The Usual Choices
Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis)
Brazil (Terry Gilliam)
Out of Africa (Sydney Pollack)
Prizzi's Honour (John Huston)
A Room With a View (James Ivory)
But how about...
Pale Rider (Clint Eastwood)
A quite-blatant homage to Shane, this classic-style Western is worthy of the connection. A stranger rides into town and helps out hardworking folk by being violent; the violence escalates of course, so he has no choice but to be extremely violent...then leave these good people to their normal good lives. Heavier on the religious mysticism, the romance-that-cannot-be and the superheroics than Shane, this nonetheless avoids being just another booming gunfest due to sly additions of humour and setting it amongst postcard mountain scenery. When the baddies get what's comin' to 'em, Clint makes sure that we enjoy it as much as he does. Nowhere near the lofty heights of Unforgiven but certainly one of Clint the Director's better productions where the bullets fly.
...and what about...
The Shooting Party (Alan Bridges)
As an Australian, I have watched more than a reasonable quota of BBC-TV period dramas...many of them terrific, I grant you, but after a while...
This movie is one of those, and it's one of the better ones. Set on the cusp of WWI, it tells the story of a group of English aristocrats enjoying the benefits of being idle and rich: pheasant shooting, fancy dress dinners, being waited on hand & foot and sincerely believing that struggling is just quite unnecessary. James Mason is the lord of the manor, and he recognises that this world of privilege is ending (for the social better) but a terrible price is going to be paid by all. What makes this work is that the inane intrigues & rivalries between members of the upper class, and their relationships with the lower classes who work for them, are played as if they actually matter. You fully expect the worst, but when it does finally happen, it is still a shock, like war being declared. Never have vapidness & ignorance been so affecting.
...not to mention...
Turtle Diary (John Irvin)
Russell Hoban is one of my very favourite authors (1980's Riddley Walker is one of the great sci-fi novels of the 20th Century; 1968's The Mouse and His Child is one of its great kids' stories) and 1975's Turtle Diary is his most warm-hearted book. Two lonely people living in London decide to kidnap and release into the ocean three zoo-kept turtles...and, once their mission is accomplished, the strangers discover that they have freed something in themselves too. That's it...the whole tale. There is something very British going on here (very Lavender Hill Mob; very Stay Calm & Carry On; very HP Sauce), but also something vaguely surreal...as if the premise comes solely from pretence rather than real life possibility. And to end the story with a coda that links together loneliness and death with the human need for community lifts the entire movie into the ether. An overlooked treasure.
...and one personal unmentionable...
Clue (Jonathan Lynn)
This starts off with a joke about treading in dogshit...and you soon come to realise that that is the highlight of the whole show. Exquisitely unfunny with a script brimming with sinkers and stinkers, this comedy-murder-mystery manages to be even more awful than 1976's Murder By Death and the two Scooby-Doo movies. If this was the only film you had ever seen Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn or Christopher Lloyd in, you would be convinced that they were the dregs of the acting profession. They dart around from one room to the next, like sugared-up kids playing Hide 'n' Seek, desperately chasing broad / camp / nudge-nudge / homophobic / absolutely any kind of humour at all, but to zero avail. A movie based on a board game? Why not a movie based on a jigsaw? or jacks? or Duck Duck Goose? Couldn't be any stoopider.
