What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

A nice beginning to a great decade for movies, i am an 80s kid afterall who was born 2 years later.

My top 25.

1. The Empire Strikes Back.
2. The Elephant Man.
3. Cannibal Holocaust.
4. Raging Bull.
5. Airplane.
6. The Shining.
7. Shogun Assassin.
8. Watcher in the Woods.
9. Used Cars.
10. Caddyshack.
11. Blues Brothers.
12. The Fog.
13. Flash Gordon.
14. Stir Crazy.
15. Friday The 13th.
16. The Changeling.
17. Superman II.
18. Kagemusha.
19. Cheech and Chong's Next Movie.
20. House on The Edge of the Park.
21. Dressed To Kill.
22. The Final Countdown.
23. Maniac.
24. Animalympics.
25. Inferno.

Honorable mentions:
Motel Hell.
Altered States.
Bon Voyage Charlie Brown.
City of the Living Dead aka The Gates of Hell.
Terror Train.
Alligator.
The Gods Must Be Crazy.
Mother's Day.
Motel Hell.

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

I love The Fog, but you forgot Big Trouble in Little China, The Thing, Escape from New York, They Live, Christine, and Halloween II. Even Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Prince of Darkness, and Starman are better than some that you have mentioned.

Two thumbs up on The Changeling!

OK, I'm done for now! For now!

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

I think he meant the year 1980 Destiny not the decade :)

Just going by your list I'd say this would be my top 5, I would have to look up what else was released to make sure.

1.The Shining
2.The Changeling
3.Kagemusha
4.Empire Strikes Back
5.The Elephant Man

Thanks! It's been a long night. ;)

He's seriously missing out, stopping there.

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Correct Camo, this is what is everyone's top movies of the year 1980.

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

1. Popeye
2. The Elephant Man
3. The Empire Strikes Back
4. The Shining
5. The Falls
6. Dressed to Kill
7. Hopscotch
8. Atlantic City
9. Don't Play with Fire
10. The Stunt Man
11. The Spooky Bunch
12. The Long Good Friday
13. Bad Timing
14. Encounters of the Spooky Kind
15. Return of the Secaucus 7

Worst:
Demon Lover Diary

Wow lines! I seem to remember you being lukewarm on The Stunt Man when you first saw it. Perhaps I'm mistaken. Or has it grown on you over repeat viewings?

I love the scene with the dead soldiers on the beach. ;)

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

I've only seen it the one time but I'd give it another watch. I still have it down as a , which doesn't seem that lukewarm to me, but then again it would not have made my top ten in a more competitive year. Overall I thought it was a little ham-fisted but I liked where it was coming from and the beach scene definitely elevates it.

Not a single mention of the Oscar winner for Best Picture of 1980? Ordinary People?

Everyone hates it too much for winning over Raging Bull.

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

The Elephant Man is my favorite. Raging Bull is a technically impressive film, but I prefer a lot of Scorsese's other works.

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Elephant Movie was so sad wasn't it? first time i saw it on HBO at age 5 i felt sad for him as it was one of the movies that made me cry.

Sci-Fi
The Empire Strikes Back
Superman II
The Final Countdown

Comedy
Seems Like Old Times
Smokey and the Bandit II
Airplane!
Private Benjamin
9 to 5

Musicals
The Jazz Singer
Xanadu
The Idolmaker

Drama
Somewhere in Time
Ordinary People
The Competition

Teen Movies
Little Darlings
My Bodyguard
Up the Academy

Those are all better than The Fog.

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Either way, Carpenter is the man. (Think I prefer The Fog over They Live)

Then you live in a fog.

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Not a Fog fan?

I liked it even more the second time around.

I watched it during a commentary with Swan and Honeykid. It was a second commentary (back to back commentaries), but still, I greatly felt its awfulness.

