1980s List Discussion and Suggestions (Lists Project Vol. 3)

[zedz]

Dandy (Peter Sempel, 1987): I remember that this attracted a little bit of attention in its time because of the cast involving several well-known musicians of the 'independent' scene, such as Blixa Bargeld, Nick Cave, Dieter Meier, Lene Lovich and others. It's vaguely inspired by Voltaire's "Candide", but it's basically not much more than a succession of images and short dialogue scenes forming a sort of random meditation on the end of the (western) world. Definitely interesting, stylish, but rather unfocussed, and it left me somewhat at a loss.

A film I saw back on 'release' (well, just about: it was coupled with The Road to God Knows Where) whose existence I almost immediately forgot, and for good reason. My rekindled memory is that it was strictly amateur hour third-hand 'experimental' stuff that nobody would have ever paid a second thought to if it hadn't had the music connection. Which also makes me wonder whether Johnny Yesno is still as terrible as it was back in the day.

[domino harvey]

I thought you guys were talking about this 1987 gem:



And I couldn't figure out either how it was experimental or had notable music connections!

[Tommaso]

My rekindled memory is that it was strictly amateur hour third-hand 'experimental' stuff that nobody would have ever paid a second thought to if it hadn't had the music connection. Which also makes me wonder whether Johnny Yesno is still as terrible as it was back in the day.

You're probably right. The curious thing is just that the director went on to make quite a number of films, all somewhat connected with music or other somewhat 'fashionable' figures (like Jonas Mekas, for instance), so I thought I'd give this the benefit of the doubt. But yeah, it's probably indeed something like third-rate Jarman and simply manages to look good occasionally. But I really don't want to make a case for it.

[serdar002]

Here are two Russian recommendations which got subtitled by fans recently, see back channels

Okhota na lis (Fox-Hunting, Vadim Abdrashitov 1980): Disturbing and profound film, the protagonist spends his spare time running in the forest on a sort of scavenger hunt with a wireless device, at the same time he's obsessed with a young man who went into prison for beating him up.

Karaul (The Guard, Aleksandr Rogozhkin 1989 - IMDB date 1990 is wrong): Mostly in black and white, takes place in the confined space of a train carrying prisoners to their various destinations, raw and violent, but with that Russian metaphysical extra touch

As I'm really not well versed with the 80s, and I'm certainly not going to re-watch Beineix' Diva I won't submit a list. But my no. 1 would have been the Patrice Chéreau / Brian Large recording of the Bayreuth Ring cycle of 1980, and Sautet's Un mauvais film 1980 would have gotten an entry as well.

[Tommaso]

Sounds like heavy stuff. Aren't there any Russian musicals?

[Yojimbo]

The Aviator's Wife
Firstly I just want to give thanks to the Potemkin set which for whatever drawbacks is just a behemoth of excellence and one of the most essential DVDs I've encountered.

Second this film really typifies what I love about Rohmer after he threw the New Wave cobwebs off. The characters, as usual, aren't perfect examples of the human race with their fears and deceptions (to self and others), but even during their greatest failings they're really nice and seem to actually care. Maybe as with the dissing of Francois early on that caring is just a strong enough acknowledgement to avoid the person, but he is still a person in the eyes of the other characters which makes this pseudo La Ronde of breakups so much more meaningful than the base story should allow. It's pretty interesting how each character occupies each part of the relationships, and even the variations on the concepts Rohmer produces, where there is a genuine change in how the empathy is called. This is really where the change of Rohmer as an artist himself is really obvious as the personalities are composed so greatly and framed so well that the empathy works in terms of the scene, the proceeding scene, and in how those roles have been shifted over the course of the film. I'm not even entirely sure how to describe the effect of this triple empathy, but it is utterly must see.