My Top 10 Films of 1985
 |
| "Would Madame like her face lifted or heaved?" |
#02 A The Purple Rose of Cairo (Allen)
#03 A- The Shooting Party (Bridges)
#04 A- A Room With a View (Ivory)
#05 A- Pale Rider (Eastwood)
#06 A- My Beautiful Laundrette (Frears)
#07 A- Prizzi's Honour (Huston)
#08 A- Dance With a Stranger (Newell)
#09 A- Insignificance (Roeg)
#10 B+ Brazil (Gilliam)
Overflow: More A-/B+ Films
#11 B+ Back to the Future (Zemeckis)
#11 B+ The Breakfast Club (Hughes)
#12 B+ The Falcon and the Snowman (Schlesinger)
#13 B+ Wetherby (Hare)
#14 B+ Witness (Weir)
#15 B+ The Trip to Bountiful (Masterson)
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> B Lost in America [another Albert Brooks the Whining Loser comedy with a life message]
> B Mask [clearly heartfelt and suitably heroic but I'm sorry...I didn't care about anybody]
> B Kiss of the Spider Woman [clearly heartfelt and suitably dingy but I didn't care about anybody]
> B The Journey of Natty Gann [Great Depression Disney story with a nice kid and a Lassie-version of a wolf]
> B Out of Africa [nice scenery=check; Meryl's accent=check; ill-fated romance=check; long running time=check]
> B Murphy's Romance [nice people in pleasant surroundings telling a mildly interesting story]
> B Runaway Train [dreadful people in bleak surroundings telling an occasionally exciting story]
> B Smooth Talk [interesting coming-of-age story that abruptly & confrontingly turns creepy]
> B- Pee-Wee's Big Adventure [I guess you have to be a fan of the TV show]
> B- Agnes of God [religious sex-mystery featuring Anne Bancroft & Jane Fonda way past their primes]
> B- The Colour Purple [a warm & sentimental story about incest, domestic violence and race hatred]
> B- Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome [Max softens from action hero to Christ figure who saves feral kids]
> B- Jagged Edge [within 15 minutes you know what's gonna happen in the next 90]
> C Cocoon [vote YES for compulsory euthanasia]
> C A View to a Kill [Roger's last Bond: watch his facelift beam with relief]
> C The Stuff [amateurish horror/comedy that tries to say something serious about junk food]
> C The Emerald Forest [aka Bomba the Jungle Boy is an Eco-Warrior]
> C Explorers [a far far-fetched and ultimately banal kids sci-fi flick]
> D Burke & Wills [it lies about history to try and create an entertaining story about a pitiful disaster]
> D The Goonies [too Spielberg, too 80's, too frantic, too noisy, too dumb]
> D Mesmerized [watch this jarring dud and learn why editing is the supreme filmmaker's craft]
> E Clue [A Personal Unmentionable]
> E House [a horror/comedy with no scares, no laughs and no idea how to be a movie]
> E Rambo: First Blood II [An Evil Empire Production]
"Ah!..Sweet Mystery of Life...": 1985 Films I Apparently Still Need to See
After Hours (Scorcese); The Best of Times (Shelton); Better Off Dead (Holland); Bliss (Lawrence); Compromising Positions (Perry); Day of the Dead (Romero); Desperately Seeking Susan (Seidelman); Dreamchild (Millar); Fright Night (Holland); The Good Father (Newell); Heaven Help Us (Dinner); The Holcroft Covenant (Frankenheimer); Joshua Then and Now (Kotcheff); Letter to Brezhnev (Bernard); Marie (Donaldson); Plenty (Schepisi); The Quiet Earth (Murphy); Real Genius (Coolidge); The Return of the Living Dead (O’Bannon); Silverado (Kasdan); The Sure Thing (Reiner); Sylvia (Firth); Trancers (Band); Trouble in Mind (Rudolph); Vision Quest / Crazy for You (Becker)
Best Performances of 1985
Don Ameche in Cocoon
Whoopi Goldberg in The Colour Purple
William Hurt in Kiss of the Spider Woman
Anjelica Huston in Prizzi's Honour
Jack Nicholson in Prizzi's Honour
Geraldine Page in The Trip to Bountiful
Maggie Smith in A Room With a View
Meryl Streep in Out of Africa
But how about...
Miranda Richardson & Rupert Everett in Dance With a Stranger
The most frightening depiction on film of a mutually-destructive relationship. Based on the life of Ruth Ellis ("The Last Woman Hanged in England"), instead of focussing on the murder and subsequent execution, this focusses on the reasons for it. Sexual Obsession is on top of the list of course, but is closely followed by Class, Fear of Poverty & Hope of Rescue and What-Will-My-Family-&-Friends-Say. Miranda is Ruth, hard times / good-time woman who is determined to lift herself and her son out of the mire, and Rupert is David, spoilt rich boy-man who only cares about car-racing, drinking and his penis. Together, they set about wrecking each other, fully knowing better but totally incapable of wresting control. If you've ever been in a relationship which was based on passion alone, this performance partnership will haunt you.
...and what about...
Laura Dern in Smooth Talk
I hated adolescence (it just seemed like an unbroken run of embarrassment) and was relieved when all the "firsts" were finally ticked off the list. This film is about the #2 Biggie (sex, of course...Death being #1) from a teenage girl's point of view. Laura plays this beautifully...the girl is inconsiderate, confused, curious, moody and unaware of the power of passion...y'know...15 years old. While I have possible problems with the movie (needs another viewing, I think) Laura's performance is flawless: a real girl on the cusp of womanhood who forcibly learns in a hurry that growing up is not all it's cracked up to be. To the actress's credit, she is never entirely likeable; in fact, there are times when she is a selfish cow who believes that adults exist to be either obstacles or servants. We recognise the behaviour; we remember and cringe.
...not to mention...
