#387: Rain Man (1988)

Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Dustin Hoffman & Tom Cruise



Charlie Babbitt, the money-hungry yuppie car dealer from L.A. has absolutely no reaction when he gets the news that his wealthy father has died. What does get an emotion out of him is that the father has given all of his money to Raymond – a brother that Charlie never knew he had. What makes it worse for Charlie – Raymond is retarded.

Of course, as you all know, what Charlie understands in the beginning is nowhere near the truth. Charlie learns throughout the film what it means to be an autistic savant. Hoffman puts on a stellar performance, possibly the best of his career, portraying a man in a world of his own. Watching him makes you wonder what is going on behind those vacant eyes of his, but only the smallest bits of information come out of his mouth. Despite this handicap, Hoffman says so much.

The film caused a great shift in public knowledge of autism, though not necessarily bringing it a step closer to truth. Like Charlie, before this film was released, a great many people did not distinguish autism from mental retardation. After the film, however, the view of autism has gone in the opposite direction. It is often assumed that all autistics are savants, not only thanks to Rain Man, but also thanks to all of the parodies that this film has spurred.

This one’s all about Dustin Hoffman. Amazing performance.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• The script originally had Raymond as happy and friendly, but after an initial reading Dustin Hoffman successfully lobbied for Raymond to be a withdrawn autistic.
• The scene in the airport was cut by most airlines on their plane trips... except Qantas. They even promoted one of the movie's writers to first class once when he traveled on their airline.
• During the shooting of the casino scenes, Dustin Hoffman would go off and play games like blackjack. After production was halted to look for him, someone was assigned to watch him during takes.
• Barry Levinson specifically instructed composer Hans Zimmer to avoid strings in his score as he felt it would make the film too sentimental

#403: Do The Right Thing (1989)

Director: Spike Lee

Cast: Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro & Ossie Davis

A heat wave has taken control of Brooklyn in the late 1980's, and as the steam rises, it uncovers the worst in the inhabitants of what used to be a friendly block. Originally a black community, now Italian-Americans, Koreans, and Hispanics have moved in, and the tension between the races becomes more apparent over time. Things begin to boil over when an African-American walks into a popular Italian-American-owned pizzeria and notices that its "Wall of Fame" features only white celebrities. While at first nobody joins in the fight to boycott the pizzeria, anger slowly spreads from various sources, ending in disaster.

The greatest question that arises in this film comes straight from the title: what is the right thing? When an elderly man tells one of the main characters to do the right thing, it gets shrugged off. Everyone intends to do the right thing, but if everyone has a different idea of what the right thing is, what then?

This could be considered a character piece, with each character being thoroughly different from the next, though never fully caricaturized. In the first scene, a radio DJ mentions that the weather is hot, but the color of the day is black. He recommends that everyone wears black in the sun today to absorb the heat and save it for winter. Certainly, everyone in the cast has absorbed some heat from their anger, though each releases it in different ways.

The filming of this was really remarkable. The opening scenes of the block are so vibrant, celebrating the diversity of the neighborhood, while the end is a horrific counterpoint. Somehow, though, the entire film maintains a red-orange lighting.

The acting is all wonderful, though it must've been made a little easier with such a remarkable script. Spike Lee could easily be the next Arthur Miller or Neil Simon. The film seems to exude American culture, demonstrating its accomplishments and its detriments.

Brilliant, brilliant movie with so much to read into. I would highly recommend this, with a caution that you have to be ready to be hit hard. This will definitely be among my top films so far when I renumber the first 100 I've watched.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

This film was inspired by an actual incident in New York where some black youths were chased out of a pizzeria by some white youths in a section of New York known as Howard Beach.

The story takes place at the intersection of Bedford and Stuyvesant Avenues. In reality, the two do not cross each other, however the film was shot in the Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama reportedly saw this movie on their first date in 1989.

The title comes from a Malcolm X quote: "You've got to do the right thing."

#404: RoboCop (1987)

Director: Paul Verhoeven

Cast: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Kurtwood Smith & Ronny Cox

The crime rate in a futuristic Detroit has gone sky-high, in particular a string of murders of policemen. The police commissioner has decided that it's time to do something about it. The most promising option is a robotic policeman who will patrol day and night without rest. The first test of the robot goes horribly wrong, but fortunately one man has an idea. He needs to blend the robotics with a human to create a cyborg in order to keep the robot from going ballistic. Soon after, Officer Murphy is the latest to be killed by the gang responsible for the police murders. His body is used to create the cyborg, which slowly begins to remember its former life.

This is a hugely representative film of its time, which is enforced by the fact that it is severely dated. On top of the extremely 80's special effects, script and music, it also continues the trend of films about robots that went wild that decade - I'll call it the RoboBoom. In this time, some of the most well-known robot movies were created: Blade Runner (1982), The Terminator (1984), D.A.R.Y.L. (1985), Short Circuit (1986), and batteries not included (1987), along with a slew of others. RoboCop was not at all original in its creation, having been inspired directly by Blade Runner (and even using the Terminator theme song in the trailer).

Still, this film differs from the others because this robot is made of human parts, rather than built to replicate them. On top of this, as my good pal Roger Ebert pointed out, we realize that Murphy was in fact more mechanized in mentality before he was turned into a robot, and only once he has died and become machine he treasures the few memories he has of his family.

