Where to stream movies from 1987, our 'year of the month'
Friday, October 23, 2020 at 3:45PM As we keep promising you, the Supporting Actress Smackdowns are much more fun if you play along at home. The final Smackdown of the year is on 1987 and it'll be a goodie because two of the movies (Moonstruck & Fatal Attraction) are already bonafide classics. We've already told you where to watch all five of those films but don't forget to send in your votes (1 to 5 hearts for each lady) by November 17th.
If you REALLY wanna dive into the cinema of 1987 before the event, here is a list of movies that are currently streaming and where.
Far more titles (unlisted) are available through Hoopla if you have that through your local library but we don't have that in NYC so we can't look it up for you. Let us know in the comments which 1987 titles from this list (or otherwise) that you'd most like us to cover at TFE...
1987 OSCAR-NOMINATED TITLES STREAMING FOR FREE
(provided you have the corresponding services of course)
Au Revoir Les Enfants
AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS (Louis Malle, France) on the Criterion Channel
2 Nominations: International Feature and Screenplay
It was the early frontrunner for International Feature but Denmark intervened...
BABETTE'S FEAST (Gabriel Axel, Denmark) on the Criterion Channel
1 Nomination/Win: International Feature
This one wasn't released in the US until 1988 two weeks after its Oscar nomination so it was only eligible for this category. It was an arthouse hit.
Denzel's first nomination!
CRY FREEDOM (Richard Attenborough, UK) on Starz
3 Nominations: Supporting Actor, Score, Song
An Apartheid drama and the first of Denzel Washington's 8 acting nominations.
DARK EYES (Nikita Mikhalkov, Italy) on Amazon Prime
1 Nomination: Best Actor
Marcello Mastroianni holds the distinction of being the only actor ever nominated three times for non-English language acting. All three of his nominated performances were performed in Italian. (Sophia Loren, Liv Ullman, Isabelle Adjani, Marion Cotillard, and Javier Bardem each have two nominations for non-English language performances)
Fatal Attraction won't be ignored, Dan
FATAL ATTRACTION (Adrian Lyne, US) on Amazon Prime
6 Nominations: Picture, Director, Actress, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing
GABY: A TRUE STORY (Luis Mandoki, US/Mexico) on YouTube
1 Nomination: Best Supporting Actress
It's such a disgrace that Oscar nominations don't ensure continued availability. This disability drama starring Liv Ullman, Robert Loggia and nominee Norma Aleandro is only available in bootleg form.
GEORGE & ROSEMARY (Alison Snowden, US) on Amazon Prime
1 Nomination: Animated Short
HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS (William Dear, US) on Cinemax
1 Nomination/Win: Best Makeup.
IRONWEED (Hector Babenco, US) on Pluto TV (with ads)
2 Nominations: Best Actor and Best Actress
We've previously written about Meryl Streep's performance.
John Lone in "The Last Emperor"
THE LAST EMPEROR (Bernardo Bertolucci, UK) on HBOMax
9 Nominations/Wins: a clean sweep at the Oscars including Best Picture.
Earlier this year, Cláudio looked at John Lone's lead performance.
MAURICE (James Ivory, UK) on Criterion Channel
1 Nomination: Costume Design.
Cláudio and I will be talking about the Costume Design category as we did for 1938. Nathaniel previously interviewed James Ivory, a personal hero, in 2018 for Call Me By Your Name's Oscar run.
MY LIFE AS A DOG (Lasse Hallstrom, Sweden) on HBO Max and the Criterion Channel
2 Nominations: Director and Adapted Screenplay nominations.
Mysteriously not submitted by Sweden. This became a sleeper arthouse hit upon release.
