The Hot Blog

The Right Stuff
Amadeus
Raging Bull (duh)
A Fish Called Wanda
The Breakfast Club
Do the Right Thing
and yes...Ghostbusters

Are we only including English-language movies? I'd nominate Fanny and Alexander for any top five of the '80s, if not the number one spot.

John Woo's The Killer
Ran
The Goonies
Aliens
The Shining
A Better Tomorrow
Full Metal Jacket
Blade Runner
Back to the Future
DIE HARD!
Grave of the Fireflies
Blood Simple
The Empire Strikes Back
Raiders of the Lost Ark
This Is Spinal Tap
House of Games
Who Framed Roger Rabbit

"Amadeus" is so easily the best film of the '80s. It seems to be a film that has lost a lot of its stock in recent years; it never pops up on TV or cable anymore, which is a shame since I fear it's totally foreign to a new generation of movie lovers. I remember when it was an annual two-night special presentation on WGN.

'90's had more outright "film" quality, but the '80's had better pop entertainments:

1. Do the Right Thing
2. Tootsie
3. The Untouchables
4. The Last Temptation of Christ
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark
6. Midnight Run
7. Brazil
8. Die Hard
9. Trading Places
10. Stop Making Sense (huge Talking Heads fan)

Runners Up: Wrath of Khan, Aliens, Empire Strikes Back, Crimes and Misdimeanors, Hannah and Her Sisters, Working Girl, A Fish Called Wanda, Stripes, King of Comedy, Witness, Field of Dreams, Say Anything, Glory, Married to the Mom, Purple Rain (huge Prince fan)

It's a strange world, isn't it?

Raging Bull, The Shining, Blue Velvet, Once Upon a Time in America, Die Hard, Blade Runner, and Body Heat are pretty much perfection.

And I somehow end up watching Fast Times at Ridgemont High seven times a year, every year.

LexG, I think the Shining was in the '70's.

Honestly, folks, is it ok to admit that I was just not that crazy about Raging Bull? I am a huge Scorcese fan (even liked After Hourss), but that film just never engaged me, sorry.

Hey, Dave, how come no list of the '70's?

Well, here's mine:

1. The Godfather
2. Taxi Driver
3. Close Encouters of the Third Kind
4. Saturday Night Fever
5. A Clockwork Orange
6. Dog Day Afternoon
7. Jaws
8. Alien
9. Star Wars
10. Serpico

Pretty easy list to make.

Geoff: The Shining was released in 1980. And I think the reason Dave didn't start a '70s thread is because that Paramount thread is mostly about that decade.

As for the '80s -- how about The Thing, people?

Some others not yet mentioned:

Local Hero
Melvin and Howard
Modern Romance
Moonlighting (Skolimowski)
Blow Out
Something Wild
Used Cars
Atlantic City
'Breaker' Morant
A Cry in the Dark
The Vanishing
Housekeeping
Roxanne
Stakeout
Heathers

Distant Voices, Still Lives
The King of Comedy
Gallipoli
The Great Muppet Caper

Actually, for me, one of the weakest decades, but still has a lot of great movies.

Raging Bull
The Blues Brothers
The Long Riders
The Elephant Man
Prince of the City (IMO, Lumet's masterpiece on police corruption)
Blow Out
Thief
Reds
Fitzcarraldo
The Thing
Blade Runner
The Road Warrior
48 Hours
The King of Comedy
Trading Places
The Right Stuff
Amadeus
Back to the Future
Brazil
Platoon
Radio Days
Raising Arizona
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Bird
Midnight Run
The Untouchables
Ran
The Last Temptation of Christ
Talk Radio (one of Stone's most underrated)
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Do The Right Thing
Glory
The Killer
Field of Dreams

I would also add to the above list:

The Mosquito Coast
Witness
Paris, Texas

That haven't been mentioned:

Hannah and Her Sisters
Monty Python's Meaning of Life
Videodrome
The Thin Blue Line

The Princess Bride, anyone?
When Harry Met Sally...
E.T.
Aliens
and of course, Die Hard.

Why the "(duh)" next to Raging Bull, Kris? I know it's routinely hailed as one of the best movies ever, but... I dunno. Maybe because it's not my Scorsese, but I'm not emotionally tied to it. I'd rather Taxi Driver, Last Temptation or even Age of Innocence and King of Comedy over it. To each their own.

My favourites of the decade would be:
The Breakfast Club
Flying High (aka, Airplane)
One from the Heart
Blade Runner
My Beautiful Laundrette
Silkwood
Paris, Texas
The Times of Harvey Milk
Last Temptation of Christ
Broadcast News
Educating Rita
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Ruthless People
Do the Right Thing
Ghostbusters
Last Exit to Brooklyn
The Elephant Man
Gallipoli
ET
Clue
Blue Velvet
Polergeist
Amadeus
Fanny and Alexander
Malcolm
Terms of Endearment
Hannah and Her Sisters
Full Metal Jacket
The Thing
Babette's Feast
Torch Song Trilogy
Akira
Field of Dreams
When Harry Met Sally...
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Paperhouse

Am surprised nobody has said Witness yet, either.

My all time favourite kids flick is from the '80s though - Flight of the Navigator. I've seen that movie so many times, it's unbelievable. I think I watched that ever day for a year at some point.

In terms of silly fun:
Beat Street (the best dance flick of the '80s)
Purple Rain
Dead End-Drive In
Overboard
Xanadu
American Gothic
Friday the 13th Part III: 3D
The Goonies
Steel Magnolias
Big Trouble in Little China
Desperately Seeking Susan
Romancing the Stone
Mommie Dearest
9 to 5

And you have not experience "Hilarious!" (says the New York Times?) until you've watched Jumpin' Jack Flash in the 21st century. Non-stop hilarity, I swear.

And must I remind everybody that 1985 gave us The Hills Have Eyes Part II, a movie in which A DOG HAS A FLASHBACK! That can't be stated enough, quite frankly.

it's not my FAVOURITE Scorsese. But, yeah, there are plenty of other titles that seem worthy of "(duh)" next to them.

Maybe this movie just hit my childhood sweet spot, but I'd lobby for The Karate Kid. Beautifully directed by Avildsen, wonderfully acted by Morita and Macchio, and has an incredibly satisfying narrative.

I also adore Star Trek 4, but I doubt it makes any "Best of" lists.

"My all time favourite kids flick is from the '80s though - Flight of the Navigator."

I wholeheartedly concur. I wore that VHS tape out.

