1983 in film.

Top ten box-office films of 1983:

1. Return of the Jedi
2. Terms of Endearment
3. Flashdance
4. Trading Places
5. WarGames
6. Octopussy
7. Sudden Impact
8. Staying Alive
9. Mr. Mom
10. Risky Business

What are your top three films for 1983? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be:

1. Nostalghia
2. Sans Soleil
3. Videodrome

What are some of the forgotten gems from the year? What is overrated? What did you discover at a young age and what did you discover later?

YEARS IN FILM • forum.chorus.fm

 

1. Sans Soleil
2. Born in Flames
3. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

I saw La Jetee and Sans Soleil in 16mm at a bar that used to do weekly 16mm screenings, saw Killer of Sheep and Down By Law there too, among others. Detroit rules. Sans Soleil made an immediate impact.

Born in Flames I saw a few months ago, Lizzie Borden’s radically progressive second feature, and I encourage seeking it out. I watched it on Criterion Channel, not sure it’s still up there.

My friend and I checked out Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence our freshman year of film school and it got us into Nagisa Oshima. The Japanese new wave has a lot of stuff I love and so much more I’d like to delve into

 

1. Terms of Endearment
2. Return of the Jedi
3. The Big Chill

i don’t particularly care for anything in this year much at all

 

1. Return of the Jedi
2. The Right Stuff
3. Local Hero

Others I really like:
The Big Chill
Zelig
A Christmas Story
Terms of Endearment
Risky Business
Mr. Mom

Good ones:
Christine
WarGames
Yentl
El Norte
The Dresser
Monty Python’s Meaning of Life
Tender Mercies
Videodrome
Sans Soleil
National Lampoon’s Vacation
Flashdance
Trading Places
Scarface
Under Fire

Eh/fine:
The Outsiders
Utu
Octopussy
The 4th Man
Cross Creek
All the Right Moves
Reuben, Reuben
Valley Girl
Testament
The Sting II
The Twilight Zone: The Movie
The Pirates of Penzance
To Be or Not to Be

Not a fan:
L’Argent
Sahara
Private School
Never Say Never Again

 

1. The Ballad of Narayama
2. Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
3. City of Pirates

The order of these three could probably be switched around at any given moment, but they were clearly the top 3 for me. The Ballad of Narayama is, in my opinion, Imamura’s best film. Nasty in the ways that Imamura films often are, yet there is an undeniable degree of beauty in this film that I think sets it apart from the rest of his filmography.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence on the other hand probably wouldn’t even break my top 5 for Oshima, which really just speaks to the strength of his body of work. I’d say it’s his last great film, although Taboo and Max mon amour should not be dismissed. I drifted away from the film for a few years but when I caught a 35mm print in 2019, it proved to be a revelation all over again. Sakamoto’s theme is one of my favourites from any film ever.

City of Pirates blew my mind wide open when I saw it. Ruiz has a surrealist vision all of his own. There are images in this film that I could never dream up and they’ve been logged in my mind ever since. A truly singular vision.

As I said in the last thread, there were quite a few to narrow down from this year. Others worth considering: Smorgasboard (Jerry Lewis’ final feature as director and in my opinion the funniest of the relatively few I’ve seen from him), Confidentially Yours (Truffaut’s final feature and one that harkens back to the greatness of his early New Wave features), L’argent (Bresson’s final feature, a cold and cruel film that I might be compelled to call his best), Pauline at the Beach, Videodrome, Nostalgia, A Nos Amours, El Sur, First Name: Carmen, and The Little Girl Who Conquered Time.

 

1. Risky Business
2. Videodrome
3. Valley Girl


Some other good ones:
Sleepaway Camp
Sledgehammer (just watched this one, a lot of fun!)
Deadly Spawn
Scarface
A Christmas Story
The Outsiders

 

Risky Business was a big surprise for me when I rewatched it earlier this year. Ethereal and moody and vastly different from other 80s teen sex comedies. It really isn’t even all that funny. Growing up (and still getting parodied today), the underpants dance was the only scene really engrained in my memory, which is wild compared to the tone of the rest of the film. I find myself thinking about this one a lot

edit:
Plus this

 

100% agreed. The fame of the individual scene totally misleads you for the (excellent) movie you’re about to see

 

1.National Lampoon’s Vacation
2. Sleepaway Camp
3. Videodrome

Vacation is a movie that my parents watched endlessly with me as child. I'll forever have fond memories of it, and remember most of the lines. SC has made a significant impact on my life as a trans person.

