Tuesday, November 22, 2016

5 Off My Head: Siri Says 1982

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Welcome to our weekly (or whenever the hell I feel like doing it) series called "Siri Says When" -- last week when I asked Siri to pick a number between 1 and 100 she gave me 80 - today she gave me 82. And truth be told I'm kind of glad that Siri has stuck me in the early 1980s just now because this stuff is comfort food - I was a little kid and blissfully unaware that we had a horrible president, and I would like to pretend now, even if only for a few moments, that I am blissfully unaware of what a horrible president we're about to have. 

Of course now that I've gone and made my choices from the movies of 1982 they're mostly all dark adult films (save one) that would've terrified me as a kid (I mean, two Fassbinders!) so even I can't stick to my escapist principles for very long. Oh well. The heart wants what it wants and apparently what my heart wants is to churn and ache and bleed. Happy thoughts!

My 5 Favorite Movies of 1982

(dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
-- released on August 31st 1982 -- 

(dir. John Carpenter)
-- released on June 25th 1982 -- 

(dir. Werner Herzog)
-- released on October 10th 1982 -- 

(dir. Tobe Hooper)
-- released on June 4th 1982 -- 

(dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
-- released on May 13th 1982 --

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Runners-up: One From the Heart (dir. Francis Ford Coppola), Tenebre (dir. Dario Argento), The Year of Living Dangerously (dir. Peter Weir), Q: The Winged Serpent (dir. Larry Cohen), Blade Runner (dir. Ridley Scott), Tootsie (dir. Sidney Pollack), Halloween III: Season of the Witch (dir. Tommy Lee Wallace)...

... Creepshow (dir. George Romero), Basket Case (dir. Frank Henenlotter), Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean  (dir. Robert Altman), Fanny & Alexander  (dir. Ingmar Bergman), Slumber Party Massacre (dir. Amy Holden Jones), E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (dir. Steven Spielberg)

Never Seen: Burden of Dreams (dir. Les Blank), Diner (dir. Barry Levinson), Liquid Sky (dir. Slava Tsukerman), Frances (dir. Graeme Clifford),  Koyaanisqatsi (dir. Godfrey Reggio)

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What are your favorite movies of 1982?
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9 comments:

Roark said...

Huh, I have been living my life under the belief that Querelle and Fitzcarraldo came out in 1983. Now I don't know if ANYTHING IS REAL.

Jason Adams said...

Roark -- the release dates for those (esp Querelle) are all over the place so I could've gone either way but... well I went this way :)

joel65913 said...

My those are heavy picks even if they are interesting films.

Love Poltergeist! Such fun, I couldn't bring myself to watch the remake. Why remake something you got right in the first place?

Even if he is a disgusting human being Gibson was very good in The Year of Living Dangerously-a very tense film and Linda Hunt is so brilliant in it.

Also glad to see a mention of Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. It's an odd film but fascinating that what a cast!

My five for '82:

Return of the Soldier-with a cast that encompasses Alan Bates, Julie Christie, Glenda Jackson, Ann-Margret and Ian Holm what's not to love!
Tootsie
Evil Under the Sun
Missing
My Favorite Year

Runner-ups-Poltergeist, Shoot the Moon, Victor/Victoria and Making Love


Pierce said...

While I liked Poltergeist and The Year of Living Dangerously, these are my choices:
E.T. (made me cry)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of God
The Verdict
The Dark Crystal
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (a vastly entertaining movie)
Victor/Victoria
My Favorite Year
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
The World According to Garp
and the very quirky and funny Eating Raoul

Pierce said...

Oops. Forgot about Fanny and Alexander and Liquid Sky, the latter of which is on YouTube.

Rob91316 said...

Add to my list: "Fast Times At Ridgemont High," "Cat People," "Porky's," "The Last American Virgin," "Friday The 13th Part 3" and "The World According to Garp."

brotherfrancis said...

I would put The Year of Living Dangerously and Blade Runner in the Top Five. Living Dangerously got sloppy in the end, but it was otherwise exciting and beautiful filmmaking. And Blade Runner? Fucking brilliant. It was the future, the aesthetic source of countless sci fi - AI films to come. It's probably Ridley Scott's best film (along with Alien).

Jason Adams said...

I've always wanted to like Blade Runner more than I actually ever like Blade Runner when I am watching it. I feel like maybe one day it will snap into place for me, but it hasn't yet. It admittedly has been a few years since I have watched it and with the sequel coming out I need to give it another go.

Anonymous said...

You MUST watch Frances. Some parts are difficult to watch but my God Jessica Lange is brilliant in it.

MMinDC