PATHFINDER (Nils Gaup, Norway) on the Criterion Channel
1 Nomination: International Feature
PREDATOR (John McTiernan, US) on Starz
1 Nomination: Visual Effects
PRINCESS BRIDE (Rob Reiner, US) on Disney+
1 Nomination: Original Song
ROBOCOP (Paul Verhoeven) on Starz
2 Nominations: Sound and Film Editing. Plus a Special Oscar for Sound Effects Editing
THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN (Danny DeVito, US) on Roku with ads
1 nomination: Supporting Actress
Taxi's Emmy winning supporting player, Danny DeVito, made his directorial debut here. He had an even bigger hit two years later with The War of the Roses.
THE UNTOUCHABLES (Brian de Palma, US) on Starz
4 Nominations: Supporting Actor, Art Direction, Costume Design, Original Score
YOUR FACE (Bill Plympton, US) on the Criterion Channel
1 Nominations: Animated Short
OSCAR NOMINATED FILMS THAT YOU HAVE TO RENT TO WATCH
(Unless you can find them on Hoopla which we don't have here in NYC)
Beverly Hills Cop II, Broadcast News, The Dead, Dirty Dancing, Empire of the Sun, Full Metal Jacket, Good Morning Vietnam, Hope and Glory, Lethal Weapon, Mannequin, Matewan, Moonstruck, Innerspace, Radio Days, Street Smart, Wall Street, Whales of August, and The Witches of Eastwick
OSCAR NOMINATED FILMS WE CAN'T FIND EVEN TO BUY OR RENT
Anna (US), Course Completed (Spain), La Famiglia (Italy)
OTHER 1987 TITLES TO STREAM FOR FREE
HBO MAX
Secret of My Success, forgotten now but a huge hit in '87
- Adventures in Babysitting (Chris Columnus, US) Elisabeth Shue stars
- Can't Buy Me Love (Steve Rash, US) Patrick Dempsey stars
- The Secret of My Success (Herbert Ross, US) Michael J Fox stars
- Withnail and I (Bruce Robinson, UK) Richard E Grant's breakout role!
CRITERION CHANNEL
- Barrios Altos (Luis Garcia Berlanga, Spain)
- Border Radio (Allison Anders, etc..., US)
- Family Viewing (Atom Egoyan, Canada)
- Five Corners (Tony Bill, US)
- Gap Toothed Woman (Les Blank, US)
- Geometria (Guillermo del Toro, Mexico)
- Hollywood Shuffle (Robert Townsend, US)
- I Was a Teenage Zombie (John Elias Michalakis, US)
- Islands (Albert & David Maysles, etc..., US)
- L.A. Woman (Aki Kaurismaki, Finland)
- Masques (Claude Chabrol, France)
- Princess from the Moon (Kon Ichawa, Japan)
- Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies (the Quay Brothers, UK)
- The Short and Curlies (Mike Leigh, UK)
- A Taxing Woman (Juzo Itami, Japan)
- Thru the Wire (Aki Kaurismaki, Finland)
- Where is the Friend's House (Abbas Kiarostami, Iran)
- Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, Germany) - GERMANY'S OSCAR SUBMISSION THAT YEAR
DISNEY +
- Benji the Hunted (Joe Camp, US)
- Three Men and a Baby (Leonard Nimoy, US)
1987's #1 hit (Fatal Attraction was runner-up for top of the box office honors)
AMAZON PRIME
As usual they mostly have B movies available though we've highlighted the most notable films they're streaming...
