The last part of my 100 one-sentence-movie reviews!
1909-1934
1935-1959
1960-1984
1985-2009
1985
Back to the Future
The first and best of the time travel trilogy from the 1980's - fantastically entertaining, and Christopher Lloyd is totally deranged.
1986
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Silly but entertaining (what can one expect of the 1980's?), a modern comedy classic with Alan Ruck from Spin City (oh yeah, that must mean quality!).
1987
Dirty Dancing
It's only here because 1987 obviously was a bad year for the movie industry, I grew up with it, Patrick Swayze is rather hot, the dancing is fun to watch, the 1960's musical score is awesome (with exception for the cliché 1980's songs, of course) - and this Polish poster was cool.
1988
Dangerous Liaisons
John Malkovich is brilliant as Vicomte de Valmont and Glenn Close is the offspring of Satan in the plottiest plotting movie ever, with puppets and puppet masters dressed in wonderful 18th century clothing.
1989
When Harry Met Sally...
A talky comedy about two people trying to remain friends after having slept with each other - can it work?
1990
Cry-Baby
I never tire of watching this brilliant 1950's rock'n'roll spoof and musical parody signed John Waters - awesome soundtrack!
1991
Thelma & Louise
A female road movie that makes women go "hell, yeah!" without any pretentios feminist crap - Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis rule.
1992
Reservoir Dogs
Cool, clever, bloody, funny... Tarantino!
1993
Groundhog Day
A boring title to an amazingly entertaining movie about a man having to re-live the same awful day in a dreadfully cheerful small town with the tasteless Andie McDowell (can't stand her) - Bill Murray is always best playing grouchy, pathetic and depressed losers.
1994
Clerks
A hilarious low-budget comedy about store clerks and their everyday bickering and not every-day-just-happened-to-sleep-with-a-dead-guy-situations and other things I don't really envy.
1995
Se7en
Starting off as a basic story about a soon-to-be-retired cop and a young innovative unwanted colleage this film soon turns into visits at unimaginably gross crime scenes and chasing of a psychopath.
1996
Mars Attacks!
Tim Burton manages to include every 1950's alien invader cliché and at the same time give the American dream a kick in the ass in this wonderfully insane comedy, but the best thing is to be found on the soundtrack: Slim Whitman's "Indian Love Call".
1997
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Yeah baby - the best James Bond spoof with wonderfully low humour and a wardrobe that I will steal if I get the opportunity.
1998
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Sick, weird, nightmarish, hilarious film adaption of the best journalist ever - Hunter S. Thompson's - book about a drug driven tour in Las Vegas.
1999
Being John Malkovich
John Cusack finds a tunnel in which he can enter actor John Malkovich's body and become him - something that he, his sexy co-worker and dreadfully looking wife (Cameron Diaz) exploits, to Malkovich's unmotivated anger.
2000
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The Coen brothers have made a film adaption of Homer's "The Odyssey" set in the 1930's American South - Soggy Bottom Boys sing and George Clooney has big trouble finding his Dapper Dan pomade.
2001
Amelie from Montmartre
A pixilated French girl named Amélie Poulain does her best to help people around her without them knowing it - and in her own peculiar ways - and finds love.
2002
The Pianist
Even though it's kind of tabu to praise Roman Polanski's films during current circumstances (or rather, the circumstances that's been for 30 years) I still love this film about a Jewish piano player in the Warsawa ghetto of Nazi occupied Europe in WWII - the best Polanski film since Repulsion (1965).
2003
Oldboy
A twisted South Korean revenge tale (with a huge twist!) about Oh Dae-Su who after having been kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years has five days to find his captor and avenge his lost years.
2004
Fahrenheit 9/11
Michael Moore's perhaps not entirely objective views on what happened to the United States before, during and after the 9/11 attacks - but who does not think that the dear World manipulator George Bush needed some opposition?
2005
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
Michael Winterbottom's (hehe, "bottom"...) attempt to film Lawrence Sterne's "unfilmable" novel "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy" from 1759-1769, and the difficulties around the filming of it - and a bit of Stephen Fry.
Reviewed in February.
2006
Little Miss Sunshine
An adorable independent film about little chubby Olive who wants to participate in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty contest, and with her drug addicted grandfather as a mentor, her failure to father, her brother who refuses to talk and her mother who tries her best for everyone, they go on a strange roadtrip and try to get in time to the beauty pageant.
2007
Death Proof
A really cool homage to 1970's B-movies with a fantastic soundtrack, hot chicks, innovative camera style à la Tarantino-at-his-best and a mean Kurt Russell giving an incredible and unsuspectedly fascinating performance.
2008
Repo! The Genetic Opera
This dark musical takes place in a not too distant future, where an epidemic has caused a biotech company to make a fortune out of an organ-financing program, and if the people who desperately needs new organs can't pay back the money they simply have to... give back their organs.
2009
Inglourious Basterds
Blogged about in August, I still find this Tarantino film a gem, taking place in an alternate timeline in Nazi-Germany and France, where a group calling themselves "The Inglourious Basterds" does their best to kill off every god damned Nazi there is.
That was all! A 100 one-sentence-(kind of)-movie reviews on 100 great films from 1909-2009. I hope you enjoyed it! If I get as many followers as 200 one day I won't be able to sleep to find an blog post idea to top this off... Stay under 199, please!
You had me at Dangerous Liaisons. SOLD.
ReplyDeleteAndrew:
ReplyDeleteI will take it that you approve of my film taste ;)
I had a real hard time finding a movie I liked for each year of the 1980's (a dark decade!), but Dangerous Liaisons has been a favorite of mine for years.
uh oh..now we're looking pretty grim here lol..Couple a definate faves of mine from the 80s were Tampopo and The Untouchables..Amelie is an instant classic much like Tampopo..still haven't seen "Bastards" yet..
ReplyDeleteGoya's Ghosts is a more recent big fave of mine that seemed to slip under the radar when it came out..well worth a look..ditto for The Lives of Others..
Dangerous Liaisons its a must.
ReplyDeleteOld Boy its a story that I believe has all the elements of modern cinema and the best soundtrack of all the movies that you present of this part - catch "A tale of two sisters" and "Bad Guy" if you don't have already saw these films from Asia - srange films but really haunted, like Old Boy.
Se7en is a Hollywood killer, love it.
The comedys are on the top. I like Clercs and Groundhog Day Bill.
And of course Murray deserve more attetiont about his total charming talent. Hunter S. Thompson is a mastermind but I liked more the book from the film, my favorite form Gilliam's is always 12 Monkeys.
So long.
Thanks for yor gentle reaction to me for my comments here.
Christopher:
ReplyDeleteI'm ashamed to say that I haven't seen neither Tampopo nor The Untouchables! I have to sharpen my modern film watching, obviously.
And I haven't seen Goya's Ghost neither! Thanks for a lot of film tips, anyway - I will sure remember to watch them when I get the chance :)
Don Michael Corleone:
I actually watched A Tale of Two Sisters the other day - it will be featured in a review later today :)
I haven't heard of Bad Guy, I have to do some IMDb research!
That's the lovely thing with the comments section - discussing with other film nerds and get recommendations!
Have you seen Bill Murray as Hunter S. Thompson in Where The Buffalo Roams? He's a bit sharper than Johnny Depp, I can't believe I forgot to include that one on the list...