Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta (1986)

Ever since I watched my first anime flick (Howl's Moving Castle), I have had a special place in my heart for the genre, particularly the unrestrained creativity that comes from Studio Ghibli. Castle in the Sky brings a great adventure out of ordinary happenings. The boy & girl team end up foiling secret agents, flying all over the world, facing magical foes and of course discovering courage and strength along the way. The best part of these stories is the unpredictable turns, which may also be what people don't like about them - the magical elements are simply boundless making it easy to conjure a story that no one else could make up.

Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

Woody Allen's treatise on how the wicked go unpunished while the good live difficult lives - also a question as to the existence of God. The film is a masterpiece mainly due to its ability to pose (and attempt to answer) very difficult existential questions while at the same time making you laugh until your abdomen hurts.

A powerful and wealthy doctor tries to cover up his affair through murder while at the same time a geeky documentary film maker tries to flirt with other women hoping for an affair. The two of them suffer different consequences.

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Mona Lisa (1986)

A tale of an innocent (but tough) man struggling with the duty of liberating the lost women of London streets. George is the antithesis of Simone and they each draw the other up, a beautiful story of concern for the other.

I like the relationship between George and his buddy who helps him get onto his feet at the start of the film when George has just gotten out of prison. They both like mystery stories and their interplay demonstrates the sweetness of children which brings out George's innocence towards some of the abuse he witnesses in Simone's world.

We don't really understand the degree of the atrocities with which we are associated just as George doesn't know how wicked his former boss is. An awakening to this knowledge should spur us into an action of redemption too.

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Cinema Paradiso (1988)

Sweet, sweet nostalgia in romantic Italy with a fairytale ending - what could be better?

Toto's father is killed in the war and is sort of adopted by the local projectionist at the village theatre. The two form a close bond and we watch Toto mature and ultimately leave the village only to return decades later.

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The Seventh Continent (1989)

Yet another bleak contemplation on violence, hopelessness, and the inexplicable nature of what causes people to give up and how it must be linked to our increasingly secluded society from Michael Haneke.

The Seventh Continent - literally Australia, but symbolically it is death - follows the unceremonious daily routine of a family of three, then it shows their deliberate march into oblivion.

Not a picker upper. About as haunting as they come.

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Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Woody Allen's masterpiece! Here we get a sense of the struggle of man without any moral direction juxtaposed with a man searching for eternal answers (albeit comedically, and perhaps facetiously). A man is attracted to his wife's sister. Another sister laments her loneliness and inability to find success at the level of her sisters (in life and love). And finally, Hannah, who lives a virtuous life is being attacked on all fronts because of her virtue - poor thing!

Woody Allen plays Hannah's ex-husband who thinks he's dying and seeks an answer to life's great mystery: Is there life after death and if so, how should I live to best situate myself?

Quite an enjoyable film.

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American Flyers (1985)

Pure cheddar! And the American patriotism drips off of it like butter on corn. Pretty hilarious to watch. Two brothers attempt a gruelling cycling race in Colorado, one of them hiding a bad illness. They've both got sexy girlfriends and there are 2 villains - a former racing partner and the Russian competitor - scary!

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Der Himmel über Berlin (1987)

Wim Wenders's Wings of Desire is a lovely contemplation of the human condition and it's need for redemption.

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The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

Despite the disclaimer at the beginning of the film stating that this film is not based on the gospels, it begs the question: What is this film based on then?

I was both blessed and challenged by the closing 45 minutes of the film where Christ is tempted to withdraw from the cross and enjoy a human life and his ultimate decision not to. The opening two hours were more of an insult to the Christian faith than anything, not because the filmmakers were meaning harm, but because of the shallowness of the screenwriter's understanding of Jesus' message, life and death.

I remember the controversy when this film was released. I've always been intrigued by the concept and, being a Christian, felt it was my duty to give Scorsese and company the benefit of the doubt. But, John the Baptist is depicted as a hippy nudist colony leader and Jesus as a neurotic demoniac. I appreciate that Christ's humanity was emphasized, but his holiness was ignored.

I found it odd too that the North African culture was so prominently displayed rather than attempting to portray anything remotely Hebrew.

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The Accidental Tourist (1988)

Some big names from the 80s bring this novel to the screen and they succeed with slow paced and subtle performances.

Macon loses his young son to an accident and then his wife to separation. He finds himself alone and it while it isn't what he had planned on, he is content with this quiet, unaffected life; he authors travel books for people who must travel and don't like it. His life is interrupted by a flamboyant dog trainer (Geena Davis) and he is awakened to life.

I liked the idea of awakening and rebirth, but the expendable cost of divorce is an abysmal comment on society.

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The Money Pit (1986)

This classic 80's comedy wasn't as funny as I expected - lots of slapstick and elaborate set up with corny characters.

Walter and Anna are committed to each other, but she doesn't want to get married. When they find themselves without a home in NYC, they discover a mansion outside of town that is being sold at a bargain price. The moment they move in however, they discover the house needs a few more repairs than they had bargained for.

The metaphor of this house with a good foundation that is falling apart mirroring the trials they experience within their relationship is ok, but it is overshadowed by the phony and shallowness of it all. Watch The War of the Roses if you want to see a relationship and house fall apart.

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Say Anything... (1989)

Certain I wouldn't really like this 80's romantic comedy, I begrudgingly sat down to watch it with a bunch of women. Happily, I was smitten immediately with this classic teenage romance.