I remember crying for hours because the tape got stuck during the scene where Sarah Jessica Parker helps the boy escape from the facility. That spaceship was so darn cool though. My favourite touch was the hovering steps.

No love for Wings of Desire?

Kam- Why no love for "Breakin" and "Breakin' 2: Electric Bugaloo"?
Lucinda Dickey....sigh!

Oops; that's "Electric Boogaloo." For shame.
But seriously, I love both of those scuzzy mid-'80s dance flicks.
And the divine Ms. Dickey was the breakdancing equivalent to Valerie Bertinelli.

More pure '80s fun:
James Foley's "Who's That Girl?," a criminally underrated homage to '30s screwball comedy (think Bogdanovich's nonpareil "What's Up, Doc?)
"Girl" actually opened sans press screenings in August of '87.
After that sort of indignity, there was no way it was ever going to get any kind of respect from critics at the time. I'm kind of surprised that it hasn't picked up a cult following since then (at least any that I know of) because it's actually a very skillfully directed and immensely entertaining film. Griffin Dunne's performance is nearly up to his "After Hours" standards.
And Haviland Morris from "16 Candles"fame is simply dee-lish!

blue velvet
big
return of martin guerre
atlantic city
melvin and howard
cronenberg's films
empire strikes back
violent cop
blade runner
paris,texas
thin blue line
king of comedy
do the right thing
danton
the big heat (Chinese)
Balad of narayama
black rain (Japanese one)
high hopes

and kiddie faves
ladyhawke
dark crystal
ghostbusters
many others but have to run

Robocop, dammit.

I hate lists. I don't think anybody's mentioned Das Boot, so I'll throw that out. Anyhow.

Let's make this more interesting. What great movies do people think aren't that great?

As suggested earlier in the thread, I'd go with Raging Bull. I've always found it a complete bore. I pretty much agree with Schrader and Chapman that it doesn't work (though, of course, due to its popularity, they've been forced to change their minds).

No love for Wings of Desire? Posted by: cjKennedy

Forgot to include that on my long list above.

As for great movies that I don't think aren't great from this decade, I'd go with E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial. Loved it as a kid, but outgrew it.

E.T. is perfect. It is a perfect movie for what it is.

During the 2002 rerelease I saw it in the theater and, honestly, I have never seen a movie so perfectly work an audience like that. They laughed on cue, cheered on cue, cried on cue -- constantly throughout.

Perfect movie. The original version, that is.

Having been a little kid in the 1980s, those were formative years, when I first discovered movies and developped certains tastes. To this day, I still have the deepest affection for any movie that reminds me of my favorites from that era....

All this to say that it's hard to make a Top 10 of the 80s for me, because I'm torn between how, for instance, I admire greatly DO THE RIGHT THING in retrospect (I only first saw it in the mid-to-late 90s or something) and how, if I have to be honest, I have to include the Schwarzenegger and Eddie Murphy movies I couldn't get enough of back then, and which I still love to this day.

Anyway, here goes nothing (in no particular order):

E.T.
Back to the Future
Die Hard
Blue Velvet
Commando/Predator/Terminator
Do the Right Thing
Raiders of the Lost Ark/Temple of Doom
Say Anything
Talk Radio
Coming to America

No list of great 80's movie is complete without the best romantic comedy Tom Hanks ever starred in...

Joe Vs. The Volcano.

What's wrong with you people? How can this classic be forgotten so easily? And how about some more love for Princess Bride, Stand By Me, and the perfect cheesy movie for the cheesiest decade, Red Dawn?

Allow me to get snobby for a moment:

Tarkovsky's Nostalghia and The Sacrifice.

Alan Rudolph's Choose Me and Trouble in Mind.

This decade sucks, the absolute worst of all-time, I don't care how many good films people want to list.

Grrbear: Joe Versus the Volcano was released in March 1990.

Being ages 3 to 13 during this decade plays a part, I know.

In alphabetical order:

Aliens
Amadeus
Broadcast News
Coming to America
Die Hard
Do the Right Thing
E.T. the Extra Terrestrial
Field of Dreams
A Fish Called Wanda
Glory
The Karate Kid
Midnight Run
National Lampoon's Vacation
Poltergeist
Predator
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Right Stuff

Oh, and I'll admit it, Rocky III and Rocky IV.

Interesting stat from BOM: Which do you think was the lowest grossing out of this group: 2010, Breakin', Red Dawn, The Terminator?

Yeah, that's actually the order highest-to-lowest.

Well, most of my picks are already up there, so let me be a lone voice in the wilderness for THE COTTON CLUB, as well as some extraordinary and seminal hong Kong Films: A BETTER TOMORROW 1 & 2, PROJECT A 2, EASTERN CONDORS, POLICE STORY, and Tsui Hark's mind-boggling PEKING OPERA BLUES.

I've never been one of those critics who thought the Eighties was a lousy decade. Sure, it can't hold a candle to the Seventies, but times change. I love the Seventies, but I have little tolerance for nostalgia of any kind.

I believe Dave Kehy once pointed out that his generation moviegoers took it upon themselves to re-claim filmmakers like Hawks, Ford, and Hitchcock. The next genration (QT's generation) took up the cause for the Grindhouse.

I wonder if the new genration of critics (the early 30's and under, the Internetters) are going to re-claim the pop vitality (and vulgarity) of the Eighties? It wouldn't bother me one bit.

Seeing Pineapple Express (and hearing DGG and Apatow) made relaize that the formula movies of the Eighties also had a sturdiness in their constructions that is missing from many movies in today's marketplace.

For me, movies like Commando or Red Heat have a more polished narrative than, say, Wahlberg's Shooter. I am in no way saying that Commando or Red Heat are works of Art, but they do hold up to repeat viewings.

