Category Archives: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Chariots of Fire
Directed by Hugh Hudson
Written by Colin Weiland
1981/UK
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/YouTube rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Di

Harold M. Abrahams: If I can’t win, I won’t run!
Sybil Gordon: If you don’t run, you can’t win.

This film is more than its iconic Vangelis score.

The film is set in the period leading up to the 1924 Paris Olympic Games.  Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) is the son of a wealth Jewish financier and can run like the wind.  He is part of a strong track team at Cambridge University.  He is acutely aware of his outsider status and runs to prove something to his comrades and himself.  He also fits in by being a star in Gilbert and Sullivan productions at his school.  He eventually meets and falls in love with actress Sybil Gordon (Alice Krige).

Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson) could not be more different from Abrahams.  He is a devout Christian who aims to become a missionary to China.  But he also runs like the wind and believes he was given his talent for the glory of his God.

Both men are training for the Olympics.  Abrahams is so intent on becoming a champion that he hires professional trainer Sam Mussabini.  Both men head off to the games where drama awaits.

I clearly remember first seeing this on a plane.  The experience was memorable because the plane landed before it was finished!  I did eventually see the film and enjoyed it.  The rewatch did not disappoint.  This is a handsomely produced look at sportsmanship back at a time when gentlemen pursued glory on the field.  Very entertaining.

Chariots of Fire won Academy Awards in the categories of Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Score.  It was nominated in the categories of Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Holm) and Best Film Editing.

Diva
Directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix
Written by Jean-Jacques Beineix and Jean Van Hamme from a novel by “Delacorta” (Daniel Odier)
1981/France
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/YouTube rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

A triumph of style over substance.

The setting is a very hip and artsy contemporary Paris.  A young postman/messenger idolizes opera soprano Cynthia Hawkins (Wilhelnmenia Wiggins Fernandez).  Hawkins has long refused to record her performances. So the postman records a performance surreptitiously.  Afterwards, he goes back stage, meets her, and steals her dress.  He returns to his stupendously cool Paris loft.

A little later he meets a super-cool Vietnamese teenager and strikes up a relationship with her even though she shares the even more stupendous loft of a philosopher? writer? brooding hipster?.  A prostitute tosses another tape into the postman’s moped saddlebag.  This tape is relentlessly pursued by French hit men and their employer.  The tape of the singer is relentlessly pursued by West Indian? Taiwanese? pirates.

Obviously, I found the plot hard to follow.  But this is an example of the “cinema du look” movement and the production is the thing here.  The film certainly delivers in terms of its beautiful art direction, cinematography and score.  So it is an enjoyable watch though not one that I would seek out again particularly.

An American Werewolf in London
Directed by John Landis
Written by John Landis
1981/US
IMDd page
Repeat viewing/YouTube rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must Die

David: I will not be threatened by a walking meat loaf!

Comedy and horror are an uneasy mix.  This works better than it has any right to.

David Kessler (David Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne) are American college students and best friends who are spending their summer vacation in Europe.  Currently they are backpacking through the English moors.  It is a desolate area and they get out of the cold by entering an isolated pub called The Slaughtered Lamb.  They do not receive a warm welcome from rhe curiously standoffish patrons and barkeeper.  Nor do they get answers about the pentagram on the wall.

It is a moonlit night.  The boys hit the trail again in the rain and promptly get lost.  They then start hearing a howling that makes them very nervous.  This presages a violent attack that leaves Jack dead and David wounded.  The next time he is seen, David is awakening from a coma in a London hospital.  Things go downhill from there.  The only bright spot in David’s life is pretty nurse Alex Price (Jenny Agutter).
I last saw this on original release and was not wowed.  This time around I liked it much much more.  The makeup and effects are out of this world and the comedy melds nicely with some real horror.  But my favorite part is the soundtrack, which contains many songs about the moon.  Recommended.

Rick Baker won the Academy Award for Best Makeup, the first time this award was given.

Raiders of the Lost Ark
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan; story by Gary Lucas and Philip Kaufman
1981/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon prime renta

Marion: You’re not the man I knew ten years ago!
Indy: It’s not the years, honey, it’s the mileage.

Still thrilling after all these years.  I had forgotten how sharp the screenplay is.

It is 1936.  Indiana Jones is an archeology professor.  In his off time, he searches for historically significant relics.  This is dangerous work but Indy is proficient with the bullwhip and is incredibly lucky at all times.  We begin the story in an old Amerind temple where Indy snags a cursed solid gold fertility statue, escaping from collapse of the temple and poison arrows by the narrowest of margins.

He is visited by some officials who say that Hitler is obsessed with the original Ark of the Covenant which he believes will endow the owner with incredible powers.  The US Government wants to deny him that prize.  Indy immediately recognizes the significance of this and prepares to leave for the Kathmandu, the last known location of his old professor who possesses a vital clue needed to discover the Ark.

During this visit, Indy must perforce meet again with his professor’s daughter, ex-flame Marion (Karen Allen).  The father is dead and she has the clue.  Despite her cold reception, danger brings them back into each other’s arms.  She will be his partner in his future adventures, in addition to serving as a damsel-in-distress.