Quintessential 80's, and not a terrible watch.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• The RoboCop suit was so hot and heavy that Peter Weller was losing 3 lbs a day from water loss. Eventually, an air conditioner was installed in the suit.
• The police cars were modified Ford Tauruses. One of the main competitors of the Taurus at the time was the Pontiac 6000. The car the villains use is the 6000 SUX, a not-so-subtle jab at the Pontiac 6000.
• In Sacramento, California a robbery suspect fled into a darkened movie theatre to escape pursuing police. He became so engrossed in the movie playing on screen, Robocop, that he failed to notice that police had evacuated all other patrons from the theatre. When the lights flipped on, the stunned man was taken into custody.

#405: Dirty Dancing (1987)

Director: Emile Ardolino

Cast: Jennifer Grey & Patrick Swayze

On a family vacation at a resort in the Catskills, Baby Houseman strays from her family when she hears the undulating sounds of Rock 'n Roll in an area for staff only. She'd never seen dancing like it, and her eyes are particularly struck by the professional dancer at the resort, Johnny. When Johnny's dance partner falls ill, she becomes Johnny's only hope for some of his gigs, though she can't dance for the life of her. He coaches her over the next few days, while their emotions grow more and more apparent to each other (though they were quite clear from the beginning of the film for the audience!).

The biggest problem with this film is predictability. Of course Baby's father will be against the idea of her being with the greasy-looking guy that has no future in law or medicine. Of course Baby will stay by his side no matter what. And of course, there will be a huge scene at the end in which she dances with Johnny in front of a crowd, and the two win over her father's heart.

What this film does have is some great dances. Baby's education in dance is thoroughly believable. Her starting steps are pretty awful, but not so awful that it looks staged. The audience learns with her some of the basics of ballroom dance, and by the end she's ready to be on Dancing With The Stars. Of course, Swayze's dancing is flawless.

Not much else to say. Mr. Swayze, you will be missed.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• Voted #2 Must See Movie of all time by listeners of Capital FM in London.
• The film was re-released in 1997 solely due to a petition led by late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien in which he asked viewers to send letters calling for the film's re-release. When exhibitors finally agreed, O'Brien joked that he actually didn't like the movie all that much.
• In the scene where Johnny and Baby are practicing dancing, and she keeps laughing when he runs his arm down hers, it was not part of the scene, she was actually laughing and his frustration was genuine. They left it because it was effective. Her falling over in this scene was unplanned too.
• The lake practice scene was filmed at Lake Lure in the mountains of North Carolina in October. There are no close-ups because the actors were so cold that their lips were blue.

#408: Zelig (1983)

Director: Woody Allen

Cast: Woody Allen & Mia Farrow

Have you ever known somebody who changes their personality to blend in with different cliques? Well, you've never met somebody who does it as well as Leonard Zelig. Not only does Zelig put on the personality and speech of the people he associates with, but his physical appearance morphs into something similar as well. Physicians are stumped by his abnormality, but Dr. Eudora Nesbitt Fletcher is certain that the base of his ability is psychological.

I'll start with the praise. Woody Allen has always somehow walked a line between being incredibly ahead of his time while presenting his material from the Old Days (-- at least this has been true until his more recent films, which have departed from the time period he used to treasure so much). What brings him ahead of the rest of the crowd is twofold in Zelig.

As always, he has come up with some ridiculous scenarios that somehow wouldn't be all that surprising in the real world. For example, Zelig's ability to blend in with any crowd is immediately exploited by advertising agencies. The second, and most obvious way he is ahead of his time is his use of historical footage of famous characters and perfectly places his own image into the scene. This same technique was used about a decade later in Forrest Gump, and the technique even then was considered remarkable. But Forrest Gump didn't place the most blatantly Jewish film icon into a clip from a speech by Hitler.

Unfortunately, I've found that Zelig has one horrible problem. Woody found one great joke.. and dragged it on for an entire film without really going anywhere. This brings its greatness down a notch, leaving it somewhere between one of his classics like Radio Days and - oh, I don't know - Corky Romano. Okay, that was harsh, but you get the idea.

I give it a B.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• Mae Questel, the voice of Betty Boop from 1931 to 1989 is the voice of Helen Kanesinging "Chameleon Days".
• To create authenticity, the production used actual lenses, cameras and sound equipment from the 1920s, and used the exact same lighting that would have been done. In addition, 'Gordon Willis' took the exposed negatives to the shower, and stomped on them.
• In 2007, Italian psychologists discovered a rare form of brain damage which affects its victims much like Zelig's condition (without, of course, the accompanying physical transformations). Researcher Giovannina Conchiglia and associates have proposed the name "Zelig-like Syndrome" for the disorder, because of the parallels to the film.

#412: Heathers (1988)

Director: Michael Lehmann

Cast: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk & Kim Walker

Heather, Heather, Veronica and Heather are the girls at Westerburg High that all the guys want to be with and all the girls want to be. Except, one of them doesn't want to be a part of their clique anymore. When Veronica meets J.D., a dangerous and mysterious bad-ass lurking in the corner of the cafeteria, he convinces her to kill the lead Heather and make it look like a suicide. Afterwards, the murders posed as suicides continue as the social hierarchy of the school adapts to the changes being made.