Other '80s highlights:

Ordinary People, Night of the Shooting Stars, Baby It's You. Manhunter, Temple of Doom, WarGames, Blue Thunder, All Night Long, Four Friends, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, To Live and Die in L.A., Manhunter, Officer and a Gentleman, American Gigalo, Urban Cowboy, Nothing in Common, The Fly, STAR 80, Runaway Train, Angel Heart, Wall Street, Peggy Sue Got Married, The Outsiders, Rain Man, She's Gotta Have It, School Daze, Beverly Hills Cop, American Werewolf in London, Little Mermaid, The Big Easy, My Dinner with Andre, Bull Durham, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, NIght Shift, All of Me, Splash, Vacation, Private Benjamin, The Boost, Bright Lights, Big City, Exposed, Bad Timing, The Color Purple, The Cotton Club, The Official Story, Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, The Fourth Man, Prizzi's Honor, The Dead, No Way Out, Wise Guys, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Color of Money, After Hours, Creepshow, First Blood, Rocky III, Blind Fury, Maniac, Starman, Flamingo Kid, Birdy, Vampire's Kiss, The Big Town, Stand By Me, Memories of Me, Falcon and the Snowman, Jean de Florette/Manoon of the Spring, My Left Foot, Sid and Nancy, Prick Up Your Ears, Dance with a Stranger, Scandal, White Miischief, Eight Men Out, Matewan, Stranger Than Pradise, Tess, Frantic, Hoosiers, TRON, Man with 2 Brains, Sophie's Choice, The Verdict, House of Games, Southern Comfort, Another Woman, Stardust Memories, Choose Me, Jagged Edge, Cloak & Dagger, Neverending Story, Bachelor Party, Muppets Take Manhattan, Psycho II, Fright Night, The Terminator, The Abyss, Predator, Parenthood, Secret of NHIM, Salvador, Cop, Shoot the Moon, Mississippi Burning, At Close Range, Off Beat, Vice Versa, Less Than Zero, Entre Nous, The Weavers, Say Amen, Sombody, Shoah, Against All Odds, Diner, Tin Men, Good Morning, Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, Bronco Billy, Tightrope, Gremlins, Evil Dead 1 & 2, Weekend at Bernies, and Howard the Duck.

the 80s didn't suck Laz. put up your dukes! ;)

I don;t like making lists, but I think there were alot of great films featuring fantasy, great imaginations--what I listed, ET and other sci fi,

Also I forgot my favorite drama with two of my favorite actors, KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN. Buy it on DVD...finally out!

Jimmy the Gent-

Your definition of "formula" movies seems to fit my definition of a "B-movie" (which some might argue with). I consider movies like Commando and Rocky IV to be b-movies because of their simple premises, distinct 3-act structures, and audience pleasing conclusions. I think of Rocky IV as a perfect B-movie/formula movie (except for that stupid robot). It sets the bar lower, and sticks the landing (mixed metaphor, I know)

So, speaking of the '80s...

Could a movie get away with a scene like this today? These are supposed to be high school teenagers. And they're shown full-frontal: http://www.hulu.com/watch/28459/porkys-shower-spy-hole#x-4,vclip,1

Lota - you beat me to KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN. And I'm sure it was probably included on one of the fog-bank paragraphs above, but I will throw EMIPRE OF THE SUN out there. Also a sucker for TEQUILA SUNRISE and TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A.

Popeye, Altered States, Streamers, Secret Honor, Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean, Tanen '88, Monstruck, Sea of Love, Agnes of God, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Sharky's Machine, The Man Who Loved Women, Cutter's Way, Pennies From Heaven, Dogs of War, Extreme Prejudice, Light of Day, Casualties of War, Running Scared, Back to School, About Last Night..., Throw Momma from the Train, Re-Animator, Devil's Playground, Stormy Monday, Firestarter, The Idolmaker, White Nights, Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll, Dead Ringers, Mona Lisa, The Long Good Friday, Mystic Pizza, True Love, Permanent Record, Old Enough, Black Widow, Shag!, Great Balls of Fire!, Casualties of War, Born on the Fourth of July, The Morning After, Running on Empty, Lucas, Mask, Some Kind of Wonderful, Critters, Moscow on the Hudson, Mike's Murder, Lost in America, 'Round Midnight, Clean and Sober, D.O.A., A Cry in the Dark, Lethal Weapon 1 & 2, Batman, BeetleJuice, Naked Gun, Tucker: A Man and His Dream, Great Mouse Detective, A Christmas Story, Funny Farm, Roger & Me, Drugstore Cowboy, Tex, Bad Boys, Racing with the Moon, The Mighty Quinn, The Howling, Wolfen, They Live!, Midnight Madness, and Cruising,

Jesus. Let's all go to imdb and cut and paste lists. I was going to paste every film made in 1980 just to show how stupid making lists is. No one reads them.

Boring. How about choosing 2 or 3 of your fave 80s films and writing why they're great. And yes I'm a hypocrite because I'm not going to do what I ask of others...

I honestly think making lists is a sign of arrested development. The same folks who love to make lists also covet their stacks of unwatched DVDs that sit in the corner of their bedroom. Its all so meaningless.

Zero connection.

Ok that was troll like post. I recant.. ummm lets say 75% of it.

"I honestly think making lists is a sign of arrested development. The same folks who love to make lists also covet their stacks of unwatched DVDs that sit in the corner of their bedroom. Its all so meaningless."

It may have been a bit snide, but you're not totally off. When I was in middle school through high school, I taped every movie I could using a double-deck VCR that could withstand copy guards. At my peak, I had over 2200 movies. Granted, I did have friends and I did have social activities, but I was unhealthily inclined to complete a collection that of course could never truly be complete. I thought my giant movie collection was pretty darn cool. It was vast and colorful and it made friends and family's eyes pop out. I cataloged everything, but that's more because I just enjoy cataloging my stuff (I often wonder if I'll end up with mild OCD when I turn 40).

DVD hit the market right before I went to college, and I found myself buying countless DVDs. Of course, the big problem was that my college had no cheap video store. So I could either rent a DVD at Blockbuster for $5.00 or buy it and own it and catalog it for $10-$15.

My film collection was a point of pride, I suppose no different from a stamp collection or a baseball card collection but a lot more space-consuming. While it was superficially impressive and while it didn't scare off any would-be friends or girlfriends, I seriously doubt it helped me win any friends or lovers either.

In the last few years, I've more or less stopped buying en masse and starting slowly selling off the DVDs that I didn't really want or watch (I threw out my VHS copies when I moved to California four years ago). The bane of Hollywood Video and Blockbuster's 2 for 20 or 3 for 30 deals was that I'd usually end up with one title that I didn't REALLY need to get a deal on the one I really wanted.

The availability of instant rentals for a set monthly fee via Netflix or Blockbuster has pretty much killed the need to own any but the absolute favorite films. I still buy here and there, and I occasionally upgrade old DVDs of my favorite films on BluRay when they're 2 for 1 on Amazon because they take up so much less space than a normal DVD case. But I'm glad I'm not so determined to buy everything anymore. More money saved and less hassle. Besides, I barely have time to see my favorite new movies twice, let alone many many times.

Ironically, for as many years as I prided myself on my collection, I'd love nothing more than a giant box that would allow me to download every DVD I have into a big hard drive and sell off the hard copies (direct downloads would be ok too). It's not so much a space issue, because it only takes up a couple tall bookshelves, but it IS the sheer pointlessness of it all.

