MC Yearly Consensus - 1983

[Spinal]

Submit your five favorite films from this year and in a week I will give you a top ten. IMDb dates will be used.

The point system is as follows

1st Place-5 points
2nd Place-4 points
3rd Place-3.5 points
4th Place-3 points
5th Place-2.5 points

There will be no restrictions on short films. A minimum of three films must be listed. You may edit your post freely up until the time that the voting is closed, which will be in about a week. I will give at least 24 hours warning before tallying votes.

You may begin now.

IMDB Power Search (http://www.imdb.com/list)

[Spinal]

1. Zelig
2. The Meaning of Life
3. Bill Cosby: Himself
4. King Lear
5. Silkwood

[origami_mustache]

1. Nostalghia
2. A Christmas Story
3. Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
4. National Lampoon's Vacation
5. All the Right Moves

[Melville]

Koyaanisqatsi is '82.

1. A Christmas Story
2. Nostalghia
3. Return of the Jedi

[Boner M]

Oh man, some really great films this year. In fact, these consensus threads remind me that I think the 80's in general gets too much flak simply for Hollywood's 'developments'.

1. A nos amours
2. Sans Soleil
3. Nostalghia
4. Videodrome
5. My Brother's Wedding

6. L'Argent
7. The Ballad of Narayama
8. Christine
9. The Meaning of Life
10. Breathless

HM: First Name, Carmen

Need to see: El Sur, The Right Stuff, Vacation, Local Hero, Zu: Warriors From the Magic Mountain

[origami_mustache]

Koyaanisqatsi is '82.



wikipedia always fails me

[Melville]

3. The King of Comedy

This is '82 as well.

[Boner M]

This is '82 as well.
Goddamn shifty IMDb.

[soitgoes...]

1. El Sur (VÃ*ctor Erice)
2. Rumble Fish (Francis Ford Coppola)
3. The Right Stuff (Philip Kaufman)
4. A Christmas Story (Bob Clark)
5. Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (Liu Chia-Liang)
-----------------------------------------------------
6. Ballad of Narayama (Shohei Imamura)
7. The Crimson Permanent Assurance (Terry Gilliam)
8. Funny Dirty Little War (Héctor Olivera)
9. Silkwood (Mike Nichols)
10. Zelig (Woody Allen)

[Melville]

Goddamn shifty IMDb.
Are you suggesting that a release on December 19 in Iceland shouldn't count?

[origami_mustache]

Might try to watch El Sur and the other Erice film I have.

[Boner M]

Are you suggesting that a release on December 19 in Iceland shouldn't count?
Nah, I've simply always remember it being an '83 release on the IMDb.

[soitgoes...]

Are you suggesting that a release on December 19 in Iceland shouldn't count?I just watched this recently, and I noticed this too. Why would this get released in Iceland before anywhere else in the world? Does Iceland have some sort of dead of winter film festival that I've never heard about? And if so, why the recent change in IMDb release date?

[soitgoes...]

Those questions were more rhetorical in nature. I don't expect you, Melville, to know the answers.

[Yxklyx]

1. The Pendulum, the Pit and Hope (Jan Svankmajer)
2. The Big Chill (Lawrence Kasdan)
3. The Dead Zone (David Cronenberg)
4. Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand)
5. A Christmas Story (Bob Clark)

6. Videodrome (David Cronenberg)
7. The Meaning of Life (Terry Jones & Terry Gilliam)
8. L' Argent (Robert Bresson)
9. Rumble Fish (Francis Ford Coppola)
10. Down to the Cellar (Jan Svankmajer)

Pretty crappy year.

[Melville]

I just watched this recently, and I noticed this too. Why would this get released in Iceland before anywhere else in the world? Does Iceland have some sort of dead of winter film festival that I've never heard about? And if so, why the recent change in IMDb release date?
Must be some sort of Icelandic conspiracy. Another feather in their cap to go along with their great wealth, personal freedoms, and clean, sustainable energy.

[Philosophe_rouge]

I actually haven't seen enouh for this year... only 3 films, only one I'd call good.