This... was weird. There were a few hysterical lines in the script, which I'll give a few examples of later, but aside from that, the overall atmosphere in the film is kind of disturbing. Maybe I'm not well-adjusted to watching dark comedies, but there are a few moments in the film when I'm genuinely freaked out.

I also didn't think much of any of the acting. Particularly of Christian Slater, who seemed to be nearly mimicking Jack Nicholson (who he credits as his 'inspiration' for the role). I said this to my sister while watching, and I'll say it again: Christian Slater is one of the strangest teen icons to grace the silver screen.

The appeal for this film is its uniqueness. Filmmakers are afraid to make dark comedies with such disturbing material if they're aimed at younger audiences. Lehmann not only mocks high school drama, but he mocks high school suicides and bomb threats.

I'll just conclude by stating bluntly, in case you haven't figured it out, I wasn't enthralled. But before I go, some examples of fine script-writing from the film.

Veronica Sawyer: All we want is to be treated like human beings, not to be experimented on like guinea pigs or patronized like bunny rabbits.
Veronica's Dad: I don't patronize bunny rabbits.

Officer Milner: My God, suicide. Why?
Officer McCord: [holds up bottle of mineral water found next to one of the bodies] Does *this* answer your question?
Officer Milner: [appalled] Oh man! They were fags?

J.D.: [after killing Heather] What are we gonna tell the cops? "Fuck it if she can't take a joke, Sarge".
Veronica Sawyer: The cops? This is my life. Oh, my God. I'll have to send my S.A.T. scores to San Quentin instead of Stanford.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB)

• At the beginning of the film Heather Chandler asks Heather Duke "did you have a brain tumor for breakfast?" The actress who played Heather Chandler, Kim Walker later died of a brain tumor.
• Mid-1990's-era ska/punk band Edna's Goldfish named their song "Veronica Sawyer" after the main character in Heathers. The song's theme of alienation among suburban teenagers reflects the themes of the movie. Reel Big Fish covered the song on their 2009 album "Fame, Fortune and Fornication."
• Two stars of the movie died at an early age: Jeremy Applegate (Peter Dawson, whose character prays he will never commit suicide) committed suicide with a shotgun on March 23, 2000, and Kim Walker (Heather Chandler, who had the line "Did you have a brain tumor for breakfast?") died of a brain tumor on March 6, 2001.
• SPOILER: J.D. tricks Veronica into killing the jocks by claiming to use "ich luge" bullets, which he claims only pierce the skin. "Ich lüge" is German for "I'm lying".

#416: Bad Taste (1987)

Director: Peter Jackson

Cast: Terry Potter, Pete O'Herne, Craig Smith, Mike Minett & Peter Jackson

Have you ever wondered why there's never been a movie about aliens invading a small town in New Zealand, killing the inhabitants to sell at intergalactic fast food restaurants? You have no need to wonder anymore, because it's already been made. Five men are all that's left of the small town of Kaihoro to fend off the extraterrestrial invaders, and one of them is slowly losing his mind. Or, rather, his brain.

This movie comes off in every way as a homemade movie. And that's because it is. It's really easy to bash this film - the acting sucks, the camerawork is extremely shoddy, and there's nothing to brag about with its effects. But looking at it from the perspective that it really was made by Peter Jackson piece by piece, with a cheap camera and props handmade, it's pretty impressive.

However, you really need to have a certain (ahem... bad?) taste to enjoy this. Blood squirting everywhere at every possible moment, brains getting squished, aliens being sliced in half... you get the idea.

Blegh.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• Director Peter Jackson shot the film on weekends over a four-year period with friends playing the lead roles. Jackson funded most of the film himself until towards the end of the shoot when the New Zealand Film Commission gave him money to finish his project after being impressed with what he'd already produced. There was never a script for the movie; each scene was filmed from ideas the director had come up with during the week.
• Peter Jackson made all masks in his mother's kitchen. The heads of the aliens are bent backwards because otherwise they wouldn't fit in the oven where the latex was hardened.
• The "firearms" in the film are all non-functional replicas made by Peter Jackson. For example, what appears to be a WWII Sterling submachine gun is actually a length of aluminum pipe, a handle made from Fimo, and a piece of wood to stand in for the ammunition magazine. The actors shook the props to simulate recoil, and the muzzle flashes were added in post-production.
• The name of the town 'Kaihoro' under attack is a Maori word that can be translated as either "Food Town" or "Fast Food" - Kai meaning Food, and Horo meaning Village and also Quickly, depending on the context.

#421: Lethal Weapon (1987)

Director: Richard Donner

Cast: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey & Mitch Ryan

Two cops are put together to solve the latest case. One is Sgt. Roger Murtaugh, a family man who has just had his 50th birthday, and is concerned about the grey hairs growing on his chin. The other is Sgt. Martin Riggs, whose mental stability has been in question ever since his girlfriend died in a car crash. The two are caught in shootouts, hostage scenarios - the whole works - but you never quite know if Sgt. Riggs is going to just snap.