I still like making lists (notice my somewhat lengthy best films of 90s post over at the other thread) and I still like writing about movies (it's why we're all here and why some of us have our own blogs that not that many people read) , but I wish the future me would have told middle-school me how pointless it was to have the school's biggest movie collection.

Appreciate the response Scott. And yes it was completely snide and very much a live bait type of post. However like you I also have been able to step back and look at my behaviour from my 20s. I also amassed 5000 odd vhs/beta that now sit in boxes never to see the light of day. The endless need to have everything has actually backfired on the DVD industry, the unbelievable pickup rate and proliferation of titles way too quickly has saturated the market so much that it will never fully recover. Greed from both sides drove it. Call me elitist but I preferred it when thousands of films were still the great unknown, the days of treasure hunting to video stores and garage sales actually was a form of cine ecstasy when finally sitting down to watch something you thought you'd never see. Nowadays - you have 100 of these precious gems at your disposal everyday... and soon they'll be downloadable directly to your phone while on the bus. Arguments for this accessibility simply don't wash for me - I know that the people who grew up watching film pre-video had it better than me. And I had it better than the DVD generation. And what makes me really sad is that my children are going to be that 'next' generation that will have zero passion for the mystery and hunt of elusive anything - because it will all be able to be called up with a flick of a switch. And that is somewhat depressing.

I pray for a backlash of seismic proportions. A massive reversal of technology that only an ice age could kickstart.

Well one can dream.

Mcintire, To Live and Die in LA arrived in the post on Friday. I'm going to watch it this evening.

Y'all left out BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA. Sonofabitch must pay.

Honorable Mention:

ATTACK FORCE Z - Mel Gibson and John P. Law and a shitload of cool squibs.

I'd give you a smack JBD but then that would be playing into your hands too easily, but I am sure someone will get hysterical.

I have hardly any DVDs. But I have seen thousands of movies.

Movies were an event, not something to be tallied like they seem to be now, so instantly forgettable. I'd like to see studios cut their slates at the top end and increase the more indie-fare, less crap more quality that is appropriately budgeted.

You are right that people pre-video had it better than you and I, and I was fortunate to discover that. I think DVDs are dull and compared to the fun I had with my reactionary much older fella who objected when industry chose VHS over betamax, and in retaliation he collected reels. He collected them and bought them from libraries (amazing how many libraries had thousands of brilliant movies and just literally threw them into dumpsters in the end of the 80s and early 90s) or collectors and had a nice screening room by the time I met him.

There is something fun about having to set up a projector, and all the labor involved.

So in the end of the 90s when I got a real job out of school, I never got into DVDs.

And it is no fun making lists, despite trying on occasion...since I forget half of what should be on there.

So now to recreate the theater experience I use a NEC projector and put the DVD into a networked computer and watch it on a very white wall (deliberately left one wall white). It takes the sting out of the boredom I have with a movie on TV. No matter how big the TV is, it isn't fun, and the NEC projector can project quite large (4 ft across widescreen) without losing resolution. I like seeing Jean Gabin on my wall and Mr StayPuft Marshmallow stomping through Manhattan, equally. It makes every movie better.

I've bought a few DVDs like Freaks and Kiss of the SPiderwoman since in a year or two we may never see them again.

One of my picks for best 80s film:
Kiss of the Spiderwoman...***minor spoilers***

perhaps the best movie of the 1980s. I was glad, even though I was on the immature side of the audience to be sure, that I was able to see it in a theater. I was the youngest one there by far. I am also glad that it was in a time before blatant spoilers so I knew nothing about it.

William Hurt and Raul Julia were so brilliant and each's story away from prison was so charged and detailed that you could build a character beyond the four walls. That is something I feel that Shawshank and most other prison dramas DON'T do. You have no sense of who the person was before and why they are how they are...and how can you predict what they will become in most "prison movies". William Hurt used his Spiderwoman to try to tell Raul Julia what he was "doing", (i,e, his former shallowness and his "deals") in a backhanded way, I think. But Raul was so trusting he couldn't see it. And of course Hurt did by the end genuinely love him. Raul Julia never seemed to have much investment in other people as persons since he lived more as a revolutionary, and he knew that somewhat with regret over Sonia Braga. But by the end Hurt paid the bigger price and the end was such a shock. It's the only film that made me cry in the theater more out of shock than anything else, I just didn;t see that coming. William Hurt has always been one of my favorite actors, period.

Really the Cannes award and Oscar could have gone to both equally. Since Hurt "lost" more as a character that is why he won it and no one could begrudge him that, he was brilliant and he was very believable. How he could go from being so hateful and shallow to a christlike figure was an amazing transformation.

and the cinematography was Beautiful.

Any time a movie has a reference to "gayness" in any way, hetero males may not want to see it, but that's a dumb reason not to see an amazing character study in Character and how a person can be transformed even in a very ugly fascist sort of environment where there is great risk to a person's life. Hurt lost everything, he felt he had to pay.

Hope you're happy JBD, now I have to get back to work.

How about a round of applause for Albert Brooks' "Lost in America"?
Not only was Brooks' masterpiece the greatest American comedy since "The Graduate," but it was the wittiest, most sociologically astute zeitgeist statement of the whole Reagan era.

So... you're essentially negating the first 15 or so years of Woody Allen's directing career as the void between The Graduate and Lost In America?...

...not negating Woody Allen at all (most of whose films I adore), but "Lost in America" and "Modern Romance" arguably stand up to the best of Allen's films.
I sometimes wish that Brooks was as prolific as Allen, though.
Seven films in 26 years simply isn't enough.
And, yeah, I really do think that "America" is everything I said it was.

...and to answer a previous question about which movies personally never "did it" for me despite their exalted reputation(s), I'd have to
say that Milos Forman's two Oscar winners ("Amadeus" and "Cuckoo's Nest") stand out.
I've always thought that both movies were as overrated as Forman's "Hair" and "Ragtime" were underrated.
On a lighter note, I've never felt much love for "Airplane!" or "The Naked Gun" either (I simply cannot abide Leslie Nielsen; sorry). And "The Breakfast Club" has always been my least favorite John Hughes movie. ( You can blame Judd Nelson for that one.)

Movieman -

For the same shtick, but no Leslie Nielsen, try Top Secret. Released in 1984, and inexplicably flopping at the time, it was the ZAZ followup to Airplane and it's bloody hysterical (that is, if you like that kind of humor). It's a spoof of 1950s rock n' roll romances, crossed with a WWII-era spy adventure. You'll never look at Val Kilmer the same way again.

