1980's Best Movies: 40 Years Later

voting Airplane!

accidentally voted for something other than Airplane!, guess im retiring this account now

A big year for revisionism (Cruising, Heaven's Gate), horror, and French movies.

The Blues Brothers in the top 1,000 is flagrant crap.

1. Raging Bull, 2. Berlin Alexanderplatz, 3. Dressed to Kill.

I've worn out #1, so I could reverse the top two. The Changeling is now considered a good film? It was bottom of the barrel when I was working at a local theatre in 1980.

Missed The Shining...I'd put that ahead of De Palma.

RE: revisionism and horror, I don't think The Fog got particularly nice reviews back then either. Neither did The Shining. And I'm pretty sure Inferno was seen as a letdown after Suspiria.

Horror is, granted, often judged via adjusted metrics but I'd say The Changeling is def good.

Surprised to realize that I might go with The Elephant Man here.

The only movie from my top 10 not represented here is Hardly Working.

OMG

I have probably seen that as many times if not more than any film actually on this list. I was not well-monitored as a child.

I know that many (maybe most) of the greatest horror films ever take years to solidify their reputation, and I know Peter Medak made a couple of other acclaimed films, but all I can remember about The Changeling is George C. Scott during his late scenery-chewing phase.

As much as I love Fassbinder, whose films I've rewatched since their easier availability in the mid 2000s, I can't get into Berlin Alexanderplatz.

No idea what I'd vote for.

1. The Shining
2. Raging Bull
3. The Elephant Man
4. Dressed to Kill
5. Airplane!

I don’t know what The Changeling is doing here, either.

Berlin Alexanderplatz
Mon Oncle d'Amerique
Raging Bull
Bad Timing

One of these days I'll watch Bad Timing.

Also, I got major Heaven's Gate vibes from this one-sheet:

https://d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net/wp/wp-content/images/6_TheIrishman-700x1034.jpg

(Excepting the part about the Academy Award nominations.)

The Changeling is a great slow-burn creepfest and one of Marty's faves:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/12/martin-scorsese-scariest-films-the-haunting-shining

I don't think its bad, but it ain't even the second best horror movie on this list.

As usual, I have a number of foreign films to catch up on: Mon Oncle d'Amerique and Berlin Alexanderplatz most notably. Kagembusha is good second-tier Kurosawa, but The Last Metro is basically a well-made snooze.

(don't know where that b came from in Kagemusha)

It’s the porn parody title

I'm mildly intrigued by the votes for Bad Timing but my further exploration of Roeg's '80s filmography has been thus far hindered (perhaps unfairly) by the fact that Track 29 is one of the worst movies I've ever seen in my life.

he ran the gamut on the quality scale

I actually agree with clemenza on Berlin, The Shining and Dressed to Kill.

Raging Bull, however, can die in a fire.

like the hotel in The Shining did in the book? (or the original sets)

what're your objections to RB? if you say "toxic masculinity" i have my sock o' manure ready.

To the extent that I got out of it almost the inverse of what its hype suggested I might get out of it, I'm comfortable calling Raging Bull one of the more overly-celebrated films of all time.

Bring on the sock, Morbsy.

Dressed to Kill, The Empire Strikes Back, Airplane!, one of these.

Basically what Pauline Kael said, Morbs.

The Blues Brothers in the top 1,000 is flagrant crap.

― temporarily embarrassed thousandaire (Eric H.), Tuesday, January 21, 2020 7:42 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

to say nothing of the empire strikes back

to say nothing of a Hitchcock ripoff

Dressed to Kill, The Empire Strikes Back, Airplane!, one of these.

all juvenilia, though two are good

If you're going to steal, etc. etc.

xp Yeah, The Empire Strikes Back is a bit short of "good."

I have a soft spot for THE BIG RED ONE because it was the first Sam Fuller movie I ever saw (lol HBO) but if I had to pick from this list it would be the same top 3 as DJPs.

Empire, The Shining, Airplane </basic>

Who are we kidding, Airplane! is winning this round.

i am voting airplane!

i am a huge star wars fan but like... what is empire even doing here

It's the only SW entry that even approaches greatness if you care about this sort of thing for a SW chapter.