The two unlikely cops becoming buddies storyline is completely overdone. There are two pieces of information that make this film just a step up from the rest. First off, nobody's sure what Riggs's next moves will be, being the mullet-headed loose cannon that he is. Secondly, the storyline that unravels with the case is actually easy to follow, and overall makes sense - a feature that doesn't present itself often enough in shooter films.

There's no great filmmaking asides from the good characters and plot. All I've got to say is that Richard Donner knows how to pick a script (The Omen, Superman, Superman II, The Goonies, Scrooged, Radio Flyer, Conspiracy Theory...).

Oh! And how could I forget. If you ever want to see Mel Gibson playing a character almost as crazy as himself in real life, with a mullet, and bare-assed... this is the film for you.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• One sequence shows a theatre marquee advertising The Lost Boys (1987), a film Richard Donner was producing at the time.
• Franco Zeffirelli reportedly decided to offer Mel Gibson the role of Hamlet after seeing his suicide contemplation scene in this film.
• According to a June 2007 Vanity Fair article, Bruce Willis was considered for the Riggs role.

#430: Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

Director: John Carpenter

Cast: Kurt Russell, Dennis Dun, Kim Cattrall, Carter Wong & James Hong

A gamble held in San Francisco's Chinatown doesn't end well for Wang, who owes trucker Jack Burton over $2000. He doesn't have the money on him, but a girl he met and is in love with does. The girl is coming to California today from China - she's the only Chinese girl with green eyes he's ever met. Jack drives Wang to meet her at the airport. At the terminal, a woman catches his eye. Before you know it, some ninja-style gangsters are attacking Jack, kidnapping Wang's love. On the chase, Jack and Wang are caught in a street fight between two Chinese gangs -- whose fight gets interrupted by sorcerers using "Chinese Black Magic". The adventure that ensues just gets crazier and crazier, involving ninjas, myths and monsters, never failing to surprise you.

This movie is AWESOME. From what I gather, people in our generation are pretty much oblivious to this film aside from its title. And there's absolutely no reason why this should be so. It's The Goonies for adults! I kept thinking to myself, I usually go for Kung Fu movies when I'm home sick - but this would be the absolute perfect flick for a day in. It has everything, from kung fu to comedy to everything else in between.

John Carpenter has directed two films that are still widely known, those being this and Halloween. What I've already written about Halloween that made the film so remarkable is that he created an entirely new style of thriller. What makes Big Trouble so genius is how ahead of its time it was - despite how dated it looks. The blend of genres is a very early example of its kind, later evolving into the likes of the Rush Hour films. Also, the decision to have Jack as the "hero" is a jab at stereotypical casting, having the strong and brash male taking the center stage. However, Jack is completely out of his element, while his "sidekick" Wang has everything needed for an action film hero, though he constantly gets shoved to the side.

Despite its sheer awesomeness, the movie didn't hit it big when it reached theaters. It only grossed $11.1m, less than half of the film's budget of $25m. The critics also didn't seem to quite understand the satire in the film, complaining that there was no character development. The negative feedback ended up turning Carpenter off of the Hollywood scene, continuing his career exclusively in independent films. However, since its sad start, the film has become a cult classic, reaching up to 84% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The plot is absolutely absurd, but it really just doesn't matter when you're having as much fun as you certainly will when you're watching this. If this post doesn't convince you to go see this, keep in mind that this is the first film I bought online after watching it for the blog. It was just that good. If you want to make a movie party of it with me, just let me know - I will certainly be willing!

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• The Chinese characters in the main title translate to "Evil Spirits Make a Big Scene in Little Spiritual State".
• According to John Carpenter and Kurt Russell in the DVD Commentary, the story was originally written as a western but Carpenter decided to set it during modern times. They even mention that instead of Jack Burton's truck being stolen, it was originally his horse.
• The Mortal Kombat characters Shang Tsung and Raiden were inspired by the characters of David Lo Pan and the 'Storm' called Lightning, respectively.
• The rivalry between the Chang Sing and Wing Kong Tongs is analogous to the famous rivalry between the Hip Sing and On Leong Tongs (even the names rhyme) in early 20th century New York.

#438: The Lost Boys (1987)

Director: Joel Schumacher
Cast: Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Jami Gertz, Kiefer Sutherland, Corey Feldman, Jamison Newlander & Dianne Wiest

Brothers Michael and Sam have just moved into Santa Carla, CA. The town appears to be like a nasty version of Wildwood, NJ. The two discover soon, though, that it’s not just crackheads and deadbeats wrecking this city, but vampires as well. Michael falls in love with a girl, Star, but soon realizes that she is going out with a mysterious head of a gang named David. He undergoes their initiation-type rituals, and without knowing it, has become a half-vampire. Sam is now on a mission, with the help of the Frog Brothers from the local comic book store, to save Michael and kill the vampire clan.

This film is somehow able to combine the best and the worst of the 80’s into one ridiculous movie. Clearly a legend-in-the-making by casting both of the Coreys, the film has become one of the fondest-remembered movies of children growing up in the 80’s.

The story isn’t quite perfect, and neither is the camerawork. And, as Tiffany put it, the main song is partially ruined by the “throbbing man-flesh” filling the screen in one of the first few scenes.