 

i haven't seen risky business in years. maybe I'll revisit soon

 

Sledgehammer marks the arrival of true SOV films. Part of the reason I love the 80s so much is for the fucking psychopaths who rented a camera, got a bunch of their friends together and filmed whatever they could in the span of a weekend. And the shit made it out on shelves! Sledgehammer is not the best SOV that I’ve seen, but it’s really fun. Per Joe Bob Briggs, the director told the actors to wing it and make jokes throughout the entire first half, which leads to some pretty memorable hangout scenes. I look forward to throwing this one on at a Halloween party. Solid hangout film

 

Sleepaway Camp is great. A weirdness to it that isn’t found in the more popular series. I prefer the humor of the sequels, but the OG deserves a watch

 

Does SOV stand for “shot on video”?

 

Indeed

 

The camp of the second film is hard to match.

 

Really strong year for me.

1. Seeding of a Ghost
2. Pauline at the Beach
3. Barefoot Gen

This year roughly marks the start of "Category III" Hong Kong films, where the increase in home rentals and relaxing of censorial standards, allowed film-makers to push the boundaries of taste and content, which lasted roughly until the hand-over in 97. There's a lot of exploitative and nasty stuff here, but there were lots of interesting films being made here too. One of my favourites is Seeding of a Ghost , which is a black magic horror film about a man seeking vengeance after his wife was raped and murdered. It's without doubt unpleasant, but it also manages to mine horror and terror in truly unusual and unexpected situations that I don't think I've seen films do since. 100% worth tracking down. Also in this vein for black magic horror nastiness this year is The Boxer's Omen & Devil Fetus.

Pauline at the Beach is another of Rohmer's "Comedies and Proverbs", following a group of romantically linked people on a beach holiday. Outrageously French, it feels in many ways like what someone who hasn't seen a single French film would think they're all like. Full of long takes and conversations, it's a deliberately slight and small film, but if you're a fan of Hong Sang Soo films, I think this is a must see.

Barefoot Gen is a Japanese animation about a young boy living in Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped in '45. The animation scene when the bomb drops is completely remarkable, and shows the power of animation to show things that you couldn't do with live action. It's a tough and powerful watch, showing the hardships and suffering of the Japanese people. If you've seen and enjoyed Grave of the Fireflies, this is in the same vein.

For some honourable mentions, we have two great HK action / comedy films, Project A, which has the famous scene where Jackie Chan falls from the clocktower, and it was so painful that they included two takes of it in the film. There's also the first installment of the Lucky Stars series, Winners and Sinners, which is an absolute hodge-podge of genres, equal part Benny Hill, Buster Keaton and Bruce Lee. There's also The Holy Flame of the Martial World, which is like asking a little kid what they like about martial arts films, and then just including every single thing they said, with no consideration for the plot

There's also the first great film from Hou Hsiao-hsien, The Boys from Fengkuei, about a group of boys leaving their little rural town for the big lights of the city.

Two fantastic Japanese films too, The Ballad of Narayama and Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence.

For a final honourable mention we have David Cronenberg's perverted and uncomfortable Videodrome. I'm not sure exactly how much of it I understand, but I certainly feel it's effects.

 

This is definitely a weaker year compared to the previous one for me but still, several all-time favorites are featured with these three being the cream of the crop -

1. Scarface
2. The Dead Zone
3. Psycho II

Under Fire, Gorky Park, WarGames, The Star Chamber, Sudden Impact, Christine, Cujo, and Blue Thunder are other favorites.

 

What are some of the best or most notable films? I don't know if any of it will be my thing, but I'm always curious about earlier instances of digital/video/non-celluloid. I'm fascinated by any outsider film "movements" too, even if I often find the stuff to border on unwatchable lol

 

I’m still a novice, but Sledgehammer, Scary Tales and Jungle Trap were all great. I actually just got a book on SOV horror which will give me more. Letterboxd put me on to a ton
https://boxd.it/5gAb8
https://boxd.it/HfjO

Tubi has a ton for free

 

shot on video as opposed to what? film or digital? like, they shot it on VHS tapes??

 

Spo probably knows better. But from the bit I’ve read today, yes, VHS tapes.

 

Correct.
Shot On Video — Moviejawn

 

1. Videodrome
2. Scarface
3. Barefoot Gen

 

1. Krull
2. Duel To The Death
3. Vacation

 

This is the biggest range of nominees we have had in any year so far. The leading film only has seven votes but there is a three-way tie for second place and a lot of thirds.