What are your favorite 80's movies?

[quartz]

Kevin Costner played the dead friend, Alex Marshall. There were flashback scenes, but all of them were omitted in the final cut, leaving just a shot of his wrist, IIRC. Maybe you could have related to his character.

Hmm....yes, the one who kills himself...perhaps. He was very successful and popular tho, no? So perhaps not.

 

[quartz]

Driving Miss Daisy is on now. Sweet smokin’ jeezuz, I’d be dumping her uppity entitled rich little ass on the side of the road in a minute. Good thing I know she redeems herself later.

 

[manhn]

I love The Big Chill. My fascination with angsty yuppies began with that movie.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I am not sure if movies are better or worse now, but I know that the genres of movies I tend to like are being made less frequently.

I think a movie like Love Simon is on par with The Breakfast Club, but there are just fewer teen movies. But Love Simon doesn't have the same cultural impact. I wonder what teens these days view as THEIR MOVIE? Twilight? The Hunger Games? To All the Boys I Loved? The 90s had Clueless, the 00s had Mean Girls.

And romcoms and romantic movies are nonexistent. Same for tearjerkers. We have bear rapes instead.

I see a movie like The Favourite, and will it hold up as well as A Room With a View? Everyone is an antihero these days.

I suppose superhero movies are better now. Yay for that.

LOL, todays movies are sequels and superheroes or superhero sequels.

I miss actual acting. No green screens.

 

[quartz]

I love The Big Chill. My fascination with angsty yuppies began with that movie.

I was annoyed by all the characters, there was very little in the way of endearing or charming personalities. The only way I’d ever hang out with them is if I couldn’t find my own weed. Then I’d ditch them.

Watching Beneath the Planet of the Apes now - much better!

 

[PRlady]

Reading this, I thought of movies I would love to send back in time to make ‘80s people watch them. Just from the last year, Sorry to Bother You, KKKlansmen and Get Out would make a great triple-feature in the white suburb I lived in in 1985. I’d throw in Call Me By Your Name and BookSmart just to horrify them further.

 

[Japanfan]

LOL, todays movies are sequels and superheroes or superhero sequels.

I am not sure if movies are better or worse now, but I know that the genres of movies I tend to like are being made less frequently.

Good movies are still being made, but I suspect that a higher proportion of the good ones are Indie films. Some of those are shown on the Sundance channel. There are apparently some wonderful Indigenous films on the Indigenous network, also.

The availability of excellent series these days is competition for the movies. I still enjoy a good film, but devote a lot more of my time to series. A series provides many hours of viewing time, very often seasons of it, and characters/stories arcs get to develop much more than they do in a two hour film. A lot of acting talent is going to series these days. I think actors may prefer series because of the chance for character development and because they have steady work and a predictable schedule. The hours for TV series are probably better, also.

I don't go to many films in the theater these days because I'm lazy and rather just watch a film or show at home. And a movie on pay-per-view is $5.00/$6.00 for two of us, whereas going to the theater is $13.00 for a ticket and maybe parking on top of that.

In addition, some films are best seen in the theater, but plenty are just fine for the small screen. I take that into account when I choose to see a film in the theater.

I've been to quite a few films that have been sold-out, and sometimes have forgotten to get tickets in advance. And film festivals are still hugely popular. So, people are still going to the movies.

And romcoms and romantic movies are nonexistent. Same for tearjerkers. We have bear rapes instead.

So far as I know, romcoms are still being made and still popular.

I see a movie like The Favourite, and will it hold up as well as A Room With a View? Everyone is an antihero these days.

I never saw A Room With a View, and didn't know that it held up.

I imagine that some films will hold up over time, as has always been the case. But the audience for those films will be smaller than it once was.

And when virtual reality becomes more commonplace, perhaps people will watch films even less. The entertainment orientation of the generation now growing up with phones and laptops will be different.

But I am sure that film will always remain an art form, and there will always be artists.

 

[manhn]

There's Crazy Rich Asians, then...

 

[Susan1]

Kevin Costner played the dead friend, Alex Marshall.

"......a brilliant physics student at the University of Michigan..........."
Give me a line from that movie, I'll give you the next one! I think I'm going to have to watch The Big Chill AGAIN tonight!

Oh yeah, I even got the soundtrack for Christmas that year.

 

[bardtoob]

My daughter just finished watching 16 Candles for the first time and is so appalled that she doesn't know where to begin .

I wasn't 27 until I realized what Samantha thought Farmer Ted was pulling out when sitting in the half a car in the antiquated school auto shop during the dance.

 

[antmanb]

I don't really know why but I loved Private Benjamin when I was a kid (in addition to all the others people have mentioned).

Stand By Me was my favourite film as a kid though.

 

[Desperado]

Reading this thread I’m realizing how many films were out in the 80s, most of them really good. Not named that I saw:

• Flashdance (oh, what a feeling!)
• Moonstruck (before I soured on Nicholas Cage)
• The Fabulous Baker Boys (Jeff Bridges - oh my!)
• The Witches of Eastwick

When Harry Met Sally will always be one of my favourite rom coms of all time and Ferris Bueller was my favourite comedy for eons too.

I miss seeing movies in the theatres.

 

[skatesindreams]

Another one of my favorite movies:
Tucker: The Man and His Dream

 

[floridaice]

The Mission

(Come on skating fans!)

 

[Josh78]

Just thought of a new one in the "guilty pleasure" category ---

"Girls Just Want To Have Fun" -- with a young Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt and a SUPER young Shannon Dougherty -- Sarah and Helen play friends who are obsessed with a fictional TV dance show (Dance TV) and it's just funny and dramatic the whole way as they both try to become dancers on the show

 

[clairecloutier]

Another 80s guilty pleasure: No Way Out, with Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, and Sean Young. Not the most plausible plot line, but quite entertaining regardless.

 

[ldec]

If we talk about defining 80s movies: Blues Brothers, Labyrinth, Back to the Future (despite some problematic plot elements it is still incredibly enjoyable)

On a more serious note: The Killing Fields, Brazil, Chariots of Fire, Blue Velvet, The Vanishing, Pink Floyd: The Wall

Animation: Akira, Grave of the Fireflies, anything by studio Ghibli produced in that decade

 

[Susan1]

The 1960s movies on CNN was pre-empted Sunday night (even the repeat at midnight). I keep seeing reruns of the other ones, so maybe it will show up eventually.