Oh, and Kiefer Sutherland with a mullet is a sight to behold.

One thing that interested me is some sort of anti-Semitic undertones throughout the film. I mean, how can they have named the lead female Star and have her old boyfriend be named David? (If you didn’t pick up on that, she’s the Star of David.) Also, pitting the character Michael (Christian name) against David (Jewish name) is a little bit curious. I suppose there has to be some pro-Christian stuff thrown in with vampire flicks (the cross, etc) but I think they went a teensy bit too far.

Yeah, I don’t really know what else to say about this one.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• Kiefer Sutherland was only meant to wear the black gloves he wears as David when riding the motorbike. However, while messing around on the bike behind-the-scenes, he fell off, breaking his arm so he had to wear the gloves through the whole movie to cover his cast.
• Characters in the movie say the name 'Michael' approximately 118 times.

#440: Akira (1988)

Director: Katsuhiro Otomo
Cast (English Voices): Johnny Yong Bosch, Joshua Seth & Wendee Lee

Akira is considered the quintessential anime film, reinvigorating the genre in the late ‘80s which led to the cult following the style holds today. Based on the first six volumes of the popular manga of the same title, Akira visualizes a post-WWIII Tokyo. Chaos fills the streets with motorcycle gangs and terrorist attacks wreaking havoc. When Tetsuo, a member of the motorcycle gang called ‘The Capsules’, almost hits an eerie looking child with his bike, his world turns upside down. The government takes him to a hospital where they find that his brainwaves are similar to Akira, a boy who has been accused of causing WWIII.

The animation for this film is phenomenal. The cityscapes are horrific yet ornate. The buildings in a post-nuclear holocaust setting are frightfully realistic, and the social disorder believable. The film is also acknowledged as the first anime to feature lip-synched dialogue, allowing the style to progress into something more fluid and more appealing to the eye.

There are some beautiful scenes throughout the film – most notably a scene in which Tetsuo is hallucinating in his hospital room. Unfortunately, the plot is a bit convoluted. Akira was an enormous project, attempting to fit almost 2,200 pages of manga into a 2-hour film. I had many, many questions coming out of the film. Thankfully the IMDB message board sorted me out. I urge anyone else who has seen the film to look up the answers to their questions, because really… the movie on its own doesn’t quite do it. Still enjoyable, though!

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• At one point in the 1990s, Sony contemplated a live-action version of the film, but scrapped the idea when the projected budget went north of US$300 million.
• The production budget was nearly $10 Million US Dollars, a record sum in Japanese animation film.
• The movie consists of 2,212 shots and 160,000 single pictures, 2-3 times more than usual, using 327 different colors (another record in animation film), 50 of which were exclusively created for the film. The reason for this statistic is that most of the movie takes place at night, a setting that is traditionally avoided by animators because of the increased color requirements.

#444: Hairspray (1988)

Director: John Waters

Cast: Ricki Lake, Leslie Ann Powers, Michael St. Gerard, Colleen Fitzpatrick & Divine

The film that inspired not only a Broadway and West End hit, but also a film version of the musical, Hairspray is the story of the bubbly and 'pleasantly plump' Tracy Turnblad whose dream comes true in 1963 Baltimore when she is voted to be the newest dancer on a local TV show "The Corny Collins Show". Despite her being the only overweight girl on the show, she manages to steal the skinny, bitchy, blonde girl's boyfriend, and eventually lead Baltimore to integrate with the black community.

There is just so much to like about this movie. Even twenty years after the civil rights movement, this film made race issues not only relevant, but something that you can make fun of. The white supremacists in the film are depicted as absolutely bonkers, but somehow not completely that far off from what some of these crazies in our country can act.

The acting is brilliant. Every character is a caricature, leading to a strange mix between the townspeople of Edward Scissorhands and the Whos of Whoville. Everyone is wearing ridiculously bright colors, and their dance moves are so base, but at the same time you can so easily be sucked in to believing that this is the coolest of cool.

Oh, and I can't go without mentioning some famous faces in the cast: Debbie Harry, Sonny Bono, Jerry Stiller and Ruth Brown. Honestly, how can you have a cast like this and not end up with a fantastic flick?

If you don't like this film, you're wrong. If you judge it because of its remake, you're wronger. I've actually never seen the remake, but I've always been a bit repulsed by it, possibly because I grew up with the original.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• "Tilted Acres" was based on "Gwynn Oak Amusement Park" in Baltimore County, MD, where racial problems occurred.
• Ricki Lake began rapidly losing weight due to the intense dance lessons she had to take for the film. She reportedly had to "eat like crazy" in order to stay plump.
• There was a scene filmed where Tracey finds cockroaches in her hair (which was based on the urban legend about a girl whose brain is eaten by cockroaches that were living in her beehive hairdo). While it never made it into the final cut it does explain all the references to roaches in the latter part of the film.

#455: Top Gun (1986)

Director: Tony Scott

Cast: Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer & Anthony Edwards

Naval aviator Pete "Maverick" Mitchell and his back seater "Goose" are accepted to the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School, an academy which accepts only the top 1% of Naval aviators in the country. There, they compete for the highest rank, "Top Gun". During their training, Maverick starts a relationship with one of his instructors, and soon faces many hardships after a fatal accident.

