These are a bunch of movies that were not quite up to my top ten list from 1981. They all offer an interesting viewing experience. Some of them are well known, some were hits in their day but all seem to be under viewed nowadays. Im not going to give descriptions of these ones as the point is I want more people to see them, and the posters can give you most of the info you want in most cases. While I think you should see these films, do not take it as a blanket endorsement of them of quality, they range from bad to great but are all worth seeing for various reasons.
1)My Bloody Valentine-
2)My Dinner with Andre- 3)The French Lieutenant's Woman-
This is a list of the 10 films from 1981 that I liked the most. These
are not necessarily the ten best films of the year, just the ten that
amuse/entertain me the most, so here we go:
10)Absence of Malice- Paul Newman makes great Salad dressing, Thats not related to the movie at all but its true. This movie starring Newman and Sally Field(I always forget how beautiful she is but I do remember shes a great actress) directed by Sydney Pollack is a stand out piece of fiction about the news media and corruption. Probably a more important watch now than ever before even with the fictional elements.
Sequel Alert: None
9)Heavy Metal- Graphic violence, sexuality and abundant nudity fronts the great music and amazing animation this film delivers. Another one that is most definitely not for all tastes. Check out the magazine from the late 70s, if you can handle that then check out the film, its more an experience than a film but its worth seeing.
Sequel Alert: Heavy Metal 2000 was released in 2000(weird huh?) and it wasnt very good. Drastically different film that captured the name but nothing else from the original. Love,Death & Robots on Netflix is a re imagining of the series so it might be worth checking out, I have not yet done so.
8)Atlantic City- Im not exactly sure why I liked this movie so much. Im not a huge Burt Lancaster or Susan Sarandon fan, not that I dislike either, but this just works for me. I really wish I could say more about it but honestly just watch it, if you dont like it ill give you those two hours back.
Sequel Alert: None
7)The Fox and The Hound- A movie that featured the work of most of the Nine Wise Old Men of Disney as well as the next generation of creative stars(Tim Burton, Brad Bird and John Lasseter) worked on it as well. Couple that with how great and heart wrenching some of the music is and how great some of the visuals are. Also I think that this might be the best of the 70s-80s Disney "boy" movie push. This movie is one of only a few Disney movies I'd drop stuff to watch.
Sequel Alert: A direct to dvd sequel(technically a midquel as it takes place within events of first film). It features some fun music and some decent animation but it comes off as a cash-in sequel more than any legitimate attempt at making a good movie.
6)Superman II- Kneel before Zod. Ok to be clear in talking about the original theater version(TV cuts vary from slightly better to slightly worse and Donner Cut would be #4 on this list if eligible). The production of this movie is a legendary clusterfuck pissing contest between the producer/director. I know many of the actors were not happy with Donner getting pulled so they didnt promote it, but their performances do not reflect it. This is good old wholesome fun as far as comic book movies go.
Sequel Alert: It is itself a sequel to Superman. It had two direct sequels(Superman III and IV) and a spinoff in Super-girl. Oddly then in 2006 it got another direct sequel in Superman Returns. Superman has since joined the DCEU and appears in many movies there, He has also had many TV spinoffs, both live action and animated. Now there is the Donner Cut of this movie as well, it is superior but not by a mile, only bout half a mile. Id recommend first two(including this one) then skipping to DCEU but the other three are not unwatchable, just unnecessary.
5)Friday the 13th Part 2- This is where my boy Jason first shows up(except for the final scene in original that was a dream)(Sorry to spoil a 41 year old movie while talking about its sequel which is also 40 years old.) A little more violent, a lot slicker production, better kills, just a better movie all around. This isnt my favorite in the series but its good, not the best in the series but far far from the worst. The creepy end in Jason's hideout is iconic, and hella creepy
.
Sequel Alert: Yes lots, see first four then 9 and X cause they batshit crazy then vs Freddy. Rest are just kinda there.
4)Escape From New York- Mother Freakin Snake Plissken. This guy is like Boba Fett levels of cool. He is the prototypical 80s anti hero with a good heart, the man men want to be with and women want to be(might have got that backwards but fuck it im sure it can still apply). Another great moody atmospheric film by John Carpenter. Kurt Russell is just the epitome of bad ass in this one. Lea Van Cleef is a great supporting character and the entire thing is just top notch.
