Most Annoying Performances Tom Hulce – Amadeus Prince – Purple Rain Best Comedy Ghostbusters Best Ensemble Cast Dune – Kyle MacLachlan, Jürgen Prochnow, Virginia Madsen, Jose Ferrer, Max von Sydow, Dean Stockwell, Linda Hunt, Brad Dourif, Francesca Annis, Everett McGill, Richard Jordan and Silvana Mangano WTF did I just see? Crimes of Passion Most overrated movie The Killing Fields Best juvenile performance Anthony Walters – A Christmas Carol Notes from awards committee: 1984 was a great year for fans of original, fun, films with impressive visual impact on the big screen. Unfortunately none of the best films, or actors, were honored by the Academy. The Simpson award for the Best Picture of the year goes to Temple of Doom – my all-time favorite Indiana Jones movie. TOD is quite unique and different than Raiders, and is thankfully free of Hollywood cardboard Nazis. The opening scene is a dazzling music/dance number in a 1930s Chinese nightclub which soon explodes into non-stop action in true Steven Spielberg - Raiders style. Indy escapes by the skin of his teeth via airplane, with two sidekicks; Willy (Kate Capshaw) – the lovely, sexy club singer and Short round – a fearless Asian kid. Thus begins an epic adventure film that transitions to 1935 India during the British Raj. Temple of Doom is also the most controversial of the original Indiana Jones trilogy (more on that below) and bruised some delicate PC feelings. All the more to love here. World at Large
Fun Surprises - Terminator – is a ground-breaking sci-fi, action film by James Cameron that launched a successful movie franchise. This time-travel tale raised the bar for action sci-fi flicks. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s wooden acting style and foreign accent was pitch perfect for the role of a relentless, unstoppable killing machine. The film was a huge box office success with solid acting, cool special effects and a tight, memorable script. A Best Actress Simpson Award for Linda Hamilton acing her demanding role as the damsel in extremely dangerous distress. Body Double - This underrated movie is a true post-modern classic, and my favorite Brian De Palma film. Better than any other film, it shows you that Hollywood is indeed one of the craziest places in the world. It is a wild mix of Vampire B-movies, voyeurism, mystery, and murder. This erotic masterpiece has a look and feel all its own, and features a daring performance by Melanie Griffith as unforgettable bad girl, Holly Body. Craig Wasson plays the innocent, everyman trapped in a dilemma he must solve. Dune – by David Lynch is one of the most visionary, lavish and elegant science fiction movies ever made. When Dune succeeds, which is often, it’s actually dazzling. The production design, cinematography, cast, and musical score are all first class. The story of Dune is too complicated to explain without its own essay, but at its core the film is simply about the struggle to control Spice production found only on the desert plant known as Dune. Spice is the most valuable commodity in the universe. What is spice? Watch the movie and find out. Ghostbuster – is a perfect mix of occult mysticism and comedy starring SNL alumni comedians. The clash between a nasty federal EPA bureaucrat versus a struggling entrepreneurial small business touched the core beliefs of all true freedom loving Americans. The franchise is still sputtering along, but watch the original film first. Temple of Doom - Let's get back to Indiana Jones – Act 2. Following their hair-raising escape, the threesome is rescued and ends up at a rural village in India. Indy soon discovers the village has been raided by outlaws who robbed their sacred stone and kidnapped all the children. Indy displays a scholarly knowledge of Hindu beliefs and history and even speaks the native tongue. The villagers suspect the evil doers came from Pankot Palace. Indy agrees to help, so he, Willie and the kid ride elephants to the Palace. After a warm welcome at Pankot, Indy & company, attend a lavish dinner hosted by the maharaja. Also attending the dinner is a British army captain. Indy steers the conversation to the dark history of the Palace when the monstrous Thuggee murder cult ruled Pankot. It is an effective and nuanced scene. The movie shifts tone at the dinner and we realize with a little shock what the plot and the movie is really about. Have the evil Thuggees returned to Pankot after being vanquished by the British military almost 100 years ago? The Indian hosts assure Indy that he has nothing to fear about the Thuggees. We all know better. Act 3 opens with a breathtaking series of adventures inside the mines beneath the palace. Ebert said it best, “the mines have been turned into a vision of hell on Earth. The set design, art direction, special effects, and sound effects inside this underground Hades are the most impressive achievements in the whole history of Raiders and Bond-style thrillers.” In true horror film fashion, Willie is a classic Scream Queen in one scary scene after another. I would also add that Mola Ram, with his piecing gaze and evil laugh, ranks as one of the