Daniel Day Lewis in A Room With a View
While all the critic attention was lavished on Maggie Smith (playing the classic Maggie Smith persona...perfectly, of course), the performance in this wonderful Merchant-Ivory film that always stood out to me was Daniel as the ultimate prig. The thing that most impresses me is how easily the part could have slipped into buffoonery or a caricature, but Daniel somehow makes the guy seem real, and both emotionally abominable and wryly amusing at the same time. The character deserves no sympathy (and doesn't get any) but he is also never entirely annoying...which would also have been easy to reduce the performance to. Instead, Daniel creates a guy who proclaims to love artistry & beauty, but in fact loves his capability to judge and belittle. A pretentious jerk, in other words, and a figure of fun.
...and one personal unmentionable...
Sean Astin & Corey Feldman & Jeff Cohen & Jonathan Ke Huy Quan in The Goonies
As a retired school teacher, I endured nearly 40 years of kid performances, around campfires, on stage and on home videos and, with very few exceptions, they were ghastly and an ordeal to wade through. Primary School aged kids think they're being highly entertaining when they act, but really they are just being seat-writhingly awful. (Overall, I agree with Sean Lock's opinion, so eloquently expressed HERE).
While I am sure that this gang of four Goonies were apparently talented kids offscreen, in this vastly overrated cult film, they have been Spielberg-ed to excess, each competing for audience attention, screaming out "Ain't I Funny?!?" with every line. Falling over each other verbally, being far too loud, obsessed with bodily functions and refusing to stay still for a moment, these kids are painful to watch. All my worst memories of School Concerts come flooding back.
My 10 Favourite Performances of 1985
 |
| "I'm in here for Shanghai Surprise. You?" "For winning an Oscar when I was 20 and doing bugger all afterwards." |
#02 William Hickey in Prizzi's Honour
#03 Ben Kingsley in Turtle Diary
#04 Gordon Jackson in The Shooting Party
#05 Vanessa Redgrave in Wetherby
#06 Sean Penn in The Falcon and the Snowman
#07 Theresa Russell in Insignificance
#08 James Mason in The Shooting Party
#09 Laura Dern in Smooth Talk
#10 Geraldine Page in The Trip to Bountiful
Overflow: More List-Worthy Performances
#11 Mia Farrow in The Purple Rose of Cairo
#12 Daniel Day Lewis in A Room With a View
#13 John Gielgud in The Shooting Party
#14 Judi Bowker in The Shooting Party
#15 Maggie Smith in A Room With a View
#16 Meredith Salenger in The Journey of Natty Gann
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> Whoopi Goldberg in The Colour Purple [I can't accept that Whoopi got beaten with an uglystick]
> Jack Nicholson in Prizzi's Honour [shoved more cotton wool into his top lip than Marlon did]
> Meryl Streep in Out of Africa [good accent, but why does Robert want her?]
> Don Ameche in Cocoon [this is a joke, right?]
> Anjelica Huston in Prizzi's Honour [seems to still be auditioning for the part, awaiting suggestions]
And so...onto the annual awards (with a nod of appreciation to Danny Peary)...
The Alternate Oscars for 1985 are:
FILM of the YEAR
GOLD: Turtle Diary (John Irvin)
SILVER: The Purple Rose of Cairo (Woody Allen)
BRONZE: The Shooting Party (Alan Bridges)
LEAD ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Ben Kingsley (Turtle Diary)
SILVER: Sean Penn (The Falcon and the Snowman)
BRONZE: James Mason (The Shooting Party)
LEAD ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Vanessa Redgrave (Wetherby)
SILVER: Theresa Russell (Insignificance)
BRONZE: Geraldine Page (The Trip to Bountiful)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: William Hickey (Prizzi's Honour)
SILVER: Gordon Jackson (The Shooting Party)
BRONZE: Daniel Day Lewis (A Room With a View)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Judi Bowker (The Shooting Party)
SILVER: Maggie Smith (A Room With a View)
BRONZE: Ally Sheedy (The Breakfast Club)
ENSEMBLE or PARTNERSHIP: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Miranda Richardson & Rupert Everett (Dance With a Stranger)
SILVER: Gordon Warnecke & Daniel Day Lewis (My Beautiful Laundrette)
BRONZE: William Hurt & Raul Julia (Kiss of the Spider Woman)
JUVENILE: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Laura Dern (Smooth Talk)
SILVER: Meredith Salenger (The Journey of Natty Gann)
BRONZE: Molly Ringwald (The Breakfast Club)
The Alternate Razzies for 1985 are:
CRAP FILM of the YEAR
Rambo: First Blood II (George P. Cosmatos)
CRAP MALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Tim Curry & Martin Mull & Michael McKean & Christopher Lloyd (Clue)
CRAP FEMALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Eileen Brennan & Madeline Kahn & Lesley Ann Warren (Clue)
