Sleeping Chickens Fellini is a visionary mystic. He sees what he knows before he figures it out. So we have set design, costume design, even character design, before he fills things in with his narratives and allegories. I know this, so don’t come to be disappointed when the stories and allegories do not quite work.… Continue reading And the Ship Sails On (1983)
Tag: 1980s
Films released in the 1980s
Altered States (1980)
A Beautiful Mind Another director would have been better for this material in my mind. The production is off: the effects, the drama and the love story all fail. But the idea behind the story… the idea, that has power and is enough to keep you sitting through this. The idea is that certain scientists… Continue reading Altered States (1980)
Jane Austin in Manhattan (1980)
The Chosen I am usually offended, retroactively offended by Ivory – Jhabvala films. They have a quiet, deep consistency that draws respect the same way a cathedral does. But the uncomplicated emotional links and the sentimental world in which they exist gets to me, and taints dreams for days afterward. Good news. Here is that… Continue reading Jane Austin in Manhattan (1980)
Ishtar (1987)
Farentheit I am writing this at a time when George Bush is still president, Michael Moore’s film has just appeared and the American people are beginning to understand what has happened. We all grasp at the movie we live in. At the moment, the “Republican” movie is in competition more with alternative comfortable movies instead… Continue reading Ishtar (1987)
Krull (1983)
Organic There may still be people who watch projects like this for adventure. Heck, there are even people who get their theology from such stuff, currently “Rings” and “Matrix.” But for me, the allure is a matter of style. This film was conceived in the shadow of 1979s “Alien,” and the 82 “Bladerunner,” both of… Continue reading Krull (1983)
The Beast of War (1988)
Mechanised Urges It is fine with me for a film to be just an anti war film, without all the embellishments of the more famous ones. Because of that I will advise you to find this and let it soak in. I write this at the beginning of the second year of the Ukraine war,… Continue reading The Beast of War (1988)
Absurd (1981)
Absurd… Blood Blood is reproducing at three times normal. The rather amazing influence of Jess Franco has tempted me to dive into similar eurotrash in search of interesting tidbits. The story this time out is as flat as its presentation: some sort of Frankenstein experiment has created a monster. Several sadistic killings later he is… Continue reading Absurd (1981)
Poirot: The Adventure of the Clapham Cook (1989)
Fully Realized Over the years, I have written one tirade after another about Clive Exton, the adapter of Christie for many of these Poirot mysteries. He just doesn’t get the form, what makes the form of the detective story so captivating. What he does is substitute character for discovery. The excuse, I am sure is… Continue reading Poirot: The Adventure of the Clapham Cook (1989)
A Girl’s Own Story (1984)
Her Very Own I recently watched “In the Cut,” and found its connectives strange and exciting. So I went to this to see them when young and raw. Supposedly, this is Campion’s first long form film. It didn’t quite work as a film the first time because it is so fractionated. Her earlier “Passionless Moments”… Continue reading A Girl’s Own Story (1984)
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Remote Brits I watched this recently, and also saw it when it was new. At the time, I suppose it was funny. Now I do not, and I think perhaps it is because the center of gravity for humour has changed. Each of the Pythonista’s had a particular strength. Together, they were terrific, or at… Continue reading A Fish Called Wanda (1988)