The Usual Choices
Blade Runner (Ridley Scott)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg)
Gandhi (Richard Attenborough)
Tootsie (Sydney Pollack)
The Year of Living Dangerously (Peter Weir)
But how about...
Shoot the Moon (Alan Parker)
If you've ever had a marriage go arse-up, and there are kids involved, this movie will hit home (sorry... had to). First time I saw this, it reduced me to a blubbering mess; the second time, my heart ached for these decent people who go through what many of us go through: a love partnership that becomes a convenience partnership that becomes emotional stagnation. And while the people are authors and artists (why don't movies ever make them plumbers and shopkeepers?), they come across as ordinary, courtesy of a great script and a stunning duo performance from Albert Finney and Diane Keaton. One of the most passionate films ever made...but, be warned...if you've been through it, this is fairly harrowing.
...and what about...
Deathtrap (Sidney Lumet)
The obvious reference point for this much-maligned / deliberately-ignored movie is 1972's Sleuth. Also starring Michael Caine and featuring Laurence Olivier in all his campy, scene-chewing, take-no-prisoners glory, Sleuth was sadistic fun (oxymoron?) but with a twist that was immediately and disappointingly obvious. Deathtrap lacks Larry, but is the better film...of this type > tricky drawing-room murder with a second act based on delicious vengeance. Nobody else seems to like it much, but I enjoy the cleverness of the plotting and the unlikely (and effective) casting of Christopher Reeve. And, although Dyan Cannon was nominated for a Razzie for her performance in this, I think she's a bit of a hoot. A minor pleasure, like Fruchocs.
...not to mention...
We of the Never Never (Igor Auzins)
An admittedly slow-paced, maybe inappropriately gentle story of a woman surviving on a cattle station in 1900 outback Australia. Angela Punch McGregor is all buttoned-up & side-saddled, playing a Deborah Kerr style role (and playing it wonderfully), struggling with her desire to fit in and her need to grow beyond the imposed restrictions of being a woman in a man's, man's world. The loneliness and the everyday dread of injury or illness are by-products of an environment both vast and harsh. The only chance of coping is for the two conflicting cultures (trad native vs white pioneer) to recognise their growing interdependence and adapt accordingly. This film explores that.
...and one personal unmentionable...
Trail of the Pink Panther (Blake Edwards)
"Aw, hell. Our cash cow, Peter Sellers, is dead. We can't squeeze out another profit-reaping Inspector Clouseau movie."
"Relax. There's a whole bunch of outtakes from the old movies which we can stitch together. Throw in some stupid storyline for them to cling onto, and we're in."
"Outtakes? Aren't they just scenes which weren't good enough for the original films? The public won't buy that."
"But that's the beauty of the whole thing. It won't need to make much to turn a profit...film some new shit and weave the already-shot stuff into it. Bargain!"
"But...aren't we being disrespectful to the reputation of one of the world's greatest film comedians? He has already made us a lot of money."
"Oh...shut up and give David Niven a ring before he dies too."
My Top 10 Films of 1982
 |
| When garden gnomes refuse to stay home. |
#02 A+ Tootsie (Pollack)
#03 A Blade Runner (Scott)
#04 A Shoot the Moon (Parker)
#05 A The Verdict (Lumet)
#06 A Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Meyer)
#07 A- The Grey Fox (Borsos)
#08 A- Moonlighting (Skolimowski)
#09 A- The Year of Living Dangerously (Weir)
#10 A- We of the Never Never (Auzins)
Overflow: More A-/B+ Films
#11 A- The Entity (Furie)
#12 A- The Thing (Carpenter)
#13 A- Gandhi (Attenborough)
#14 B+ 48 Hours (Hill)
#15 B+ Diner (Levinson)
#16 B+ Personal Best (Towne)
#17 B+ Starstruck (Armstrong)
#18 B+ Deathtrap (Lumet)
#19 B+ Barbarosa (Schepisi)
#20 B+ Best Friends (Jewison)
#21 B+ The Escape Artist (Deschanel)
#22 B+ Evil Under the Sun (Hamilton)
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> B Come Back to the Five & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean [a filmed play, which is not a movie]
> B Night Shift [aka Michael Keaton's Career Audition]
> B The Border [initially interesting, then gradually isn't]
> B Fast Times at Ridgemont High [I'm sure that this is the very best High School teen sex comedy ever made]
> B Frances [Jessica is stunning, but the story should have been reined in a bit]
> B Sophie's Choice [Meryl is stunning, but Kevin should have been reined in a lot]
> B My Favourite Year [huge characterisation; tiny story]
> B Missing [the human story is played too soft for the social / political horrors being shown]
> B Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid [more technically clever than actually funny]
> B The World According to Garp [surreal shaggy dog story which occasionally has something to say]
> B Heatwave [well-intentioned, but...it's a tension-less conspiracy story]
> B Poltergeist [more Spielbergian than Hooperian; more SFX than scares]
> B- The Man from Snowy River [a dull script well-acted in gorgeous scenery]
> B- Victor Victoria [have I got it wrong, or is this slyly anti-gay?]