[soitgoes...]

Must be some sort of Icelandic conspiracy. Another feather in their cap to go along with their great wealth, personal freedoms, and clean, sustainable energy.
And Bjork, don't forget about Bjork.

[Mysterious Dude]

Frankly, I find it extremely hard to believe that King of Comedy was released in Iceland before it was released in the U.S. I think someone is trying to pull one over on us.

[MadMan]

According to Criticker (and maybe IMDB.com) Thriller is considered a film. Should it be counted or not? For now here's my list though:

1. A Christmas Story
2. Return of the Jedi
3. Thriller
4. The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew
5. Scareface

[Derek]

1. Nostalghia (Andrei Tarkovsky)
2. L'Argent (Robert Bresson)
3. El Sur (Victor Erice)
4. Zelig (Woody Allen)
5. Risky Business (Paul Brickman)
************************
6. Sans Soleil (Chris Marker)
7. A Nos Amours (Maurice Pialat)
8. Videodrome (David Cronenberg)
9. A Christmas Story (Bob Clark)
10. Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand)

HMs: Christine (John Carpenter)
Stranger than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch)
Rumble Fish (Francis Ford Coppola)
First Name: Carmen (Jean-Luc Godard)
Passionless Moments (Jane Campion)

[Derek]

According to Criticker (and maybe IMDB.com) Thriller is considered a film. Should it be counted or not?

On MatchCut, we do not consider short films actual films. They are left-handed, red-headed step-children who are used for labor, beaten with a crowbar and locked in the shed out back overnight.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

1. Sans Soleil
2. Nostalghia
3. Zelig
4. Ballad of Naramaya
5. Videodrome

[Watashi]

1. Rumble Fish
2. Return of the Jedi
3. Zelig
4. Videodrome
5. A Christmas Story

[MadMan]

On MatchCut, we do not consider short films actual films. They are left-handed, red-headed step-children who are used for labor, beaten with a crowbar and locked in the shed out back overnight.:lol:
Seriously though I wasn't sure, as its considered a music video. Thus I didn't know if it was also considered a film, although it was directed by John Landis.

[Pop Trash]

I just watched this recently, and I noticed this too. Why would this get released in Iceland before anywhere else in the world? Does Iceland have some sort of dead of winter film festival that I've never heard about? And if so, why the recent change in IMDb release date?
Seriously, I put together a list a few months ago for Amazon for 1983 movies and King of Comedy was on there. I was using IMDB dates. I call total bullshit on this.

[Derek]

:lol:
Seriously though I wasn't sure, as its considered a music video. Thus I didn't know if it was also considered a film, although it was directed by John Landis.

It's not my position (I think we should count shorts and MV's), but it's the general rule for consensi and the like here. I always try to save some leftovers for the little buggers, but Raiders has been known to dish out a mean lashing if he catches you giving them scraps, so proceed at your own risk.

[Pop Trash]

1. Return of the Jedi
2. The Meaning of Life
3. Risky Business
4. Videodrome
5. Sans Soliel

6. Vacation
7. The Dead Zone
8. Valley Girl
9. A Christmas Story
10.Superman 3

Kind of a crappy year. Especially w/o The King of Comedy. This fits in my theory that 81-83 and 90-93 were pretty bad stretches in cinema. A Christmas Story would be higher if they didn't incessantly play it on cable during the holidays.

[Boner M]

Well I like this year.

[soitgoes...]

It's not my position (I think we should count shorts and MV's), but it's the general rule for consensi and the like here. I always try to save some leftovers for the little buggers, but Raiders has been known to dish out a mean lashing if he catches you giving them scraps, so proceed at your own risk.
We've been accepting shorts on these, the yearly consensusesiis. As I believe Spinal said before, these things kinda police themselves. If no one else thinks it's worthy, then problem solved.

[Spinal]

There will be no restrictions on short films.

This sentence appears in every single one of these threads. Don't blame me. I'm a part of the solution.

[Spinal]

Of The King of Comedy, Wikipedia says:

The first release of the film was in Iceland, to celebrate a new cinema there being the best in the Nordic countries.[4] It was released in the United States two months later.