I love this one; I like to think that Gene Hackman's 'Night Moves' character wouldn't have been so disparaging about Rohmer movies if it had been around in time.
I'll enjoy rewatching this; it's just a pity that my Arrow print quality isn't crisper

[bamwc2]

Viewing Log:

La Balance (Bob Swaim, 1982): Nathalie Baye plays Parisian prostitute Nicole Danet in this gritty underworld crime drama about a woman who will go to any lengths to protect her small time criminal boyfriend Dédé (Philippe Léotard) from the police who want him to turn stool pigeon and the violent gang that he's mixed up in. The film has a sold premise, but it is constantly undercut by it's portrayal of violent and loutish police officers. Seriously, these are the guys that we're supposed to be rooting for? They're more interested in terrorizing the city's Arab population than they are with keeping the city's street's clean. We're not, like Nicole, stuck in a moral dilemma of who to trust. Instead, the film goes out of its way to make us thing that these thuggish caricatures are the real heroes of the story. Pass.

Fall Guy (Kinji Fukasaku, 1982): Now this was an unexpected treat. Fukasaku, who made one the most enjoyable films from my experience in the last genre project (Graveyard of Honor) pops up again with this genre and reality bending tragicomedy about mustachioed stuntman Yasu who's life revolves around keeping his prima donna friend Ginshiro (Morio Kazama) happy. Afraid that his out of wedlock pregnancy with girlfriend Konatsu (Keiko Matsuzaka) will hurt his superstar status, Ginshiro convinces Yasu to marry her and pretend to be his daughter's biological father. The plan works well at first, but Konatsu's affection for Yasu is soon put to the test as he engages in a series of self destructive stunts that are as much a manifestation of his own inner feeling of worthlessness as they are for his stated purpose of getting money for the baby. The film benefits from a great cast, and excellent performances where the artifice of the film set can be wiped away as quickly as the director yelling "cut". For those of you with a Hulu subscription, be sure to check this one out. I don't think that it'll ultimately make my list, but it's great fun nonetheless.

The Icicle Thief (Maurizio Nichetti, 1989): Comic actor/writer/director Maurizio Nichetti stars as a parody of himself in this fun postmodern farce. The film begin with a family watching an interview with Nichetti where he plugs his new neo-realist throwback "The Icicle Thief" a black and white tragedy about a family who hopes that a new job in a glass factory can lead them out of the crippling poverty. Unfortunately, a power outage leads to the film's characters switching places with actors in commercials that aired during the show. Nichetti then has to travel in to the film to try and set things straight. The humor works well on many levels here, from the spot on send up of neo-realist tropes, to the hilarity of the mixmatched characters, to the sheer madcap physical insanity of Nichetti. Indeed, I'd say it's one of Europe's best comedies of the decade. By the way, the film's IMDB synopsis was penned by some hack who clearly knows nothing about movies; someone calling himself "Michael Brooke". Has anyone here ever heard of him? Clearly, this guy has no future in film journalism.

La Nuit de Varennes (Ettore Scola, 1982): In this, my first film by Scola, we follow a carriage taking a Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to the Swiss border. While this really happened, this fictionalized version of the events places Thomas Paine (Harvey Keitel), Casanova (Marcello Mastroianni), and others aboard the carriage as well. I thoroughly enjoyed the film for the first forty minutes or so until the carriage ride begins. After that the film's two and a half hour run time seems to go on forever with the same basic conversation repeated ad nauseum. Mastrianni is great in his role; Keitel, not so much. I'd recommend it as more of a curiosity than a good movie.

Rumble Fish (Francis Ford Coppola, 1983): Matt Dillon stars as RUSTY JAMES! (whose full name but be said very loudly in every other sentence) along with Mickey Rourke playing his prodigal older brother ("The Motorcycle Boy"?!) in this absurd story of violent and disaffected youth from Coppola. Somehow this shockingly bad film with horrendously stilted acting all around has gotten the reputation as a Coppola's last great film. Huh? Am I missing something? The film is very pretty to look at with outstanding cinematography, but fails on every other level.