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

1. Raging Bull
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. Empire Strikes Back
4. Ghostbusters
5. Die Hard

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

'80, not '80s. :)

1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. The Elephant Man
3. Superman II
4. Airplane!
5. Raging Bull
6. Stir Crazy
7. Popeye
8. The Big Red One
9. Somewhere In Time
10. The Long Riders

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Airplane!
The Shining
The Stunt Man
Atlantic City
Friday the 13th
The Blues Brothers
The Long Riders
Superman II
Caddyshack
Altered States
Stir Crazy

Nostro's 1980 Top 10

#10.
http://oi59.tinypic.com/345oqp2.jpg
Prom Night

#9.
http://oi59.tinypic.com/2whfbcg.jpg
Friday the 13th

#8.
http://oi59.tinypic.com/345kdaw.jpg
The Blue Lagoon

#7.
http://oi59.tinypic.com/10ghhs7.jpg
Dressed to Kill

#6.
http://oi57.tinypic.com/2ihqlbb.jpg
Flash Gordon

#5.
http://oi60.tinypic.com/25p4m00.jpg
Inferno

#4.
http://oi58.tinypic.com/24ez91d.jpg
Terror Train

#3.
http://oi59.tinypic.com/28tw07k.jpg
The Fog

#2.
http://oi62.tinypic.com/245mzb6.jpg
The Empire Strikes Back

#1.
http://oi60.tinypic.com/10huo3d.jpg
The Shining

1. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
2. Die Hard
3. The Shining
4. Castle in the Sky
5. My Neighbor Totoro
6. The Little Mermaid
7. Superman II (Lester version)
8. Back to the Future
9. Kiki's Delivery Service
10. Porco Rosso

^

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

1- The Shining
http://www.electricsheepmagazine.co....e-Shining2.jpg

2- The Empire Strikes Back
http://newslang89.files.wordpress.co...rikesback2.jpg

3- Breaker Morant
http://cineplex.media.baselineresear...14576_full.jpg

4- Friday The 13th
http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...tsy-palmer.jpg

5- The Changeling
http://365diasdecine.files.wordpress...changeling.jpg

6- The Fog
http://dailygrindhouse.com/wp-conten...8/the-fog2.jpg

7- The Blues Brothers
http://picniccinema.co.uk/wp-content...s-Brothers.jpg

8- Cannibal Holocaust
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m05p7ay0SH...blu-ray_4o.jpg

9- Dressed To Kill
http://dailygrindhouse.com/wp-conten...ed-to-kill.jpg

10- Raging Bull
http://content.epixhd.com/webassets/...apers_3685.jpg

Blade Runner (1982)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

Conan the Barbarian (1982)

Back to the Future (1985)

National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)

Sixteen Candles (1984)

Heathers (1988)

Pale Rider (1985)

Uncle Buck (1989)

Excalibur (1981)

Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)

In no order. Sorry no pictures.

it's not the decade it's the year 1980

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Well now it's the decade:) ( I would delete my post and do it right, but you already quoted me.)

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Ordinary People
The Shining
Raging Bull

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

1. The Shining
2. Breaker Morant
3. Stardust Memories
4. Empire Strikes Back
5. Mon Oncle d'Amérique
6. Ordinary People
7. Le Dernier Métro
8. Atlantic City
9. Kagemusha
10. Raging Bull

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Mark f, rep+ for including Inside Moves and Resurrection on your list. Both great movies. I would go along with most of the films of 1980 listed, and include The Hollywood Knights. Love that movie. "Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia. He was an English Guy. He came to fight the Turkish." :)

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

I knew I forgot something. The Hollywood Knights shoulda been on mine.

1. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese)
2. Tess (Roman Polanski)
3. The Elephant Man (David Lynch)
4. The Empire Stirkes Back (Irvin Kershner)
5. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick)
6. Airplane! (Abrahams, Zucker, and Zucker)
7. The Stunt Man (Richard Rush)
8. Inside Moves (Richard Donner)
9. The Blues Brothers (John Landis)
10. The Last Metro (François Truffaut)
11. Kegamusha: The Shadow Warrior (Akira Kurosawa)
12. Melvin & Howard (Jonathan Demme)
13. Atlantic City (Louis Malle)
14. The Big Red One (Sam Fuller)
15. Ordinary People (Robert Redford)
16. My Bodyguard (Tony Bill)
17. Breaker Morant (Bruce Beresford)
18. Resurrection (Daniel Petrie)
19. Coal Miner's Daughter (Michael Apted)
20. The Long Riders (Walter Hill)