^^^

I'm not much of a Star Wars fan anymore, but Empire is still dazzling.

I mean, visually Kershner knew what he was doing.

I do laugh my ass off at Airplane!, but even ZAZ admit it's barely directed

and I can't get u ppl to discuss WC Fields

Hilar Big Red One trivia:

During the UK clampdown on video nasties in the 1980s the film was briefly seized by Manchester police, who believed it to be a sex film.

Go back and siddowna

and I can't get u ppl to discuss WC Fields

― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, January 22, 2020 9:03 AM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

https://i.imgur.com/9355Eu6.png

the cinematography in empire is tight but it's a movie that doesn't function without its previous chapter and the acting is STILL terrible

Away, put your gripin'

It's pretty much indisputable that Oz gives the best performance in that thing, yeah

I don't think it matters so much in the SW universe – you're gonna watch the original three, not start in the middle.

xpost

is it a morbsian gripe to complain about having to watch three movies just to understand the good one

i like return of the jedi better anyway, empire's been a little overrated for decades

and I loathe ROTJ, see, even as a kid. Disgracefully edited, making a hash of the developments and reducing Han and co. to walk-ons in their own damn movie.

In both the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy, the middle film is the best one. Being that they’re serials, they function best when the beginning and endings don’t matter.

oh wait nm the fog is on here, voting for that one

the ones i haven't seen yet that i expect i would think are amazing: heaven's gate, berlin alexanderplatz

The Endor battle is my favourite special effects sequence of any movie, but Empire as a whole is so much more exciting.

I’ve still never seen Heaven’s Gate all the way through. There’s a 2.5 hour cut streaming on Prime right now, but I’m assuming that if I’m going to watch this, I should just grab the Criterion and experience the whole damn thing, huh?

Kael really didn't get Scorsese at all after Taxi Driver.

yes crypto

In both the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy, the middle film is the best one. Being that they’re serials, they function best when the beginning and endings don’t matter.

― I Heard You Ain't HOOS's (Eric H.), Wednesday, January 22, 2020 10:14 AM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

Yes, ROTJ should've ended with one of the principals abruptly getting ripped in half by a landmine, smash cut, fanfare and credits.

I’ve still never seen Heaven’s Gate all the way through. There’s a 2.5 hour cut streaming on Prime right now, but I’m assuming that if I’m going to watch this, I should just grab the Criterion and experience the whole damn thing, huh?

― Maria Edgelord (cryptosicko),

It's still not a good movie but far from a dud.

the cinematography in empire is tight but it's a movie that doesn't function without its previous chapter and the acting is STILL terrible

I kinda don't get the point of wasting good actors in Star Wars, but Driver comes closest to challenging that. Certainly Guinness doidn't see the point.

Airplane! (#683) is ranked two hundred spots lower than fucking Heaven’s Gate (#400)???? People that hate comedy can go drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes.

Yes, ROTJ should've ended with one of the principals abruptly getting ripped in half by a landmine, smash cut, fanfare and credits.

Yes!

I never bothered to think about whether the acting in SW (original trilogy) was any better or worse than it needed to be, but Tom Scharpling probably otm when said that Chewbacca and R2D2 were the best Star Wars characters became they’re the ones who don’t talk.

ranking a film in the top 700 films ever sure sounds like "hate" to me

I can think of no movie that's had their reputation turn around harder than Heaven's Gate. I expect it to show up in the Sight & Sound 2022 list somewhere.

famous H Ford quip "you sure can't say this"

Kael really didn't get Scorsese at all after Taxi Driver

I'd have to look up what she wrote about The King of Comedy, but I'd bet she was pretty spot on mostly.

btw sorry for infecting another thread with my wacky star wars opinions

oh man she haaaated King of Comedy

her Goodfellas review is... stupid

So's the movie.

But we'll get to that thread soon enough.

youll be popular on that one!

thought Kael’s review of Raging Bull, as critical as it was, was also very articulate about what made that film so great

Raging Bull does nothing for me. Scorsese loses me until Life Lessons.

Encore du champagne.

I think basically I love one Scorsese movie per decade.

Enchantee to you too!

you two were the neighbor yelling "Shut up you animal!" at LaMotta

voted for airplane immediately, didn't notice ESB, oh well.