> B- Basket Case [good monster movie...up until the rape scene, that is]
> B- Firefox [Clint Eastwood just isn't a futuristic-techno kinda guy]
> B- Creepshow [wants to be a homage to EC Horror Comics but turns out to be a collection of subpar Stephen King]
> B- Tron [too soft and muted in both story and appearance]
> C Eating Raoul [more a smug comedy than a dark comedy]
> C White Dog [This is a Samuel Fuller film?]
> D Alone in the Dark [dumb slasher flick starring big-name actors who must have secret gambling problems]
> D Still of the Night [one of the most predictable and dull thrillers ever made]
> E Trail of the Pink Panther [A Personal Unmentionable]
> E Turkey Shoot [Oz-ploitation horror which is ghastly in all aspects]
> E First Blood [pro-war & pro-killing obscenity about macho dickheads who are morally retarded...and the sequels were even worse]
"Ah!..Sweet Mystery of Life...": 1982 Films I Apparently Still Need to See
Android (Lipstadt); The Boys in Blue (Guest); Cannery Row (Ward); Chan is Missing (Wang); Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder (Werner); The Draughtman’s Contract (Greenaway); Fighting Back (Teague); Hammett (Wenders); Monkey Grip (Cameron); An Officer & a Gentleman (Hackford); Q: The Winged Serpent (Cohen); Smash Palace (Donaldson); Smithereens (Seidelman); Who Dares Wins (Sharp)
Best Performances of 1982
Louis Gossett Jr in An Officer and a Gentleman
Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie
Ben Kingsley in Gandhi
Jessica Lange in Frances
Jessica Lange in Tootsie
Paul Newman in The Verdict
Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice
But how about...
Ricardo Montalban in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
If somebody had asked me to compile a list of B-Grade Movie actors from the 1940's who would be least likely to win an Oscar, Ricardo would've be among my Top 5 picks. And, while he has only won a Masted Alternate Oscar, it is still mighty impressive...as is this performance. All chest and literary quotes, Ricardo's portrayal of living, breathing Hatred is overpowering. His relish at being given such a role is in every word and grand sweep of his arms. What could have easily been a precursor of hammy Super Villains to come, is instead a bodybuilding megalomaniac consumed by his need to win...Stalin after spending a year in the gym. Ricardo makes the movie the success that it is.
...and what about...
Richard Farnsworth in The Grey Fox
While the movie itself is one of the most realistic-seeming Westerns I know (devoid of broad characterisations and slamming dialogue, it's as if we have been lifted up through Time), it is the performance of Richard which pumps blood through the body of the story. Calm, experienced, and totally accepting of himself and his chosen ways, the ex-stagecoach-now-train robber is immediately our hero. We tolerate his bad behaviour (he smashes a bottle into a deserving man's face; shoots guns; plants explosives; steals money from innocent people), because he still is quite moral (polite; loving; considerate). Richard plays him as a nice old grandfather figure who happens to have a questionable pension scheme. He is the essence of charm.
...not to mention...