The Verdict (Sidney Lumet, 1982): Paul Newman plays down and out tort lawyer Frank Galvin who finds himself in one last big case when he represents a family whose wife was left in a permanent vegetative state by an anesthesiologist who misadministers a drug. Despite the solid premise, the film can lapse into too much insider legal mumbo jumbo that gets a little boring, and Newman's lawyer looking for redemption character feels more like a cliche out of screenwriting workshop than he does a real person. It works best when Galvin is playing detective, rather than lawyer, trying to track down witnesses and piece together why false testimony was given in a sworn deposition several years prior. I could go either way, but I lean towards recommending passing on this one. It was nice, however, to get a little closer to completing my James Mason collection with this, one of his final roles.

[Yojimbo]

Viewing Log:

La Balance (Bob Swaim, 1982): Nathalie Baye plays Parisian prostitute Nicole Danet in this gritty underworld crime drama about a woman who will go to any lengths to protect her small time criminal boyfriend Dédé (Philippe Léotard) from the police who want him to turn stool pigeon and the violent gang that he's mixed up in. The film has a sold premise, but it is constantly undercut by it's portrayal of violent and loutish police officers. Seriously, these are the guys that we're supposed to be rooting for? They're more interested in terrorizing the city's Arab population than they are with keeping the city's street's clean. We're not, like Nicole, stuck in a moral dilemma of who to trust. Instead, the film goes out of its way to make us thing that these thuggish caricatures are the real heroes of the story. Pass.

The Icicle Thief (Maurizio Nichetti, 1989): Comic actor/writer/director Maurizio Nichetti stars as a parody of himself in this fun postmodern farce. The film begin with a family watching an interview with Nichetti where he plugs his new neo-realist throwback "The Icicle Thief" a black and white tragedy about a family who hopes that a new job in a glass factory can lead them out of the crippling poverty. Unfortunately, a power outage leads to the film's characters switching places with actors in commercials that aired during the show. Nichetti then has to travel in to the film to try and set things straight. The humor works well on many levels here, from the spot on send up of neo-realist tropes, to the hilarity of the mixmatched characters, to the sheer madcap physical insanity of Nichetti. Indeed, I'd say it's one of Europe's best comedies of the decade. By the way, the film's IMDB synopsis was penned by some hack who clearly knows nothing about movies; someone calling himself "Michael Brooke". Has anyone here ever heard of him? Clearly, this guy has no future in film journalism.


Rumble Fish (Francis Ford Coppola, 1983): Matt Dillon stars as RUSTY JAMES! (whose full name but be said very loudly in every other sentence) along with Mickey Rourke playing his prodigal older brother ("The Motorcycle Boy"?!) in this absurd story of violent and disaffected youth from Coppola. Somehow this shockingly bad film with horrendously stilted acting all around has gotten the reputation as a Coppola's last great film. Huh? Am I missing something? The film is very pretty to look at with outstanding cinematography, but fails on every other level.

The Verdict (Sidney Lumet, 1982): Paul Newman plays down and out tort lawyer Frank Galvin who finds himself in one last big case when he represents a family whose wife was left in a permanent vegetative state by an anesthesiologist who misadministers a drug. Despite the solid premise, the film can lapse into too much insider legal mumbo jumbo that gets a little boring, and Newman's lawyer looking for redemption character feels more like a cliche out of screenwriting workshop than he does a real person. It works best when Galvin is playing detective, rather than lawyer, trying to track down witnesses and piece together why false testimony was given in a sworn deposition several years prior. I could go either way, but I lean towards recommending passing on this one. It was nice, however, to get a little closer to completing my James Mason collection with this, one of his final roles.

The Verdict is just tedious, and even Newman looked bored throughout; at least in my eyes. Lumet was great with actors, not least with a great late Philip Seymour Hoffman but he seemed to favour bleak, dreary colours too much.

My relatively recent viewing of Rumble Fish wasn't as favourable as my first two or three, but I think it's best not to approach it as straight drama, and just allow yourself to get swept up in its pretentiously poetic teen worldview.
'Camus for kids', is what Coppola called it.
I loved the soundtrack and kept intending to buy the cd, but it always seemed to be determinedly full-priced, so I eventually gave up.

