#1981 films

[raspberrydee]

the bike riding scene in the great muppet caper is genuinely one of the most magical scenes in all of cinema and i’m not even kidding 🥲

[astolfocinema]

The production design of Outland (Peter Hyams, 1981)

[stimtickle]

This scene from On Golden Pond with Jane Fonda playing opposite her real life father Henry Fonda still just gets me every time. This isn’t only because of the story, but because it’s so close to the dysfunctional relationship they had irl. They were distant, they were angry with each other, but Jane made a point of trying to reconcile their differences towards the end of his life. She’s always been a spiritual warrior in every way and I love her. Makes me wish I’d had a better relationship with my father too.

*FYI: In 1981, On Golden Pond was a massive hit. In fact that year the only film that made more box office money was Raiders of the Lost Ark. That was back in the day when human dramas could still be mainstream hits, with not just franchise offerings getting all the attention.

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

November: Oscar Winners

Chariots of Fire / Alice Krige as Sybil Gordon

Year: 1981

Designer: Milena Canonero

This cream-colored dress looks just perfect for a warm summer day. It has the by-now-familiar semi-sheer top over an opaque foundation (compare these costumes from Enchanted April, which is set around the same time). There's a bit of subtle eyelet work around the seams and hems. It's not quite clear whether the floral designs are embroidered or stenciled on, but they appear to cover the whole dress, based on what we can see of the skirt. The gloves, by contrast, extend down the wrist and have a polka-dot design on the frills.

The cloth band and floral decoration on her broad-brimmed straw hat pick up the colors of the dress, and her parasol appears to be a very pale pink.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

Everything that was tested and set up in Mad Max comes to explosive fruition in The Road Warrior, a sequel so good, so superior to its predecessor it’s almost a bit discouraging. If you can’t up the ante, the action, the characterization and the excitement the way this film does… maybe you shouldn’t even bother turning your one film into a franchise.

Nuclear war has devastated the planet and in Australia, the survivors barely cling to sanity. After losing his family, “Mad” Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) has become a wandering marauder, caring for little other than his dog, his next meal, and the fuel he needs to keep drifting. When his path crosses with the last reasonable people on the continent, he finds himself torn between helping them escape from the Lord Humungous (Kjell Nilsson) and his gang of sadistic motorists or continuing his aimless travels.

Let’s not beat around the bush. The Road Warrior is one of the greatest action films ever made. The focus is on the action, specifically, the crashes, chases and on-board vehicular combat. When this film smashes a car, it doesn’t joke around. It annihilates its props like a little kid throwing a Lego airplane out the window of an apartment building. Captured on camera, it soothes a primal desire to see things utterly destroyed. It isn’t mindless carnage, however, The Road Warrior is also telling a story whose every nuance you’re not going to catch at first. In this film, you will find one of the best examples of how to do an anti-hero right.

In an early scene, Max and a fellow survivor (Bruce Spence as the Gyro Captain) look through spyglasses at a couple who are viciously attacked by Lord Humongous’ minions. It tells us volumes because Max DOESN’T react. You can tell by the expression on the Gyro Captain’s face that even for this world, what's happening below is disturbing. That sinking realization that Max isn’t going to swoop in and save the day makes you understand how broken a setting this is. As the film progresses and Rockatansky slowly regains his humanity, there’s plenty of glee to be found, but in the back of your mind you never forget just how bad things could go.

This is an extremely efficient film that does a lot with little. The leather-clad maniacs of the desert are an evolution of today's motorcycle riders and unmistakably fetishistic. Compare them with the civilized people who call upon Max for help. It tells you everything you need to know about the conflict. “These ones are bad, those ones are good.” The way characters react – or don’t react – to bloodshed makes you understand their inner workings in a way that allows you to care about what is happening without taking too much time away from the real reason you’re here – the action. It’s a simple story. There are no extraneous love plots or details about peoples’ tragic upbringings. And yet, there are many clues to what life here is like found between the lines. No one feels underwritten and the world they’re in feels real without the need for exposition.

The Road Warrior builds to an explosive climax whose length and ferocity is one of a kind. The first time I saw it, the sequence blew my mind. I just couldn’t believe how long it lasted and how nerve-wracking it was. You would expect repeat viewings to be less engaging, but they aren’t. Over and over again, The Road Warrior proves itself to be a marvellously paced, extremely efficient blast of adrenaline that delivers both the action you crave and the character development necessary to ensure you care what will happen next. (On Blu-ray, April 21, 2018)

[areladurell]

Favorite Films | 1981

My Bloody Valentine (dir. George Mihalka) | The Beyond (dir. Lucio Fulci) | The Evil Dead (dir. Sam Raimi) | Halloween II (dir. Rick Rosenthal) | Raiders of the Lost Ark (dir. Steven Spielberg) | An American Werewolf in London (dir. John Landis)

[talkaboutmovies]

 The trailer for “Shock Treatment”, sort of a sequel, with many of the same people from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” except there’s a different Brad and Janet.

[raspberrydee]

kinda insane to me that the great muppet caper is the only muppet movie that jim henson directed???