If you go to the citation, the website is in what I assume is Icelandic.

I have no idea what to make of this, but I am forced to push it to 1982.

[Derek]

Well I like this year.

It's a fantastic year.


This sentence appears in every single one of these threads. Don't blame me. I'm a part of the solution.

I don't read instructions.

But to be clear, I was more bitching about the general stigma of short films (as being viewed as "lesser") than about the rules of this particular consensus. But I'll rep you for you good measure. :)

[Stay Puft]

1. Project A
2. Strange Brew (steamroller!)
3. Videodrome
4. My Brother's Wedding

[baby doll]

1. Sans soleil (Chris Marker)
2. L'Argent (Robert Bresson)
3. Videodrome (David Cronenberg)
4. Nostalghia (Andrei Tarkovsky)
5. The 4th Man (Paul Verhoeven)

[Boner M]

Have you seen A nos amours, soori?

[Russ]

1. A Christmas Story
2. The Right Stuff
3. Risky Business
4. Videodrome
5. Get Crazy

[Mysterious Dude]

1. Testament
2. Zelig
3. Utu
4. Under Fire
5. The Outsiders

[Yxklyx]

Seriously, I put together a list a few months ago for Amazon for 1983 movies and King of Comedy was on there. I was using IMDB dates. I call total bullshit on this.

Yeah, I had to move both King of Comedy and that Koyaa... film from '83 to '82 as well. Note that the former is listed as having a Production Company called Embassy International Pictures - and only 8 films have been produced by that company so that lends some credence to an early release overseas.

[Kurosawa Fan]

1. Zelig
2. The Meaning of Life
3. Bill Cosby: Himself
4. Return of the Jedi
5. WarGames

[Raiders]

1. Sans soleil (Marker)
2. Ballad of Narayama (Imamura)
3. L'Argent (Bresson)
4. Rumble Fish (Coppola)
5. Tender Mercies (Beresford)

----------------------------------

6. Nostalghia (Tarkovsky)
7. Videodrome (Cronenberg)
8. The 4th Man (Verhoeven)
9. Local Hero (Forsyth)
10. The King of Comedy (Scorsese)

[Weeping_Guitar]

1. Return of the Jedi
2. Zelig
3. A Christmas Story
4. Sans Soleil

[MadMan]

It's not my position (I think we should count shorts and MV's), but it's the general rule for consensi and the like here. I always try to save some leftovers for the little buggers, but Raiders has been known to dish out a mean lashing if he catches you giving them scraps, so proceed at your own risk.Alrighty then. Does Raiders have a set amount of lashes for disobedience, like a captain on a 17th century clipper ship? :P

[dreamdead]

1. Sans Soleil
2. Videodrome
3. Pauline at the Beach
4. L'Argent
5. The 4th Man

HM: The Dead Zone

Edited to include Rohmer....

[baby doll]

Have you seen A nos amours, soori?I have, but I'll have to give it another look.

[happ]

1. Nostalghia
2. L'Argent
3. Sans soleil
4. Pauline at the Beach
5. A nos amours

[Ezee E]

1. A Christmas Story
2. The Right Stuff
3. Videodrone
4. Scarface
5. Bill Cosby: Himself

6. Rumble Fish
7. Return of the Jedi
8. Psycho II
9. The Outsiders
10. Vacation

[Mysterious Dude]

People need to see Testament. Or see it again and like it better this time.

[Yum-Yum]

1. Valley Girl
2. Videodrome
3. Risky Business
4. Christine
5. Curtains

[Lazlo]

1. Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
2. The Right Stuff
3. Terms of Endearment
4. WarGames
5. Videodrome

[Duncan]

1. Sans Soleil
2. El Sur
3. Nostalghia
4. Star Wars: RotJ (see above)
5. The Meaning of Life

The quality drops off considerably after that. I tried watching Risky Business again a few weeks ago. Unwatchable. Shut it off after 45 mins.

