Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Retro: 1983

1983 or
"The One Where Astronauts Ensemble, Daughters Get Cancer, Pacino says hello to his 'little friend,' and Princess Leia Dons on the Gold Bikini"

I hesitated before posting retro-awardage for this year. You'll notice immediately that two acclaimed films by two of my all-time favorite auteurs (Fanny & Alexander and Zelig) are absent as I haven't seen them. But if I wait to see everything I haven't seen I will never get any pages uploaded.

So, for what it's worth... My preliminary attack on the films of 1983. Keep in mind that these are not final awards, but rough drafts.

13 comments:

par3182 said...

You're going to enjoy filling in the blanks. Cross Creek, The Dresser, Educating Rita, Local Hero, Tender Mercies, Testament and especially Zelig make for some mighty fine viewing.

And trust me, you'll be much happier going through life without ever seeing a single frame of Staying Alive.

Javier Aldabalde said...

perhaps because i have no memories of the 80s this seems like a pretty dull decade to me (cinematically speaking). that said, "fanny and alexander" has a very special place in my heart. ugh. i hate getting sentimental but there.

Anonymous said...

I didn't think John Lithgow was that special in his teeny tiny role in Terms of endearment. How he got an Oscar nomination over Kurt Russel in Silkwood is a mystery to me.

NATHANIEL R said...

the 80s is a bit dull yes (as cinema goes) but for those who didn't really live through it there are still gems you should see from each year.

adam k. said...

So yeah, in every one of your 80s years now, Streep has been a best actress winner, or at least tied/vying for the gold. I am sensing a pattern here. Oh wait, right, Meryl Streep WAS the 80s. There's the pattern.

NATHANIEL R said...

well, yes. it was kind of like Nicole Kidman having 2001 and 2002 for an entire decade. Or nearly.

Anonymous said...

See that door in the corner? Go walk out of it. Make your way out onto the street. Walk to your local entertainment emporium. Pick up Confessions On A Dancefloor (you were going to anyway, after all). Before stopping at the register, pick up the DVD of Zelig. It's HILARIOUS and INGENIOUS!

In my best Clarice Starling voice: "Go on now."

Rob

NATHANIEL R said...

i have no doubts about ZELIG (woody being my alltime fav director and all) I just haven't managed to see it yet.

i already have CONFESSIONS silly.

Anonymous said...

You HAVE to see Fanny and Alexander.

...In the right mood, of course, like any Bergman film.
It's so unbelievably good.

Anonymous said...

I haven't seen many of the big films from that year either, but my absolutele #1 favourite is definitely Educating Rita. One of my all-time faves with probably my fave female perf of all time (Julie Walters). Loved it.

My Top 5 for 1983 (because i keep lists you see). * = winner

Picture:
Educating Rita*
The King of Comedy
Rumblefish
Silkwood
Terms of Endearment

Actress:
Marial Hemmingway (Star80)
Shirley MacLaine (Endearment)
Meryl Streep (Silkwood)
Julie Walters (Rita)
Debra Winger (Endearment)

Actor:
Michael Caine (Rita)
Robert DeNiro (Comedy)
Matt Dillon (Rumblefish)
Al Pacino (Scarface)
Eric Roberts (Star80)

Supp Actress:
Sandra Bernhard (Comedy)*
Cher (Silkwood)
Glenn Close (Big Chill)
Michelle Pfeiffer (Scarface)
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Scarface)

Supp. Actor:
Cancelled due to lack of options apart from:
Jack Nicholson (Terms of Endearment)
Kurt Russell (Silkwood)

Director:
James L. Brooks (Endearment)
Brian DePalma (Scarface)
Lewis Gilbert (Rita)
Godfrey Reggio (Koyaanisqatsi)
Martin Scorsese (King of Comedy)

...yeah, my viewings are very limited. I wasn't even born until two years later, okay!

(I'm listening to Confessions now. GET OFF MY STREET!)

-Glenn

Anonymous said...

You should probably just have an auteur night.

Fanny and Alexander is brilliant, a gorgeous summation of a fanastic career, and pretty much one of my all tiem faves. David Cronenberg's twosome of Videodrome and The Dead Zone is fascinating. While you're at it, check out Tarkovsky's Nostalgia. He's difficult, but if you get him, he'll become an instant favourite.

The Dresser remains an underrated film to this day, and Under Fire has the unusual distinction of being a wonderfully adult thriller. And Testament features the finest performance of the year w/ Jane Alexander.

I stand firmly in the corner of "Zelig is not Allen's greatest film....but it would stand out as a masterpiece of his recent run"

Anonymous said...

*sigh*

so many movies... so few of them released on DVD

-Glenn

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