all-time scary villains of film history. I leave the rest of the story for the reader to see for his/her self. The film had many negative reviews for showing the British colonial rule in a positive light. That position is anathema to modern PC leftists. And yes, Indy plays the White Savior, but what else is our hero to do? Enjoy… A Christmas Carol – To those who dismiss this film as “only a made-for-TV movie” I reply, Bah! Humbug! Without question this 1984 version of Dickens' classic tale is the best ever made. George C. Scott is superb as Ebenezer Scrooge, and earned the Best Actor Simpson Award. The supporting cast is excellent, as are the costumes, music, and scenery with 19th Century London coming to life. The film borders on frightening in several scenes involving the spirits, and will thrill the kiddies. This is a morality tale for the ages. And yes, when the Christmas decorations come out of the storage closet, this film will soon find its way into my DVD player. The Bostonians – is a visually lush period drama based on a book by Henry James. The movie has a powerhouse cast led by Christopher Reeve, Vanessa Redgrave, Madeleine Potter and Linda Hunt. The film is a great window into the post-Civil War (1870s-1880s) world of Henry James, and the upper class society in New York and Boston which he visited often. The dramatic arc of the movie is a love triangle with two rivals competing for the heart of Verena Tarrant. The rivals are 1) Basil (Reeve) a handsome Southern gentleman, and 2) Olive (Redgrave) a closet lesbian and wild-eyed, man hating feminist. So, who wins the girl? No spoilers. The Hit - is an interesting hybrid—it begins with a London crime drama that transitions into a four-person Spanish road trip movie. The acting is outstanding; John Hurt is brooding and menacing, Terence Stamp is the enigma of the foursome as a doomed rogue philosopher, Tim Roth was born to play a dimwitted, thuggish sidekick, and Laura del Sol is the sexy damsel-in-distress who is tougher than she looks. This forgotten gem is memorable and cuts deep. The Criterion Collection version is the best version available on DVD. Red Dawn – was born in the Cold War era, and is one of the most violent films of the 80s decade as it portrays a fictional invasion of America by the USSR and its allies. A group of US teenagers form a resistance group called the Wolverines who use guerrilla tactics to fight the invading Russians. There’s a reason the film has never gone away; quite simply it reflects an American image of noble, brave citizens fighting for the survival of their family and land. RD is not another cookie cutter Hollywood flick; Director John Milius includes subversive elements that were canceled in the 2011 remake. Watch the original. Disappointments - Amadeus – is a first class costume drama that tells the interesting story of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1755-1791) in his Vienna glory days and early death. There is plenty to like here, but unfortunately Tom Hulce’s strange performance as Herr Mozart registers more like a missing member of the 1960s Monkey’s Band and totally misses the element of genius that was Mozart. His early passing (age 35) was a shock to the European music world and many legends were born concerning his untimely death. This movie adopts the bullshitty myth that Antonio Salieri, the court composer, was driven mad by his jealousy of Mozart’s musical genius, and plotted his demise. Not true and a disservice to Salieri. Purple Rain - After Prince’s drug OD and sudden death in April 2016, a few theaters played Purple Rain at no charge. I tucked inside the local theater and watched this free movie for the first time. Without the hit rock songs, this would be one of the Big Bad Movies of the Eighties. Nothing wrong with that, either. People were laughing at the many cornball scenes, the dyed and glittered hairstyles, and Prince’s weak acting. The big laugh exploded when Prince (all 5ft 2 in) rides around town on a purple motorcycle while wearing a purple coat and a white ruffled shirt. On the positive side, Prince did win an Oscar for the Purple Rain music score. But there is not much else here to enjoy. Some people walked out during the scenes showing mistreatment of women. I nearly choked on my popcorn when Prince slaps the crap out of Apollonia sending her flying into a dresser. That ended their tiff quickly. Today the film is relevant as a landmark in black culture. The Killing Fields – depicts 1970s Cambodia when the communist Khmer Rouge gang over throw of the Western friendly regime and proceed to slaughter any and all opposition - Resulting in a dark period of modern history and a horrible blood bath. It's been at least 20 years since I saw this film, but I do not want to see it ever again. If you fancy two hours of suffering and brutal torture; this is your movie. The Razor’s Edge – aims high but falls flat. The film has great scenery and the story is based on a famous book, but a miscast Bill Murray fails to convey the tortured, complex character of WW1 veteran, Larry Darrell.
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