The very big sex appeal of The Big Easy
- Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold (Gary Nelson, US)
Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone starred in this Indiana Jones knockoff - Bad Taste (Peter Jackson, New Zealand)
- Bedroom Window (Curtis Hanson, US) Steve Gutternberg and Eliabeth McGovern star
- The Believers (John Schlesinger, US) Martin Sheen stars
- Bloody Wednesday (Mark G Gilhuis)
- The Big Easy (Jim McBride, US)
Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin were both delicious in this crime drama with a then much ballyhooed sex scene. - A Chinese Ghost Story (Ching Siu-Tung, Hong Kong)
Much beloved late film star Leslie Cheung headlined this action fantasy - Cobra Verde (Werner Herzog)
This is the last of the five film infamous Werner Herzog / Klaus Kinski partnership. The director and his muse were constantly in volatile sanity-wrecking conflict on the sets of their movies which stretched from 1972's Aguirre The Wrath of God through this film. Kinski died four years later but Herzog (who was 16 years younger) is still going strong at 78 years of age. - Dead of Winter (Arthur Penn, US)
Mary Steenburgen stars in this thriller - Escape from Sobibor (Jack Gold, US)
Rutger Hauer and Alan Arkin star in this Golden Globe winning and Emmy nominated TV movie about a concentration camp escape in 1943 - Fatal Beauty (Tom Holland, US) Whoopi Goldberg stars
- Five Corners (Tony Bill) Jodie Foster and Tim Robbins star
- From the Hip (Bob Clark) Judd Nelson stars
- Gunfighters (Clay Borris) George Kennedy stars
- Hamburger Hill (John Irvin) Don Cheadle and Steven Weber star
- Hidden City (Stephen Poliakoff, UK) Charles Dance stars
- Hiding Out (Bob Giraldi) Jon Cryer stars
- Hollywood Shuffle (Robert Townsend, US)
Baby Jason Bateman in "Teen Wolf Too"
- I Was a Teenage Zombie (John Elias Michalakis, US)
- Intimate Betrayal (Robert Michael Lewis, US) James Brolin stars
- Lily C.A.T. (Hisayuki Toriumi, Japan) anime
- On the Line (Jose Luis Borau) David Carradine and Victoria Abril star
- Over the Top (Menahem Golan) Sylvester Stallone stars
- A Prayer for the Dying (Mike Hodges) Mickey Rourke stars
- Running Man (Paul Michael Glaser), Arnold Schwarzenegger stars
- Slam Dance (Wayne Wang) Tom Hulce stars
- Some Kind of Wonderful (Howard Deutch, US)
Eric Stolz and Mary Stuart Masterson star in this John Hughes written movie that has its obsessive fans though I personally never liked it that much despite definitely being in the target audience. - Teen Wolf Too (Christopher Leitch, US)
Jason Bateman stars in this werewolf comedy sequel to a Michael J Fox hit. The MTV series Teen Wolf bore the title of this franchise but had virtually nothing in common with it. - Witchboard (Kevin Tenney, US)
- You Talkin' To Me (Charles Winkler, US)
- Zombie High (Ron Link, US) Virginia Madsen stars
1987, Oscars (80s), Smackdown, streaming
Reader Comments (27)
So crazy that Mannequin has the title of Oscar Nominated Film. It was one of my all time favorite movies of my childhood. If you wrote about it, Adventures in Babysitting, or Can’t Buy Me Love, I’d be over the moon.
What about Housekeeping, Tampopo, The Stepfather and Wish You Were Here? These are four of my favorite films of the year, especially Housekeeping, which is some kind of small masterpiece, with a brilliant performance by Christine Lahti.
BTW, which cut of The Last Emperor? The theatrical cut or the extended cut of the film?
thevoid99 -- oh i have no idea which one HBOMax is showing.I hope theatrical cuz it was already long enough
1987 favorites of mine not mentioned include: Housekeeping, House of Games, River's Edge, Angel Heart, Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring, Evil Dead 2:Dead by Dawn, Wish You Were Here, Prick Up Your Ears, The Glass Menagerie, Less Than Zero, and Come and See.
Ah, '87. At the time I really liked The Last Emperor, and I still respect it, but Broadcast News has aged so very well (and Hunter and Brooks are marvelous). As a youngster I had some issues with Maurice but now I really, really, really like it (and have always loved Rupert Graves). I'm still all about The Secret of My Success - such a perfect combination of a host of '80s movie forms (RIP the ever-entertaining Margaret Whitton and Carol Ann Susi). The Big Easy - such attractive actors speaking the worst New Orleans accents I've ever heard (which is saying something). And got to say - I'm going to be fascinated to hear what the panelists think of Anne Ramsey. In the '80s I liked her in everything, so that's stuck, to some extent. But I'm wondering what people who didn't have that same kind of affection set in during their youth will think. Not your average actress/actressing.