The action continues in Egypt where many more incredible adventures await.  The whole thing is capped off by an explosive finale.

This remains a ton of fun.  Movies like this one and Star Wars came as a breath of fresh air to movie lovers who were stuck with a lot serious and depressing material in the seventies.  The screenplay is wonderful in blending fantasy with wit and romance.  The score is classic.  I kind of like that the sets remind me of something out of a theme park.  It emphasizes the escapist tone of the whole thing. Easy to see why this would get the kind of sequels it did.

Raiders of the Lost Ark won Academy Awards in the categories of Best Art Direction-Set Decoration and Best Sound.  It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Cinematography.  John Williams got gypped, though I suppose he got quite enough awards during his career.

Loulou
Directed by Maurice Pialat
Written by Arlette Langmann and Maurice Pialat
1980/France
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime Rental (Fandor)
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Some people are born losers; others acquire the knack gradually. – W. C. Fields

I could have lived without seeing this stupid movie.

Loulou (Gérard Depardieu) is a complete slacker.  He is the kind of guy who will spend his entire life spongeing off people, mostly women, between jail sentences for petty crimes. The only place he is any good is the bedroom.  This is more than enough for the educated, cultured Nelly (Isabelle Huppert) to leave her husband André (Guy Marchand).  The movie is a series of sex scenes and bad boy action.

Gerard Depardieu plays one of the most unlikeable protagonists in film history.  He’s  a complete zero, up there with Jean-Paul Belmondo in Breathless, only that is a a much better movie.  I spent the whole film hoping the Huppert character would dump him.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen.  The worst part is that I think we are supposed to root for Loulou by the end.  I cannot imagine why.

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This finishes up the List films for 1980.  I regret not having a rewatch of The Gods Must Be Crazy but I need to get my DVD player set up still.  I’m going to move on to 1981.   It looks to be another good year for movies.

Raging Bull
Directed by Martin Scorcese
Written by Paul Schrader, Mardik Martin, Joseph Carter and Peter Savage based on the book by Jake LaMotta
1980/US
IMDb page
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Di

[last lines] Jake La Motta: Go get ’em, champ [he begins shadowboxing] I’m da boss, I’m da boss, I’m da boss, I’m da boss, I’m da boss… I’m da boss, I’m da boss, I’m da boss, I’m da boss, I’m da boss, I’m da boss.

Martin Scorcese’s film about toxic masculinity in and out of the boxing ring is great filmmaking but hard for me to watch.

This is the story of boxer Jake LaMotta’s life starting from the peak of his professional career as a Middleweight and ending when his shortcomings cause him to lose almost everything.  He was called The Raging Bull and this was a very apt moniker.  LaMotta was what we called at the time a male chauvinist pig with an out of control temper. He took out his rage both in the rings and with loved ones.  Basically, he would explode any time he didn’t get his own way or anybody tried to argue with or contradict him.  He was not a nice person.

But that didn’t stop Jake from excelling in the ring, until it eventually did.  He also managed to win the love of the beautiful underage Vicky (Cathy Moriarty), whom he eventually married.  He was blessed with the support of his flawed but loyal brother Joey (Joe Pesci).  He eventually lost both these people and his children due to his jealous outbursts.  Jake ends his life as a mediocre stand-up comedian.

This is an extraordinary film that is brilliant both from an acting standpoint and for its striking staging and production.  The recreation of the fights is a masterpiece of film editing.  Robert DeNiro fought to get this movie made and he certainly gave a career-making performance. Pesci and Moriarty are great as well in the first major film for each.  But this is a movie filled with loud savage arguing and with domestic and boxing violence,  The blows are all accompanied by disturbing sounds of punches landing.  So it’s a film I can appreciate without exactly loving.

Robert DeNiro won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Raging Bull.  The film was nominated in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Pesci) and Best Supporting Actress (Moriarty).  It absolutely should have been nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing.

The Shining
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Written by Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson from a novel by Stephen King
1980/US/UK
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Di

Dick Hallorann:  I can remember when I was a little boy your age… my grandmother and I could hold entire conversations without ever opening our mouths. She called it “shining”. And for a long time I thought it was only the two of us who had the shine… just like you who thought you was the only one. But there are other folks who don’t know it or don’t believe it. How long have you been able to do it?

Nobody could play a psychopath better than Jack Nicholson.  This is one scary and beautiful movie.

The Torrances are a typical American family, at least on the surface.  Father Jack Torrance (Nicholson), a recovering alcoholic, has just left a job teaching school.  He wants to be a writer.  Mother Wendy (Shelley Duvall) stays at home and cares for their young son, Danny (Danny Lloyd).

Jack accepts an offer to be the winter caretaker for a huge isolated mountain hotel that closes for the season because all roads to the place will be blocked by snow.  The family will also live there.

