My Ten Favorite Films of 1981

 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.

 

Alternate poster gotten from Alternative Movie Posters 

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.