The Long Good Friday
Directed by John Mackenzie
Written by Barry Keene
1980/UK
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel

Harold: You don’t crucify people! Not on Good Friday!

Combine London, Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, and plenty of explosions and you get a gangland movie with a difference.

Harold (Hoskins) is the head of a vast criminal enterprise that includes pubs, restaurants and casinos. He sees the opportunity to legitimize himself by selling out to the American Mafia. Moll Victoria (Mirren) helps him put on a lavish show for the potential buyers. Then the businesses begin to be bombed and several of Harold’s colleagues are killed. Not the splash that Harold expected for sure. And he can’t figure out who is out to get him.  With Eddie Constantine as the Mafia guy and Pierce Brosnan in his film debut.

Despite the brutal violence, this is an entertaining film. And the acting, needless to say, is excellent.

Gregory’s Girl
Written and directed by Bill Forsyth
1980/UK
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel

Gordon: I want to find the real Dorothy. The one underneath the football shirt.

It’s a charming comedy about high school boy crushes and the girls that wrap them around their little finger.

Gregory is a friendly but quirky sixteen-year-old who plays on the football/soccer team. The team loses all its games, due in part to Gregory’s clumsiness. The coach is looking for a good striker. Imagine his amazement when the girl he discouraged from trying out proves to be super talented. Gregory gets kicked off the team but doesn’t mind since he is head over heels for Dorothy who replaced him. But he’s never quite sure exactly where he stands. Then she agrees to a date and …

I tend to like these sweet sleeper comedies and this is a very good one. Add all those people speaking in Scottish brogues and I am in heaven.

‘Breaker’ Morant
Directed by Bruce Beresford
Written by Jonathan Hardy, David Stevens and Bruce Beresford from a play by Kenneth J. Ross
1980/Australia
IMDb page
Repeat viewing Criterion Channel

Lord Kitchener: Good God, Johnny, l’m not trying to prove some academic point. I’m trying to put an end to this useless war. The Boer leaders must see in this court-martial the demonstration of our impartial justice. If these three Australians have to be – sacrificed – to help bring about a peace conference – it’s a small price to pay.
Col. Ian (Johnny) Hamilton: I quite agree, sir. Though I doubt the Australians share our enthusiasm.

This powerful courtroom drama/war movie has been a favorite for years.

The setting is South Africa during the Boer War. Much of the fighting is between the British and ragtag guerrilla fighters that rely on ambush and then disappear into the local population.

The Bushveldt Carbineers was formed as a special unit to combat these. The Carbineers are made up mostly of Australians. After their commanding officer was killed in an ambush, a unit is sent to retaliate. Many Boers are killed and some are taken prisoner. The prisoners are summarily executed when they are brought to camp. Later a German missionary who is believed to be a Boer spy is shot as well. The officers’ only defense is that they were acting under orders to take no prisoners.

The officers are represented by an Australian lawyer (Jack Thompson) with no trial experience is tasked to defend the men. The court is not prepared for his passionate representation.

This is a very thought provoking film. It is clear the officers are guilty but also clear that they are being used as scapegoats. Was it a revenge killing or part of combat? The acting and production are excellent. Highly recommended.

Melvin and Howard
Directed by Jonathan Demme
Written by Bo Goldman
1980/US
IMBd page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Lynda Dummar: It says you can be anything you want to be if you’ll just believe in yourself. And you believe in yourself – it’s just the believing hasn’t been enough to let you become what you believe you can be.
Melvin Dummar: Honey, they didn’t burn down Rome in one day – you got to keep pluggin’.

I love this charming, quirky movie.

The film is based on a true story. As it begins, Melvin Dummar (Paul Le Mat) picks up a disheveled elderly hitchhiker who has injured his arm. The hitchhiker is reserved at first but Melvin finally warms him up and the ride is pleasant. Toward the end the man (Jason Robards) says he is Howard Hughes. Melvin doesn’t believe this and drops the man off at a Las Vegas hotel. He asks Melvin for money and he gives him his last 50 cents.

This prelude lasts maybe ten minutes. The rest of the film focuses on Melvin’s daily life over several years. He is a likable fellow who is satisfied with low-paying jobs. His dreams are small and his luck is bad. His wife Lynda (Mary Steenbergen) loves him but their hand-to-mouth existence does not satisfy her and the couple eventually split up.

Later, Melvin remarries and opens a gas station. One day a stranger comes in and asks a bunch of questions. Shortly thereafter Melvin finds a will in a stack of papers.”…

Despite its intriguing premise, the theme of the movie is the American Dream. Demme gently pokes fun at consumerism throughout. All the acting is excellent.

Steenbergen deservedly won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar and Bo Goldman won Best Original Screenplay. Robards was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

Dressed to Kill
Directed by Brian De Palma
Written by Brian De Palma
1980/US
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Doctor Robert Elliott: Doctor, I am not paranoid. Bobbi was making threats over the phone. She said she’s going to hurt me. My patient was slashed to death. And now my razor is gone. Now you don’t have to be a detective to figure it out, do you?

Wanna-be Hitchcock with less wit, less dialogue, more gore, and WAY more nudity.

Angie Dickinson plays a sexually repressed upper class woman who decides to pick up strange men on the street and experiment. Michael Caine plays her psychiatrist, Nancy Allen plays a call-girl, and Keith Gordon plays Dickinson’s son. Before the movie is over the three will become amateur detectives to their great peril.

The best things about this movie are Angie Dickinson’s ravishing beauty and that I didn’t guess the twist ending. Nothing I need to see again.

The Blues Brothers
Directed by John Landis
Written by Dan Ackroyd and John Landis
1980/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Jake: First you traded the Cadillac in for a microphone. Then you lied to me about the band. And now you’re gonna put me right back in the joint!
Elwood: They’re not gonna catch us. We’re on a mission from God.

This old favorite delivered great comedy, great music and spectacular car chases once again.

Jake Blues (John Belushi) is released from the penitentiary and picked up by his brother Elwood (Dan Ackroyd). The pair’s first stop is the Catholic orphanage where they were raised. The place will have to close unless the nuns can come up with $5,000 to pay property tax. The nuns refuse to accept any ill-gotten gain so the boys decide to reassemble their R&B band. Henceforward they are “on a mission from God”.

The search for band members allows the boys to meet and perform with the greats including Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Ray Charles. The musicians in the band are on fire.

In the meantime, the brothers infuriate at different times law enforcement, neo-Nazis, a country-and-western band and a mysterious female sniper (Carrie Fisher). This results in multiple amazing car chases and pileups. No computers were involved.

I love R&B music and this movie.  Highly recommended.

I have now watched 38 films from 1979.  A list of these can be found here. From the 1001 Movies List, I have not seen Stalker, The Tin Drum or Christ Stopped at Eboli.  Here are my favorites of th year.

Breaking Away directed by Peter Yates

Manhattan directed by Woody Allen

Alien directed by Ridley Scott

Apocalypse Now directed by Francis Ford Coppola

The Black Stallion directed by Carroll Ballard

The Marriage of Maria Braun/Die Ehe der Maria Braun directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Wise Blood directed by John Huston

Amator directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski

Best Boy directed by Ira Wohl

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And so starts 1980.  The list I will pick from is here.