[Derek]

The quality drops off considerably after that. I tried watching Risky Business again a few weeks ago. Unwatchable. Shut it off after 45 mins.

I watched it again a couple years ago and it's still great. I still think it's one of the better Reagan-era satires. It's just a shame it's remembered for...that scene.

[monolith94]

1. Videodrome
2. Return of the Jedi
3. WarGames
4. Something Wicked This Way Comes
5. The Day After

[Spinal]

Return of the Jedi is going to place way too high.

[Raiders]

Return of the Jedi is going to place way too high.

Yeah, I was noticing this too.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Return of the Jedi is going to place way too high.

Yeah, I'm guilty of putting it on my list (I certainly like the film, but it shouldn't be a top 3 movie), but it's because I just haven't seen many quality movies from this year.

[Qrazy]

1. Sans Soleil
2. Nostalghia
3. Terms of Endearment
4. Ballad of Narayama
5. The Meaning of Life

[Pop Trash]

Return of the Jedi is going to place way too high.
It's my favorite of the series. Ewoks and all.

[Pop Trash]

I watched it again a couple years ago and it's still great. I still think it's one of the better Reagan-era satires. It's just a shame it's remembered for...that scene.
I admit I haven't seen it in a few years but I remember it being one of the better teen comedies of the 80s. It seemed to have a lot more creative direction than most of those types of films. Lots of interesting atmospheric formal choices in its camera movements, music, editing, etc. Strange that director never really did that much else. A Sp. Edition DVD is coming out later this year and I'll probably pick it up.

[Watashi]

Return of the Jedi is going to place way too high.

As it should.

[Grouchy]

1. Videodrome
2. Scarface
3. The 4th Man
4. The King of Comedy
5. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

[Grouchy]

1. Videodrome
2. Scarface
3. The 4th Man
4. The King of Comedy
5. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
Hadn't read the thread. So no King of Comedy? Ok.

1. Videodrome
2. Scarface
3. The 4th Man
4. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
5. The Dance

[Dead & Messed Up]

1. Return of the Jedi
2. The Dead Zone
3. WarGames
4. A Christmas Story
5. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

HM: Christine, Videodrome, Strange Brew

Kind of a populist list. Ah well.

[Mysterious Dude]

1983 continues to disappoint me.

I have Ballad of Narayama at the top of my queue, but I doubt I'll get it before it's time to tabulate.

[Spinal]

Guess we should wrap this up soon. Busy weekend though. Probably won't get to it until Monday.

[Spinal]

Might have a chance to count this up tonight.

[Spinal]

This is a very strange top 10 you have created, Match Cut. Boy, oh boy.

[Spinal]

#10

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/155226__tom12_l.jpg

Risky Business

Director: Paul Brickman

Country: USA

A suburban Chicago teenager's parents leave on vacation, and he cuts loose. An unauthorised trip in his father's Porsche means a sudden need for lots of money, which he raises in a creative way.

Earned a nomination from the Writer's Guild of America for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen. The dance scene where Joel dances to "Old Time Rock N' Roll" was completely improvised. In the script Tom Cruise was simply instructed to 'dance to rock music'.

"This is a movie of new faces and inspired insights and genuine laughs. It's hard to make a good movie and harder to make a good comedy and almost impossible to make a satire of such popular but mysterious obsessions as guilt, greed, lust, and secrecy. This movie knows what goes on behind the closed bathroom doors of the American dream." - Roger Ebert (1983)

[Spinal]

#9

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/rightstf.jpg

The Right Stuff

Director: Philip Kaufman

Country: USA

The Communists launch Sputnik, and suddenly the Space Race is on. Looking for the first American astronauts, representatives from the newly formed NASA visit Edwards Air Force Base, hoping to assemble a collection of the very best test pilots for the Mercury-7 mission.

Won four Oscars including Best Editing, Best Sound and Best Original Score. Also nominated for Best Picture, Best Cinematography and Best Supporting Actor (Sam Shepard). To create the space uniforms for the Mercury astronauts, the costume designers used silver fabrics and other materials left over from costumes for singer/actress Cher.