My top 5:

The Shining
Dressed to Kill
Heaven’s Gate
Berlin Alexanderplatz
Cruising

Friedkin shoulda used Smokey's hit as his theme song.

'Tears of a Clown' is a weird choice imo but you do you

I've tried.

Raging Bull might get my vote -- it's a very unusual one, i think probably the most Euro art film of Scorsese's career w/all that implies. not just the B&W but also the somewhat episodic nature and its testing of the viewer in terms the identifying w/the protagonist, whose neuroses and flaws are mostly hard to empathize with, and he's never judged just presented. i don't really rank it anywhere near the top in terms of rewatchability w/Scorsese (whose films usually are ripe for multiple viewings in close proximity); it's just not an especially pleasant flick to watch. This isn't even a knock on a film, it's what makes it compelling.

The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite of all the SW films, it's the most complete story and the most assured filmmaking. the acting is fine, the set pieces are exciting, and the story threads all tie together well and pay off remarkably in the end. Great settings and atmosphere, the entire galaxy barely hinted at in the first film really blossoms here. And I always appreciated that it saved room for a minor storyline involving the cutthroat world of Imperial fleet command. as much as i like ROTJ for the most part, it backed away from what Kershner did here.

i have a lot of affection for The Blues Brothers, Airplane, & Gregory's Girl too.

Cruising is a good one. Same goes for The Shining and Gloria. and Kagemusha!

Does TSPDT use the iMdB release years? Because Malle's Atlantic City blows most of these candidates away.

I expect to vote for it next year.

I love this bit in Kael's review of ROTJ: Yoda wasn't even green!

The spark is gone from Yoda's eyes; the little green sage looks swollen and baggy - he has been given horrible fuzz all over, as if he were a peach - and the way he's lighted he isn't even green.

He was dying after all.

Raging Bull seems more indebted to Cassavetes (and '40s/50s boxing noirs) than Euro art films.

directly, i mean. i sose there's Visconti in there.

suppose*

on Malle's TSPDT page, AC is 1980, and it is unranked.

The spark is gone from Yoda's eyes; the little green sage looks swollen and baggy - he has been given horrible fuzz all over, as if he were a peach - and the way he's lighted he isn't even green.

it's not easy lighting green

Raging Bull seems more indebted to Cassavetes (and '40s/50s boxing noirs) than Euro art films.

― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, January 22, 2020 9:26 AM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah agree w/this as well, also trying to think of what other film it echoed. maybe it was Force of Evil.

^^ for sure

Airplane is barely directed but i'm voting for best movie not best director. Airplane would not have been improved by a 10 minute single-take swoop through the airport (actually thinking about it that would rule). It still gets a visceral reaction out of me.

ESB is waaaay over-rated as a movie but all the individual bits are good. I never liked how they all hang together tbh, and the twist sucks.

Raging Bull's toxic masculinity is the point.

lol stardust memories

There’s no way that The Changeling, The Last Metro and Stardust Memories are better than Atlantic City.

(Cruising either, but I’m well aware of its revised reputation)

For the record, I don't object to Raging Bull on charges of toxic masculinity because duh yes that's the point.

i didnt really think that was yr reasoning!

just trying to figure out why Airplane! is so much more loved around here than great laugh riots made by a real filmmaker (eg Duck Soup)

Also, there's no way that The Blues Brothers is better than Mad Magazine Presents Up The Academy.

Trying to remember, is Duck Soup a Sandler joint, y/n

Who doesn't love Duck Soup?

also dubiously unranked:

The Long Good Friday
Melvin and Howard
Taxi zum Klo

TSPDT aggregation... sucks.

when Eric polls 1933, Duck Soup will top my list.

for its centennial

Footlight Parade robbed yet again. Typical.

The problem with TSPDT is they seem to accept legitimately every list.

Tho horror did, in fact, rule in 1980 and no getting around that.

The Shining was rather boring to me on opening night and ever since

(and i believe i'm the only one on the board who saw the initial US cut w/ the hospital scene)

Wait who on ILX doesn't like the Marx Brothers?

