Happy Thanksgiving... and 1985 Randomness

by Nathaniel R

Dear readers, thank you for the private messages and public comments welcoming me back after my long hiatus. I’m thankful for you. And Happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate. I’m still in the warm-up mindset in terms of my ‘comeback’ and I'm never going to be daily multiple articles a day again -- it's not 2014 and the world has changed -- but I do have a couple plans for 2025 brewing which will and won’t be like past Film Experience shenanigans.

Anyway, back on topic. We hope you’ve enjoyed this 80s party. We’re doing it for about one to two more weeks interspersed with current Oscar discussions of course. There’s still a few more years of top tens to share and two seminal 80s features to discuss – one from 1987 that I promised a write up of for a reader a long long time ago (forgive me!) and one from 1989 that I have personally felt a strong urge to reconsider because it's been a million years since I saw it and I wonder how it's aged. But for this Thanksgiving Weekend intermission ~ let’s talk 1985…

1985 marked a dawning awareness in my young self that there was a  “race” prior to the Oscar nominations, with buzz gathering for various movies and actors. This was a slow burn awareness (not yet an obsession) because pre-internet and pre Entertainmetn Weekly even, there wasn’t daily or even weekly discussion (unless, presumably you lived in LA or NY and were in the biz’). What started the awareness was a two page photo spread in a magazine article (perhaps in People?) about leading ladies of 1985 and who might be nominated months later. It listed everyone from a sure thing, but twice (Meryl Streep, Out of Africa/Plenty)  to buzzy ‘debuts’ (Madonna, Desperately Seeking Susan) to lower profile adult drama titles (Kim Basinger, Fool for Love)  I wish there was an image of it to share. Maybe it was not at all how I remember it?! 

Without further ado, the top tens of 1985 which is 80% things I first saw in theaters in 1985 that I either still have feelings for (most of 'em) or am even more in love with now than I was then (surprise joy!), and 20% things I didn’t manage to see until the 2000s or 2010s...

FAVOURITES OF 1985
(alphabetically)

The Breakfast Club (John Hughes, US)
Hughes’ famed detention flick was not the only obsessed-over High School Set movie for Gen Xers but it was definitely THE title for my group of friends. It was the first R rated movie I saw in theaters and my friends and I went back several times. I hate to sound like such a ‘get off my lawn’ ancient person but kids today just have no concept of how different moviegoing once was. Movies were not on streaming in a week or three. First runs in theaters could last for months on end,  even if a film wasn’t a big hit. (This is why you hear so many stories from teens in the 70s seeing Jaws or Star Wars hundreds of times in theaters for example) I don’t remember the last time I watched this but I do remember it feeling a lot chintzier and immature on TV  than the seismic resonance it had back then. But it was so seismic that it would feel dishonest to exclude it.

Clue (Jonathan Lynn, US)
Clue has developed quite a large following since 1985 (it wasn’t a hit at the time) and in current form the movie has a fun triple ending – what could have and what did happen. In initial release the movie had three separate endings revealing three separate murderers. So of course I saw it three times (I think at three separate theaters!) to see “the whole thing” , gleefully falling for the marketing gimmick. My family was very into playing “Clue” the board game (I always played Miss Scarlett) so I was eagerly awaiting this before it arrived.

Desperately Seeking Susan (Susan Seidelman, US)
Funnily enough I didn’t realize how brilliant this movie was for a long time, enjoying it solely as “Madonna’s movie!” (Madonna was, then, the biggest new star in the universe and she remains dear to my heart through all the wild ups and downs of her subsequent career– release some new music already, lady!) It wasn’t until I saw this movie again in the 2010s that I realized why critics had often said nice things about it. It’s not “the Madonna movie!” but an eccentric and ramshackle mistaken identity comedy. It’s also a smashingly bohemian time capsule of a NYC that I would never actually get to experience. Like Madonna I am from Michigan and moved to NYC after college but the comparisons stop there since I didn't drop out of college and she was in NYC by 1978 when she was just 19 years old. (I followed her -- haha-- in 1998).

True Story: I took the NYC members of Team Film Experience to see this about a decade ago at The Metrograph here in NYC and that's when I fell in love with it even more than I'd been in the 1980s. 

Kiss of the Spider-Woman (Hector Babenco, Brazil)
A major arthouse success story of its time. I didn’t understand at the time how there were informal subconscious "slots" for certain types of movies at the Oscars… but the patterns are fairly consistent thoughout history though the identity and number of slots for any given type of film do evolve from decade to decade. This was fun to revisit for a contest here at TFE in the Aughts (I think?). It’s still ludicrous to me that the movie was popular enough to snag four major Oscar nominations (including Best Picture) but Sonia Braga in the supporting but titular role wasn't a fifth nod. At least the Globes were smart enough to honor her.

Ladyhawke (Richard Donner, US)
One of the only three movies I’ve ever seen twice on opening weekend. When Michelle Pfeifferturned to the camera, her cowled pface lit by the moon... let's just say that young Nathaniel would never be the same again. The score dates this one pretty badly now but I’ve always believed that if it had had a traditional classic movie score, people would realize that it’s a pretty great fantasy movie to this day. But that genre rarely produced pictures everyone widely respected until, oh, The Lord of the Rings.  

Mask (Peter Bogdanovich, US)
We have reached the first of only two pictures on this list that I didn’t see in original release. Have no idea what the hold up was for this one but I didn’t see it until the 21st century? WTF. Anyway, it's a keeper. Bogdanovich had one of the quickest deflations of any auteur from any era, never regaining his mojo after making three consecutive masterpieces in three consecutive years (1971-1973) very early in his career. But at least he made one really good picture named Mask afterwards!  