"The Right Stuff is very long - over three hours - but it has to be to cover the ground and space it must. Mr. Kaufman's screenplay is very efficient in the way it introduces so many characters and then crosscuts among them without confusion or repetition. The domestic lives of John Glenn, Gordon Cooper and Gus Grissom are movingly detailed. Best of all, the flight footage is remarkably convincing ..." - Vincent Canby (1983)

[Spinal]

#8

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/handLARGENTMONEYROBERTBRESSOND VDREV.jpg

L'Argent

Director: Robert Bresson

Country: France

A forged 500-franc note is passed from person to person and shop to shop, until it falls into the hands of a genuine innocent who doesn't see it for what it is.

Bresson earned the Best Director prize at Cannes. He was also named Best Director by the National Society of Film Critics. It was Bresson's final film. Inspired by the Leo Tolstoy short story, The Forged Coupon.

"It's almost to the point that reading about Bresson you'd imagine that his films are composed of shots of nothing but koi ponds, cala lilies, creamy, hemp-textured canvases, loaves of bread, or whatever else has become shorthand for cinematic transubstantiation. Which is why a film like L'Argent, which is admittedly unforced, open-ended, and humane (and, to throw in one further Bresson cliché to boot, excises any trace of narrative fat and works it to the bone), hits with the effect not so much reflecting a cleansing of the soul, but rather a ransacking." - Eric Henderson

[Spinal]

#7

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/MeaningOfLife05Ljpg.jpg

The Meaning of Life

Director: Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam

Country: UK

Monty Python examines the meaning and purpose of life in a series of sketches from conception to death and beyond.

Won the Grand Prize of the Jury at Cannes. The song "Every Sperm is Sacred" was nominated for a BAFTA Award. (It lost to "Up Where We Belong".) As Terry Gilliam was filming The Crimson Permanent Assurance with his own crew and sound stage, he enlarged the project and went way over budget, and what was supposed to be a 5 minute scene in the film became a short movie unto itself between 20 and 30 minutes long.

"Gross, silly, caustic, tasteless and obnoxious are all adjectives that alternately apply to Monty Python's The Meaning of Life though probably the most appropriate description would simply be funny." - Variety

[Spinal]

#6

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/80szelig.jpg

Zelig

Director: Woody Allen

Country: USA

A fictional documentary about the life of human chameleon Leonard Zelig, a man who becomes a celebrity in the 1920s due to his ability to look and act like whoever is around him.

Nominated for Oscars in two categories: Cinematography and Costume Design. Won Best Film at the Venice Film Festival. John Gielgud was originally cast as the narrator and recorded the entire narration for the film, but Allen decided to recast the role after hearing it because he thought Gielgud sounded 'too grand'.

"The film is entertaining enough if viewed at the surface level as a mildly humorous mockumentary, but it’s much more than that when you actually start thinking about what Allen is really delving into – the tendency of far too many of us to recast ourselves to fit in with whoever we’re around, our tendency to go along with – and help build momentum for – wildly fickle swings in mass opinion, and the resulting ‘blandification’ of our culture." - Brian Webster

[Spinal]

#5

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/nostal.jpg

Nostalghia

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky

Country: Italy/Soviet Union

The Russian poet Gortchakov, accompanied by guide and translator Eugenia, is traveling through Italy researching the life of an 18th century Russian composer. In a ancient spa town, he meets the lunatic Domenico, who years earlier had imprisoned his own family in a barn to save them from the evils of the world.

Won three awards at Cannes including Best Director. Tarkovsky's first film made outside of the USSR. Tarkovsky's co-writer Tonino Guerra was a frequent collaborator with Michelangelo Antonioni and also worked on the screenplays for Fellini's Amarcord and Paul Morrissey's Flesh for Frankenstein.