Lloyd is graduating and hasn't much direction in life, but a solid belief that kickboxing will be big in the future. He gets up the nerve to call the prettiest and smartest girl in his class and ask her out. He manages to charm her enough to scare her daddy.

The Cusack siblings do super well as youth, keeping the angst levels just below boiling point and maintaining a cool realism. This film was made in response to all those sappy teenage 80's movies.

Oh, and SNL has a great parody of the scene Lloyd is holding up the stereo playing Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes.

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Jésus de Montréal (1989)

This is an early film of Québecois film icon Denys Arcand (The Barbarian Invasions). Arcand offers a modern take on who contemporary, secular culture says that Jesus is.

A brilliant actor is offered a role as Jesus Christ in a yearly passion drama at a Catholic diocese and as a producer of the play. He is given license to modernize it's wooden lines and so he begins to fill the cast with derelicts and sidelined actors. He also spends time researching facts about Jesus, crucifixion, and the beginnings of the Christian church. While his play, infused with doubt, is a hit among the viewers, it is not well received by the hypocritical supervising priest.

Some Christians could easily take offence to this take on Jesus, but I was refreshed by the message of the film: Jesus was compassionate and just.

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Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)

A prison drama with a fantasy element delivers surprising depth.

Somewhere in Latin America, Luis shares a cell with Valentin a political prisoner. Luis is a flagrant homosexual who despite repulsing Valentin, is able to entertain him with stories of a bewitching spider woman. Luis is bribed to spy on Valentin by the warden and the tension mounts as the viewer is teased by the possibility that Luis would give up his cell mate to the secret police for his own freedom.

The acting in the film is compelling and the simple story is overshadowed by real human drama. I must say that the dream sequences and story telling is a bit out there and difficult to correlate with the main tale.

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Full Metal Jacket (1987)

A dark and sober look at America's militaristic culture as seen through the eyes of Stanley Kubrick.

U.S. Marines recruits are trained and broken by their drill sergeant. They are sent on a tour of duty in Vietnam to be what they have become: killing machines.

The film is a classic because it doesn't preach or glorify anything; it portrays wars' horror with a distant coldness to remain objective with just enough humanity to keep it from being too analytical. Some amazing acting by R. Lee Ermey.

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Do the Right Thing (1989)

For me Do the Right Thing was synonymous with Spike Lee, even though I had never seen the film - it's the movie that launched this director into the record books as one of the most talented directors ever. I figured it was time to see the film.

It's a scorcher in Bed-Stuy - the notoriously violent borough in NYC. While everyone gets along for the most part and as the day progresses, it seems like people can take just about anything. Hispanics, Blacks, Vietnamese and Italians go most of the day with out provoking anything but words out of their neighbours until some people begin to snap in a pizzaria.

The film is punctuated with Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" which really speaks for what is lurking in everyone's heart - a desire for good, but a desire for justice as well. The ending for me was ambiguous which kept the film from being preachy and kept the question alive: What is the right thing?

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Every Time We Say Goodbye (1986)

This is a unique tale of forbidden love set in Palestine during World War II. 

An American airman serves in the British forces as the Americans had not yet joined the war. He is stationed in North Africa and goes to British controlled Palestine during his leave. He meets and falls in love with a Jewish woman whose family is dead set against the relationship - for several reasons.

The film isn't really shy about even admitting that this relationship isn't really meant to be: he's lonely and homesick, she's fascinated with this foreign character. There is even a side story of their friends who marry and split during the tale. But it seems to be a realistic depiction of war time love as that was the norm as service men left many pregnant women or well-intentioned engagements unfulfilled. 

Nothing beats a good love story though.

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My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown (1989)

Daniel Day-Lewis delivers an amazing performance in the biopic of Irish artist and writer Christy Brown. 

Christy is born with cerebral palsy into a huge Irish family in Dublin. Because of the palsy, he is without speech for the first decade and a half and drags himself around using the only part of his body that he can fully control - his left foot. We discover who he is as he begins to express himself and participate with his community - even playing soccer while laying on his side in the street.

The film is a powerful telling of the story, but also in depicting the poverty and strength of will that the family demonstrated to care for and protect their son/brother in a time when society would have sent him to an asylum. Hugh O'Conor, the boy who played the young Christy Brown, deserves as much attention as Day-Lewis for the magnificent job he did.

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A Room With A View (1985)

The Victorian era appears again in film to show how pent up feelings and overly rigid expectations can get you into trouble.

Lucy Honeychurch goes to Venice from England for a holiday. She is swept off her feet in the romantic air by another Brit who is not afraid to express his passion for life. When they return home, he inadvertently ends up moving in down the road as Lucy becomes engaged to an urban snob.

I never know what to do with these kinds of tales since they seem so far removed from real life (even though it did represent real life for many people in the late 19th century). It is refreshing to see a joie de vivre contrasted with staunch formality. Love is always good too.

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L'Homme Qui Plantait des Arbres (1987)

This beautiful, award-winning, animated short film should be seen by everyone. Really, there are few films like this one that can speak so much and affect the heart of man.

A French hiker wandering through barren lands in the early 20th century discovers a lone shepherd. The quiet hermit has been systematically planting acorns for three years. Upon further visits over the next 30 years, we see the land transformed as forests grow and bring all kinds of life to the wastelands.

The animation is superb using what looks like pastels or pencil crayons and very fluid landscapes and characters.

The film promotes not only environmental ideals, but the very basic life force nature has and the purpose of humankind.

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