Thirty Years Ago Today

Jesse Walker is up (or down) to 1981 in his top ten film lists:

1. Coup de Torchon
2. The Decline...of Western Civilization
3. Blow Out
4. Lola
5. Mephisto
6. Gallipoli
7. Time Bandits
8. Polyester

9. Modern Romance
10. Ms.45

A fine list.  They might not all be in my top ten, but I like them all except for Blow Out.  I'm aware that many find this one of De Palma's best, but aside from the fact he's copying Antonioni in addition to Hitchcock, I'm not sure what this film has going for it.

Here are Jesse's honorable mentions:

11. Vernon, Florida
12. America is Waiting
13. Pixote
14. Das Boot
15. Pennies from Heaven
16. Tango
17. Junkopia
18. Crac

19. Gregory's Girl
20. Smothering Dreams

Haven't seen 16, 17, 18 and 20, but I like the rest, except for Pennies From Heaven, which I consider a pretentious disaster (and it's not a disaster because it's pretentious, it's bad in general).

Jesse ignores a lot of highly regarded films from that year, including Chariots Of Fire, On Golden Pond and The French Lieutenant's Woman, and I have to agree with these omissions.  (That reminds me--when I saw it, they stopped COF in the middle so police could check to see if an escaped criminal was in the theatre--that was actually pretty exciting.)  On the other hand, I thought Reds was pretty good, and it would probably make an honorable mention for me.

There were also some mainstreem successes that would make my list:

An American Werewolf in London

Arthur

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Stripes

I mght also throw in Taxi Zum Klo.  I haven't seen it in a long time, but it certainly made an impression.

Other films of interest:

Absence of Malice,  All Night Long, ...All the Marbles, The Amateur, American Pop, Body Heat, The Cannonball Run, Cattle Annie and Little Britches, Clash of the Titans, Continental Divide, Cutter's Way,  Diva, Dragonslayer, Escape From New York, The Evil Dead, Excalibur, Eye of the Needle, Fort Apache, The Bronx, The Four Seasons, Ghost Story, The Great Muppet Caper, Heartbeeps, Heavy Metal, History of the World, Part I, The Hit, Honky Tonk Freeway, The Howling, The Incredible Shrinking Woman,

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains, Lili Marleen, Mad Max 2, Mommie Dearest, My Bloody Valentine, My Dinner with Andre, Neighbors, Nice Dreams, Outland, Prince of the City, Private Lessons, Puberty Blues, Quest for Fire, Ragtime, Rich and Famous, S.O.B., Scanners, Sharky's Machine, Shock Treatment, Southern Comfort, They All Laughed, Thief, This Is Elvis, Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man, Wolfen, Zorro, The Gay Blade