Largely agreed on La Balance, but I seem to recall The Icicle Thief as being too one-note and slight - although I enjoyed it at the time.

[Yojimbo]

The Loveless (Kathryn Bigelow and Monty Montgomery, 1981): This, the first film of both Kathryn Bigelow and Willem Dafoe, tells the story of a 50s biker gang that enters a small southern town and causes great discomfort among its uptight residents. The film has a tin ear for dialogue and often relies more on cliches than anything that sounds like phrases that people actually say. However, the story, a potboiler about a simmering town with secrets and racial hostilities, is a fairly decent one that leads to a climax that I didn't expect. Marin Kanter, playing a sexually abused teenager acting out against her father, is the film's standout. It's a shame that she only had a handful of other screen credits. It's far from a great film, but there's enough here to give it a tepid recommendation.

The drama is somewhat arch, but for me it's the homo-erotic Kenneth Anger feel - and Edward Hopper look - that helps make this one special. Great cult film, rather than great film, though.
It also marked Kathryn Bigelow down as one to watch, although I don't think I've heard anything more from Monty Montgomery

[colinr0380]

Don't forget to follow up your re-viewings of Rumble Fish with the same year's 'Coppola directed-from an S.E. Hinton novel' film The Outsiders!

[Yojimbo]

Don't forget to follow up your re-viewings of Rumble Fish with the same year's 'Coppola directed-from an S.E. Hinton novel' film The Outsiders!

I've only seen that one once - backintheday - Col. I don't have the DVD, although I may have a converted VHS recording somewhere. I can't imagine it overtaking RumbleFish in my affections, but I'm sure it will be fun watching the youthful future stars

[dadaistnun]

It also marked Kathryn Bigelow down as one to watch, although I don't think I've heard anything more from Monty Montgomery

He produced Wild at Heat and Hotel Room for Lynch. He also appeared as The Cowboy in Mulholland Drive:

[swo17]

Matrix, I think the R4 of True Stories is widescreen

The only place I've found online to buy this is here. Not too bad of a price, but does anyone know of any other options?

Revised question: These guys were out of stock and canceled my order. They also had a listing for zedz' elusive Rats in the Ranks, though it's also out of stock. Does anyone know of any other options?

[domino harvey]

For what it's worth, I believe the R1 DVD is just open-matte, so you're not losing any of the image

[zedz]

They also had a listing for zedz' elusive Rats in the Ranks, though it's also out of stock. Does anyone know of any other options?

It's great that this is available on DVD. I've never seen it anywhere, but now I'll keep an eye out.

[swo17]

I see a few people have it for sale on ebay.com.au

[bamwc2]

Viewing Log:

Confidentially Yours (François Truffaut, 1983): In this, Truffaut's final film before his untimely death, Barbara Becker (Fanny Ardant) is a plucky secretary who takes up an amateur investigation after her boss Julien Vercel (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is accused of a series of murders. With all due respect to Trintgnant, this is Fanny Ardant's movie and it either succeeds or fails based on her performance. While the plot is paper thin, Ardant's performance is outstanding, easily selling the film's moves from thriller to comedy and back again. I know that it can be fashionable around here to hate on Truffaut--and in some cases he deserves it (*cough* The Last Metro *cough*)--however, he does a wonderful job here. It's a shame that we'll never have any more works by him.

Esther (Amos Gitai, 1986): Simona Binyamini stars as Esther, the Biblical matriarch who saves the Israelites from extermination while operating out of a harem during the Babylonian Captivity. Rather than tackle the subject matter in the same way that say Hollywood approached Biblical epics, the Israeli auteur instead goes the arthouse route with sparse settings and many line sung. As Gitai makes clear, the film is very much a commentary on then contemporary Israeli politics, with the final quarter of it set in the 1980s with real Israeli citizens providing brief life stories. It's by no means a bad film, but it also never felt like it added up to much of anything to me. This is the first of two Gitai film's that I plan to watch for the project (Ananas, being the other), and hopefully the next one will be better than Esther.

