1989 in film. • Page 2

1. Histoires d’Amérique (Akerman)
2. Beijing Watermelon (Obayashi)
3. Recollections of the Yellow House (Monteiro)

The Akerman and Obayashi are definitely obscurities within their body of work, but they’re both astonishing works.

Akerman displays a knack for comedy that she would continue to flirt with in some other underseen works from the 90s and 00s. But it’s also an incisive work about the past century of Jewish history. It’s definitely not the kind of film that comes to mind when one thinks of Akerman but I also don’t think it could be mistaken for the work of anyone else.

Obayashi’s film deals with cultural difference and exchange, built upon the relationship between a grocery store owner and a group of Chinese students in Japan. It is a rather subdued and straightforward drama for a filmmaker often associated with more playful, “cult” film tendencies (his abundant and inventive use of green screen, his play with genre, etc) but it also breaks with form in a near Brechtian way at one point.

Monteiro is, in my opinion, one of the all time underrated filmmakers. This is the first film in a loose trilogy where the director himself plays a bizarre, sickly man living through different situations. His sense of humour skews towards the deadpan style of someone like Kaurismaki, but within that he develops such a strong sense of poetry. This is probably my least favourite of the trilogy (and maybe even my least favourite of the four I’ve seen overall) and yet it is still an uncompromising masterpiece.

Another brutal one to narrow down. A few other contenders: A City of Sadness (Hou), Dekalog (Kieslowski), O Sangue (Costa), Tetsuo: The Iron Man (Tsukamoto, who will surely appear on many of my other lists across the next three decades), Tongues Untied (Riggs), Elephant (Clarke), My Twentieth Century (Enyedi).

Long overdue to revisit Imamura’s Black Rain, a strong film but one that probably sits more towards the middle of his filmography right now

 

I’m going to do 4 in case the Dekalog doesn’t count.
1. Dekalog
2. Do the Right Thing
3. Heathers
4. Road House

I don’t find this to be as strong of a year but I also haven’t seen quite a few mentioned. I’ve always considered the Dekalog a film series but I think it ran as a tv mini series originally so it might not count. No matter what it is it is excellent, truly a masterpiece.
Nothing to add about Do the Right Thing, a really lasting work. The list is top heavy though, I really enjoy Heathers and Road House but they probably shouldn’t be making my top 3.

 

I didn't consider Dekalog for this, but everyone should watch those. Top 10 all time honestly.

 

Though isn’t that 1988?

 

I don’t begrudge Dekalog counting even though I didn’t initially include it. It’d make my top 3 but I’m not going to revise my list

 

Wikipedia says it’s 88, but Letterboxd is calling it 89, so not sure! I wonder if the episodes were aired across both years possibly.

 

I keep seeing that it aired in 1989

 

i saw similar weirdness for release date for heathers

 

As we start coming into years with films that people can actually remember being released, we'll start seeing / noticing this more I imagine. The Limited TV series vs film debate might well become a recurring conversation too.

 

I’ve just been using Letterboxd dates. Very easy to sort by year on there

 

Yeah I'll just go by Letterboxd dates for these threads, even if my personal year lists are different because of UK release dates.

 

Films will be counted based on their international release, which is what Letterboxd uses.

 

Only the first episode of Dekalog came out in 1989, so in a way it is a 1990 "film".

 

I watched Do the Right Thing again earlier this year and it's obviously still super powerful.
Christmas Vacation is a nostalgic classic for me. 100% my favorite of the series and my favorite Chevy Chase product (except Nothing but Trouble but I need to watch that again)
Road House fuckin rules, but is relatively tame compared to some other 80s action sleeze. Dig deeper into Cannon films if you're a fan of it!

Sleepaway Camp III is not as good as II but still pretty fun.
The Burbs was a blindspot for me until a few years back and I absolutely loved it! I need a rewatch soon, but it hit every sweet spot it could for me. If I watched it again, it could probably make my top 3.
Ladrones de tumbas (Grave Robbers) was my personal least favorite of the Galindo VinSyn films, but still fun. A gory Mexican F13 ripoff
When Harry Met Sally was another one that I just watched recently, and it was super charming. I knew the orgasm scene because it permeated pop culture, but the rest of it was great too! I never really "got" Billy Crystal before but he is great in this.
Batman is a lot of fun, I prefer Returns
CHUD II: Bud the CHUD has a fucking dope theme song and Gerrit Graham is a national treasure

Teen Witch is solid 80s cheese. Some good songs in it. The little brother is so weird in the movie. Recently found out that he co-wrote The Final Girls!
3615 code Père Noël (Game Over) is worth checking out. A darker, French version of Home Alone featuring a killer Santa Claus. The set design and score for this one are great. Plus this cool theme song:

 

"Not as good as Sleepaway Camp II" is horrifying.

 

Not many films are! There's a reason the blu ray is going for almost $250!
Amazon

 

I saw that on cable years ago. It was definitely out there.

I have never seen any of the Friday the 13th films except Jason X, and only the original Nightmare on Elm Street. I don't think I have seen any of the Halloween movies either.

 

there is a reason indeed

 

Watch more horror!

 

leave people alone!

 

Where were you when I was praising The Vanishing in 1988?

 

Watching a 90s direct to video piece of shit!

 

The only trashy subgenre I have really gotten into are shark movies.

 

A world of magic awaits you!

 

80s + early 90s Hong Kong Category IIIs, and late 60s + 70s Japanese Pinku are the sort of trash I've been watching lots of for the last year or so. Some foul films there, but there's often buried bits of brilliance if you dig deep.