"The dark, permanently wet setting, reminiscent of Stalker and The Mirror, supplants the typical Tarkovsky reticence with some unique metaphysical allusions. The slow-moving camerawork may rend some scenes infuriating but the mystic beauty which emanates from the film ... gives Nostalgia an awe-inspiring, even disturbing vision of man's struggle for true faith. " - Spiros Gangas

[Spinal]

#4

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/achristmasstory.jpg

A Christmas Story

Director: Bob Clark

Country: USA

A young boy growing up in the '40's, dreams of owning a Red Rider BB gun. He sets out to convince the world that this is the perfect gift. But along the way, he runs into opposition from his parents, his teacher, and even Santa Claus himself.

Earned a nomination from the Writer's Guild of America for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium. For the scene in which Flick's tongue sticks to the flagpole, a hidden suction tube was used to safely create the illusion that his tongue had frozen to the metal. Ralphie says that he wanted the Red Ryder BB Gun 28 times.

"The movie is not only about Christmas and BB guns, but also about childhood, and one detail after another rings true ... In a poignant way, A Christmas Story records a world that no longer quite exists in America." - Roger Ebert

[Spinal]

#3

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/bild.jpg

Sans soleil

Director: Chris Marker

Country: France

A woman narrates the thoughts of a world traveler, meditations on time and memory expressed in words and images from places as far-flung as Japan, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland and San Francisco.

The title is taken from the song cycle Sunless by Modest Mussorgsky. The original documentary footage was filmed by Marker with a 16mm Beaulieu silent film camera in conjunction with a non-sync portable tape recorder. The film contains no synchronous sound

"No two people will come away from Sans Soleil with the same impression, nor will a solitary viewer's multiple viewings yield the same experience. Marker's film prefigures multimedia and, like what Amy Taubin said of Inland Empire in Film Comment, approximates the experience of being trapped inside the Internet and making radical leaps of associative connection … only Marker typically prefigured the technology." - Eric Henderson

[Spinal]

#2

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/videodrome.jpg

Videodrome

Director: David Cronenberg

Country: Canada

A sleazy lowlife cable TV operator discovers a snuff broadcast called Videodrome. But it is more than a TV show ... it's an experiment that uses regular TV transmissions to permanently alter the viewer's perceptions by giving them brain damage.

Andy Warhol called the movie the "A Clockwork Orange of the 1980s." David Tsubôchi, who appears briefly as a Japanese porn dealer, later became a Minister in the Ontario provincial government. His appearance as a pornographer was exploited by the opposition.

"The transient nature of the body, usually manifested via some form of psychic stress, has long been a theme in Cronenberg's work, but it wasn't fully articulated until Videodrome, which imagined 'virtual reality' long before it became a household phrase." - Scott Tobias

[Spinal]

#1

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/img_7.jpg

Return of the Jedi

Director: Richard Marquand

Country: USA

After rescuing Han Solo from the palace of Jabba the Hutt, the Rebels attempt to destroy the Second Death Star, while Luke Skywalker tries to bring his father back to the Light Side of the Force.

Earned a Special Achievement Award Oscar for Visual Effects. Nominated for four other Oscars including Best Art Direction, Best Original Score and Best Sound. David Lynch and David Cronenberg were both offered the opportunity to direct. Jabba's sail barge was filmed in Yuma, Arizona. To preserve secrecy, the producers claimed to be making a horror film called Blue Harvest with the tagline 'Horror beyond imagination', and even had caps and t-shirts made up for the crew.

"As you know if you have seen the film ... bad guys regularly get wiped out by running their scooters into trees. Question: Isn't a thickly forested area the wrong venue for these vehicles? How about flying above the treetops, where there's nothing to run into?" - Roger Ebert

[Spinal]

1. Return of the Jedi (48)
2. Videodrome (45.5)
3. Sans Soleil (43)
4. A Christmas Story (38.5)
5. Nostalghia (37)
6. Zelig (28)
7. The Meaning of Life (22.5)
8. L’Argent (18.5)
9. The Right Stuff (15.5)
10. Risky Business (13)

Close, not quite:

WarGames (12.5)
El Sur (12.5)
Rumble Fish (12)
Ballad of Narayama (10)

[Ezee E]

yep. we're nerds.

[soitgoes...]

Most disappointing top film yet.