#21 — The Verdict (Sidney Lumet, 1982) Sidney Lumet directed his first feature film in 1957 and his last one in 2007. Both those efforts were sensationally good, and Lumet had enough similarly marvelous efforts during the half-century between the … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Twenty-One
#22 — Say Anything… (Cameron Crowe, 1989) As I acknowledged at the beginning of this particular countdown project, the peculiarly personal tug I have for some of the films from this ten-year span had a significant impact when I sat … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Twenty-Two
#23 — Terms of Endearment (James L. Brooks, 1983) There are a lot of reasons to admire the feature directorial debut of James L. Brooks–it’s one of those rare films that invites marveling over the way that everything comes together … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Twenty-Three
#24 — The Color Purple (Steven Spielberg, 1985) When I decided I was going to continue on with the Top 50 Films posts, addressing a new decade every year, I knew some extra homework would be required. Unsurprisingly, the further … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Twenty-Four
#25 — Hoosiers (David Anspaugh, 1986) A couple of years ago, I saw Gene Hackman with his regular writing partner Daniel Lenihan at a book reading. When it came time for the Q & A portion of the event, the … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Twenty-Five
#26 — Hairspray (John Waters, 1988) The first time I saw Hairspray, it was in black-and-white. I was at the house of a college friend, watching the movie on his big console TV with suspect technical dependability. The color wasn’t … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Twenty-Six
#27 — Ordinary People (Robert Redford, 1980) It’s worth considering Robert Redford’s place in the entertainment firmament when made Ordinary People in 1980. It was his first film as a director, so he was completely untried and untested in that capacity, … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Twenty-Seven
#28 — Lost in America (Albert Brooks, 1985) Albert Brooks is very funny, but that compliment, high as it is, can be paid to many people. The thing that truly sets the finest work of Brooks apart is its fearless … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Twenty-Eight
#29 — Witness (Peter Weir, 1985) There’s something unique about the sedate assurance Peter Weir brings to his films, especially when the works in question are at their most bleakly lovely and elegiacal. I remember reading an interview with Weir … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Twenty-Nine
#30 — Crimes and Misdemeanors (Woody Allen, 1989) Woody Allen had been directing movies for twenty years by the time he made Crimes and Misdemeanors, which might be a contributing factor to my sense that the film is a sort of cinematic final exam. It’s not that Allen had anything to prove, having already signed his name to multiple masterpieces. He may have been coming off of a pair of critical and commercial misfires–September and Another Woman–but the eighties had been an especially fruitful time for him. There was no familial scandal sullying his reputation, no prolonged stretch of mediocre … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Thirty
Coffee for Two 