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1988

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A FISH CALLED WANDA (dir: Charles Crichton, R) - Thom says, "I wish Kevin Kline did more comedic roles. As Otto – an ignorant philosopher/mostly-inept henchman – he is a constant scene-stealer. Bonkers! I thought for a while that FAWLTY TOWERS was my favorite post-Python John Cleese performance until I re-watched this gem. Snafu! Michael Palin (another Pythonite) is painfully earnest and wonderful as the stuttering Ken – another inept henchman who seems to constantly fail despite his best (or worst) intentions. Yelchp! Watch this with your mother if she happens to be a perv and loves Jamie Lee Curtis! Winner!"
WILLOW (dir: Ron Howard, PG) - Michelle says, "Before he was a scary LEPRECHAUN or Harry Potter’s professor, Warwick Davis was lovable Willow Ufgood, a would-be sorcerer, adventurer, and protector of babies. The movie combines (perhaps to a fault) the familiar epic terrain of Tolkien’s dwarves, humans, and wizardry with the Grimm brothers’ cruel queen threatened by the prophecy of a child who will grow up to one day bring about her downfall. It also features an adventuring party consisting of Val Kilmer as the reformed hero who shockingly falls for a beautiful woman he initially seems to hate, and a pair of tiny, kooky Shakesperean-style characters (Rool and Franjean) whose funny voices and hijinks still make me giggle. But this is another fun eighties movie that appealed to me before I developed my inner film critic, so watch it with your pre-adolescent goggles on, and you’ll appreciate it like I do."
AKIRA (dir: Katsuhiro Ôtomo, R) - Michelle says, "Often called the best anime of all time, Otomo’s manga (that’s Japanese for comic book) turned feature length film delivers on Western expectations of weird body horror, post-apocalyptic obsession with large scale destruction, and a fragmented philosophy that forces us to focus on the art and characters, rather than the delineations of the bizarre plot. It all adds up, though, even if you haven’t read Otomo’s 7-book opus, and the theme of brotherhood and alienation resounds amidst a power struggle between inflated authority and misguided but sincere kids and anarchists. Plus there’s the sweet shots of boys on motorcycles, speeding through a grainy, eighties vision of Tokyo in the new millennium. And unlike most anime, the women aren’t just there to show off their sexy parts."
BEETLEJUICE (dir: Tim Burton, PG) - Michelle says, "In her only good performance besides her disaffected, sarcastic teen protagonist in HEATHERS, Winona Ryder plays Lydia, a disaffected, sarcastic, and stylishly gothic tween in a comedic ghost story. As a moody tween myself, I could totally see why Lydia wanted to commune with the dead (Geena Davis and a pre-bloat, bespectacled Alec Baldwin) instead of her weirdo parents (Ferris Bueller’s principal and that crazy awesome Catherine O’Hara). But I didn’t get why nobody wanted to hang out with Michael Keaton, the hammy ghoul with a super mullet and a sweet suit. 'Til they made that embarrassing cartoon show the following year, and Beetlejuice was suddenly Lydia’s lovable, magical buddy. Then he really sucked."
CINEMA PARADISO (dir: Giuseppe Tornatore, Not Rated)
DANGEROUS LIAISONS (dir: Stephen Frears, Not Rated)
DEAD RINGERS (dir: David Cronenberg, Not Rated)
THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION PART II: THE METAL YEARS (dir: Penelope Spheeris, Not Rated)
DIE HARD (dir: John McTiernan, Not Rated)
HAIRSPRAY (dir: John Waters, Not Rated)
SALAAM BOMBAY! (dir: Mira Nair, Not Rated)
WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (dir: Pedro Almodóvar, Not Rated)
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