POLICE SQUAD! was the funniest show of the 80's next to SCTV. They said it was too smart for TV...

I think ABC's exact quote was, "You had to pay attention."

Hey, Scott- I actually saw "Top Secret" during its June '84 release and remember liking it (marginally) better than the "Airplane!" movies--and "Naked Gun 1" which wouldn't open until December '88.
But the only film by the ZAZ collective that I truly dig is '86's "Ruthless People:" maybe because it's the only one that felt like an actual movie instead of a skit comedy revue.

i'm trying to catch up on this thread, but no discussion of '80 flicks is complete without a shout out for one of my all-time faves, the john landis classic, 'an american werewolf in london', just brilliant.

there's a scene where david n. just stuffs around in jenny's flat doing basically nothing for minutes on end that would never make it into a film today...of course that's not why i love the movie, which has so many great elements at play beyond just 'horror', but it's an interesting example of how times change

Oh hell yes, Leahnz!
"An American Werewolf in London" is an amazing film--possibly Landis' greatest directorial achievement (although I'm a big fan of, duh, "Animal House" and the underloved "Into the Night" as well).
"American Werewolf" was the first horror movie I can remember that made me laugh out loud (thank you, Griffin Dunne!), grossed me out (the Rick Baker effects were staggeringly effective for their time) and moved me to tears (the love story between Naughton and Agutter is incredibly touching) at the same time.
And the use of classic rock-and-roll tunes (e.g., The Marcels' "Blue Moon") was sheer genius!

Yo movieman,

I actually listed American Werewolf in one of my posts.

Did you read the Seekly Standard article about David Zucker on MCN's front page. I think you might find interesting in light of the fact you not that into Airplane! or The Naked Gun movies.

The question I have for Mr. Zucker and his ilk is this: How exactly is Obama unqualified to be President? It is not a crime to say such things, but you should be able to give reasons why he is unfit to hold office?

My Vietnam vet father doesn't understand how being a POW qualifies someone to hold office.

Glad to know that there are a few "Werewolf" fans out there, Jimmy.
Are you acquainted with Landis' "Into the Night" by any chance?
I've always thought that it was an absolutely brilliant fim--Landis' "Twilight Zone" mea culpa tucked inside a gorgeous meta surface.
(***And Lex alert: "Night" also features what I'm pretty certain is Michelle Pfeiffer's one and only nude scene.***)
I'll have to check that Zucker article out.
P.S.= No service record here (like, I'm fairly certain, most of the people who regularly post on MCN, lol), but I totally agree with your dad!

Thanks for directing me to that Zucker piece, Jimmy.
That was some scary **it!
It always blows my mind whenever I read that Hopper has turned into this raging neo-con crackpot.
How disillusioning.

(sorry, jimmy, i skimmed! plus i think i actually do need reading glasses at this point, i'm starting to squint at small print)

re: 'american werewolf', you hit the nail right on the head, movieman! so unique and genre-bending/defying, there's really nothing else like it. i'm going to watch 'into the night' in your honour tonight, i have the dvd but i haven't popped it into the machine in ages, classic landis, pfeiffer and goldblum...what could be better.

i'm sure someone mentioned 'out of africa' above in the '80's classics; i watched it again recently for 'girl's movie night' as part of our own little pollack retrospective, and it really is so very beautiful; the haunting score, the amazing photography, the terrific performances. i always thought redford was a bit miscast but i'm over that now - it is what it is - and streep is just so superb and luminous (i can't take my eyes off her in that movie, even her skin is perfection!). and that scene where redford washes her hair outside...ah, so sensual, i get a bit steamy just thinking about it!

LexG is the only one showing some love for Fast Times at Ridgemont High?! This is the period of the great American teen comedies! And boomin' soundtracks. I submit for you:

Fast Times
Vision Quest - Tell me you didn't sit in some friend's basement w/only a neon light blasting Lunatic Fringe!
Krush Groove - yeah, I said it. Lisa Lisa & Kurtis Blow, ya'll!
Heavy Metal
Say Anything
Weird Science
Top Gun
Footloose
Can’t Buy Me Love – Sooo underrated. Why didn’t the cast go on to bigger heights. Such a poignant portrayal of the human condition and the need for acceptance
Better Off Dead
Some Kind of Wonderful
National Lampoon's Vacation
Desperately Seeking Susan
Secret of My Success
I really didn't care for Flashdance or Dirty Dancing but they need their props, as does Fame.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Pretty In Pink (John Hughes, we hardly knew you!!)
Short Circuit
Up The Creek
Teachers
Nightmare on Elm Street III Dream Warriors

Iconic teen 80's but not so much on the soundtrack
Bad boys
Little Darlin's
Red Dawn
Last American Virgin
Zapped
Private Lessons
Spring Break
Dream a Little Dream
Licensed to Drive
Night of the Comet
The Last Star Fighter (How bout some love for Catherine Mary Stewart?)

Has anyone mentioned:
Halloween
Friday the 13th
Nightmare on Elm St
Adventures in Babysitting
I know Up in Smoke came out in the 70's but Nice Dreams, Things Are Tough All Over and Cheech & Chong's Next Movie needs some love.

and kam, let us know what you think of 'to live and die in la', it doesn't get much more '80's! that music, the delicious young peterson, classic willem, friedkin at the top of his game...

'fast times' = spiccoli = funniest movie stoner/surfer ever (tied in the 'stoner' stakes with lebowski, however)

oh hell, i keep hitting 'post' instead of preview! meant to add,

'people on 'ludes should not drive...'

to this day i quote that classic penn when someone does a kook manoeuvr out on the road. i've had to stop while my son's in the car tho because he kept asking me what a 'lude' is...)

I think everyone has listed some of my favorite 80s movies. It was a very entertaining decade, I must say. I'm very much a person against the "those were the days" attitude, but I must say that 2000s are more predictable/gimmicky movies than in the past. Am I alone in this feeling, or am I just jaded?

And aside from the quality of movies, do you think movies are starting to look too good?

Re: Fast Times...

That's Martin Brest ripping the heart out of the cadaver...

Speaking of the '80s...

I just found Enter the Ninja on Hulu. Gonna have to watch me some badass Sho Kosugi. Though I'm partial to Ninja 3: The Domination...

