p.o.v number 8: Wings of Desire
posted by Trurl on Jan 10, 2012 - 7 comments

‘History is what happened in the past’: reflections on The Iron Lady.
posted by Artw on Jan 4, 2012 - 92 comments

[Absolute Beginners] has a glossy immediacy, and you can feel the flash and determination that went into it. What you don't feel is the tormented romanticism that made English adolescents in the 70s swear by the novel the way American kids had earlier sworn by The Catcher in the Rye. - Pauline Kael [more inside]
posted by Trurl on Dec 12, 2011 - 15 comments

After 25 years I revisited To Live and Die In L.A. (1985), William Friedkin's cynical, fatalistic, hardboiled and high-energy crime noir about corruption and survival in the city of no angels. The script is literate, the characters are believable, the performances are brutally honest, the unpredictable twists keep coming, the action never stops, and the car chase is shot for real without any fake process. (spoilers)
posted by Trurl on Nov 4, 2011 - 60 comments

Alex Cox: REPO MAN was made as a "negative pickup" by Universal at the time when Bob Rehme was head of the studio. At the time, the big deal over there was STREETS OF FIRE, and nobody really noticed our film [8 MB PDF] at all. Which was lucky for us, since Bob Rehme had "green-lighted" a film which was quite unusual by studio standards. (previously)
posted by Trurl on Oct 31, 2011 - 92 comments

Under the stewardship of Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, Cannon Films was responsible for many of the worst - and a few of the best - movies of the 1980s. Along the way it won an Academy Award and enriched the language. (previously) [more inside]
posted by Trurl on Oct 11, 2011 - 43 comments

The French romantic thriller “Diva” dashes along with a pellmell gracefulness, and it doesn’t take long to see that the images and visual gags and homages all fit together and reverberate back and forth. It’s a glittering toy of a movie... This one is by a new director, Jean-Jacques Beineix... who understands the pleasures to be had from a picture that doesn’t take itself very seriously. Every shot seems designed to delight the audience. - Pauline Kael, 1982 [more inside]
posted by Trurl on Sep 16, 2011 - 33 comments

It’s about time people started rendering unto Liquid Sky. Its long lipstick trace is smudged through much of indie cinema. [more inside]
posted by Trurl on May 11, 2011 - 69 comments

The House Next Door has kicked off this year's installment of the "Summer of..." series, where they look back at the summer movies from 25 years ago. For the next few months they'll be revisiting the summer movies from 1986, and you can check out the previous installments to relive the glories of 1985 (Weird Science, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, St. Elmo's Fire), and 1984 (including the magical day Gremlins, Ghostbusters, and Top Secret! opened simultaneously).
posted by Horace Rumpole on May 5, 2011 - 10 comments

Threads (1984). (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) Testament (1983). (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on Feb 25, 2011 - 66 comments

The A-Team film is filled with sex and violence. Mr T pities the fools.
posted by Artw on Jun 9, 2010 - 127 comments

Twenty-five years later, the main cast of The Goonies reunite for Empire Magazine.
posted by Rhomboid on May 8, 2009 - 84 comments

It was the 80's. We were younger then, and anything seemed possible. So it all seemed part of Destiny when my very first screenplay was bought and produced; fame and fortune was surely just around the corner. HA! Fat chance.- The making of Forever Evil.
posted by Artw on Oct 4, 2008 - 6 comments

Branded in the 80's: Peel Here From the obvious to the obscure to the downright frightening, Peel Here documents the collectible stickers of the 80's and related ephemera.
posted by 1f2frfbf on Jun 26, 2008 - 42 comments

With Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull restarting a franchise from the 80s, this is the perfect time to consider how to ruthlessly pillage the treasured movies of our youth. So, on that note, presenting: Back to the Sequels
posted by bove on May 21, 2008 - 25 comments

Long Duk Dong: Last of the Hollywood Stereotypes? Related: Whatever Happened to John Hughes? which has an accompanying photo gallery: Where are Hughes' teen stars now? [A previous post about John Hughes here.]
posted by amyms on Mar 24, 2008 - 69 comments

Life imitates art. Everybody loses.
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Jul 7, 2007 - 83 comments

Decade of Rad: The 10 Eightiest Movies
posted by Espoo2 on Aug 17, 2003 - 63 comments

Here's a fine way to start a Thursday: pour a cup of joe, settle into your ergonomic chair, and enjoy 80s Ending, a funny little film by Douglas Jordan. Six minutes long, well worth the watch.
posted by Shadowkeeper on Jun 5, 2003 - 24 comments