Favorite Movies of 1989?

Tools    





"..the violent death of God" ? Just watched the Begotten trailer, it looks fascinating and ominous but don't know If I will ever dare to watch it tho.. Someone on letterboxd wrote; "this is why we have psychiatrists and counsellors"..



Some other good ones that haven't been mentioned yet:

Chameleon Street - this won the dramatic prize at Sundance, but no distributors touched it, so it sort of became lost until fairly recently. You could say that it's the Sorry to Bother You of its day.
Mystery Train - a funny companion piece to Stranger Than Paradise.
Sea of Love - Is Ellen Barkin extraordinarily sexy or what?
Speaking Parts - A strong, early Atom Egoyan movie about the dehumanizing effects of video.
The Big Picture - It's rough around the edges, but it's a very funny non-mockumentary effort by Christopher Guest featuring a hilarious turn by Martin Short as a fussy agent.



Some other good ones that haven't been mentioned yet:

Chameleon Street - this won the dramatic prize at Sundance, but no distributors touched it, so it sort of became lost until fairly recently. You could say that it's the Sorry to Bother You of its day.
Mystery Train - a funny companion piece to Stranger Than Paradise.
Sea of Love - Is Ellen Barkin extraordinarily sexy or what?
Speaking Parts - A strong, early Atom Egoyan movie about the dehumanizing effects of video.
The Big Picture - It's rough around the edges, but it's a very funny non-mockumentary effort by Christopher Guest featuring a hilarious turn by Martin Short as a fussy agent.
Agreed on Mystery Train, added it to my honorable mentions.
Sea of Love needs a re-watch, the other ones I haven't seen, yet.




Victim of The Night
Brutal year for me. I've always felt, even then, that the latter part of the 80s was perhaps the most grim for American cinema. I was able to come up with a dozen films (given that I have not seen Cinema Paradiso, Crimes and Misdemeanors, and Do The Right Thing).

12. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
11. Erik The Viking
10. Harlem Nights
9. Lethal Weapon 2
8. The Little Mermaid
7. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
6. When Harry Met Sally
5. Major League
4. Batman
3. Pumpkinhead
2. Field of Dreams
1. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover



Brutal year for me. I've always felt, even then, that the latter part of the 80s was perhaps the most grim for American cinema. I was able to come up with a dozen films (given that I have not seen Cinema Paradiso, Crimes and Misdemeanors, and Do The Right Thing).

12. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
11. Erik The Viking
10. Harlem Nights
9. Lethal Weapon 2
8. The Little Mermaid
7. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
6. When Harry Met Sally
5. Major League
4. Batman
3. Pumpkinhead
2. Field of Dreams
1. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover
Isn't Pumpkinhead '88?



Victim of The Night
Sea of Love - Is Ellen Barkin extraordinarily sexy or what?
She is, she absolutely wrecked me in that movie (and several others) but I didn't think the movie was very good.



Victim of The Night
Isn't Pumpkinhead '88?
Oh, is it? It came up on a list of movies from '89.

Edit: I see the issue. It was wide-released in January '89 after a limited release in October of '88. Wikipedia lists it on its list of films of 1989 and I saw it in the theater in '89 so I'm keeping it, frankly because there just weren't enough good movies in '89 for me to take it off the list.



Victim of The Night
Overall, a pretty weak year. Just an opinion.
Yeah, even searching French, British, and Australian films didn't help me much.



I needed that list and it was sure Back to the future for me.

I remember I had so much fun watching this. I think I could have more Flashback and more to write about it later.



Definitely Dead Poets Sociaty.I recently watched this movie again, it's incredible, though very sad.



i m surprised with how well the 80s ended with a fabulous bunch of films, from all genres, truly a great end to an amazing decade
Personally, I always felt the 80’s was a pretty weak decade for films. Not saying there aren’t decent films within it, but the decades that seem to “drone on” with me are the 80’s and the 2000’s+.
__________________
Imagine an eye unruled by man-made laws of perspective, an eye unprejudiced by compositional logic, an eye which does not respond to the name of everything but which must know each object encountered in life through an adventure of perception. How many colors are there in a field of grass to the crawling baby unaware of 'Green'?

-Stan Brakhage





1989

15. Field of Dreams Phil Alden Robinson
14. Dead Poets Society Peter Weir
13. Born on the Fourth of July Oliver Stone Dead Calm Phillip Noyce
12. Major League David S. Ward
11. Best of the Best Robert Radler
10. Say Anything.. Cameron Crowe
9. Do the Right Thing Spike Lee
8. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure Stephen Herek
7. Licence to Kill John Glen
6. The Killer John Woo
5. Kickboxer David Worth, Mark DiSalle
4. Glory Edward Zwick
3. Batman Tim Burton
2. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Steven Spielberg
1. Back to the Future Part II Robert Zemeckis

HM:
Born on the Fourth of July, My Left Foot, Casualties of War, Parenthood, Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend, Tango & Cash, A Grand Day Out, Violent Cop, God of Gamblers, The Abyss, Lethal Weapon 2, We’re No Angels, Uncle Buck, Look Who’s Talking, Black Rain, When Harry Met Sally.., See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Driving Miss Daisy, Mystery Train, All Dogs Go to Heaven, Three Fugitives, Lock Up.
*edit; Born on the Fourth of July is out and Dead Calm is in.



Dead Calm is a great thriller. I would probably cut the last 10-15 minutes, which I understand where studio-mandated, but still...
__________________
Check out my podcast: The Movie Loot!



Society ennobler, last seen in Medici's Florence
1. Crimes and Misdemeanors
2. The War of the Roses
3. Henry V
4. Sea of Love
5. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

6. Der siebente Kontinent [The Seventh Continent]
7. Music Box
8. Адио, Рио [Adio, Rio]
9. When Harry Met Sally…
10. Sex, Lies, and Videotape
__________________
"Population don't imitate art, population imitate bad television." W.A.
"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." M.T.