Leahnz- I'm glad that our "meeting of the minds" dialogue continues.
I also love "To Live and Die in L.A." I've been saying for years that it's a better movie than "The French Connection." Hell, it might even be a better movie than "The Exorcist," and the best thing Friedkin ever directed.
Petersen blew me away in that film: I never understood why he didn't become a huge movie star. His full-frontal nudity was a bit of a shocker back then, wasn't it? Which reminds me: when was the last time an actor in a major H'wood movie (not counting Jason Segel in "Sarah Marshall" where it was done strictly for comic effect) let it all hang out? Kind of makes me nostalgic for Richard Gere's early '80s exhibitionism.
Not surprisingly, I'm also a huge fan of "Out of Africa" (the John Barry score is killer!) even though "TWWW" still remains my all-time favorite Pollack. That last scene outside of the Plaza when Streisand ruffles Redford's hair makes me bawl like a baby every damn time...
Glad you're going to give "Into the Night" another spin: it really is one of the all-time great L.A. (visual) tone poems, isn't it?
I think "Night" is probably the film that made me (a life-long New York-centric snob) fall in love with SoCal.
Ahhh, "Fast Times"....Jackson Browne ("Somebody's Baby")....Phoebe Cates on the diving board....J-J-L behind the bleachers...Spiccoli ordering a pizza in Mr. Hand's class....such an unexpectedly sweet, eye-moistening ending...truly choice...and properly R-rated, just like any true high school movie oughta be!
Speaking of 1982, has anybody else seen Paul Mazursky's "The Tempest"? Not a great film, but eminently watchable, if just for Susan Sarandon's dazzling sexuality, Gena Rowlands' dependable brilliance and a jaw-dropping, "where-the-****-did-she-come-from?" debut by Molly Ringwald whose performance was so preternaturally mature and sophisticated that I could've sworn she was a 21-year-old playing a tweener.
Gotta love the Go-Go's!

Yo movieman,

You got any love for the flawed,but fascinating Willie & Phil?

My Favorite Year has yet to be mentioned. The Stunt Man is another tuly '80s movie. And I don't thing anyone has netioned Superman II, a pure comic-book movie.

I'll also shine a light on some 80s-style TV movies: The Executioner's Song, The Burning Bed, The Deliberate Stranger, Draw!, The Gltter Dome, The Terry Fox Story, That James Woods-James Garner sob-a-thon.

Streets of Fire is pure 80s fun. Let's not forget sex, lies, and videotape.

Revenge of the Nerds, History of the World: Part 1, Spaceballs. Cracking Up is a great, late Jerry Lewis. Author! Author! is like Pacino's Bad News Bears. The Hidden, Shakedown, Jack's Back. Any love for the '88 remake of The Blob? I also remember Heaven Help Us.

Tons of love for The Blob remake. Just watched it again a few weeks ago and it holds up great. It would make a great double feature with The Hidden, actually.

No love for Silverado?

movieman, you must be my long lost doppelganger. peterson was so terrific, perhaps his super male vibe better suited the '80's or something, i can't understand what happened to his rising star (it's a fickle thing, the movies, i guess) but i'm glad he's found a good place to land on 'csi', he's still got that undeniable cool, manly charisma (and boy, did his full monty make an indelible impression on me! you really don't see real deal male nudity in the big leagues anymore, what on earth happened?!?)

i love films that capture the 'LA' essence, most recently i think it was 'collateral' for me, the streets at night... i lived in LA briefly as a child after my parents split up and i remember coming home with my mother one night and a couple coyotes chased a cat out into the street in front of our car; when i saw the coyotes in the street in 'collateral', i thought, 'mann, you brilliant bastard!' it was as if he was rummaging around in my memory.

LB, i fell in LURVE with costner in 'silverado', lord have mercy

To Live and Die in LA = m a s t e r p i e c e.

That grim ending, the fact that EVERYONE in the movie is a scumbag -- how nihilistic is it at the end when "voice of reason" Pankow shows up dressed as Petersen's doppleganger and tells Darlanne Fluegel, "You're working for me now"? And then that AWESOME SONG kicks in?

That's quintessential Friedkin: relentless, mean, sour, completely lacking in any and all hope... and of course the irony is that all this nastiness unfolds amidst candy-colors and a scorching sun that bleaches out L.A.'s terrain. One of the best of that decade, for sure.

HUGE Landis fan... like Carpenter, he had that '70s/'80s run that would shame just about anyone for how prolific it was while still maintaining quality. Love "Into the Night"-- Goldblum is such a sad-sack, and it has that great late-night L.A. vibe; sort of an L.A. cousin to Demme's (awesome) "Something Wild."

And, hey, nobody's mentioned (Ok, I guess it's not that good, but I still love it)...

THE WILD LIFE! The Crowe-scripted follow-up to "Fast Times," with Stoltz and Chris Penn and Lea Thompson and a score by EDDIE VAN HALEN!

"IT'S CASUAL!"

how funny, i just watched 'something wild' a couple nights ago as a companion piece to 'cherry 2000' (i don't know what was up with me, in a vintage griffith mood or something, '2000' is a hoot). no one does a smiling psycho on a hair trigger like liotta, might have made a good 'joker' back in the day. i do hope demme finds his way back to his former legendaryness.

(what is so cinematic about LA at night, anyway?)

Guess I'll have to give "Into the Night" another chance. Saw it when it came out and thought it was an utter P.O.S., though the only thing I remember about it now is naked Pfeiffer and multiple director cameos. Surely all you people can't be wrong. Or maybe it was ahead of its time. I'll keep an eye out for it.

On the other end of the spectrum, The Little Mermaid was 1989, right? There was a very different Little Mermaid at the top of the decade, a 1980 French film ("La Petite Sirene") that was also quite good.

And I want to second movieman's love for Lost in America and Modern Romance, Albert Brooks' greatest achievements in my book. The latter is probably my favorite, sort of an anti-romantic comedy. The main storyline is his on-and-off relationship with Kathryn Harrold, but there's also some great behind-the-scenes stuff about the film biz, with Brooks playing an editor for a low budget sci-fi flick (the director is played by James L. Brooks). Bruno Kirby and Brooks' brother, Bob (aka Super Dave Osborne) have choice moments, too.

movieman, i was going to say earlier re: pollack, i have a real soft spot for 'the electric horseman' too (i'm thinking it was released in the early '80's so i hope i'm not cheating), i know it's not his most beloved work but redford and fonda wowed me as a girl, their repartee and romance, and it's always sort of stuck with me. (whereas redford and dunaway in 'condor' were just hot, i remember being so shocked and intrigued when dunaway says to him, 'i'm just a spy-fucker' or whatever the exact line is...) okay, i think i'm babbling now, it's been a long monday!

i'll third that for 'lost in america', yancy, i'm a sucker for brooks. his sweaty turn in 'broadcast news' is one of my faves (holly hunter's crying jags in 'broadcast' are classic too), i even love him as marlin in finding nemo

I have TLIDILA on 35mm and watch it every year. Peterson looked like he walked off stage from a Zep concert and straight onto Friedkin's set with a corndog down his tight jeans. But come on people, its due to our boy Dafoe why that film is so memorable.