This movie sucks. I really can't be anything but blunt on this one. It sucks. It's a pre-teen boy's dream, and that's about it. It also manages to encapsulate everything bad about the 80's, from the style to the music. And don't get me wrong, I think the 80's were a pretty rockin' era... but this doesn't show that. It shows the crappy side.

The film actually won an Academy Award for Best Song, but the soundtrack overall is incredibly repetitive, and incredibly 80's. There isn't any good acting throughout. The script isn't anything to brag about.

I really have no idea why this is on the list. And unfortunately, in the next 10 or so on the list, there's going to be a few more in which I can say the same thing (Speed, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, King Kong [2005], Star Wars Episode I). So, sorry in advance for all these horrible titles all clustered together. I bear no responsibility.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• Val Kilmer did not want to be in this film, but was forced to by contractual obligations.
• Bryan Adams was asked to allow his song "Only the Strong Survive" on the soundtrack, but he refused because he felt that the film glorified war.
• During the filming of some sequences from civilian aircraft, longtime Hollywood stunt pilot Art Scholl was killed. A biplane he was flying crashed off the Pacific Coast. The film is dedicated to his memory.
• Like the love scene, the elevator scene (where Maverick and Charlie meet after Mav's workout) was filmed post-production. Kelly McGillis's hair had already been colored for another movie role, that is why she is wearing a hat. Tom Cruise's hair is longer in the shot, as well.
• Riding on the back of this film's success, the US Navy set up recruiting booths in the major cinemas to try and catch some of the adrenaline charged guys leaving the screenings. They had the highest applications rate for years as a result.
• Scott Baio was offered the part of Maverick, but turned it down.

#457: Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Cast: Vincent D’Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Matthew Modine, Arliss Howard & Adam Baldwin

A classic among Vietnam War movies, Full Metal Jacket begins with the new recruits for the Marines at Parris Island. Among the recruits are Pvt. Pyle, the overweight and slow-learning innocent and Pvt. Joker, a man who’s all about getting a laugh and is assigned to help Pyle. Sgt. Hartman trains his soldiers to love their guns more than they love sex, having them sleep with their rifles and pray for their future victories. He is a strict instructor who is determined to get Pyle into shape to join the infantry, eventually having the other recruits punished for Pyle’s mistakes. After Pyle is abused at night for his continuous failures, he kills Sgt. Hartman and shoots himself in the head.

The second half of the film depicts the war in Vietnam, as Pvt. Joker, who is now a reporter, follows Pvt. Cowboy’s squadron. In a bombed out village, a sniper is taking out Cowboy’s men one by one, and the men struggle to move out of their cornered location.

It’s easy to see even from my brief synopsis that the heart of the film really is in the first half. In fact, I haven’t read any reviews that prefer the second half, and even many analyses chose to simply drop the second half and focus on the recruits’ basic training. Pvt. Pyle is by far the most memorable character in the film, and the image of him in the restroom has become iconic for the film.

In these first scenes, Sgt. Hartman dehumanizes his recruits. They are constantly suffering verbal abuse, and any sense of their old selves must be lost to become killing machines. In fact, we never learn any of the recruits’ real names, only the names assigned to them by Hartman. He glorifies all Marines of the past, including Lee Harvey Oswald and the sniper at the University of Texas, Charles Whitman. These scenes are absolutely horrifying, giving the American army a more Nazi-like feel. However, after losing all character in themselves, the audience loses all its compassion for the protagonist of the second half of the film.

In my opinion, it’s just not necessary to watch the second half. The first half, however, is worth the viewing. I’m surprised to see that despite a nearly universal agreement on this, the film still received 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. I’ll give it one thumb up for the first half – the other thumb is still disappointed with the second half.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• Former US Marine Corps Drill Instructor R. Lee Ermey was not originally hired to play Gunnery Sgt. Hartman but as a consultant for the Marine Corps boot camp portion of the film. He performed a demonstration on videotape in which he yelled obscene insults and abuse for 15 minutes without stopping, repeating himself or even flinching - despite being continuously pelted with tennis balls and oranges. Stanley Kubrick was so impressed that he cast Ermey as Gunnery Sgt. Hartmann.
• According to director John Boorman, Stanley Kubrick wanted to cast Bill McKinney in the role of Gunnery Sgt. Hartman. However, Kubrick was so unsettled after viewing McKinney's performance in Deliverance (1972) that he declined to meet with him, saying he was simply too frightened at the idea of being in McKinney's presence.
• 'Vincent D'Onofrio (I)' gained 70 pounds for his role as Pvt. Pyle, breaking Robert De Niro's movie weight-gain record (60 pounds) for Raging Bull (1980). It took him 7 months to put the weight on and 9 months to take it off with physical training.

#458: Batman (1989)

Director: Tim Burton

Cast: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson & Kim Basinger

(NOTE: From now on, I'm going to include a trailer for the film. I hope you like this idea!)