The Man Who Envied Women (Yvonne Rainer, 1985): This experimental feminist film examines the life of a pompous ass of continental philosophy professor (see his frequent brags about his correspondence with Foucault) who, despite his protestations of being a radical and egalitarian is ultimately a self-absorbed sexist jerk. The film, narrated by his soon to be divorced ex-wife (I think), cuts around from subject to subject, but the reoccurring theme is the plight of women under the patriarchy. My aversion to continental philosophy has come out in other threads, so it's probably no surprise that I was lost in the main character's lecture on Lacan on language, but overall I have nothing but praise for the film. It's an incisive and expertly assembled critique of patriarchal strands in Western liberalism and radicalism with more than a few good jokes thrown in.

Theatre in Trance (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1981): In this final documentary from Fassbinder before his suicide, we follow the German auteur in his exploration of the future of live theater. The film, which was shot the same year as its release, documents the 1981 "Theaters of the World" festival in Cologne, Germany in which more than a hundred theater troops gave short avant-garde performances. Throughout the film Fassbinder also narrates a mixture of his own take on the events and Antonin Artaud's essay "The Theater and its Double". There's always something interesting (and sometimes quite graphic) going on, on screen, but the narration left me a bit confused. This says far more about me, than it does Fassbinder, though. This long unseen documentary is more than just the curiosity that some might dismiss it as, and should be sought out by more than just Fassbinder completists.

[knives]

Suicide? I'm pretty sure it was a regular OD.

[bamwc2]

Suicide? I'm pretty sure it was a regular OD.

Really? I could have sworn that I once read that it was an intentional OD brought on by his lingering depression over the death of El Hedi ben Salem a few years back. Surely someone on the forum knows Fassbinder's biography well enough to speak with authority on the matter.

Edit: Wikipedia frames it as an accident:

By the time he made his last film, Querelle (1982), Fassbinder was using heavy doses of drugs and alcohol to sustain his unrelenting work schedule. On the night of June 9–10, 1982, Wolf Gremm, director of the film Kamikaze 1989 (1982), which starred Fassbinder, was staying in his apartment. Early that evening, Fassbinder retired to his bedroom. He was working on notes for a future film: Rosa L, based on the life of Rosa Luxemburg, the Polish-German revolutionary socialist. Fassbinder was watching television, video and reading in between when shortly after one o'clock in the morning he received a phone call from his friend and assistant Harry Baer. At 3:30 a.m, when Juliane Lorenz arrived home, she heard the noise of television in Fassbinder’s room, but she could not hear him snoring. Though not allowed to enter the room uninvited, she went in, and she found him lying on the bed, dead, a cigarette still between his lips. A thin ribbon of blood trickled from one nostril.

The cause of death was reported as a lethal combination of cocaine and barbiturates. The notes for Rosa Luxemburg were found next to his body.

Fassbinder's remains were interred at Bogenhausener Friedhof in Munich.

[Black Hat]

Spotlight: Harold Pinter's Betrayal (David Hugh Jones)

Usually we're told a tale of actions leading to consequences. With the Sam Spiegel produced (the film's production has a super interesting backstory) Harold Pinter play Betrayal we are told the story of an affair between a wife (Patricia Hodge) and her husband's (Ben Kingsley) best friend (Jeremy Irons) beginning with the consequence. The film then turns back the clock scene by scene, going back nine years, until the start of their affair ends the film.

There's no cinematic inventiveness but when you have Pinter at the peak of his powers with three actors up to the task what does it matter? Nobody does creepy confidence better than Jeremey Irons but the genius of this performance is that despite playing what is traditionally seen as the villain he shows a vulnerability that draws you into wanting to know how this affair happened. Ben Kingsley is marvelous playing a man repressing so much emotion that the humor derived from it not only makes sense but also leaves you curious as to how he's managed living in this situation without his head exploding. Patricia Hodge, playing perhaps somewhat predictably the least sympathetic character, strikes all the right notes of innocent wife turned puppet master adulteress.