Landis's Werewolf was the 2nd film I crash edited from VHS to VHS back in the day. The first was THE WANDERERS and the 3rd was CADDYSHACK. I wore a section of the tape out jerking off to Agutter.

This entire thread and I can't believe no one has mentioned MIRACLE MILE - Leah checks Cherry 2000 but forgets the directors unforgettable ode to LA and the end of everything we love.

It was the way to end that decade.

Hey, Doc- "Miracle Mile" is one of my favorite, yet-to-be-discovered late '80s treasures. Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham falling in love at the end of the world: genius!
And I bow to no one in my complete and utter adoration of Demme's "Something Wild." Just love how it turns on a dime from frisky-funny to scary-violent. Few directors have ever been able to pull that sort of thing off. I can't even remember the last time someone tried.
Glad to know that Albert Brooks is as dear to some of you (Leahnz, Yancy) as he is to me. The shock of recognition I felt when I first saw "Modern Romance" in March of 1981 sent an icy shiver down my spine: it was my frigging life! When it hit HBO a year later, I must've watched it every damn time it was on.
I probably memorized every line of dialogue from that movie, lol.
And "Lost in America"! I could never understand why Brooks didn't receive the same kind of universal, bordering-on-worshipful crix and mass acclaim that greeted Woody Allen when he made "Annie Hall." No '80s movie deserves the time capsule
treatment more: it captured the zeitgeist of an era better than any American film since "The Graduate." Period.
Yes, I have some major affection for "Willie and Phil," too, Yancy.
I've always considered it a sort of companion piece to Mazursky's "Alex and Wonderland." Just like "Alex" was Mazursky's "8 1/2" homage, "W&P" is his paean to "Jules and Jim." Really; what's not to love? Maybe if he had cast some bigger "names" in the leads it might have caught on. It's a real tragedy that hardly anyone knows that film. But "Alex"--with Ellen Burstyn's breakthrough performance--is probably even more (undeservedly) obscure. Has it even gotten a DVD release?
And a HUGE shout out to "The Wanderers," Doc! Back in the pre VHS/DVD days, I think I must have seen that at least a dozen times in a theater...and it wasn't an easy movie to find, trust me.
Warners truly fumbled the ball in its theatrical release 29 summers ago.
When I showed it to my "History of Motion Picture" class last fall, it was a revelatory experience for most of them: the perfect synthesis of Lucas' warm-and-fuzzy "American Graffiti" nostalgia with the violent, profane, gritty urban "edge" of '70s Scorsese (I had just shown them "Graffiti" and "Mean Streets" the previous week). Kaufman's magnum opus was truly a film ahead of its time: I was absolutely thrilled when it finally picked up a cult following (thanks in large measure to HBO). For years I felt like I was the movie's only cheerleader.

...I never boarded "The Stunt Man" fan club with the same glee that many did back then, but Richard Rush's "Freebie and the Bean" (yo, Lex!) and "Getting Straight" (so ****ing prescient how it opened at the same time as the Kent State shootings!) both deserve major
re-discovery.

Best Worst of the 80s:

COOL AS ICE.

Except that was the 90's...they blur.

Did I really not see anybody mention Repo Man?...

'into the night', what a satisfying romp, better than i remember. landis sure had a flair for blending story elements/genres without getting bogged down or scattered and unfocused. as a life-long insomniac i felt for ed just dragging his ass, and pfeiffer's always been a delight (her turn in 'married to the mob' is really terrific and underrated, imho)

cronenberg's appearance in the movie with goldblum smacked me in the head; has anyone mentioned so far what i consider another true '80s classic, one of the most repulsive, grotesque and unforgettable films ever to make me squirm: cronenberg's 'the fly'

goldblum's nasty-ass seth brundle transformation...be afraid...be very afraid. indeed. and bring your sickbag

and i forgot a quick shout out for what is the ultimate '80's staple in our house (mainly because my boy watches it every other week and i can't say i mind), terry gilliam's masterpiece, the one and only 'time bandits'! woo hoo! we love kevin and those wee bandits in our neck of the woods. gilliam at his weird and wonderful best

The 2-disc special edition of The Fly is definitely worth owning. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's guilty of buying DVDs of movies I've seen a dozen times, just for the features.

The Fly and The Thing will always be linked in my mind. Both Fifties remakes by name directors, both very dark and gross and slimy. The Thing's effects hold up better -- Bottin was a true genius, while the Canadian effects guys were just very good. (According to the making-of doc, they were also rushed.)

But while The Thing had a fine cast, it didn't contain anything like Goldblum's performance. There is true pain and tragedy in that film.
Now that I think about it, it might make a better double-feature with American Werewolf.

Can't forget "Sweet Dreams" from 1985....
I've always thought this was a better film than "Coal Miner's Daughter," and not just because Karel Reisz is a more talented director than Michael Apted...and because I happen to prefer the music of Patsy Cline to Loretta Lynn.
Jessica Lange's performance is the stuff of legends, and Ed Harris matches her every step of the way.
Both really make you feel the heat (and the pain) of their romance: a formidable achievement in any genre, let alone a H'wood musical biopic.

And yes, failing to mention Repo Man is a major blunder. But the more lists you make, the less intelligent you are

I loved Repo Man. I forgot to mention it, but then I have already admitted I stink at lists. If I can't even make a proper grocery list (and that's FOOD), then I could hardly make a movie list.

I wasn't allowed to see it when it came out and I had to wait to get it at Blockbuster. I had the soundtrack before I saw the movie.

Debbi: Duke, let's go do some crimes.
Duke: Yeah. Let's go get sushi and not pay.

Otto: You're a white suburban punk just like me.
Duke: Yeah, but it still hurts.

Bud: Look at 'em, ordinary fucking people, I hate 'em.

