At our work Christmas dinner we discussed the issues of the day, including the thorny question of: Were Any Great Films Made In The Eighties?
Oo, what about Alien?
1979.
No way! Seriously? Alright then, how about Aliens?
Yeah, Aliens was good, but not great.
What about Apocalypse Now?
Was that made in the 80s?
Yes. No. Don't know*.
There was The Godfather.
Seventies.
Alright then, Goodfellas.
Nineties.
Oo, Blade Runner.
(general nods of agreement)
Oo, Stand By Me.
(general nods of agreement)
Oh, and that one with those kids walking along that railway track.
That *is* Stand By Me.
(long silence)
That's it, isn't it. Two films. Crap decade.
* 1979, as it turns out.
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2 days ago
24 comments:
There's always the Police Academy series.
i love stand by me. i would find it difficult to describe Just How Much I Love stand by me.
um, working girl?
notes Anglo American focus. David Lynch?
Were there no good Fassbinder films in the 80s? What about Bergman? Wasn't Almodovar getting going round then?
Ahh come on now - The Shining, American Werewolf in London, Scarface, Amadeus, My Beautiful Laundrette, Withnail & I, Subway, Akira, Smokey & The Bandit 3...
Can I put forward The Goonies?
My cousin Tom was an extra in the first Police Academy film.
Steve Guttenberg, star of the Police Academmy series, is interviewed in today's Metro, and he really comes off sounding like a total twat.
Also: Wierd Science.
I do know how to spell academy, btw, I'm just hungover for some reason today.
I have nothing at all to add but just wish to say that my verification word is onion and that's too good to waste
lc - but you don't know how to spell "weird".
*retires to pedant's corner*
Loads of good suggestions there. Werewolf, Spinal Tap, Bueller, Withnail, Akira - Blue Velvet. Anything with shoulder-pads and big hair. Although I'd swap Wall Street for Platoon any day.
The Princess Bride. Now there is a great film.
Empire Strikes Back was 1980.
Aah, The Princess Bride. What a waste of Billy Crystal.
Which leads me to When Harry Met Sally, which I believe was 1989 and is one of my favourite films EVER, and I still cry at the end.
I liked the Gremlins (for entertainment), poor little Gizmo.
This was 1984, I was 15 years old. Sheesh.
Nice work all. I can't believe I forgot Withnail & I - doh.
GSE: Were there no good Fassbinder films in the 80s? What about Bergman? Wasn't Almodovar getting going round then? Umm, you appear to have mistaken my work colleagues and me for sophisticated, cultured types.
Pash: mind you one or two of those were quite good if you like that sort of thing Which wouldn't apply to us of course, now, would it? (Cough)
ah, big.
i used to love when harry met thing but i watched it again recently and found it unbearably smug.
i love labyrinth too. um, i mean, small person does....
How about Ghostbusters? was that the 80's?
the empire strikes back & return of the jedi...
blue velvet (really great, but i'm following someone's david lynch suggestion)
definitely the shining
what about the blues brothers?
x
Oh, oh, I forgot...
The Gods Must be Crazy.
I loved that film. One of the funniest I've ever seen.
Once you've waded through the list which includeds turkeys like Smokey and the Bandit 3, it seems that the eighties really did represent a blip in great film making. But then consider the Back to the Future films, particularly 1 and 2 and ET. Not to everyone's taste of course but great films all the same.
and we can't forget Another Country, which a friend made her husband sit throught by promising him it was all about spies.
me, i am pleading 'pretty in pink' and 'the breakfast club'
ok, bottom line: i am pleading the molly ringwald pout factor
that OK?
*apoplectic fit of coughing*
The good lady Tabby Rabbit and I went in search of The Breakfast Club in Blockbuster the other night, but we had to settle for St Elmo's Fire instead. God, those people were easily pleased. I mean the cute one who disappeared without trace was apparently insanely in love with the Ally Sheedy one for TWO YEARS, but then seemed perfectly satisfied with one quick shag before she decided to ditch him *and* the Judd Nelson one. And the blonde one who hasn't worked since, and who was inexplicably in love with Rob Lowe and his dodgy sunglasses/legwarmers/gold tinsel tie/saxophone combo, was equally happy to get a quick shag off him before he buggered off to California.
Hrrr, if only real life was that simple, eh?
How about Beetlejuice? Brazil? Paris, Texas? Raising Arizona? Ummm... Gregory's Girl?... Anybody?
Also seconding and thirding Spinal Tap, Withnail, Labyrinth and what UC said.
Didn't "the cute one who disappeared without trace" turn up in (Steven King's) Kingdom Hospital, looking not much older?
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