Top Ten 1980s

for discussion fun

Tootsie, one of the inarguably great American comedies

"The Tuesday Top Ten will get more article-like soon," he said (again). "It really will." But it was so much fun to discuss the 1930s and the 1970s, which are arguably the two most respected decades (critically speaking) of American cinema. So how about a decade that gets no respect? The 1980s. The '80s are tough for me to feel discerning about because I lived through them and was a) young and b) just falling in love with the movies and c) just falling hard for the movies so how could the cinema possibly have been hitting its nadir? I still have inordinate fondness for movies that might more safely be called guilty pleasures like Yentl, Superman II, Splash, Return of the Jedi, Clue, and about half of the filmography of John Hughes... and so on. I even like revisiting really bad movies from that decade. 

Off the top of my head my ten favorites of the decades. 

A Sean Young polaroid from the set of Blade Runner

1. The Purple Rose of Cairo (Woody Allen)
2. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott)
3. A Room With a View (James Ivory)
4. Tootsie (Sydney Pollack)
5. Dangerous Liaisons (Stephen Frears)
6. Amadeus (Milos Forman)
7. Hannah and Her Sisters (Woody Allen)
8. Aliens (James Cameron)
9. Law of Desire (Pedro Almodovar)
10. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg) 

With apologies too... Silkwood, Reds, Diva, The Empire Strikes Back, The Little Mermaid, The complete works of Michelle Pfeiffer, Moonstruck, Raging Bull, Jean de Florette, Manon of the Spring, The King of Comedy, Heathers, sex lies and videotape, The complete works of Kathleen Turner, The Shining, Victor/Victoria, The Right Stuff, Bull Durham, Little Shop of Horrors, The Terminator, Witness, Broadcast News, Running on Empty, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Raising Arizona. I could go on and on and on but I'd better stop before I start singing Xanadu again.

 

I'd love to hear your lists, both guilty pleasures and critically lauded efforts you think deserve their reputations.

Holly Hunter on HuffPo Live

We've been waiting for twenty-years for Holly Hunter to return to Jane Campion's camera and it's finally happened. The Piano Oscar winner co-stars in Top of the Lake (2013) a miniseries that stars Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men).

She was interviewed on HuffPost Live today and though they ran out of time just as the question & answer period with the assembled writers began, I did win the luck of the draw with the first question... I wanted to know what she attributes that incredible psychic connection with co-stars to. She had it in The Piano without the use of dialogue and it was there in every breath and gesture of thirteen.

The interview is after the jump. 

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The Link and I

tumblr screenshots without pausing of Zero Dark Thirty's hallway showdown scene
MNPP on responsibility in film criticism and Michel Gondry's The We And I 
Unreality the Han Solo in carbonite business card case. I keep wondering if Patrick Bateman would love this
Pajiba sounds off on the official poster for Mad Men Season 6, which features an illustration of Don Draper looking at... himself? in passing.  I cannot cannot wait. You?
Antagony... follows up that best oscar wins list with its evil twin counterpart: worst oscar wins

the greatest sitcom?
I've been really impressed with Vulture's #sitcomsmackdown which has made all sort of insightful points about the state of the situation comedy throughout the past quarter century, even if I wish Vulture had been more clear about how much rewatching they've asked their selected writers to do. Glenn at Stale Popcorn sounds off on the uproar that greeted Sex & The City's win over 30 Rock. But, as Glenn points out, if you read the actual original essay the writer clearly loves both series and makes really salient engaging points about why she chose Sex as the winner. But alas, people don't read. They just choose sides and fight. I'm thankful I don't have to choose the ultimate winner from the past 30 years but many of the shows battling it out for the top slot would make my top 10.

weird coincidence
So this week while instant-watch surfing a few films I'd seen before, which I do on occasion to refresh my memory, I watched a few scenes from both Head On (1998) and from Trainspotting (1996). Both films were critical hits and bold in-your-face indies about hard-living young men. The two films served as major launching pad for two exciting actors (Alex Dimitriades and Ewan McGregor, respectively) though their careers didn't exactly turn out the same. And then yesterday while link surfing, I chance upon a piece about how hard it is for men to turn 40 that featured Alex Dimitriades and the news that Danny Boyle still wants to do a Trainspotting sequel and that, finally, Ewan McGregor may say yes. The article suggests that one hurdle has always been residual director/star strangement dating back to the days when Boyle threw his young start-up muse (Ewan had also been with him for his debut Shallow Grave) overboard for Leonardo DiCaprio on The Beach? I felt like the internet was reading my mind! 

Curio: Liza Love

Alexa here. Liza Minnelli turns 67 today. (Nathaniel is seeing her in concert tomorrow!).  Count me among the disappointed that this year's Oscar telecast, said to be a tribute to movie musicals, didn't at least acknowledge Cabaret.  Seems they meant to celebrate only the revival of the form, but still, couldn't we get Liza to join the other divas for a number instead of making time for Seth Macfarlane's ode to boobs?

Oh well, count me amongst the grumbling olds. Suffice it to say that I love me some Liza. I can't wait until Arrested Development Season 4 premieres in a few months since I think Lucille Austero is one of her best roles.  In the meantime, here are some curios that celebrate her film life.

Watercolor by OhLaLaGalerie.

EGOT accessories, and more Cabaret and Arthur after the jump...

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Secret Messages: Time Window

secret messages from the movies

Can you guess the movie? What can you really squeeze into 3.5-4 minutes anyway?