Sequel Alert: One sequel, Escape from LA, a good movie but not great, worth a watch but only if you like the character here really. Ghosts of Mars(highly underrated Carpenter flick, btw) started as a third Escape movie but after LA bombed they changed it to a non Snake movie. In 2019 it was announced that a remake was being worked on.
3)Tuck Everlasting- Hey look another I watched in6th grade makes the list(This time in Miss Delaney's class). This movie stuck with me for years, as did the book. This is young adult fantasy done right(even if you acknowledge some of the rather problematic things in the story). This is one of my favorite adaptations of a book. Class movie.
Sequel Alert:No sequel but there was a 2002 remake that I hear was decent but I did not see it, as I hold the memory of the original too dear.
2)Halloween II- One of the best direct(as in picking up right after) horror sequels ever. There is a reason when the series got rebooted in 2018 they chose to keep this one in continuity. Its a worthy follow up to the classic, much better than the rest of the series. Donald Pleasence is a pleasure to watch as as I said Jamie Lee is the Queen of Scream.
Sequel Alert: Oh Boy. So there was a previous one, obviously. There is a sequel that is in no way related(well technically its tangentially related but not in any obvious ways), then three straight sequels, the so called "Thorn" trilogy, that while following the Myers story kinda went off the rails and ended up creepy in a bad way and confusing as shit, then they decided to ignore the previous 4(numbers 3-6) for H20. H20 had a followup and then they did the Rob Zombie remake and sequel. Then just cause the company that owns the trademark is an asshole they decided to release a third movie simply called Halloween, this one ignoring all the sequels and remakes and only counting the original, so its a sequel with the same exact name as the movie its a sequel to despite a remake of the movie with the same name already exists....WTF? Anyone a couple of sequels to it are being made named Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends. There have been comics and novels that continue the stories as well, but with continuity issues its impossible to put them in place. There was also an Atari 2600 game, one of only a few real horror games from the system.
Honorable mentions-
The Evil Dead- Man I wanted to put this in my top 10, but Ive come to realize over the years I respect it way more than I actually like it. See it, but just go in knowing its a micro budget film made by people with way more talent than money.
Stripes- More great stuff from Ramis/Murray/Candy/Reitman group of guys. This isnt any of their best work but its an entertaining little military comedy. Had Private Benjamin not been a hit the previous year then this might be better remembered.
Taps-Kinda Lord of the Flies in a military academy. Many stars had early roles here, including Tom Cruise, Sean Penn, the under rated Evan Handler and Giancarlo Esposito. A good movie that just was kinda out of its time by bout a decade.
On Golden Pond- Jane and Henry Fonda are both talented actors. Anyone who doesnt have Katherine Hepburn on their top 50 list for actresses is insane. The director isnt someone whose work I normally care for, and the writer Ernest Thompson on the other hand wrote many plays and films I enjoyed. This is one of the most moving beautiful drama films of its era, while it doesnt hold up great, its still a good film.
Mommie Dearest- Want to show your kids a movie to really fuck them up? First what the fuck is wrong with you, second, here ya go. Now I dont normally do the trigger warning thing cause Im not comfortable telling others what should or shouldnt be triggering them, but in this case I feel it is warranted, if the psychological or physical abuse of a child would be hurtful to your mental health, skip this one. If you are ok watching it its a haunting examination of how we force our children to deal with our shortcomings and the harm it can do.
An American Werewolf in London-The film that introduced me to CCR and Bad Moon Rising. This is one of the first horror movies I sat through completely as a kid(along with Salem's Lot). This was cool new wave horror compared to what had came before it. I think this along with Thriller did a great job in keeping classic(werewolf/zombie/vampire) horror alive in the Slasher era.
Chariots of Fire-"Based on a true story" in a very loose sense and over rated in its day, but under rated as a feel good movie nowadays(in a twisted kinda way). I think it has a few good performances and some good writing but it just isnt there as a whole.
And drum roll please, cause our number one is:
1)Raiders of the Lost Ark-I think this is my favorite Indy flick, but I wouldnt of expected it to be my year end fave. I think this movie is one of the funnest adventure films ever, and Ford kick ass as Indy. I think in most yeas this makes top 5 only but in 81 it wins. 81 was a strange year, lots and lots of films I love but 80 had more top line stuff. Indy beats up Nazi and someone's face melts. Anyway this has been a strange blurb, go watch Raiders.
