The Usual Choices
Chariots of Fire (Hugh Hudson)
On Golden Pond (Mark Rydell)
Pennies from Heaven (Ross)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg)
Reds (Warren Beatty)
But how about...
Blow Out (Brian De Palma)
I love this movie. So inventive, so stylish, reveling in the sheer craft of film-making. Never been much of a Travolta fan (his only truly great acting performance is in Primary Colours), but he isn't the star of this film - writer & director Brian De Palma is. A celluloid casserole of the JFK assassination, Chappaquiddick & Watergate, and 1966's Blowup, 1973's The Conversation & 1958's Vertigo (naturally...gotta be some Hitchcock in there somewhere), fortunately garnished with some dark humour and questionable taste. And, despite popular opinion to the contrary, I think the ending is absolutely perfect. Watch this and have a good bad time.
...and what about...
Southern Comfort (Walter Hill)
Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, played in the Cajun bayou. Quite a number of critics made a big deal about this movie's Vietnam parallels, but I couldn't care less: nerve-wracking and paranoia-inducing, with death lurking about in the silence (yeah, okay, that sounds like my understanding of the Vietnam War experience too). One by one the soldier boys are taken out by increasingly violent means, until there are only two left. The final scenes in the local village (camp? town? hamlet?) are the definition of TENSE. Feel the garrote twisting, a quarter-turn at a time.
...not to mention...
My Dinner With Andre (Louis Malle)
I put off and put off and put off watching this film, even after being given a burn of it. It just seemed to be everything I would loathe in a movie: Arty; pretentious; slow; nothing that really happens. A movie that doesn't move.
Sick in bed with a cold, I stuck it on. I zoned in and out a few times (especially when Andre spoke), but was really taken with Wally and how everyman he was. The oral duel is based around one theme: Enjoy every sandwich because one day you won't even have that. Andre is on a quest for the perfect combination of bread and filling; Wally is a fan of fritz and sauce on fresh white Tip Top. It'll never end up on my movie-jukebox playlist, but I can't just shrug it off either.
...and one personal unmentionable...
Thief (Michael Mann)
I have read many reviews about this movie, all employing terms such as "cool", "sleek", "moody", "noirish" and "mystique". Bullshit. James Caan is a violent loner who works for an organised crime mob to steal a lot of stuff. His aim is to get enough so he can settle down in a nice house, get married, and have some kids. Macho-criminal-as-hero always turns me off, and James Caan doing his soft-talking, smouldering, Brando impersonation usually persuades me to lie down on the couch for a nap. Film looks great (really sleek and noirish; lotsa puddles in the darkened streets; full of moody mystique), but it's emotionally and ethically barren.
My Top 10 Films of 1981
 |
| "Er...darling. I think the pool needs cleaning." |
#02 A- Southern Comfort (Hill)
#03 A- Raiders of the Lost Ark (Spielberg)
#04 A- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (Miller)
#05 A- Pennies From Heaven (Ross)
#06 A- Bad Blood (Newell)
#07 A- Roadgames (Franklin)
#08 A- Gallipoli (Weir)
#09 B+ Excalibur (Boorman)
#10 B+ Fort Apache, The Bronx (Petrie)
Overflow: More A-/B+ Films
#11 B+ Dragonslayer (Robbins)
#12 B+ Absence of Malice (Pollack)
#13 B+ Cattle Annie & Little Britches (Johnson)
#14 B+ Gregory's Girl (Forsyth)
#15 B+ Raggedy Man (Fisk)
#16 B+ My Dinner With Andre (Malle)
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> B Reds [educational if you're interested]
> B Ghost Story [great stars from yesteryear; shame about the new ones]
> B Chariots of Fire [well-made, but somebody needs to check its pulse]
> B Caveman [mildly amusing and it's got Ringo in it]
> B Scanners [the lead performance is more appalling than the exploding heads]
> B Clash of the Titans [Laurence Olivier as Zeus...oh yeah, and some neat claymation stuff]
> B Body Heat [nice homage, but all that does is make me miss the real thing]
> B An American Werewolf in London [horror-comedy with graphic violence, great SFX and a void where there is supposed to be a lead actor]
> B Whose Life is it Anyway? [pro-euthanasia...which is fine by me...just wish it was also pro-engaging]
> B- Cutter's Way aka Cutter and Bone [aka Rage, Shallowness & Misery]
> B- All Night Long [Gene is fantastic; shame about Babs]
> B- For Your Eyes Only [for a Roger Moore Bond...it's still just OK]
> B- Quest for Fire [I took Caveman more seriously]
> B- Arthur [John Gielgud is hilarious; alcoholism isn't]
> B- S.O.B. [her breasts are nice]
> B- Escape from New York [lots of action; nothing else]
> B- Winter of Our Dreams [why would you base your life on someone else's if they had killed themselves?]
