1981 in film. • Page 2

ferris bueller

 

Baby’s Day Out

 

Both Possession and Come and See stand out as 80's films I need to see eventually.

Looking at my lists it is funny to see that I have more experience with the 60's than the late 70's and 80's.

 

Ever seen A Chinese Ghost Story? What a wonderfully batshit movie. Loved every minute of it.

 

1. Evil Dead
2. Escape from New York
3. Friday the 13th Part 2

 

The 80s remains a powerhouse for blockbusters and nostalgic favorites. I will say the “acclaimed” movies that were big Oscar contenders then don’t hold up. That Last Emperor, Driving Miss Daisy, Out of Africa, Chariots of Fire, all have fallen by the waist side.

 

*wayside

I’d argue that Amadeus, Reds, Missing, The Verdict, Mississippi Burning, Witness and others hold up as well now as they ever did.

 

Those are my top 2 from the 80's, ha.

 

Yeah it’s great! There’s a huge amount of those sort of period piece ghost stories during the 80s. All seemed to have the same basic idea, just adding their own twist onto it, with martial arts, horror, comedy, soft core exploitation, romance etc.

The studios in HK were cranking out films at a ridiculous pace, so there’s a lot of mediocrity, but there were lots of wonderfully inventive films unlike anywhere else too.

 

Do you have any recommendations for unseen / unheralded Japanese films in the 80s?

Off the top of my head (excluding animated films, which had a massive surge), I really haven't seen that many non-animated films in the 80s. Thinking quickly without checking, I'll have seen the Kurosawas, Tampopo, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, Tetsuo and the Ballad of Narayama, but that might be it for the whole decade - so I'm sure there's plenty of great stuff I'm missing.

 

On top of the ones you’ve already listed:

Beijing Watermelon
His Motorbike, Her Island
Four Sisters
The Deserted City
The Discarnates
Kaito Ruby
Typhoon Club
Black Rain (Imamura)

Other than Black Rain, I don’t think any of these have been given proper English friendly releases, but they have all been subtitled. The first 5 are all directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi, who made House/Hausu, and I personally like them all more than that film. Typhoon Club is a coming of age sort of film about a group of students trapped in their school alone during a typhoon. Kaito Ruby is an incredibly charming romantic comedy, often reminding me in spirit of the early Hollywood screwball comedies. This one was only subtitled very recently. I’m pretty sure someone has uploaded it to YouTube, so it is pretty easily accessible as of now.

 

Thank you! I have His Motorbike, Her Island downloaded, but haven't been able to get around to it. I'll see if I can track down the others - haven't heard of any of them, but looking forward to exploring a bit more!

 

If there is any of them in particular that interests you and you’re having trouble finding it, feel free to message me. I think I have all of these other than Black Rain on my hard drive.

 

Other notable ones from this year:
Mad Max 2
The Decline of Western Civilization
The Howling
The Evil Dead
The Funhouse
Madman
Escape from New York
Halloween 2 + Friday 2
The Beyond

Halloween 2 is a solid followup. Definitely the best Michael-centric sequel of the series.
Friday 2 has the solid machete/wheelchair kill, but I still don't really love the series until Jason is in his full mask attire.
Escape from NY is fun. I need to watch it again because I wasn't totally in love with it.
Evil Dead is a really great film, but I think 2 does it better.

 

Thanks! Will keep that in mind if any of them prove difficult to track down.

 

Or the Goonies
Or the Ghostbusters
Or the Terminator
Or Aliens
Or Predator
Or The Breakfast Club
Or...The Neverending story!

 

I loved finding out that the “computer grid” view at the beginning of Escape from New York is actually a practical effect because they couldn’t figure out how to do it with computer graphics yet

 

It isn't that the decade was bad, it is that many more movies popped out in the last two decades.

 

History of the World pt 1

 

1. Raiders of the Lost ark
2. Time Bandits
3. Das Boot

 

1. Blow Out
2. Thief
3. Evil Dead

 

Raiders of the Lost Ark wins it with 18 votes. Blow Out was in second place with 13 votes. Raiders of the Lost Ark will move on to the bracket.

 

I tried to see Possession but I was too busy studying for a test. It is coming soon, though.

 

Retroactively changing my #3 spot pick from Raiders of the Lost Ark to Walter Hill's Southern Comfort, which I just watched today. This doesn't do anything in the grand scheme of things but I thought you all should know anyways