Hope and Glory was the best of the five films!
1987 was a great year for genre films - prestige pics, not so much. But to think in one year we were given Fatal Attraction, Robocop, The Princess Bride, Lethal Weapon, AND The Witches of Eastwick!
Best of the year for me hands down is Moonstruck. What a lovely, lovely film that only gets stronger with time.
Law of Desire also counts as 1987
@ken s
The Stepfather: On Hoopla
Tampopo: Criterion Channel.
Wish You Were Here: YOutube has it.
Housekeeping: Not available for free/subscription streaming it appears.
I was only listing titles I could find for free. This was not meant to be a comprehensive list. Obviously a lot of great movies you have to pay for.
Adventured in babysitting is EVERYTHING.
Maurice and Cry Freedom are high on my watchlist, so any articles on those would be appreciated.
Plus (I assume this is pre-written as she’s in everyone’s personal line-up?) a piece on Veronica Cartwright in The Witches Of Eastwick!
Robocop and Predator are both very “un-Film Experience” titles but I love both and would like to know the team’s thoughts/takes on each.
Left-of-centre actressing of note? Claire Higgins in Hellraiser and Dianne Wiest in The Lost Boys - I’d love (in Halloween month) Horror Actressing takes on these performances which both make my Leading Actress Top 10 in 1987...
Wow, what an unexpected delight to read some love for 'Housekeeping' which in my opinion is one of the best fiction novels I read and my love for Marilynne Robinson grew each time she graced us with novels (liker her latest one called 'Jack'). When I watched Housekeeping with the great Christine Lahti as the unforgettable Aunt Sylvie, I was initially disappointed. I had an idea in my mind how and what Aunt Sylvie looked like in my head. But it was a few years later when I truly respected what Lahti did to delineate one of contemporary literature's most indelible characters. Lahti got the itinerant, nomadic, peripatetic, restless spirit and the strangeness of Aunt Sylvie. The novel sees Aunt Sylvie from the point of view of the narrator Ruth while the film somehow allows the audience to see what people other than the dreamy, gangly Ruth sees in her fascinating aunt.
I also saw Trois hommes et un couffin and like that one better than the English-language version. I didn't see Fatal Attraction until maybe three years later after its release. By then I have already seen Dangerous Liaisons that made me a fan of Stephen Frears and Glenn Close so when I saw Fatal Attraction my admiration for Close grew. My Life as a Dog is my favorite film from 1987. And I still have not seen Maurice even until now. Must remedy that this year.
I watched a lot of great 87 features during the summer and my fav's were easily The Dead, Law of Desire, Raising Arizona, Maurice & Broadcast News. I'm excited for some discussion of Maurice because it's such an excellent film that I managed to see 2 years ago at the cinema.
i know there's already been an article about Sally Kirkland but the 87 actress lineup is a smackdown I would love to see one day because it's such an incredible lineup where every actress was worthy of an oscar nomination. i think I'd only retain Holly & Sally from the list but it's still a stellar list of performances where each woman would be a worthy winner any year.
I want to recommend people try see House of Games. It's a David Mamet film that features an incredible performance by supporting actress 3 years prior Lindsay Crouse. Today it seems slightly overlooked but I'd highly recommend people check it out.
Housekeeping starring Christine Lahti and directed by Bill Forsyth is available on Vudu, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Youtube and iTunes.
Because of the Aunt Sylvies in the world, I do want to see Nomadland desperately. Something about these people who live on the outside truly appeals to me.
Interesting as a few 87 movies I saw recently do not hold the test of time for me - so I wonder what people will say.