OTHER FAVORITES (in no particular order): The Return of the Secaucus 7 (John Sayles), Private Benjamin (Howard Zieff), Hopscotch (Ronald Neame), The Changeling (Peter Medak), Caddyshack (Harold Ramis), Gloria (John Cassavetes), The Long Good Friday (John Mackenzie), Bad Timing (Nicolas Roeg), Bronco Billy (Clint Eastwood), American Gigolo (Paul Schrader), 9 to 5 (Colin Higgins), Seems Like Old Times (Jay Sandrich)

GUILTY PLEASURES: Xanadu (Robert Greenwald), Flash Gordon (Mike Hodges), Hero at Large (Martin Davidson), Popeye (Robert Altman), Any Which Way You Can (Buddy Van Horn), Little Darlings (Ronald F. Maxwell), Stir Crazy (Sidney Poitier), The Island (Michael Ritchie), Super Fuzz (Sergio Corbucci), Ruckus (Max Klevin)

ALL THE REST I'VE SEEN (unless I missed something): Alligator, Altered States, The Apple, The Awakening, The Baltimore Bullet, Battle Beyond the Stars, The Black Marble, The Blue Lagoon, Brubaker, Cannibal Holocaust, Carny, Can't Stop the Music, A Change of Seasons, Cheech & Chong's Next Movie, City of Women, The Competition, Cruising, The Dogs of War, Dressed to Kill, The Earthling, Fade to Black, Fame, Fatso, The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu, The Final Countdown, The First Deadly Sin, First Family, The Fog, The Formula, Foxes, Friday the 13th, Galaxina, Gilda Live!, The Gods Must Be Crazy, Hardly Working, The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood, H.E.A.L.T.H., Heart Beat, Heaven's Gate, He Knows You're Alone, Herbie Goes Bananas, Hide in Plain Sight, The Hollywood Knights, Home Movies, Honeysuckle Rose, How to Beat the High Cost of Living, Humanoids from the Deep, The Hunter, The idolmaker, In God We Trust, It's My Turn, The Jazz Singer, Just Tell Me What You Want, The Last Flight of Noah's Ark, The Last Married Couple in America, Little Miss Marker, Loulou, The Man with Bogart's Face, Maniac, Middle Age Crazy, Midnight Madness, The Mirror Crack'd, Motel Hell, The Mountain Men, My American Uncle, Night of the Juggler, Nijinski, The Ninth Configuration, The Nude Bomb, Oh God! Book II, Oh Heavenly Dog, One Trick Pony, Out of the Blue, Permanent Vacation, Pray TV, The Private Eyes, Prom Night, Raise the Titanic, Roadie, Rough Cut, Saturn 3, The Sea Wolves, Serial, Simon, Smokey and the Bandit II, Somewhere in Time, Spetters, Stardust Memories, Superman II, Terror Train, Tom Horn, Tribute, Up the Academy, Urban Cowboy, Used Cars, The Watcher in the Woods, When Time Ran Out, Where the Buffalo Roam, Wholly Moses!, Willie & Phil, Windwalker.

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

1. The Blues Brothers
2. The Shining
3. Raging Bull
4. Airplane!
5. The Empire Strikes Back
6. The Elephant Man
7. The Long Good Friday
8. Ordinary People
9. Used Cars
10. Caddyshack

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Raging Bull
The Falls
Berlin Alexanderplatz
The Empire Strikes Back
The Elephant Man

And I was going to only post 5 but has anyone else seen Arrebato (and yeah, I know imdb says 1979 but they're wrong sometimes)?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...9/Arrebato.jpg

That movie's pretty crazy. Crazy good.

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. Flash Gordon
3. Raging Bull
4. Superman II
5. Used Cars
6. The Blues Brothers
7. Airplane
8. Caddyshack
9. Stir Crazy
10. The Shining

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Popeye is a guilty pleasure for me since i was 4 years old.