Sequel Alert:It had a pair of sequels that came out in the same decade(Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade) from there the film series sat for twenty years before Crystal Skull came out and wasnt very good(not a bad movie but not a good Indy movie) and another sequel is due in 2022. There was also a Young Indy TV show that lasted 30 episodes, wasnt great but was decent fun. There have also been many good(and bad) Indy comics/novels over the years and a few decent games.
This is a list of the 10 films from 1980 that I liked the most. These are not necessarily the ten best films of the year, just the ten that amuse/entertain me the most, so here we go:
10)Ordinary People- Robert Redford's first(and some would still say best) directing effort. It was a commercial and critical success at the time although in later years the film has gotten a bad rap for winning best picture over Raging Bull. While I agree that Raging Bull is a much better film, that takes nothing away from this melodrama classic.Mary Tyler Moore got robbed for Best Actress though.
Sequel Alert:No
9)Friday the 13th-I love this movie simply because it started one of my favorite slasher series. Everyone knows the movies, teens, drugs, sex and death. Not as good as the ones that would follow but a good start to the series that would influence so much of the 80s teen cinema.
Sequel Alert: A few, it got 9 sequels, a remake, a crossover with Freddy, a tv series that had nothing to do with the movies and numerous other media. The series was up and down quality wise(never far up but...)X was in space and they had three different killers in the series, so its a unique series to say the least(and yet so often copied or parodied it seems cliche)
8)Somewhere in Time-Superman and Dr. Quinn? Im down. Great romantic sci-fi masterpiece. Yes it pales in comparison to the Richard Matheson story its based on, but Im not sure Hollywood can adapt Matheson without destroying it, but this film is still compelling and not gonna lie when I first saw this in school in 6th grade(TY Miss Furnia) I had a huge crush on Jane Seymour, she is legit gorgeous.
Sequel Alert: No but some, myself included like to think of What Dreams May Come(another film based off of Matheson's work) is a companion piece. On the plus side its more modern and has one of Robin Williams best performances, on the negative..most everything else.
7)The Blues Brothers-They simple dont make movies like this anymore. Heck they didnt back then either. This was pure Aykroyd and Belushi genius backed by the directing of John Landis(While he is a very problematic person nowadays that doesnt mean he wasnt a talented director, not saying we should treat him like a hero but im not gonna say he wasnt talented just cause I think hes a garbage person). The Music, the action, the comedy and the freaking car chase.
Sequel Alert: God no, by all that you hold Holy do not see Blues Brothers 2000. It was a horrible, horrible, no good bad thing. The music is still good to great and I do get a kick out of John Goodman, but the entire thing is just not a blemish on the original.
6)The Fog-If you ever want to learn how to make something feel moody or disturbing, just watch anything directed by Carpenter. Between this, the Thing and Halloween its easy to see this guy was the master of mood and anxiety inducing. If atmosphere matters in your horror flicks, check this out, plus Jamie Lee is The Scream Queen.
Sequel Alert:Oh man another shitty fucking remake destroying the legacy of a classic. The 2005 version is awful. Dont let a music video director whose only other good film was Stigmata remake a classic. Bigger, louder, more violent and less intelligent doesnt mean better. Only real plus in remake is Selma Blair and Maggie Grace, Tom Welling was so bad in this it made me hate Superman.
5)Caddyshack-There was a time that Bill Murray was probably the funniest man on planet earth, or at the very least the funniest guy making Hollywood movies. Growing up I was not a huge Murray fan outside of Ghostbusters, but by my early twenties I completely "got "him. Between him Ted Knight and Rodney Dangerfield(who I fucking adore btw) this film had some great lines and even better direction. Having this much talent and knowing when to let them go and when to edit them down is a talent.
Sequel Alert:Caddyshack II is what they made Alex DeLarge watch. They made the freaking Gopher talk, like actual dialog. WTF. Murray and Dangerfield had the good sense to stay the fuck away, naturally Chevy didnt.
4)Raging Bull-Is it the greatest sports movie ever? Probably. It is legit in consideration for the best film ever made(my list is for my favorite not the best, otherwise I would rank this number one for the year just edging out my number 2 on this list) I have a love hate relationship with Scorsese films and this one is a love, plus damn can De Niro act or what? Plus Pesci is under rated in dramas.
