#41 — Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985) In a recent article, Mark Harris argued that he could pinpoint the exact day when movies died, bypassing the arrival of Jaws and Star Wars–benchmarks commonly cited by cineastes dismayed about … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Forty-One
#42 — The Fabulous Baker Boys (Steve Kloves, 1989) Michelle Pfeiffer had been working regularly in television and film for ten years before The Fabulous Baker Boys came around. And she’d certainly been noticed, giving performances of increasing prominence and … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Forty-Two
#43 — The Right Stuff (Philip Kaufman, 1983) In 1957, The Soviet Union launched the satellite dubbed Sputnik into orbit around the Earth, setting of a practically unprecedented surge in scientific endeavor within the boundaries of the United States. The … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Forty-Three
#44 — Parenthood (Ron Howard, 1989) It’s no bold, daring insight to note that building strong characters is one of the most vital parts of good filmmaking. This is especially true when making a comedy. It quickly becomes the difference … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Forty-Four
#45 — WarGames (John Badham, 1983) I completely understand that a multitude of factors are weighed when determining the release dates of films. The timing of their respective arrivals on on screens nationwide only has so much to do with the … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Forty-Five
#46 — The Killing Fields (Roland Joffé, 1984) One of the unfortunate tendencies of filmmakers centering their art on foreign cultures or besieged minorities is a default towards protagonists who stand outside of the group being depicted, with a particular … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Forty-Six
#47 — Swimming to Cambodia (Jonathan Demme, 1987) The very nature of Swimming to Cambodia is fantastically, deliriously uncinematic. There’s no sweep or scope to the movie, nothing particularly dynamic to train the camera on. The action gets no more … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Forty-Seven
#48 — Roxanne (Fred Schepisi, 1987) No matter what snap judgments observers may have made about him when he rose to fame in the nineteen-seventies by making balloon animals and wearing arrow-through-the-head apparatuses, Steve Martin has classic, refined tastes. It’s not just in the acquisition of art–a topic in which Martin is extremely well-versed, although New York City audiences apparently have no interest in his insights. For example, when penning his first solo screenplay after serving as one of the contributing writers on most of his prior comedies, Martin looked to a work no less venerable than the 1897 Edmond … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Forty-Eight
#49 — Coal Miner’s Daughter (Michael Apted, 1980) Film biographies of famed musicians follow the same trajectory with such unwavering rigor that they’ve practically become a cliche unto themselves. The humble beginnings are traced. Then the rise to notoriety begins, … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Forty-Nine
#50 — Always (Steven Spielberg, 1989) If you want a snapshot of who I was at the age of nineteen, Always is as good a place as any to start. Like a lot of people who grew up during the … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Fifty
Coffee for Two 