zondag 12 juli 2020

What's in a Movie Year - 1985

Taking a look at the year 1985, picking my 10 favorite movies from that year in random order.

Back to the Future
Seventeen-year-old Marty McFly travels to the past using the time machine of the remarkable Professor Emmett Brown. There he meets his clumsy father and his charming mother. He will have to pair them up, otherwise he will never be born. The brilliant, witty script by director Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale of this classic time travel film was only approved by the Universal studio after a long hesitation. Can you imagine a world without “Back to the Future”?

The Goonies
This Steven Spielberg produced action/ adventure film for (big) children has all the ingredients to be a wild and unforgettable ride. A group of children search along the coast in their own hometown for the remains of the legendary seventeenth-century pirate One-Eyed Willie. When they discover an underground lake, they find the pirate’s ship.

Clue
Six guests are anonymously invited to a strange mansion for dinner, but after their host is killed, they must cooperate with the staff to identify the murderer as the bodies pile up. It’s a crazy and humorous whodunit, loosely based on the popular boardgame.

The Breakfast Club
Five teenagers, who are very different from each other and don’t know each other well, serve detention on Saturday in a locked room of the school. They open up to one another and discover that they have more in common than they ever suspected. This humorous film stood out because of its poignant and sharply observed situations and characters.

The Color Purple
Alice Walker’s critically acclaimed novel about the young black Celie who grows up in a cruel, unjust world in the American South at the beginning of the twentieth century, was skillfully filmed by Steven Spielberg. He gave Whoopi Goldberg her breakthrough role. The excellent acting, including Oprah Winfrey in her debut film, provide powerful and poignant scenes. Eleven Oscar nomination, none of them were wins.

The Jewel of the Nile
In “Romancing the Stone” (1984), novelist Joan engaged in a beautiful romance with adventurer Jack and has sailed around the world with him ever since. This film begins six months later, when the honeymoon is over. Joan receives an invitation from a charming and mysterious Egyptian sheikh to write his biography. Shortly after Joan leaves, Jack’s boat is attacked by unknown thugs. It’s an old-fashioned adventure movie and a guarantee for an entertaining movie night.

Cat’s Eye
A cat is the red thread in this film with three different stories by Stephen King. The first revolves around a man who enters a smoker’s rehab clinic where unconventional and somewhat shocking methods are used. In the second episode, a man makes a terrifying bet with his wife’s lover. King wrote the third story with young Drew Barrymore (a few years before “E.T.”) in mind. She plays a girl who is sure there is a strange creature behind her bedroom wall. Excellent special effects and of course very exciting.

Fright Night
Teenager Charley is convinced that their new neighbor, Jerry, is a vampire, but everyone makes fun of him. At the end of the day, he asks TV horror presenter Peter Vincent for help. When Jerry claims a victim, Charley sees himself forced to battle him. Great vampire satire with excellent effects. The legendary myth isn’t ridiculed, but it does have a different take on the theme. In 2011 it even got a remake, which was surprisingly good.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
This third part in the original “Mad Max” trilogy is not the best (that’s the second) and also not the most violent (that’s the first), but the most beautiful looking thanks to the generous budget. Director George Miller took full advantage of it and created a film with great attention to detail the post-apocalyptic Bartertown. For people who don’t know it, this is the “Mad Max” movie with Tina Turner in it.

Out of Africa
This film screams Hollywood: it’s compelling, big, melodramatic and has great actors. Robert Redford plays the British hunter Hatton, with whom Danish writer Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep) starts a difficult extramarital relationship in Kenya. “Out of Africa” is a beautiful piece of work.

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