Haters who are jealous of a family talented enough to produce both Das Kapital and 'Children of the Night' presumably.

didnt say anything about that

(but y'know, Eric)

xp

The Stunt Man not on this list. Or Tess.

Belated justice. Seriously, in all the later hubbub about Polanski, people forget how incredibly fast he went from admitting to raping a 13-year old, escaping from justice, to making his next film and getting awards and nominations at the Cesars and Golden Globes. He flees in february 78, the film starts shooting that summer.

true enough

has nothing to do with whether Tess is good

Stardust Memories is a better hommage to Fellini than All That Jazz is

I have nothing against the Marx brothers?

I just don't see you turning cartwheels over any pre-1960 comedy. I could be wrong.

One doesn't turn cartwheels beyond 40.

(And count Looney Tunes shorts and we'd be talking.)

Stardust Memories is a better fromage to Fellini than All That Jazz is

I love cheese!

The Falls is such a weird weird and hilarious movie -- it always reminds me of the Python sketch about identifying trees that keeps getting stuck on "The Larch" (fuck I could totally be misremembering this) ... Airplane is also a fave. ... I think I've started watching Bad Timing a half dozen times but always fell asleep in the middle and have no idea if it was the movie or me.

just trying to figure out why Airplane! is so much more loved around here than great laugh riots made by a real filmmaker (eg Duck Soup

it sure is a head-scratcher huh. Might have something to do with none of us being alive in 19fucking33.

(I did watch Duck Soup during Marx Bros kick in high school. I laughed! Riotously!)

lots of the ZAZ fans were zygotes or diaper wearers in 1980

there's definitely something to be said for imprinted memories and age w/r/t movies -- I was probably 6 or 7 when I saw Airplane and thought it was hilarious at the time, and still do ... how much of that is related to the childhood viewing, idk. Guessing a lot of the shared love here on ilx is because a bunch of us are in our mid-late 40s and saw it as kids around the time it came out.

(xps)

Tess is listed on IMDb as '79 (though nominated for the '80 Oscars).

airplane is one of a short shortlist of comedy movies i'd vote over the marx bros in an ilx poll

well, we won't have that one then

Too late.

Tess is listed on IMDb as '79 (though nominated for the '80 Oscars).

― Maria Edgelord (cryptosicko),

See Morbs' comment about Atlantic City.

https://i.imgur.com/YmSVGMm.jpg?fb
I guess I picked the wrong week to realise that 1980 was 40 years ago!

AC got Euro and Canadian releases in '80

lots of the ZAZ fans were zygotes or diaper wearers in 1980

I was 2. I saw it first on VHS or TV. Despite being a zygote or in diapers, I'm much more familiar with 70s/early 80s films & music than Depression era shit. It's not hard to figure out why.

check out this Emily Dickinson sometime

have we ever done a screwball comedy poll or the like?

S/D, POX: Screwball comedies

Agree that Melvin and Howard is an unfortunate omission--that'd be in my top three.

Morbs do you ever hang out w 100 yr old who look down on you for not being into penny farthings and Sandra Bernhardt

or Sarah lol

Since we're doing omissions, I'll mention one of my most beloved movies of this/any year that I knew wouldn't show up here: My Bodyguard. I'm curious how many of the "canonical" teen movies (of which MB is not) will show up on these lists.

Matt Dillon in the early Reagan years *dies from sexual heat*

Woulda hung this on my wall were I a teen in the 80s

https://66.media.tumblr.com/3285e9785a4fb072bf2878d0f2f51ea3/tumblr_mfhanzoshP1s0lz26o1_640.jpg

a helluva album sleeve

I've Got My Own Body To Guard

there's definitely something to be said for imprinted memories and age w/r/t movies...

― sarahell, Wednesday, January 22, 2020

really the truth

https://thegirlwhoknewtoomuch46.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/let-me-feel-bad.gif

Timothy = me watching Raging Bull

I've Got My Own Body To Guard

lol

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I think of Gregory’s Girl as contemporary to Sixteen Candles and such. Surprised it’s ‘80.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Figuring Kubrick didn't need my help, I went for De Palma, who clearly did.

Time for the showdown: The Best Movies Of Years Celebrating An Anniversary Divisible By 10 (1920-2010)