It soon develops that little Danny has an imaginary friend called Tony and that he and Tony are telepathic.  Also, that Jack resents his family mightily and blames Wendy and Danny for his many failures.  This resentment will grow into something else.  As winter sets in, it appears that the hotel may be haunted by evil happenings in its history.  Particularly one instance in which a winter caretaker took out his entire family in an axe murder/suicide.

I’ve put this movie off since the day it came out.  A Clockwork Orange was so traumatizing to me there was no way I wanted to watch Kubrick do out and out horror.  But I worked up my courage and was rewarded by some extremely well-done horror.  It is made more horrifying because one of the people terrorized is a small child.

The film did not get a single Oscar nomination and, in fact, Duvall and Kubrick were nominated for Razzies. Its acclaim has grown over the years.  I thought it was perfect for what it was and that Duvall was excellent in a very difficult role outside her comfort zone.  The movie is two and a half hours long and not a second is wasted.  My first thought was that this was more of a psychological thriller but by the last third we are definitely in horror territory.  I’m surprised that the film did not at least garner nominations for its cinematography and extremely effective art direction. Highly recommended if you can stand being terrified by the end.

There is a documentary called Room 237 that explores various theories about the meaning of the film which I will probably watch next.

The Last Metro (Le dernier métro)
Directed by Francois Truffaut
Written by Francois Truffaut, Suzanne Schiffman and Jean-Claude Grumberg
France/1980
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Narrator: In the occupied zones, the curfew is imposed at 11:00 p.m. and for the Parisians it is terribly important not to miss the last metro.

This movie has all the essential elements but a tight script.

The setting is Paris during the height of the German occupation.   As the film begins, Bernard Granger (Gerard Depardieu) is walking down the street and trying to pick up a woman on his way to start a new acting gig at the Montmartre theater.  The theater had been operated by director Lucas Steiner (Hans Bennent), a Jew.  The Germans are tightening the noose on Jews and we are told Lucas has fled.  The theater is currently run by Steiner’s wife Marion (Catherine Deneuve), who will also star in its current production along with Granger.

Marion will do anything in her power to assist her husband and attempts to appear cold and tough at all times.  One of her major problems is the ever-present theater critic Daxiac (Jean-Louis Richard), who now uses his influence to rid Paris of all those who employ Jews.  The movie tracks the rehearsal and production for the current play as well as the off-stage lives of these people.  I will go no further.

This is well-acted and beautiful to look at. Deneuve is especially scrumptious.  But in the end I could not get 100% behind it. There are a couple of key plot elements that are not well prepared for and the ending is a real eye-roller.

The Last Metro was nominated for the Best Foreign-Language film Oscar.

Ordinary People
Directed by Robert Redford
Written by Alvin Sargent from a novel by Judith Guest
1980/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Calvin “Cal” Jarrett: Well, don’t admire people too much. They’ll disappoint you sometimes.

I have been putting this off for over a year.  It’s a very good movie.

The Jarretts are an affluent family in suburban Illinois.  Father Cal (Donald Sutherland) is an affable stock broker.  Mother Beth (Mary Tyler Moore) stays at home and has an active social life. She clearly cares a lot about appearances and is always immaculately dressed.   Son Conrad (Timothy Hutton) is a senior in high school.  Before long we learn that the family lost the eldest son Buck in a boating accident.  All are still in mourning, especially Conrad who survived the accident.

As the story goes on we see this is a very troubled family.  Conrad has recently been released from a mental hospital after a suicide attempt.  He starts seeing psychiatrist Dr. Berger (Judd Hirsch).  Beth is desperately trying to maintain a facade of normalacy.  She keeps pushing Conrad away.  Calvin is just confused and sorry.   We follow as these people begin to heal, or not.

Robert Redford knocked one out of the park for his directorial debut.  The acting is uniformly excellent.  Mary Tyler Moore is a revelation.  She perfectly portrays the heart of steel underlying a cheerful and polished exterior. It’s beautiful to look at and has held up well over the years.

Ordinary People won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (Hutton).  It was nominated in the categories of Best Actress (Moore) and Best Supporting Actor (Hirsch).

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I’m also watching Kevin Brownlow’s 13-part series Hollywood (1980).  The documentary tells the story of the movie industry during the silent era.  It’s full of juicy gossip and interviews with people active at that time.  Well worth a view and available for free on YouTube.

Les Vampires
Directed by Louis Feiullade
Written by Louis Feuillade
1915/France
Societe des Essablissements L. Gaumont
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Philippe Guérande: [writing] It is several months since we have heard about the Vampires. But can’t we see their crafty hands behind those recent sinister and mysterious headlines?

This early serial is a ton of fun.

Phillipe Guerande is an intrepid newspaper man on the trail of a sinister gang of thieves and assassins known as the Vampires.  Truth be told, he operates more like a sleuth and is accompanied most of the time by his faithful and brave comic-relief sidekick Mazamette.  The Vampires operate like a secret amoral Masonic lodge.  Nothing is as it seems.

I liked this a whole lot.  It combined the supernatural, the lurid, and the comic very neatly.  I loved that this did not spend forever bringing the viewer up to date at the beginning of every episode.   I viewed it over several days.

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