The thing that made me wonder the most is - how on earth could Cher beat Glenn ? Cher gives a lovely performance, don't get me wrong - but - if I'm really honest and I rewatched Moonstruck 3 days ago for the 1st time since back then .... it's just really 'Lovely' - that's all! She's believable as an Italian widow but there is very little development (besides getting rid of her grey) or even depth in her performance (different to other iconic romcoms like When Harry meets Sally). It's nowhere close to Glenn's fabulous and nuanced rollercoaster ride !! Cher was very bankable back then - but do I need her as an Academy award winner in the history of film ... no - not really ;-)
It would have saved so much heartbreak in the future, if we could have given Glenn her little golden boy back then instead - and I cloud rest in piece - but she might have been too scary for men back then ... no other explanation for me !
Martin - I strongly believe that Glenn was not even second for Fatal Attraction. Same goes for 88.
Love the fact that the new generations vindicate her.
Au Revoir Les Enfants (my first foreign film ever) shouldn't have lost that Oscar. Babette's Feast is enjoyable, Au Revoir Les Enfants is a masterpiece.
I’d love to read an article about the phenomenal “Prick Up Your Ears,” which features an “almost there” performance by Vanessa Redgrave.
@Martin. The thing that kept Close from winning was surely the backlash against FATAL ATTRACTION by those who (rightly, I feel) saw it as an ultimately misogynist film, one with a demonic working woman on one side juxtaposed against an angelic stay-at-home-mom on the other as the film's two images of women. Pauline Kael wrote a great review along along these lines and it was widely read and referenced at the time. There were articles by others and the phenomenon finally became the launchpad example for Susan Faludi's book BACKLASH; THE UNDECLARED WAR AGAINST AMERICAN WOMEN, dealing with the 80s backlash against second wave feminism. It's sad, because the film would have come across much differently had they stuck with the original ending (Alex commits suicide), the one Close signed up for. She's said she burst into tears when she read the new ending, which elicited widespread reports of young men screaming "kill the bitch!" at screenings, one that she was contractually obligated to do when the first one didn't test well. It's sad, because Close's acting is absolutely amazing and even if they hated the film, the Academy should have rewarded the performance. (Or maybe not, huh? If everyone agreed that the most homophobic film in 25 years had the best cinematography, would we still be saying it should therefore win a cinematography Oscar?)
everyone -- i also love HOUSEKEEPING! The only reason it's not listed is you have to pay to rent it and I was trying to list things available for free from them year since so many people are struggling right now. But yes it's totally worth a rental fee!
Thanks Nathaniel! I’d love to read more TFE coverage on Maurice (which I have never seen, but plan to rectify that this month!).
For those not too traumatized by the series finale of Xena: Warrior Princess, it was based on A Chinese Ghost Story.
Would love to seem some articles dedicated to Maurice and Housekeeping.
@ Nathaniel
One thing worth mentioning is that people can get a lot of movies from their public libraries. I followed along with the Monty Clift revival largely by getting DVDs that way. Of course, different libraries have different collections, but one resource worth mentioning is worldcat.org, which stands for World Catalogue. It will tell you where the nearest library copy of a DVD (or book, etc.) is relative to your zip code; this way, you can see whether there's a copy at your library or in a consortium to which your library belongs. Alternatively, your public library might be able to get you a copy through inter-library loan. Just as an example, here's the WorldCat record for Maurice on DVD:
https://www.worldcat.org/search?qt=worldcat_org_dvv&q=maurice&fq=fm%3Advv
I love your "Where to Stream" posts because they make finding these movies easier, but it's worth reminding people that their public library is a goldmine.
George and Rosemary is available on the official NFB youtube channel, for those who can't access to Amazon prime
actually this channel is a fantastic source for several of the Oscar-nominated animated shorts, and legal
https://youtu.be/ongNgX0vsrc