I heart Harry Dean Stanton 4-ever!

frankbooth, 'while 'the thing' had a fine cast, it didn't contain anything like goldblum's performance. there is true pain and tragedy in that film.' i so agree; while i love 'the thing', goldblum's horrible transformation in 'the fly' is so poignant and believable.

why is it that exceptional performances in 'genre' films such as 'horror', 'sci-fi' and 'comedy' are rarely recognized as such? weaver's oscar nom for her terrific portrayal of ripley in 'aliens' is definitely the odd one out

Re "Sweet Dreams:" Every now and again, my sister (who has a twisted sense of humor) will crack me up by tossing a paper airplane toward a wall and choking out a dramatic "Charlie!" just before it hits. :)

But yeah, fine film, great perf, great music.

Can't believe I overlooked THE STUNT MAN. And everybody--including me--overlooked S.O.B., the time capsule modern Hollywood movie and arguably Blake Edwards' masterpiece.

S.O.B. is awesome.

You know who completely owned? Robert Webber. What a likable, fun, funny, yet intense, actor.

Early '80s Edwards has always been fascinating to me; So RIDICULOUSLY prolific, cranking out two or THREE movies a year, going back and forth between his highly personal SoCal romantic comedies about lecherous artists, and those bizarro post-Sellers Panther flicks.

(For the record, I love "Curse of the Pink Panther," despite its not-so-goodness.)

So were Holden, dragging that whole SUNSET BLVD. ethos in with him, and Preston, as perhaps the screen's all-time greatest quack. Hell, everyone was tremendous.

Webber was on of the hit men in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, wasn't he? Wrong decade for this thread, though.

movieman (or any of you buffs who might know the answer), can you please settle a disagreement? i was talking to a friend at work today about all the director's cameos in 'into the night', and he insisted that spielberg was one of them, but i'll be damned if i saw him; the guy is quite a movie buff (tho he couldn't remember where in the story the spielberg cameo supposedly was), so i thought perhaps it was a 'blink and you miss it' type deal; as much as i enjoyed the movie, i don't want to watch it again just to look out for spielberg in hopes of proving him wrong, esp as i might miss him again! was s.s. indeed in it, and if so, in what part?

Leahnz--To the best of my recollection, there is no Spielberg cameo in "ITN." Everyone from Roger Vadim to Jonathan Demme to (frigging) Colin Higgins makes an appearance, but I don't remember seeing Spielberg.
Maybe he was trying to distance himself from Landis after the whole "Twilight Zone" mess.

And Paul Mazursky playing one of his patented asshole show biz types. I saw INTO THE NIGHT opening night. Loved it and bought the soundtrack the next day. One of the great LA movies.

Spielberg is in Landis' Blues Brothers at the end...

Yeah, but that was 1980. I think after 1983, not so much.

thanks, dudes! i'm relieved i'm not THAT blind (all the cameos were great, landis must have been the popular one to get all his famous director mates in there along with himself - perhaps the most directors to appear in any one movie ever? - plus bowie!). maybe my guy was thinking of the 'blues brothers' cameo...

now i can say, 'up your nose with a rubber rose! in your face with a can of mace!'... oh wait, that was grade school...as a mature adult i'll have to be diplomatic

I suggest "up your bum with a pint of rum." It's more sophisticated.

ha, i thought i'd take the high road so i settled on the tried and true 'raspberry-with-thumb-to-nose-and-finger-wag' move...a classic. he took it well

80s mullet love is satisfied. Road House is on tonight. Swayze's hair is great. Dialogue is metal brain dead from what I recall.

Patrick Swayze is so cute.

lota, you crack me up with your '80's mullet crush

(you should see some of the guys 'up the hutt' here in wgtn, mullet paradise - or as we fondly refer to it, 'boganville' - you'd love it)

my fave swayze: the outsiders. cool coppola

now that i think about it (things take a disturbing amount of time to percolate in my brain), 'the outsiders' is probably one of my fave '80's flicks, really, thanks for jogging my 3-second goldfish memory, lota. i remember seeing it in the high school auditorium with all the gang...every young turk was in it (dillon, howell, swayze, ralph m, lowe...cruiz!) those little greasers. ah, the olden days

it's not just any Mullet, Leah, it's Swayze's mullet.

I like longer hair, but it has to look nice, like Nigel Tufnel's.

I can't believe I left Spinal Tap off my list. My favorite 80s movie, period.

God Road House is violent. I can see why men Worship it. It has Swayze as a ass-kicking god, it has Sam Elliot, it has bimbos, it has "power drinking", bad language and cops with pea-sized brains.

Spinal Tap. Yes!

But Swayze? Oh, Lota, I think you just broke my heart.

I'm sorry Frank, I didn;t mean to. It's his hair in Road House! It temporarily knocked me off my righteous path of preferring evil men.

I actually prefer Benecio or Javier, being the animals they are.

I also would take Takeshi Kitano at any age. i shed a tear at the end of Sonatine. I really did. I didn;t expect him to do what he did. I wanted happily ever after.

Well, okay. Hair gets in your eyes.

I've only seen Roadhouse in bits on Youtube, but I love that the bad guy actually says "Prepare to die!" Now THAT'S evil. But it's also kind of considerate, you know, to warn you like that.

um, that's CRUISE, as in tom... i'm glad i don't have to spell to save my life very often.

lota, got it. not just any mullet will do

Wot!? Wot?!

You can't be a MAN and not seen Road House. Put it to the top of your Netflix queue immediately. Now. I don;t care what i told you to watch before.

It's playing on AMC so check out cable also.

Huh. Not seen Road House. Must not be the real Frank Booth. Must be imposter.

I'm so ashamed. I was a snotty bastard when Roadhouse was released, and thought I was above it all. I'll be sure to remedy that.

But I did catch B-movie exploitation like Nightmare on Elm Street, Death Wish 2, Evil Dead, Terminator (before it got all big-budget and respectable) and Child's Play first-run. Does that help?

You do realize, of course, that Road House was the first movie that had a junket at which junketeers recieved CDs, not cassettes, of the soundtrack?

I did not.

Shoulda been eight-tracks. Would have fit better.

I was too young (not allowed) and afraid to watch those movies first run, Frank, but you horror chutzpah is not in question, just your heterosexual manliness, so put Road House on your queue immediately to redeem yourself. I really hope you don;t work in movie-related concerns, cuz if this in of ever got out, boy I don;t like to think what would happen to your reputation.

You can give us a full report after you watch Road House. You'll laugh out loud alot, but you will still like it (if you are a Man), as embarrassing as it may be to admit.

Wow Joe...CDs and yes 8-track would fit the culture of the movie better! God the music was pretty much drinking power ballads! You don;t hear the Smiths or Grandmaster Flash in that movie : )

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