Sequel Alert:Ok this is an odd one, technically no, actually no but kinda yes. See there was a film called The Bronx Bull that came out in 2016 that is based on the sequel to the book that Raging Bull is based on. It was originally planned as Raging Bull II but lawsuits and money issues led to the name change and not being able to promote it as a sequel(technically its both a sequel and prequel, kinda). Regardless its not very good, not horrible but it isnt worth figuring out its continuity with this one as it covers the best parts of the story.
3)Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back-Sequels are not always worse than the original and the 2nd film in a trilogy can be the best. As for the movie Hoth Wampa shelter, Obi Wan Ghost, AT-ATs, Fucking Boba Fett, Dagobah Swamp with Yoda, Cloud City, Fuck you Lando you bastard, Boba gets a pet carbonite Han, Luke gives Vader a hand and turns out "Vader, you are the father" Oh shit spoilers(movie is 40 plus years old, sorry not sorry). This movie is the very definition of Space Opera, and I mean that in every positive way possible.
Sequel Alert: One prequel(Star Wars: A New Hope) and one sequel (Return of the Jedi) and nothing else ever, regardless of what strange Mandela effect group hallucination you have experienced that tarnished the legacy of "The Trilogy".
Ok not fair there have been a total of 11 Live Action films, 1 animated, and three tv specials. On TV there was also 10 animated and now up to 4 live action series. This isnt even counting the hundreds of games, comics, novels and basically if it exists there is a Star Wars tie in for it. Me myself, I think the original trilogy is the only movies worth seeing the TV shows are hit and miss(more miss) but decent enough, the video games are actually some of the best storytelling in the universe, in particular the Knights of the Old Republic games.
2)The Shining-This film is so analyzed I cant really say anything that hasnt been said. Stephen King's novel is gripping, disturbing look at alcoholism, creativity and losing the line between creation and creator. Stanley Kubrick is among my favorite filmmakers of all-time. I love how nothing was an accident in his films, and the things that actually were just had explanations that worked. So many scenes in this film are iconic. Jack Nicholson gave the performance of a lifetime(for most, for Jack just another great one), Duvall mesmerizing as always(I know she went through hell on this film and that sucks, but good god what a performance she turned in, in spite of not because of that treatment.) and while Im obviously not a fan of Magic Black Man in movies but Scatman Crothers gives a great performance. If you are into film theory or just want to go down one hell of a rabbit hole, look up "What does the Shining really mean" on youtube.
Sequel Alert:A 1997 miniseries for TV was made that stuck closer to the book and as a result was a lesser film. It was praised at the time, but as recency bias has fallen off its almost universally considered a worse effort. In 2019(39 damn years) after the original a sequel was released as Doctor Sleep. While it was praised by most critics it only did decent at box office A planned Hallorann prequel is now in holding, but production is ongoing currently on an Overlook series for HBO that would act as a prequel to the novel, so in essence a prequel to the film as well.
Honorable Mentions: First this set were re-releases(mainly Disney Vault drops):
Lady and the Tramp-Disney cuteness, the spaghetti scene and the Siamese Cats scenes alone are worth seeing(yes Im aware we are Siamese is incredible racist but the animation and song are still art, just shitty narrow minded outdated racist art.)
Song of the South-Well about racism...This film is such an issue Disney hasnt reissued it since 1986. Im not going to excuse some of the views or attitudes in this movie as even being of their time, cause they were pretty fucking ignorant then even. But this film does have some great animation and regardless of where it comes from Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah is a catchy freaking tune.
The Aristocats- Everybody wants to be a Cat. More racist stereotypes but a fun movie.
and a non Disney one
2001:A Space Odyssey-Remember me saying Kubrick was one of my favorites? Yeah originally this was on my top 10 until I decided to take re-releases out of the running. I know a lot of modern readings of it call it pretentious, and im not going to say they are wrong but I am going to say most of the people who say that come off as pretty fucking pretentious themselves(as I do too) so take that for what its worth.
Plus we have two non re-release films to call out as good but not top 10:
The Elephant Man-David Lynch. No one makes films like David Lynch. I first saw this at about 7 years old and it freaked me the fuck out. Years later after Twin Peaks, Mullholland drive and Lost Highway I began finding more of his work including re-watching this. Still atmospheric and disturbing but a very moving film about the human condition and why we suffer.