In the first of the Warner Bros. Batman series, Bruce Wayne is fighting crime in Gotham City, terrorizing the city's criminals as "The Bat". Batman's first nemesis is born when he drops Jack Napier into a vat of chemicals, discoloring his skin and hair. Henceforth known as The Joker, he poisons the city's hygiene products, all while trying to convince the public that it isn't he, but Batman that they shouldn't trust. Photojournalist Vicki Vale is trying to uncover the truth.While researching, she falls in love with Bruce... and in turn, The Joker falls in love with her.

The film is very outdated, but only 20 years after its release, it can be considered historically significant. It was a complete turn-around from its predecessors in the superhero film genre, which can more simply by summarized as the Superman film series. Aside from Superman, there were very few notable films in the genre (though one made it onto The List - Danger: Diabolik). Burton made Batman a much darker style than Superman, with its artistic achievements much more prominent than its script.

The art direction for this film certainly has that Burton-esque quality to it, with exaggerated lines in the architecture, but the subject matter is much less in the fantasy realm than many of his other films (Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow... even Pee-Wee's Big Adventure). This new blend of fantasy with a New York-like Gotham City allows us to be drawn in to an almost familiar world.

Props to:

• Art director Les Tomkins for a style that has been the inspiration for the following five Batman films
• Music composer Danny Elfman for an exciting and immediately recognizable theme
• Jack Nicholson for being The Man

One-and-a-half thumbs up for a great time, despite a mediocre script.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• Sean Young was originally cast as Vicki Vale, but broke her collarbone while filming a horse-riding scene with Michael Keaton. The scene was subsequently written out of the script. Tim Burton suggested replacing Young with Michelle Pfeiffer but Keaton, who was in a relationship with Pfeiffer, believed it would be too awkward. She went on to portray Catwoman in Batman Returns (1992). Jon Peterssuggested Kim Basinger and she was cast.
• Alec Baldwin, Jeff Bridges, Emilio Estevez, Matthew Broderick, Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise, Michael J. Fox, Harrison Ford, Robert Downey Jr., Kevin Spacey, Patrick Swayze, Dennis Quaid, Kurt Russell, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Charlie Sheen, Bill Murray, Pierce Brosnan, Tom Selleck, Daniel Day-Lewis, Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis were considered for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.
• Rosanna Arquette, Ellen Barkin, Robin Duke, Kate Capshaw, Glenn Close, Joan Cusack, Geena Davis, Judy Davis, Denny Dillon,Christine Ebersole, Mia Farrow, Carrie Fisher, Bridget Fonda, Jodie Foster, Teri Garr, Melanie Griffith, Linda Hamilton, Daryl Hannah,Goldie Hawn, Mariel Hemingway Barbara Hershey, Holly Hunter, Anjelica Huston, Amy Irving, Diane Keaton, Diane Lane, Kay Lenz,Jessica Lange, Lori Loughlin, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Virginia Madsen, Kelly McGillis, Bette Midler, Catherine O'Hara, Tatum O'Neal, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Pfeiffer, Molly Ringwald, Meg Ryan, Susan Sarandon, Jane Seymour, Cybill Shepherd, Brooke Shields, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen, Sharon Stone, Meryl Streep, Lea Thompson, Kathleen Turner, Sela Ward, Sigourney Weaver and Debra Winger were all considered for the role of Vicki Vale after Sean Young, the original choice, departed.
• Jack Nicholson received a percentage of the gross on the film, and due to its massive box-office took home around $60 million. As of 2003 it is still the single-movie record for actor's salary.
• The Batmobile was built on the chassis of a Chevy Impala.
• For its first video release, the film was graded slightly lighter as cinema audiences had complained that it was filmed so darkly that they could hardly see what was going on.

#476: Santa Sangre (1989)

Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Cast: Axel Jodorowsky, Adan Jodorowsky & Blanca Guerra

(Spoiler alert)

Well, there’s certainly no way to describe this film better than the DVD’s back cover. Ahem:

“A bizarre love triangle turns deadly when a circus strongman, Orgo, is caught fooling around with a tattooed lady by his wife, Concha, an aerial performer. Incensed, Concha throws acid on him. Orgo retaliates by sawing off her arms, then killing himself. All of this is witnessed by their son, Fenix (Adan Jodorowsky, the director's son), who goes insane and is sent to an institution. Years later, Fenix (also played by Adan's older brother Axel) is rescued by his armless mother. Angry against the world for her unfortunate circumstances, Concha plans a murderous revenge spree, and maybe play a little piano. And she needs Fenix to be her arms for both tasks. Violence spawns more violence in this terrifying, psychedelic, horrific, and ultimately unforgettable film by Alejandro Jodorowsky.”

I swear it’s not as weird as it seems. Through this disturbing story, Jodorowsky creates a visually stunning film chock full of Oedipal and Freudian symbolism, as well as some hidden criticism of the Christian faith. His style is a mix of Buñuel, the Brothers Quay and a little bit of old-school Tim Burton. The soundtrack is one of the most fun that I’ve heard in a very long time, featuring exclusively Mexican classics such as Dámaso Pérez Prado’s Mambo No. 8.

The best way I could sum up this film is it’s a mix of Big Top PeeWee, Psycho and a pretty intense LSD trip. Despite the impossibility of summarizing the film without mentioning its grotesqueness, it really is a film that’ll keep you thinking.