Bill Murray in Tootsie
Not sure why Bill kept his name out of the credits for this. Me? If I'd produced something as genuinely laugh-out-loud funny with such perfection in both timing and inflection as this, I would have insisted upon before-the-title billing. Just sit back and applaud the twist Bill gives to retorts such as "You slut" and "Cramps?" and "Mom?". Be astounded that many of his lines were improvised and were caught in one take. Then realise that Bill never leaves the apartment, so he just stays put and delivers, one after another. It gets my vote as one of the (if not the #1) Best Comedy Sidekick Performances ever in film.
...and one personal unmentionable...
Jack Lemmon in Missing
Like in Save the Tiger and The China Syndrome, in Missing, Jack plays a WASPy middle-aged conservative who becomes enlightened and takes radical action. Middle-class to the hilt (and tedious with it), he tries to be everyman...but instead comes across as someone who just isn't terribly bright. He was always better as a good-guy comic leading man (The Apartment) or a second-banana if the humour was broad (The Great Race). As performances in Glengarry Glen Ross and JFK showed, if Jack wanted to play dramatic parts, he was more effective if the characters were weasely and desperate and part of an ensemble. Solo sincerity swamped him.
My 10 Favourite Performances of 1982
 |
| In 1982, the Perm Vaccine was still five years away. |
#02 Albert Finney & Diane Keaton in Shoot the Moon
#03 Paul Newman in The Verdict
#04 Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice
#05 Henry Thomas in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
#06 Ricardo Montalban in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
#07 Richard Farnsworth in The Grey Fox
#08 Bill Murray in Tootsie
#09 Teri Garr in Tootsie
#10 John Lithgow in The World According to Garp
Overflow: More List-Worthy Performances
#11 Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner
#12 Gary Busey & Willie Nelson in Barbarosa
#13 Michael Keaton in Night Shift
#14 Glenn Close in The World According to Garp
#15 Jessica Lange in Frances
#16 Barbara Hershey in The Entity
#17 James Mason in The Verdict
#18 Angela Punch McGregor in We of the Never Never
#19 Peter O'Toole in My Favourite Year
#20 Sean Penn in Fast Times at Ridgemont High
#21 E.G. Marshall in Creepshow
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> Ben Kingsley in Gandhi [a great job in an impossible role, but it just doesn't move me]
> Jessica Lange in Tootsie [so beautiful...and so what?]
> Sissy Spacek in Missing [so sweet...and so what?]
And so...onto the annual awards (with a nod of appreciation to Danny Peary)...
The Alternate Oscars for 1982 are:
FILM of the YEAR
GOLD: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg)
SILVER: Tootsie (Sydney Pollack)
BRONZE: Blade Runner (Ridley Scott)
LEAD ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Dustin Hoffman (Tootsie)
SILVER: Paul Newman (The Verdict)
BRONZE: Richard Farnsworth (The Grey Fox)
LEAD ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Meryl Streep (Sophie's Choice)
SILVER: Jessica Lange (Frances)
BRONZE: Barbara Hershey (The Entity)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Ricardo Montalban (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)
SILVER: Bill Murray (Tootsie)
BRONZE: John Lithgow (The World According to Garp)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Teri Garr (Tootsie)
SILVER: Glenn Close (The World According to Garp)
BRONZE: Jessica Tandy (Best Friends)
ENSEMBLE or PARTNERSHIP: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Albert Finney & Diane Keaton (Shoot the Moon)
SILVER: Gary Busey & Willie Nelson (Barbarosa)
BRONZE: Nick Nolte & Eddie Murphy (48 Hours)
JUVENILE: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Henry Thomas (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial)
SILVER: Viveka Davis & Tracey Gold & Tina Yothers (Shoot the Moon)
BRONZE: Griffin O'Neal (The Escape Artist)
The Alternate Razzies for 1982 are:
CRAP FILM of the YEARFirst Blood (Ted Kotcheff)
CRAP MALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Kevin Kline (Sophie's Choice)
CRAP FEMALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Meryl Streep (Still of the Night)