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (Tim Burton, US)
Comic perfection. Pee-Wee remains timelessly amusing and Tim Burton was the perfect match to make him cinematic. 

The Purple Rose of Cairo (Woody Allen, US)
I have a very specific memory of seeing this movie for the first time with my parents and brothers in a dollar theater in Michigan.  [Tangent: for Gen Zers – not that they’re reading this site – “dollar theaters” were movie theaters that only showed ‘older’ movies (aka current movies that were a multiple months old). This entire type of movie theater went the way of the dinosaur during the 1990s.] Leaving the theater my parents and brothers were talking about how much they hated it (I was the youngest but usually the one driving the movie choices). I stayed quiet because I knew they were mad at me but I rarely stayed quiet about my movie opinions thereafter. I was completely absorbed and already obsessing (my favourite Woody Allen movie).

Ran (Akira Kurosawa, Japan)
I was aware of this movie in 1985 (like Kiss of the Spider-Woman, it broke through to earn quite a lot of mainstream attention), but didn't manage to see it. Somehow I didn't make the time until the Aughts. While I believe that Throne of Blood is Kurosawa's best Shakespeare adaptation, Ran is amazing in its own right.

Witness (Peter Weir, Australia/US)
This is my mom's favourite movie. We saw it twice together in movie theaters and she bought the VHS tape. It's also a Peter Weir movie so the critical praise, industry honors, and my mother's obsession were all three justified. 

Honorable Mentions:  I was more into Out of Africa and The Color Purple and Back to the Future at the time (they were all massive box office hits) than I am today in 2024 but they’re all good movies.  I respect Terry Gilliam's much beloved by critics Brazil but never felt a real personal connection to it (maybe because I didn't see until decades later when it had been built up too much by its 'legendary' status. Other 1985 movies that I'd recommend seeing if you’re weak on this film year are: Smooth Talk, Prizzi’s Honor, Dreamchild, and Dance With a Stranger. 

Oscar vs Nathaniel (though I'd like to rewatch 20 things and catch up on 20 more)
Picture: Out of Africa | The Purple Rose of Cairo
Director: Sydney Pollack, Out of Africa | Peter Weir, Witness
Actress: Geraldine Page, The Trip to Bountiful | Mia Farrow, The Purple Rose of Cairo
Actor: William Hurt, Kiss of the Spider-Woman | Harrison Ford, Witness
Supporting Actress: Anjelica Huston, Prizzi's Honor | Sonia Braga, Kiss of the Spider-Woman
Supporting Actor: Don Ameche, Cocoon | Klaus Maria Brandauer, Out of Africa
Original Screenplay: Witness | The Purple Rose of Cairo
Adapted Screenplay: Out of Africa | Kiss of the Spider-Woman
Original Score: Out of Africa | Out of Africa
Original Song: "Say You Say Me" White Nights | "Into the Groove" Desperately Seeking Susan*
Cinematography: Out of Africa | Ladyhawke**
Art Direction: Out of Africa | Brazil
Costume Design: Ran | Desperately Seeking Susan ... i cant help myself*** 
Film Editing: Witness | Witness
Visual Effects: Cocoon | Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Makeup: Mask | Dreamchild

* I would replace 80% of Oscar's nominees for best original song that year with the exception of "Miss Celie's Blues" from The Color Purple which is pure magic.  And it wins my Oscar if you go solely by Best Original Song's context within the film that houses them (which is way more important than Oscar voters usually understand).

** very strong year for Cinematography. Out of Africa and The Color Purple and Ran and Witness would have all made deserving winners from the nominees. 

*** Madonna's jacket is surely among the most iconic to ever grace the silver screen. 

Comments

[Finbar McBride]

These are fine choices. Certainly nothing objectionable here.

If I were permitted a single do over, I’d replace the Best Actor recipient with James Garner in Murphy’s Romance. The fading matinee idol is terrific in this low key rom com. His laconic, effortless naturalism really stood out in 1985. The two decades younger Sally Field naming her leading man as the best kisser she worked with in her storied career is just icing on the cake!

[Mr Ripley79]

Claudio and others have been great hosts keeping things lively for the most part and your site hasn't descended into the political madness other sites have so props to all for that,politics has it's place just not everywhere.

Good to have your voice back looking forward to more posts and understand it'll be less,good things in small doses.

Madonna 85 is everything,we had never had asolo female like her,agree that she's being stingy with her music output,collabs with lesser people are not cutting it with me.

My own 10 in no order except for Number 1 and 85 is one of my least favourite years for films,it's one of a few films,the others E.T. and Ghost, which get me emotional every single viewing.

1 The Color Purple
2 Mask
3 Weird Science
4 Red Sonja
5 Clue
6 The Company Of Wolves
7 Fright Night
8 A View To A Kill
9 The Goonies
10 Jagged Edge

[davidandwaffles]

Fun article. I absolutely agree that Purple Rose is Allen's best film. It's absolute movie magic about movie magic (and at a sweet 84 minutes!). Farrow is phenomenal. Her final shot is glorious.

And the Desperately Seeking Susan love is appreciated. I can't remember where I read it or if it was correct, but I think Into the Groove (which deserved the win. Perfect pop song) was deemed ineligible as it was a new song IN a movie but not a new song written specifically FOR the movie.

I would also have nominated Lost In America across the board. Brooks and Haggerty are sublime in it. Glad to see the Fright Night reference Mr Ripley79. A lot of people find Evil Ed annoying, but I think Stephen Geoffreys is great in the role. Bonkers and funny and then very moving at the end.

And while we're having fun, hey, let's nominate Divine for Lust in the Dust!

[Wes]

A number of winners this year (Ran, Better off Dead, Purple Rose, Clue), but my absolute favorite of 1985 is (and I suspect always shall be) Return to Oz.