I give it 1.5 thumbs up. The reason I don’t give it two thumbs up is that it’s simply not a movie I would ever want to watch more than once or twice. The reason I still want to give it more than one thumb up is its ability to be a conversation topic that can last for a long, long time.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• Alejandro Jodorowsky's sons Adan Jodorowsky & Axel Jodorowsky both play the part of Fenix at different ages.
• The project was launched when Alejandro Jodorowsky was commissioned to write and direct a film based on real-life Mexican criminal named Gregorio Cárdenas.
• As a tribute to Mexican horror films, Santa sangre (1989) includes a scene with masked wrestlers and a "superwoman" named La Santa.

#483: The Big Red One (1980)

Director: Samuel Fuller

Cast: Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di Cicco & Kelly Ward

The Big Red One is one of the most celebrated war movies of all time. Directed by WWII veteran Samuel Fuller, the film chronicles his experiences in the First Infantry Division (aka, The Big Red One).

The thing that makes this film different from other war movies is that there is no arc bringing the film together. This was done intentionally, because according to Fuller, this is what being in a war is like. Soldiers don't think of their experience in the war as having a beginning, middle and end. They think to get through one day at a time.

One of the most poignant themes of the film is the difference between killing and murdering. Coming into the film, it is difficult to discern. I assure you, there is a very strong difference between the two, when one of our surviving heroes kills a murderer.

I've got to say, though this is a celebrated film, I've never been a war film fan. It was very, very hard to get through for me. I found that I was uninterested by the battle scenes, and not because of the lack of action, but because it was obvious our five survivors would manage to get through unscathed.

Ah, well. To each his own.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• The bulk of the picture was shot in Israel, and director Samuel Fuller remarked that it was unsettling after a scene was shot when the German soldiers and SS troops pull would take off their helmets and Fuller would see them wearing yarmulkes, and between takes they would be sitting around the set in full Nazi uniform speaking Hebrew or reading the Torah.
• The screams from the foxholes as the tanks roll over them seem strangely out of place, but actually happened. Samuel Fuller said, "When we were in those holes, and the tanks were rolling over us, it was our only chance to scream all the terror out and not be heard. We got it all out in those holes..."
• During the UK clampdown on video nasties in the 80's the film was briefly seized by Manchester Police who believed it to be a sex film.

#498: Back to the Future II (1989)

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Cast: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson & Thomas F. Wilson

Marty McFly is one of my heroes of 20th-century film, and understandably so. In this sequel, Marty travels first to the future, then back to the present, and finally returns to the past that he had already visited in the original. With this structure, Marty experiences the worst case of the butterfly effect, having his entire livelihood affected by the purchase of a book from the future.

There's so much to love about this film. It is chock-full of pop culture references, including dozens of references to the original film. The special effects are quite a bit ahead of its time, the soundtrack by Alan Silvestri is memorable, and the acting is great - despite its being intentionally overdone in the cases of Lloyd, Thompson and Wilson. And of course, the story itself is remarkable. The intricacies throughout the entire script stand out well enough to notice and follow, but are performed in a fluid and natural way.

This is by far the best sequel that has ever been made. What's been lost on a lot of sequels is that it becomes simply a second story about the same characters. In this case, it not only adds on to the original, but it in fact enhances it. If only Zemeckis could have kept that going in the conclusion of the trilogy, which understandably was not chosen to be on Empire's 500.

And now, the trivia. And there's lots, because this film deserves it.

Fun Trivia (stolen from IMDB):

• Crispin Glover played George McFly in Back to the Future (1985), but was replaced by Jeffrey Weissman in Part II. Weissman was made up to look like Glover so that this film could incorporate excerpts from the original. All shots of Weissman are either from the back, at an angle, or with Sunglasses so that the audience wouldn't notice that it is a different actor.
• Elisabeth Shue was cast as Jennifer, and all the closing shots of Back to the Future(1985) were re-shot for the beginning of this film. Claudia Wells (Jennifer in Back to the Future (1985)) was unable to reprise her role as she had stopped acting because her mother had been diagnosed with cancer. She returned to acting for the independent film Still Waters Burn (2008).
• A movie theatre advertises "Jaws 19", directed by "Max Spielberg". Executive producer Steven Spielberg, who directed Jaws (1975), has a son Max.
• First film appearance by Elijah Wood.
• The tagline for Jaws 19 is "This time it's really, REALLY personal".
• When Marty visits his neighborhood in 2015, a dog can be seen in the background being walked by one of the robots from *batteries not included (1987).
• The football scores Biff hears on the radio while driving are all actual scores from November 12, 1955, and the UCLA/Washington game he and old Biff listen to did indeed end with UCLA kicker Jim Decker hitting a last second field goal to win.
• In 2015, when Doc and Marty look at the USA Today newspaper and see the headline change, the following headlines and blurbs are:

1. Cubs Sweep Series In 5 (a World Series sweep would be in 4 wins, thus implying the playoffs have been expanded in the future)
2. Washington Prepares For Queen Diana's Visit (the film was released 8 years before Princess Diana's death)
3. Swiss Terrorist Threat
4. President Says She's Tired
5. Pitcher Suspended For Bionic Arm

Two gigantic thumbs up!