1. A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
2. Dead Calm (1989)
3. Mad Max 2 The Road Warrior (1981)
4. Rain Man (1988)
5. Die Hard (1988)

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Read the thread title please - the year 1980. :)

He meant 1980 only, but some good movies on there ^.

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

1. Raging Bull
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Dressed to Kill
4. The Shining
5. Cannibal Holocaust

Just saw Inside Moves, great film, wasn't expecting it to be that good. These yearly favs threads are awesome. Watching Breaker Morant and Hollywood Knights soon.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3fb68204...j5mo8_250.gifv

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Im trying to work my way through every film ever nominated at the Oscars for picture, directing, and lead and supporting actor/ actress. Because Im such an indecisive sod, I try and have 2 years to pick from at any given time to work through, so when Im in the mood for a film but dont know what to watch, I pick one from my Oscar list from that year. And 1980 is one of my current ones, just because I hadnt seen any of them until I started this. So far Ive watched Private Benjamin, Melvin & Howard, Coal Miner's Daughter, and last night I watched the Elephant Man. Loved them all to be honest, though the Elephant Man was definitely my favourite so far. Melvin & Howard summed up exactly why Im doing this little (massive...) project because I had honestly never even heard of it, and it was really difficult to find. Then I watched it and had no clue why it seems to be so...forgotten, because it was really really good. Still to watch on this year list Ive got Raging Bull, Inside Moves, the Stunt Man, Resurrection, Tess, Gloria, the Great Santini, Ordinary People, and Tribute. Tribute is actually the only one Im really struggling to get hold of, so if anyone can help with that (legally of course) then Id be grateful.

Other films from 1980 I love that arent in this Oscar list, 9 to 5, Superman 2, Airplane, and the Shining.

Is this the movie Tribute that you're looking for?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DBEbisNuM8

You utter legend! Thank you!

I think it would have annoyed me more if I could get hold of all but one, rather than missing a couple! Thank you so much!

You're welcome. :)

10. Altered States
https://external-content.duckduckgo....gif&f=1&nofb=1

9. Maniac
https://external-content.duckduckgo....gif&f=1&nofb=1

8. The Changeling
https://external-content.duckduckgo....281&f=1&nofb=1

7. Ordinary People
https://external-content.duckduckgo....720&f=1&nofb=1

6. Motel Hell
https://external-content.duckduckgo....gif&f=1&nofb=1

5. Airplane!
https://external-content.duckduckgo....gif&f=1&nofb=1

4. Raging Bull
https://external-content.duckduckgo....gif&f=1&nofb=1

3. The Gods Must Be Crazy
https://external-content.duckduckgo....gif&f=1&nofb=1

2. Caddyshack
https://external-content.duckduckgo....gif&f=1&nofb=1

1. The Empire Strikes Back
https://external-content.duckduckgo....gif&f=1&nofb=1

hm: 9 to 5, Friday the 13th, The Elephant Man, Flash Gordon, Prom Night, Midnight Madness, My Bodyguard

Very good, but the correct answer was...

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E0Exu1E4J...d+Friday+1.jpg

Damn 1980 was a strong year, I'd be hard pressed to choose between;

Empire Strikes Back
Raging Bull
The Long Good Friday
The Shining

Fukasaku's Virus had all the potential to become one of the greatest apocalyptic science fiction films of all time. Alas it didn't, at least not the version I watched. Nevertheless it does display many great scenes and epic themes. Love the song by Janis Ian, the cinematography and the familiar cast of quality actors. (Glenn Ford, Robert Vaughn, Masao Kusakari, Henry Silva, Bo Svenson, Sonny Chiba, Chuck Connors, George Kennedy, Olivia Hussey, Edward James Olmos)

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Apart from 1970 and 1953, 1980 is the only year I don't have a film in my best films list, since 1935.

But The Long Good Friday is a good shout imo.

A. 81/156
B. 100/226
C. 91/218

I’ve got plenty to watch yet.

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

loooooooooooooooooooool

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Oops. Wrong thread

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Cruising the best flawed film of the year... or make that *decade.