I wish I could tell everyone where the film is available but unfortunately Google has not been my friend in that regard. If anyone can find the film Betrayal would fit perfectly as the second half of double bill with Brief Encounter as in it is in many ways a modern update of the latter. On the bright side there are many scenes from the film uploaded on to youtube like this great one I'd encourage anyone unfamiliar with the film to watch as it won't effect you're enjoyment of the movie in the lease. Few films have riveted me as much as this one and the excitement I've seen for it various screenings over the years makes me thrilled to know I'm not the only one.

[domino harvey]

Demons (Lamberto Bava 1985) The premise sounds promising-- packed house of assorted audience members is tricked into viewing a zombie-demon-whatever film and then somehow the members themselves start turning into the creatures from the film and havoc ensues. But like most of the Italian horror movies I've seen from this era, not a whole lot of anything that occurs makes much sense and the lack of even internal logic signifies a pretty strong contempt for the very audience that clamored and still clamors for this trash. I mean, if Listerine-spewing "demons" and helicopters falling from ceilings and conceptual barricades get your motor runnin', clearly this is the cult classic for you. Count me out, though.

Demons 2 (Lamberto Bava 1986) Now, while I would not go so far as to call this good, I did at least find this sequel/remake(?) entertaining and watchable, which is more than I can say for its predecessor! Better soundtrack this time out, too. While the demon transformations make even less sense this time around-- they are initiated via Videodrome, apparently-- at least the resultant chaos is occasionally creative, even if it is also silly silly silly. I know it's fruitless to complain about realism and motivational factors in a film as nonsensical as this, but one thing that absolutely drove me crazy about this movie is that no one running away from a creature within their apartments ever closed one of the many, many, many open doors that stood between them and their pursuer. Like, when a little demon terrier is chasing you and even as a clawed demon dog it doesn't have thumbs, why not put a door between you and it? No, better idea: run into the drapes!

Just Before Dawn (Jeff Lieberman 1981) One of the few prominent slashers left unseen by me, this was most decidedly not worth the wait. It, like just about every other backwoods slasher I've endured, weirdly underuses what should be a goldmine setting-- the wild outdoors-- and falls back on the tried and true backwoods hillbillies with little to no motivation or reason for their chaos. That said, there is one moment of inspired violence near the end that is so weird that I'm guessing most of this film's over-inflated reputation comes from it and not the rest of the picture. Well, at least I hope! I will spoiler it for those of you who have no intention of ever bothering with this (ie most all of you):

Spoiler

In the big showdown between the final girl and the backwoods hick, she gets the upperhand, literally, by balling up her fist and shoving it through his open mouth, choking him to death as she punches his throat closed from within. And yes, it plays out just as bizarrely as it sounds, especially given that this is an otherwise rote slasher without much imagination.

the Monster Club (Roy Ward Baker 1980) I should have listened to Mr Sausage, but like when the waiter tells you the plate is hot, I did not heed warnings that this film sucks. And it does. And in such a lame fashion! I like Sausage's supposition that the intended audience might have been kids, but even that wouldn't explain the inert first segment's focus on adult matters, or the kitschy casting of an embarrassed looking John Carradine (and just remember how many truly awful films he was in!), or, well, anything. I don't think any part of this silly anthology "horror" film indicates an intended audience, and the last minute "joke" about the human race is so eye-rollingly obvious that perhaps kids wrote this?

the Return of the Living Dead (Dan O'Bannon 1985) Shockingly, given my lack of enthusiasm for even the most highly regarded of zombie films, I really enjoyed this one. It helps that O'Bannon develops an arch, intentionally grating tone that in contrast with Tobe Hooper's worst tendencies, manages to find the humor in pitching every scene in over-the-top fashion. And the film is delightfully funny, with the right degree of intentionally over-acted performances from Clu Gulager and James Karen and some weird moments of willful undermining of the plot's inherent suspense (my favorite is the forty-five seconds or so devoted to one character cutting off a pant leg in a sequence that serves no function other than that the beats it hits within the scene are innately funny by contrast) running in tandem with the usual gory details.

