#oscars 56

[theoscarsproject]

Never Cry Wolf (1983). A government researcher, sent to research the "menace" of wolves in the north, learns about the true beneficial and positive nature of the species.

Is there a director that better understands a person's ability to connect to an animal than Carroll Ballard? While this feels spiritually in tune with his films Fly Away Home and The Black Stallion, this one physically supplants us in the deepest wilderness to pretty magical affect. Gorgeously shot, deeply human and honestly pretty moving, it's Disney at its best (and god, why don't they make films like this anymore?) 8/10.

[theoscarsproject]

Flashdance (1983). A Pittsburgh woman with two jobs as a welder and an exotic dancer wants to get into ballet school.

More music video than movie, this feels like a late night special on VH1. It does make me wish Jennifer Beals had a better career, but we'll always have The L Word. 4/10.

[theoscarsproject]

Yentl (1983). A Jewish girl disguises herself as a boy to enter religious training.

Absolute vanity project on Babs' part, but y'know what? If more vanity projects were this good, cinema would be a better place. 8/10.

[theoscarsproject]

Silkwood (1983). A worker at a plutonium processing plant is purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing worker safety violations at the plant.

Man, this is good. Meryl Streep is at her inexhaustable, narrative grounding best in this story of a rough-edged woman realising she's collateral damage under capitalism, and she's only elevated further by a pretty excellent Kurt Russell and Cher in supporting roles. Acerbic, infuriating and tragic, this is just great, scathing cinema. 8/10.

[theoscarsproject]

Trading Places (1983). A snobbish investor and a wily street con artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.

Racist, homophobic, misogynystic and just sort of nasty, I honestly kind of hated this one. It relies a lot on the charisma of its cast to pull it through a lot of its worst moments, and while that worked occasionally, overall I thought it was underwritten and fed into its own worst impulses. 3/10.

[theoscarsproject]

The Right Stuff (1983). The U.S. space program's development from the breaking of the sound barrier to selection of the Mercury 7 astronauts, from a group of test pilots with a more seat-of-the-pants approach than the program's more cautious engineers preferred.

Really wasn't expecting to enjoy this one as much as I did (especially given the run time), but god, it really works. Leaning into the brutal sacrifice and the lack of support in the aftermath, it still somehow never manages to lose a sense of wonder, discovery and connection. Plus some pretty amazing flight sequences - just, yes. Really enjoyed this one. 8/10.

[theoscarsproject]

Fanny and Alexander (1983). Two young Swedish children in the 1900s experience the many comedies and tragedies of their lively and affectionate theatrical family, the Ekdahls.

Cinema magic from beginning to end. No one does it like Bergman, and this feels like his magnum opus, a sprawling story that somehow manages to feel laser focused, resonant and rich, with sequences that exisquitely blur fantasy and reality. Just - - yeah. Magic. 9/10.

[theoscarsproject]

Under Fire (1983). Three journalists in a romantic triangle are involved in political intrigue during the last days of the corrupt Somozoa regime in Nicaragua before it falls to a popular revolution in 1979.

It's always complicated to talk about movies that centre white Americans in conflicts and countries that are decidedly neither white nor America. This movie focusing on two seedy journalists looking to make a name for themselves in the Nicaraguan Revolution does have a lot of the trappings that inevitably come with that, but it also has just enough cynicism at it's own premise to almost pull it off. Gene Hackman is particularly good, and some of the direction is pretty inspired. Just a shame the premise itself is what it is. 7/10.