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

https://64.media.tumblr.com/93b2a749...bf057ae5b5.gif

The Elephant Man / Lynch
Raging Bull / Scorsese
Airplane! / Zucker(s)
The Blues Brothers / Landis
The Fog / Carpenter

Ordinairy People / Redford
Cruising / Friedkin
Empire Strikes Back / Kershner
Altered States / Russell
The Shining / Kubrick

Low-key one of the best years ever right?

The first to come to mind was Empire Strikes Back. I've always loved that film. It is a bit of a nostalgia thing vis I grew up watching Star Wars. It does still hold up today.

Elephant Man and Airplane! are great too. They're polar opposites as well. That's not a bad thing. Actually having two distinct films be equally great is a good thing, at least to me.

I wasn't a fan of Raging Bull nor Ordinary People nor Shining though. Raging Bull and Shining are made by people whose work I don't like. Ordinary People I just found boring. Yes it won Best Picture. That doesn't mean I have to like it.

I'd have to look to see what other 1980 films I've seen.

I think we all can agree that Empire Strikes Back is a masterfully crafted movie.


I was a Star Wars kid, but even those that aren't fans of the series, it's still a neat Perfect movie. The soundtrack, cinematography, artistic backdrops, cast, story, and of course the brilliant pre-cgi effects.


It's clearly one of the top 10 movies of the decade.

1. Shining, The
2. Empire Strikes Back, The
3. Airplane!
4. Blues Brothers, The
5. Friday the 13th
6. Changeling

There are a lot of good horror movies that came out that year too, but not near the top.

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Top 5

1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. Ordinary People
3. Superman II
4. The Elephant Man
5. The Shining

I can go with that. The original Star Wars trilogy is some of the finest cinema ever. My brothers and my parents introduced us to Star Wars with the original trilogy, and it's about the only thing Star Wars I'll watch now. It's excellent.

I believe this was just 1980, not the 1980s. Just glancing at a post a page or two back, it sounds like other people also mis-read it.

1. The Shining
2. Zigeunerweisen
3. The Elphant Man
4. Raging Bull
5. City of the Living Dead
6. The Ninth Configuration
7. Inferno
8. Bad Timing
9. Encounters of the Spooky Kind
10. The Fall of the House of Usher (Svankmajer)

Haven't seen that I could imagine making my list

• Cruising
• Ordinary People
• Kagemusha
• American Gigolo
• Permanent Vacation
• Berlin Alexanderplatz
• Shogun Assassin
• City of Women
• The Big Red One
• Breaker Morant
• The Apple

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

I'm WAY behind many other users here on 1980. I just checked my chart, and I only have five rated 90 or higher, so I'm gonna hold off on that.


I'll tell you my top ten ALBUMS of 1980, though:


1. Talking Heads - Remain in Light
2. Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
3. John Williams - Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
4. Augustus Pablo - Rockers Meets King Tubbys in a Fire House
5. Jackson 5 - Triumph
6. Motorhead - Ace of Spades
7. Tatsuro Yamashita - Ride on Time
8. Harold Budd / Brian Eno - Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror
9. Joy Division - Closer
10. Siouxsie and The Banshees - Kaleidoscope

You're probably ahead of me. According to my IMDb ratings, I've seen 16 movies from 1980, and they don't have the shiniest numbers from me.

The original post is looking for top or favorite movies from the calendar year 1980, not for the entire decade of the 1980s.

https://youtu.be/eE5Z7gDbgVA?si=XDHtWfUTJN8p4ryg

1. Ordinary People - I've had several viewings over the decades, and it still holds up, still moves me, still impresses me that MTM had that in her (after years of her playing sweet hearted people on her TV series)

2. Mon oncle d’Amérique - a comedic, thought-provoking slap in the face, IMO, it's on par with Resnais early greats.

3. Atlantic City

4. Confidence - István Szabó had a great decade, along with this he filmed Mephisto, Colonel Redl, and Hanussen

5. Aakrosh - Hindi arthouse cinema, I named Naseeruddin Shah my best actor on the year for his performance as a lawyer defending a man accused of murdering his wife... movie left me shaken and angry

6. Pixtoe - painful, very painful - Marília Pêra was my best supporting actress

7. Airplane! - funny, very funny

8. Coal Miner’s Daughter - once again, agreeing with Oscar; Sissy Spacek was my best actress winner as well

9. The Shining

10. The Elephant Man

Kagemusha, and Raging Bull are slotted just outside of them.