[Yojimbo]

Mortelle randonnée (1983) d. Claude Miller

Apparently there's also a considerably shorter - 96 min v the 2 hour version I saw - and a Hollywood remake, starring Ewan MacGregor who was all wrong for the lead in this: he's way too young and fresh-faced.

Michel Serrault - on the other hand - is perfectly cast as a decidedly odd screw-up private detective who was also a failure at marriage - although he's obsessed with the daughter who he hasn't seen since his ex-wife ran off with her, a year after she was born.

When we first see him he's on the phone to his ex, and trying to guess which of the 10 year old girls in the school photo that his ex-wife sent him some years previously is his: apparently he's allowed one guess per year.
Immediately afterwards his female boss summons him to her office to introduce him to her latest clients, which she tells him is the perfect opportunity to revive his career: their son has taken up with a woman that they suspect is a gold-digger. All very conventional so far, but he becomes fascinated - rather than repulsed - by her when the woman he's tracking kills the son, and he gradually convinces himself that she is his long-lost daughter.
And decides he needs to get to know her better - before introducing himself

In its cool style, preposterously contrived plot and especially its direction it reminded me of the Truffaut Cornel Woolrich adaptations, 'The Bride Wore Black', and 'Missisippi Mermaid' - both of which I loved, although I subsequently loved the latter's source novel, Waltz into Darkness, even more. The woman - played by Isabelle Adjani - was perhaps closer to the 'anti-heroine' of 'Waltz', although the crimes reminded me more of 'The Bride's'.
But the film has a melancholic blackly comic tone - if that's not a contradiction in terms - which the Woolrich novel doesn't have.

I can understand why it should have been cut to the extent that it had, due to the repetitive nature of the scenes - and their execution (no pun intended) - but this is one of those films where you're either prepared to wallow in such indulgences, or you aren't: I was, because of the beautifully controlled direction, and the masterly playing of Michel Serrault in the lead. It also boasted a delightful cameo by Genevieve Page - as Serrault's detective agency boss - and fine support by a barely-recognisable Stéphane Audran, and Guy Marchand, as an ill-matched rival pair of detectives.
Adjani is as Adjani does: misty-eyed pouting porcelain-doll beauty - although she's perfect for the role.
Carla Bley's carnival-esque jazzy brass soundtrack fitted the bill perfectly, also

I wasn't disapponted by the ending; although neither was I completely surprised.

If you didn't care for either or both Truffauts, you probably won't much care for this either.
I'm looking forward to a re-wallow; Serrault really is that good.

And apropos the remake, which I only learned of subsequently: I emailed a buddy as I was watching it and said that if Hollywood had ever gotten around to a remake, Alan Arkin would've been nailed-on perfect as the detective.
But they blew it.

[knives]

The Breakfast Club
This is such an ugly and despicable movie. It's an ugly piece of shit mostly for the Judd Nelson character who is so worthless as written and acted that he stinks up what few good ideas like the whistling that Hughes is able to come up with. The scene between the janitor and the principal when they talk about aging was the major exception though being really honest. It comes across as genuninely contemplative rather than the false sort of profundities that fill the other scenes. In general I don't like the weird sort of middle class privilege that pervades Hughes' flicks, but it particularly off-putting and foreign here with the characters just being these elitist rude little shits. I can't imagine any child actually relating to these things and if they did I wouldn't want to know them at all. Mostly though I just wanted Nelson to shut up.

48hrs
Certain touches of the score aside I'm surprised at how lacking in '80s affectations this one has especially since the Hill I've seen is very much in what I've tended to think of that style. It almost has me reconsidering the decade that like with noirs what's been codified as signifiers for me is a gross exaggeration of a few isolated details. Instead this, and a lot of other '80s films I'm finding, aren't that radically different from the '70s with the primary change being for how clean and slow the film stock is. It's also a bit of a culture shock to see just how heavily emphasized the racism of Nolte is. It almost goes into parody by the time he says spear chucker. What's especially weird is that the racism is only used to supply tension between him and Murphy and isn't touched upon as a character detail at all with the film able to work just as well without it. I guess I just have to assume this is another '80s thing.