Private Benjamin-Goldie Hawn is funny. She has the best facial expressions and her smile is as bright as possible, plus she has one of the best deadpan deliveries Ive ever seen. Also not trying to come off as a sexist but she looks amazing considering she gave birth only 6 months before this was filmed( Kate Hudson was the kid btw)
And My #1 film of 1980-
Airplane!-This movie is offensive in every way possible, and yet it is one of the funniest non stop laughter films Ive ever seen. Im not in anyway going to say this movie is for everyone, but if you dont mind offensive borderline uncomfortable comedy, this is the best of its class. It is of the same vein as Naked Gun and Hot Shots series(Think Scary Movie series but actually funny and not trying to hard) but making fun of Hollywood's big budget disaster film craze of the 70s. So many classic lines and scenes I couldnt even begin to list them, just see it if you can handle offensive comedy.
In a week or so I will upload my 1981 list and Im actually working on one for TV and video games for 1980 as well.
(Note:
This is the Fourth part of a countdown of my 101 Favorite NES games. I'm
not saying these are the 101 best NES games or even 101 good NES games,
just that they are the 101 games that I like the most. I don't expect
you to have the same list, cause that would be strange if we literally
liked 101 games exactly the same way.)
61)Final Fantasy-
The one that started the greatest RPG series of All time. I admit I didnt play this game back then, wasnt until I got into emulation in early 200s, and only then because FF3/6 is my all time fave RPG and I wanted to see how it all started.
As an added bonus check these awesome extras from in the box:
62)Burger Time-
This game is just fun. Its not groundbreaking, it doesnt have great graphics or perfect control or even amazing sound, it just is fun to play. This legit might be my favorite 5/10 game ever.
63)POW-
Not a great big fan of using POW as a game title, but they did and its a good side scrolling beat em up. Think Double Dragon but in war torn asia, its a good game even if you arent a fan of war games.
64)Pac-Man-
Its Pac-Man, if you dont know what Pac-Man is im not sure you should be reading this or that you are even real, every one knows the Pac. This isnt the best conversion of the coin op but its highly playable.If i want a Pac fix nowadays I grab 256 or CEDX. But this should be played by Pac fans.
65)Double Dribble-
Great b-ball game for its time, basically the Tecmo Bowl of basketball, the NES b-ball game of choice(Arch rival Arch Rivals is #90). And yes that three point spot is insanely unfair.
66)Gradius-
Im not the biggest side scrolling shooter fan, mainly cause I sucked at them so bad growing up. But even then I appreciated the game play of this simple but deep shooter. The weapon system on this game was impressive for the NES era. Biggest complaint here is the various difficulty spike and drops.
67)Spy vs Spy-
This game is a hoot! Ive actually never played this game by myself. I mean Ive played it single player, but only in a group. This game will always draw a smile to my face. Not the prettiest or best controlling but still a good time.
68)Rambo-
This game is something else. I dont know what half of the shit that goes on in this game actually means. The only thing I can figure is the symbolism is over my head or the designers used a ton of drugs during the making of it, and I mean a literal ton. But that said its a decent looking ok playing game. It just defies description most of the time and telling you about will do no good, it has to be experienced.
69)Duck Tales-
Life is like a hurricane here in Duckburg Race cars, lasers, aeroplanes, it's a duck-blur! Might solve a mystery Or rewrite history!
DuckTales! Woo-oo! Everyday they're out there making DuckTales! Woo-oo! Tales of derring-do, bad and good Luck Tales!
D-d-d danger lurks behind you There's a stranger out to find you What to do, just grab on to some...
DuckTales! Woo-oo! Everyday they're out there making DuckTales! Woo-oo! Tales of derring-do, bad and good DuckTales! Woo-oo!
Not pony tales or cotton tales, no, DuckTales! Woo-oo!
Plus it looks ok and plays decent.
70)Mega Man 4-
Its a Mega Man 3 ROM Hack. Ok so thats not true but there really are only cosmetic differences between the two games, they play exactly the same and you can pick out every Mega Man trope in this game, most all of them coming from previous games. The things that are new(graphics/music/sounds/etc) are all good so this isnt a step back, it just didnt step up either.
If you want to see #'s 91-101(Part 1 of this countdown) go ahead and click here: Countdown Part 1