Runners up: Babylon, Breaker Morant, Resurrection, Hopscotch, The Changeling, Heaven's Gate, The Long Riders, The Nest, All My Girls, Legend of the Fox, Foam Bath, A Distant Cry from Spring.

Caddyshack, The Gods Must Be Crazy & The Blues Brothers were fun

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

I had been told for years that I should be mad at Ordinairy People for winnings Oscars over superior films that year... but once I watched it, I simply couldn't.

It's not without serious cliches - the girlfriend and the bullies bits just had to be part of this story, the shrink scenes are treated like they're the first of their kind in a Hollywood film (are they?) - but as a whole, it's precious... and I loved two or three performances in it.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.co...25282%2529.JPG

And not to mention that ending :bawling:

Kagemusha is fairly good. The problem it has isn't that it's bad. The problem it has is that his Ran overshadows it. I've seen Kagemusha once some time ago, and I did really like it. I just wildly prefer Ran, the one the former was made for which to be a dress rehearsal. Kagemusha is great on its own, except it isn't on its own. That's its one negative.

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

I try and watch a film as its own entity, rather that knock it for not being something else, Ran or whatever, so I didn't filter it through that lens. My only issue, if I'm remembering it correctly, was all the tell, not show. It lessens the impact of certain scene. Mizoguchi did that in the 47 Ronin for another, and I always wondered if Kurosawa was inspired by that? I get the reasons, and it can work at times, the reactions can be powerful, but sometimes it's frustrating. (In Ronin, Mizo had the attack relayed by way of letter... and that seriously undercut the moment for me).

It's been decades since I've seen it but I really remember loving Woody Allen's Stardust Memories released from that year, but I need to watch it again. The same goes for The Elephant Man, though I remember that film far more. Loved both of them, but they are due for re-watches before I'd rank them, but both would certainly be at the top of my list of 1980 (the year, not decade) films. I also remember liking The Last Metro by Truffaut a lot too, but it's been years since I've seen it.

Raging Bull of course is great and would be toward the top. I also liked two films that are reasonably well known, but not necessarily considered true classics: Heaven's Gate and The Long Riders.

The Long Good Friday is really a cool British gangster film and of course The Shining by Kubrick is a bonified and well recognized classic that is amazing.

Funny thing, last October we saw The Shining in the theater and I had a discussion afterward because I swear that thing is a low-key subtle comedy. It's absolutely catch you off guard hilarious and I had always slightly been aware of something there to the humor, but until I watched it in the theater, it didn't stand out to as prominently as when seeing it on the big screen. For instance Jack reading Playboy in the waiting room (just as our "heroes" in Dr. Strangelove did) and also the huge HUGE setup of Scatman Crothers coming to "save the day!" and then how anticlimactic, sudden, and shocking his death was. His murder seemed more like a satire of how horror movies tend to go and really just seemed like a dig against horror movie conventions. I also love Jack's response to Duvall while driving up to the Overlook Hotel, "See, he saw it on television; it's OK!" I think Duvall played her role straight, but I swear Kubrick and Nicholson had an agreement to do The Shining as a three layered film... horror on the surface, horror on the inner layer underneath, and dark comedy at the core.

Airplane! is great from that year too and Kurosawa's Kagemusha is a film I was bewildered by and need to watch again too.

Yeah lots of interesting films from the year the ushered in the 1980s.

My favorite is The Empire Strikes Back, which I recently wrote a review of sorts in my top 100 films of all time thread linked at the bottom of my posts in the bio-section or whatever it's called.