Krull
Admittedly this isn't as fun as I remember Flash Gordon being, but the whole film is so delightfully British that at times it feels like a very sly Monty Python dig at '80s fantasy adventures. Probably doesn't help that David Battley is basically playing Eric Idle. Which is all probably good as without the little bits of weird humour it is about as generic a fantasy story as you can get.

Stripes
This was a lot better than I expected especially since my experience with Reitman has ranged from awful to mediocre. Admittedly the film doesn't stray too far from its Animal House at boot camp premise leaving the whole thing as familiar, but Ramis, Murray, and Oates really help. Oates is definitely the highlight though playing things completely straight and becoming so scary as to really garner some laughs. The guy becomes really unhinged in uniform between this and 1941. Also I just realized this is probably where Jeff from Community's name comes from.

Rocky III
Oy, I actually like the first two films a decent amount. So while this isn't a bad film that it is so hokey and time wasting just dulls the experience. Even Paulie being a racist cunt isn't interesting anymore.

[domino harvey]

The Breakfast Club
This is such an ugly and despicable movie. It's an ugly piece of shit mostly for the Judd Nelson character who is so worthless as written and acted that he stinks up what few good ideas like the whistling that Hughes is able to come up with. The scene between the janitor and the principal when they talk about aging was the major exception though being really honest. It comes across as genuninely contemplative rather than the false sort of profundities that fill the other scenes. In general I don't like the weird sort of middle class privilege that pervades Hughes' flicks, but it particularly off-putting and foreign here with the characters just being these elitist rude little shits. I can't imagine any child actually relating to these things and if they did I wouldn't want to know them at all. Mostly though I just wanted Nelson to shut up.

Look, I don't particularly care if you love or hate this film, but you need to be real careful with some of the more colorful elements above. I've actually shown this film to high school kids who based on their socioeconomic and racial background you might think would get nothing out of it since they are not explicitly represented on the screen, and you'd be dead wrong: The film was stunningly impactful, and every one of those kids did in fact see themselves up there. It's become a reverse-classist knee-jerk reaction lately to accuse John Hughes films of being made by and for white middle class kids, as though having a specific voice were tantamount to active aggression towards everyone else, but I don't hear nearly as many objections coming from those supposedly negatively effected by this.

[knives]

I'm sorry that I was overly emotional, but I found how rude and self adsorbed these children were to be far from true and also highly platitude filled on Hughes part. That whole speech about becoming parents and vilifying them (in fact anything regarding parents in the film) strikes me as just immature and ivory towered. At the same time I don't find your accusations on my motives accurate or fair at all. First of all I am not purely anti-Hughes having liked at least two of his films (three if you count Vacation which is the best use of the Chase persona I've seen). Certainly showing privileged people and sympathizing with them is not an inherently bad thing, but sympathizing with them uncritically when they make it clear that they are not good people at all is ridiculous. Also your liberal guilt thing is a red herring because it doesn't describe my own politics, the concerns I'm expressing, and my willingness to drop politics in the face of a good movie. In fact the film itself doesn't exclusively show the characters to be middle class or whatever class based complaint you think I'm making. One character is, but the only other character where class is brought up clearly is not being characterized (stereotypically) as being from a poor and broken home. My problem is with the tone of the film and the field of the characterization both of which take a limited view. Sticking with Nelson for a second if just because he is the most revealing character to my complaints the way he handles his father is unrealistic. Not in that such a father couldn't exist (I know this way too personally), but that his expression of the pain and emotional status that this would cause strikes me as highly unrealistic and just another way to insult elders. Just for the sake of comparison I think the woman talking about her similarly abusive father in Wiseman's Belfast, Maine is more true (well duh it is a documentary) to how a person deals with it. I feel like I should further my argument, but thinking about the film further just annoys me with the way it hates family.