1980s
Shawn Glinis provides his personal retrospective of James L. Brooks’ classic comedy Broadcast News on its 30th anniversary, showing us how the film’s understanding of the world colors his own.
In our latest entry of The Nominated Film You May Have Missed series, we discuss the 1989 Robin Williams drama Dead Poets Society.
Gremlins, an ’80s holiday classic, comes mainly from two influences: old-fashioned sci-fi/horror and the Looney Tunes.
Now streaming on Sundance Now is Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s final film, Kamikaze 1989. While mostly nonsensical, it’s a joy to watch.
Evil Dead 2 succeeds in finding the twisted humor within the horror genre and makes the film a memorable exercise of cartoonish entertainment.
Nostalgia is fine when it comes to the entertainment we love, but it can also have unseen dangers, especially in our current digital age.
Premiering back in 1984, Buckaroo Banzai has long been a prized cult classic, though perhaps one that is lesser-known in the wider world.
Sure, it’s a terrible film, yet Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 has elements to make it an entertaining cult classic in the making.
Albert Brooks’s cult classic Lost in America is not just one of the funniest films of the 1980s, but a subtle examination of perspective, too.
Old Enough is an affectionately accurate depiction of how it feels to grow into an age when the opinions of friends are all that matters.
Thirty years on, Alan Clarke’s fitfully funny film, Rita, Sue and Bob Too, still holds up as a first-rate character study and resonant critique of the Thatcher era.
Willow has a special place in many film lovers’ hearts. Many of those who love the 1988 fantasy epic saw it as children, and at that young age, the film was possibly the greatest cinematic achievement they had ever seen. There were unlikely heroes, wondrous creatures and imaginative magic filling nearly every frame.
There’s a strange dichotomy surrounding the films of John Hughes, both written and directed. In one sense, there have been few directors that have so understood the angst of the teenage experience. Yet, conversely, Hughes’ depiction of both race and gender are entirely at odds with his apparent insight into the teen condition.
In recent years, the gangster film seems to be a stale genre, with a majority of the films lacking any distinctive qualities. Last year’s Black Mass is a prime example, with the only really memorable aspect of the film being Johnny Depp’s performance. Viewed against this backdrop, then, The Infiltrator just manages to stand out amongst modern films.
Over at our official Facebook page, we are currently posting daily film recommendations, with each week being a different theme. This is a collection of those recommendations! This week’s theme is underrated horror films from the 1980’s.