Also MUBI does a cool top lists of by year if you're looking for some ideas or want to "blind watch something." I'm really interested in The King and the Mockingbird:

https://mubi.com/en/lists/mubi-s-top-50-films-of-1980

It's good, yes, but I wouldn't call it one of the best necessarily. 1939 will always be the best year and I know 1974, 1975, and 1999 get a lot of props around here too, but if I had to name a second best year of film, I'd build my case around 1960.

That might be an entirely different subject for a different thread.

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Yeah it's important to take a film for its own merit than filter it through something else, even though it can be hard to do. People will compare films to each other even with a loose connection, and even if it isn't fair to either film. I do recall Kagemusha always being touted as "Kurosawa's dress rehearsal for Ran" and I kind of went in with that mindset because it had been pounded in my brain, and I had seen Ran once or twice, so it was hard to get away from that. It wasn't fair to Kagemusha, but it happened anyway. Oops...

My theater is going to screen The Elephant Man in a couple of weeks (and they showed Mulholland Dr. tonight)... but for whatever reason they're showing it as part of a horror series (ironic, right? :laugh: )

I've heard so much shit (positive and negative) about The Shining over the years I'm kind of scared to re-watch it...but a part of me as well, always felt that it's somewhat funny, intentionally or not...

I did watch opening minutes of The Long Riders but turned it off mainly because it didn't seem anything "special" (unlike The Driver and The Warriors which were fire from the get-go)... care to elaborate on it's merits? :)

I wondered why I forgot about the Long Good Friday, after seeing it mentioned. Took a look and oh, it's on my 1981 list - I go by theatrical rather than festival showings or test screenings or whatnot, for my release dates on my lists (and movie blog), sometimes that trips me up. So that's why... but yeah, agree it's one of the good ones, no matter what season you place it in.

You're not wrong, comparisons and such are inevitable, and can be an important part of film study, and will or can, pop up in general conversation. If a person were going through Hitch's 'man on the run' films for another example, you're likely going to contrast and compare and speak of the progression's movie to movie. It's just going to happen.

I just meant that if I'm watching like, the 39 Steps, I try to be in 39 Steps mode, rather than going, "Yup, but it's no North by Northwest." ;)

Yeah I totally get it. For a while I had a terrible habit of comparing everything to everything else. Now I try my best to take things on their own merit. Of course I don't always succeed. I'll try my best though. Some movies are strikingly similar to other movies, and will be compared, fair or not.

I understand the point you're making. It's important to watch a film for itself. I probably shouldn't but I accidentally compared Naked City and Stray Dog. I have yet to rewatch Stray Dog as part of the Noirvember Hall of Fame event here, although I have watched the film a handful of times. They feel similar in that they're police procedural with some mystery and similar progression. Each film has an experienced officer working with a youngster who's more than willing to do the work even though he doesn't know what he's doing yet. There's a mystery to solve. They're set in big cities in the middle of stifling summers. Stuff like that. I know they aren't exactly the same. I just found some parallels that were interesting to me. I took Naked City on its own merit though.

City Of The Living Dead
Atlantic City
Breaker Morant
The Fog
The Exterminator
Altered States
The Big Brawl
Cheech and Chong's Next Movie
Bronco Billy
American Gigolo
My Bodyguard
The Long Good Friday
The Hollywood Knights
Friday the 13th
The Empire Strikes Back
Terror Train
Flash Gordon
The Blues Brothers
The Octagon
Battle Beyond The Stars
The Big Red One
Midnight Madness
The Shining
Caddyshack
9 to 5
Forbidden Zone

Wow. Good year. I didn't even finish looking over my choices, the list was getting too long.

Re: What's everyone's top movies of 1980?
 

Airplane!
The Elephant Man
Raging Bull
The Shining
Who's Singin' Over There?

1980 was a good year for movies! (Coincidentally, that was the year I was born.)
Here’s my top 10:
1.Raging Bull
2.Atlantic City
3.Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
4.The Shining
5.Heaven’s Gate (Director’s Cut)
6.Ordinary People
7.Coal Miner’s Daughter
8.The Big Red One (Reconstruction)
9.Breaker Morant
10.Caddyshack

Mark C