Randomness... 1980-1982

by Nathaniel R

NINE TO FIVE

In addition to sojourns into the current Oscar race, we've been feeling some 1980s nostalgia of late. So let's indulge in the "Totally Awesome 80s" this month. We'll pepper in some 80s themed posts in between the current Oscar race coverage. Let's begin with the early 80s because...why not? Since The Film Experience began in 2000, any list shared here about years before that was a strange combination of modern viewings mixed with childhood or teenage or college memories. I always wonder how accurate 'old' top ten lists would be if I actually sat down and watched as many movies from those years as I do now. I recently watched Gremlins (1984), for example, which I loooooved as a kid and was mostly bored. 'When does this get clever? funny? exciting?' Not that you should ever judge a movie from an airplane viewing; it's about the worst possible way to view a motion picture given those tiny screens, cramped quarters, muffled sound, and in-flight interruptions.

Herewith 'top ten lists' (HIGHLY SUBJECT TO CHANGE UPON REWATCHES) about the early 1980s with a note as to when I first or last saw the film...

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When will AMPAS embrace Horror makeup?

by Cláudio Alves

Between its box office numbers and pop culture footprint, The Substance has been one of the year's most unexpected success stories. MUBI's biggest release is also its most profitable, growing steadily through word of mouth and an aggressive campaign unafraid to highlight the picture's extreme body horror, its sheer grossness. Indeed, the Cannes Best Screenplay prizewinner is among the year's most-watched original films, having found its audience without the aid of IP recognition or all those shiny notions that excite Hollywood execs. In a world where genre bias wasn't a thing and snobbery didn't run rampant in film circles, one might expect Coralie Fargeat's provocation to factor heavily into the awards season. We don't live in that world. 

While one might suppose The Substance's rhapsodies of aged and mutated flesh, exaggerated voluptuousness, and grandiose gore would score an easy Best Makeup & Hairstyling nomination, that's not a safe bet. As the genre most dependent on makeup effects and where technical innovations often manifest, horror should have a place of honor in the category. Sadly, it doesn't. It hardly ever did…

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What If... Glenn Close had won?

by Cláudio Alves

Glenn Close in THE DELIVERANCE (2024) Lee Daniels | © Netflix

Oscar obsessives everywhere know the dark and winding road of 'what if' like the back of their hand. What if my favorite had won? How would that change things down the line? What's the domino effect in Oscar history? What about film history? It can be a fun exercise, but it's also a shortcut to madness if you're not careful about it. That's especially true when considering one of those Academy Award sad sacks, the unlucky few who've earned multiple nominations yet never get the gold. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride - the Deborah Kerrs and Peter O'Tooles of the world. Or, for a more contemporary example, the Glenn Closes.

Speaking of that Oscar-less titan, her new movie is now in theaters and will soon arrive on Netflix. As we wait for Lee Daniels' The Deliverance to hit streaming, let's celebrate Close with some awards lunacy. Let's reflect on what would have happened if she had been victorious in one of those eight bids for gold…

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Almost There: Eddie Murphy in "Beverly Hills Cop"

by Cláudio Alves

Axel Foley's back! Thirty years after John Landis' Beverly Hills Cops III, the franchise has been revived by Netflix, and the fourth movie is already on streaming. Across its various iterations, the series about a Detroit cop solving crimes in Beverly Hills has varied in its balance between action and comedy. However, Eddie Murphy's presence is a constant, conferring a semblance of consistency in the films. Indeed, his impact is so strong that one can easily classify him as the franchise's defining auteur. No need to be in the director's chair when one's presence in front of the camera transforms the pictures, shaping them around the gravitational pull of a true movie star.

To mark the occasion, let's look back at the flick that started it all. In 1984, Martin Brest's Beverly Hills Cop confirmed Eddie Murphy as an A-lister, and might have even come close to Oscar glory…

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Happy Birthday, Jessica Lange (& Nina Foch)

by Cláudio Alves

Like Mark said in his Veronica Cartwright tribute, this 4/20 is an essential date for actressexuals... among others. After all, we celebrate the horror queen's 75th birthday and that of Jessica Lange as well. Initially, I thought about writing about the star's upcoming adaptation of O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night, but that film seems trapped in some nebulous distribution limbo. By all accounts, production wrapped in late 2022 after a brief halt due to financing issues. Since then, there's been hardly any news, and Lange herself speculated it might not yet be finished in a Vulture interview. Let's hope we don't have another Blue Sky situation in our hands, though that farrago resulted in a Best Actress Oscar.

So, instead of dwelling on that mystery, why not remember The Film Experience's collective love for Jessica Lange? Going through the site, I came up with a selection of write-ups worth revisiting, plus some bonus Nina Foch to mark her centennial…

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