> C Thief [A Personal Unmentionable]
> C Stripes [Warren Oates is in it...and isn't very funny either]
> C The Postman Always Rings Twice [someone give Jack a bib before he drools up the place]
> D Mommie Dearest [in spite of Faye, it is a crap film]
> D On Golden Pond [not with a bang, but a whimper]
"Ah!..Sweet Mystery of Life...": 1981 Films I Apparently Still Need to See
All the Marbles / California Dolls (Aldrich); The Chosen (Kagan); Continental Divide (Apted); The Evil Dead (Raimi); Eye of the Needle (Marquand); Eyewitness (Yates); Four Friends (Penn); The Four Seasons (Alda); The French Lieutenant’s Woman (Reisz); History of the World: Part 1 (Brooks); The Howling (Dante); Knightriders (Romero); Modern Romance (Brooks); Neighbours (Avildsen); Night Crossing (Mann); Outland (Hyams); Prince of the City (Lumet); Puberty Blues (Beresford); Smash Palace (Donaldson); Student Bodies (Rose); Ticket to Heaven (Thomas); Time Bandits (Gilliam); True Confessions (Grosbard); Tuck Everlasting (Keller); Wolfen (Wadleigh); Zoot Suit (Valdez); Zorro, the Gay Blade (Medak)
Best Performances of 1981
Henry Fonda (On Golden Pond)
John Gielgud (Arthur)
Katharine Hepburn (On Golden Pond)
Dudley Moore (Arthur)
Jack Nicholson (Reds)
Maureen Stapleton (Reds)
Meryl Streep (The French Lieutenant's Woman)
But how about...
Jessica Lange in The Postman Always Rings Twice
Hot. While Jack does his slathering & panting routine, looking up through his feral eyebrows and glazing over, Jessica has sex with the rest of us. Scheming all the way as she brings out and fans our primitive instinct, she has control of our groin and our morality. She could talk us into maiming and killing just by swishing her carnality about. Jack?...well, he's just a pushover. As soon as Jessica lays her eyes on him, she knows that he is the puling patsy she's been waiting for. Lick your lips slowly...and go, girl.
...and what about...
Gene Hackman in All Night Long
The Hack-Man being funny again (which he didn't do anywhere near often enough). From the opening scene of corporate temper tantrum to the eccentric inventor who wants everyone just to be free, Gene is a comedic marvel. His Buster Keaton straightface is kept on right through and, while he may indulge in a bit of slapstick, he only relays the humour through the slightest of facial twists and vocal emphases. Wide-eyed and constantly bemused, Gene would've given Cary Grant a run for his money in the 30's & 40's. A bit of a waste really.
...not to mention...
Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest
Yeah, I know it's an awful movie (one of my fave absolute-crap movie lines comes from it: "If you're acting, you're wasting your time. If you're not, you're wasting mine." WHAT DOES THAT MEAN??), but I think Faye does a sterling job. Playing Joan Crawford as a mental, facade-obsessed, I-just-wanna-be-loved harpy is surely spot-on and a comfy-fit for Faye's usual repressed & chilly screen persona. She looks the part, makes every other actor on the screen (Diana Scarwid; Steve Forrest) appear bloodless, and shouts the lines without ever cracking up. A pinnacle of professionalism.
...and one personal unmentionable...
Katharine Hepburn & Jane Fonda in On Golden Pond
At no point in the movie do I consider these two to be mother and daughter. They have no apparent bond, no apparent history, no apparent affection for each other. Jane calls Kate "Mommie" (or is it "Marmie"?), and it grates like someone who keeps getting your name wrong. While Jane's eyes sparkle (no, they actually do, but like a doll that's fresh off the shelf), Kate's eyes are cooling embers, the incessant grin underneath ignored. Both actresses seem to only exist to set Henry Fonda up for his next grumpy line. A case of lousy casting and absolutely zero chemistry.
My 10 Favourite Performances of 1981
 |
| "But I'm sick of being goalie! It's someone else's turn!" |
#02 Jack Thompson & Carol Raye (Bad Blood)
#03 Melinda Dillon (Absence of Malice)
#04 Jessica Lange (The Postman Always Rings Twice)
#05 Wilfred Brimley (Absence of Malice)
#06 Powers Boothe & Keith Carradine (Southern Comfort)
#07 Harrison Ford (Raiders of the Lost Ark)
#08 Gene Hackman (All Night Long)
#09 Paul Newman (Fort Apache, The Bronx)
#10 Bill Hunter (Gallipoli)
Overflow: More List-Worthy Performances
#11 Ralph Richardson (Dragonslayer)
#12 Faye Dunaway (Mommie Dearest)
#13 Sissy Spacek (Raggedy Man)
#14 Maureen Stapleton (Reds)
#15 Stacey Keach (Roadgames)
#16 Steve Martin & Bernadette Peters & Jessica Harper & Christopher Walken & Vernel Bagneris (Pennies from Heaven)
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> Wallace Shawn & Andre Gregory in My Dinner With Andre (Wally is a nice guy; Andre is a prat)
> Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond (I like him in this...but this is not what should have won him the Oscar)
And so...onto the annual awards (with a nod of appreciation to Danny Peary)...
The Alternate Oscars for 1981 are:
FILM of the YEAR
GOLD: Blow Out (Brian De Palma)
SILVER: Southern Comfort (Walter Hill)
BRONZE: Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg)
LEAD ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Harrison Ford (Raiders of the Lost Ark)
SILVER: Gene Hackman (All Night Long)
BRONZE: Paul Newman (Fort Apache, The Bronx)
LEAD ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Jessica Lange (The Postman Always Rings Twice)
SILVER: Sissy Spacek (Raggedy Man)
BRONZE: Faye Dunaway (Mommie Dearest)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: John Gielgud (Arthur)
SILVER: Wilfred Brimley (Absence of Malice)
BRONZE: Bill Hunter (Gallipoli)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Melinda Dillon (Absence of Malice)
SILVER: Maureen Stapleton (Reds)
BRONZE: Pam Grier (Fort Apache, The Bronx)
ENSEMBLE or PARTNERSHIP: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Jack Thompson & Carol Raye (Bad Blood)
SILVER: Keith Carradine & Powers Boothe (Southern Comfort)
BRONZE: Steve Martin & Bernadette Peters & Jessica Harper & Christopher Walken & Vernel Bagneris (Pennies from Heaven)
JUVENILE: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Diane Lane (Cattle Annie & Little Britches)
SILVER: Emil Minty (Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior)
BRONZE: TBA
The Alternate Razzies for 1981 are:
CRAP FILM of the YEAROn Golden Pond (Mark Rydell)
CRAP MALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
David Naughton (An American Werewolf in London)
CRAP FEMALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Jennifer O'Neill (Scanners)
