Category Archives: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

The Elephant Man
Directed by David Lynch
Written by Christopher De Vore, Eric Bergren and David Lynch from books by Frederick Trever and Ashley Montagu
1980/UK/U.S.
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

John Merrick: If only I could find her (his mother), so she could see me with such lovely friends here now; perhaps she could love me as I am. I’ve tried so hard to be good.

I find this movie hard to watch despite its great beauty.

The plot takes place in Victorian England and is based on the true story of John Merrick (John Hurt), a young Englishman who was born horribly deformed and spent most of his life abused and exploited as a sideshow freak.

Inside, Merrick is a sensitive, sentimental man with a great weakness for beauty, especially  feminine beauty. He is rescued by physician Frederick Trevis (Anthony Hopkins) and becomes a favorite of London society, including actress Mrs. Kendall (Anne Bancroft) This does not prevent him from being continually under the threat of kidnap and cruel jokes.

The acting in this film is phenomenal as is the camerawork of cinematographer Freddie Francis. I’m not big fan of watching cruelty and there is so much of it here that I’m not sure if I will give it another rewatch. Definitely some kind of masterpiece though.

Here is a cast photo from the movie I introduced my brother and niece to yesterday.  They loved it and so do I.  My old review is here. Hope to get back to 1980 soon.

Atlantic City
Directed by Louis Malle
Written by John Guare
1980/Canada/France
IMDb Page
Repeat viewing/YouTube rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Lou: The floy floy. That was something special. Atlantic City had floy floy coming out of its ears in those days. Now it’s all so goddamn legal. Howard Johnson running a casino. Tutti-frutti ice cream with craps don’t mix.

I love this movie and have watched it many times with the same pleasure.

The story takes place in 1980 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The relics of the city’s heyday as a beach resort and mob-run vice playland are falling under the wrecker’s ball to make way for showy but sterile casinos.

Lou (Burt Lancaster) was a low-level gangster in the old days. He now runs numbers in poor neighborhood and is more-or-less kept by Grace (Kate Reid). Lou failed to protect Grace’s late husband and she spend most of the film yelling at him.

Sally (Susan Sarandon) works at the oyster bar at one of the casinos. She dreams of becoming the first female dealer at Monte Carlo. In the meantime she washes the fish smell off her naked torso with lemons every night proving daily entertainment for Lou.

Into the mix comes Sally’s scumbag husband and sister, who is now heavily pregnant from the husband. Sally is not happy to see them. She is less happy when she finds out that the husband stole a large amount of cocaine from the mob and wants to hide out in her house. Lou is ready to protect Sally in the violence that follows but canhe?If you are looking for a quirky character driven film with outstanding acting and staging, look no further. Highly recommended.

The Big Red One
Directed by Samuel Fuller
Written by Samuel Fuller
1980/US
IMDb page
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Zab: [narrating] I’m gonna dedicate my book to those who shot but didn’t get shot, because it’s about survivors. And surviving is the only glory in war, if you know what I mean.

Fuller’s loose account of his service in WWII delivers a traditional war film through an outsider’s eyes. The title comes from the badge worn by members of the U.S. Army Infantry First Division in which Fuller served.

Lee Marvin plays an infantry sergeant who leads his unit of riflemen through WWII in Europe starting from a landing in North Africa through to a V-E Day celebrated in the trenches of Czechoslovakia. The unit is slowly whittled down to just four men.

With Mark Hamill as an aspiring author who looks at his experiences as material for a novel.

In the year following the release of Apocalyse Now, Fuller comes out with a combat film that could have been made in the 50s and 50s. Fuller makes it interesting with his idiosyncratic perspective on reality.

Airplane!
Written and Directed by Jim Abraham, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker
1980/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon rental

Elaine Dickinson: Ladies and gentlemen, this is your stewardess speaking… We regret any inconvenience the sudden cabin movement might have caused, this is due to periodic air pockets we encountered, there’s no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you enjoy the rest of your flight… By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?
[all hell breaks loose in the cabin]

This silly, but very funny, movie paved the way for a number of disaster flick spoofs and other genre parodies.

The premise is fairly basic. Stewardess Elaine (Julie Hagerty) and former fighter pilot Ted Striker have had an idyllic romance. Now Julie has decided to break up because Ted has PTSD from combat and now avoids any work that involves responsibility. Ted is desperate to win her back and boards the flight she is working on.

When all the pilots and most of the passengers come down with food poisoning, Ted is the only passenger with flight experience, albeit not with passenger aircraft. With Leslie Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Julie Hagerty, and Robert Hay.

The plot is but a device to hang hundreds of one-liners and slapstick gags on. The humor is really juvenile, often tasteless and hilariously funny.

Manhattan
Directed by Woody Allen
Written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman
1979/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Isaac Davis: Chapter One. He was as tough and romantic as the city he loved. Behind his black-rimmed glasses was the coiled sexual power of a jungle cat. Oh, I love this. New York was his town, and it always would be.

When I saw this on original release, long before the scandal, I thought this was Woody Allen’s best ever. Decades later it’s still near the top. As a valentine to New York City, it will probably never be surpassed.

Isaac (Allen) is a twice-divorced TV comedy writer. His last wife (Meryl Streep) left him for another woman and is now writing a scathing memoir about the horrors of their marriage. He is dating a 17-year-old high school student named Tracy (Mariel Hemingway). Tracy is the only character in the movie who is not pretentious and neurotic.

Tracy and Isaac double date with Isaac’s best friend Yale (Michael Murphy) and his wife Emily. Early on, Yale discloses that he is having an affair with journalist Mary (Diane Keaton), whom Isaac hates at first meeting. Then she changes his mind and complications ensue.

I remember this movie mostly for the scenes with Mariel Hemingway who was perfect for her character. But the images of Manhattan and all that glorious Gershwin music are the star attractions. Allen also gets in some hilarious digs at pseudo-intellectuals. Recommended.

This gives me chills

Alien
Directed by Ridley Scott
Written by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shuset
1979/US/U.K.
IMDb page
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Ripley: Micro changes in air density, my ass.

Ridley Scott shows himself to be a master of suspense in this horror/sci-fi thriller.

Whatever the year, space travel has become a commonplace grind, albeit a dangerous one. Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is second in command on a space ship that must stop off on an icy planet to make repairs. The crew goes to explore and brings back some organic material. Against Ripley’s advice, they bring the material aboard. Of course it becomes a face-hugging, chest-exploding alien.

Science officer Ash (Ian Holm) foils all efforts to destroy the disgusting creature. It is Ripley that must conquer or perish. With an excellent supporting cast including Tom Skerrit, Harry Dean Stanton, Yaphet Kotto, and Veronica Cartwright.

This certainly deserved to be a blockbuster. The production and effects are amazing for the time period and Scott makes his three-hour film fly by like lightening. But it is Weaver that makes the movie. What a truly bad-ass heroine! Recommended.