him. The events come organically and its maddening dream-like nature gets you to think rather than say, "Does the filmmaker hate his audience of what?" The structure of the film reminded me a lot of how episodes of Mr. Show were structured, with all of these initially disconnected sequences somehow making a cohesive plot. I have to wonder if Bob Odenkirk and David Cross saw this film before collaborating together.

Meanwhile, I have to wonder how one interprets the ending. Are the dreams still going? Are the bourgeois that foolish? Or could it be that they are in Purgatory?

[numbersix]

An incredible film. Everything connects in that every decision has a political dimension. Once that's realised the film makes a lot more sense

[Buscemi2]

I remember first seeing this one on a VHS tape I found for 50 cents, knowing little about it other than it was barely released by DreamWorks (who briefly distributed anime through a subsidiary called Go Fish) and wondering why it got so little exposure. Seeing it again and being more aware of Satoshi Kon, I can firmly say this is his masterpiece. Being his most cohesive narrative and his most emotional storyline, this drama that mixes film history with an interesting time travel concept is powerful and melancholy in its tone. This is anime at some of its best. No cliches or pandering to certain groups. Just pure moviemaking with heart.

Up next: Moonstruck.

[Buscemi2]

Known as the movie where Cher tells Nicolas Cage to "snap out of it", Norman Jewison's working class romance has more to offer. Being somewhat of an 80's version of The Ugly Duckling given a romantic comedy spin, it's refreshing that the film breaks the typical romantic comedy mold. It's not really a glamorous film but it is escapism. It avoids cliches thanks to John Patrick Shanley's screenplay (which won an Oscar) and goes more for realism while also having that fantastical feel with its characters. The cast is brilliant and it says something when a film with such an eccentric edge can connect with a wide audience. It seems to get pigeonholed as a Cher film (the audience I saw it with was there exclusively for her) but it is much more than a star vehicle.

Up next: Soylent Green.

[Buscemi2]

If Dirty Harry were a dystopian film. More of a slow burn than what we think about when we look at science fiction, this fits in with the era's cop dramas or paranoia thrillers as well as it does sci-fi. The grimy and sweaty atmosphere (playing with the issues New York City was going through at the time) gets you in the mood more than a modern-day dystopian film does (where it's basically "let's make everything as grey as possible") and the future as depicted on screen is really scary, especially when the "scoops" come along. The relationship between Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson also gives the film a sense of humanity that doesn't feel fake at all. You can see that these two really care for each other.

Soylent Green is known more for its twist ending but the 90 minutes or so leading up to it are good also. Much worth a revisit.

Up next: The Host.

[Buscemi2]

A better Godzilla remake than any of the American versions. Joon-ho Bong's monster mash is an interesting mix of comedy and political drama with an eccentric family fighting against time to save their youngest member from an indestructible monster. The effects are a bit off but it makes sense being that it has a similar feel to the rubber monster suits from kaiju movies. I do however feel the movie runs a bit long towards the end but I guess our hero needed a redemption arc after all the crap he went through from not getting enough protein. Keep a jar of peanut butter handy, I guess.

Up next: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

[Buscemi2]

Perhaps the first cinematic universe movie, sixty years before Iron Man. Combining the Abbott & Costello franchise with the Universal Monsters, the mix of comedy and horror creates a fun experience that doesn't feel obnoxious or designed to sell a product. It's basically infectious vaudeville-style humor. The film is short but more happens than in most of today's films. It also manages to parody the Universal Monsters without cheapening them. It's a parody of horror but it still fits in with the Dracula, Frankenstein, and Wolf Man franchises (this might also explain why this might be the most reissued movie on Blu-ray as it's in some many box sets). A lot of the film's success lays in Lou Costello. His quips make the film and his rapport with Bud Abbott shows why it's hard to create an effective comedy team. These guys were at it for years before they got into movies (and ended up making something like 40 together). You don't see that nowadays.

Up next: Frankenstein (the original).

[Buscemi2]

The film that launched the Universal Monsters franchise and basically saved its distributor. Personally, I like Bride of Frankenstein more but this is still a quite good horror film about a mad scientist who seeks to build a man but trouble arises when the wrong brain is chosen. A lot of the film's strengths lay in Boris Karloff's star-making performance as The Monster. A lot of his performance is done through mime and he shows the most emotion in the film despite playing a character who isn't very human. The film isn't as interesting when he's not on screen. James Whale's direction is also a big strength. The film I don't think would work without his direction and his excellent use of pacing and staging scenes. The last half of the film is still some of the best in horror cinema.

Up next: The Exorcist.

[Buscemi2]

This is the first time I've seen this in its original theatrical form and it is a far superior cut than the Version You've Never Seen that was prevalent in the 2000's. It's also a film that needs to be seen in a theatre to get the full effect. What's seen is how more or less to build tension and create scares beyond what is built up to be scary. William Friedkin's cold, deliberate style fits perfectly for a horror film that uses more than just monsters to terrify. He and William Peter Blatty use sacred cows, like religion and the American family, to scare us. It's also a excellent representation of the New Hollywood style, as though being a big (at the time) budgeted film, it has a smaller, more intimate feel. By focusing on a small canvas, it becomes a bigger film in story and tone. Nowadays, we have to have everything be big and fast. It might be why films like The Conjuring don't exactly work but are big with those who have become too desensitized towards films like The Exorcist. The 70's were a different time.

Up next: A Nightmare on Elm Street.