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Henry V (1989). In the midst of the Hundred Years War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
Kenneth Branagh has truly been collecting Shakespeare roles like infinity stones for more than 30 years. 7/10.
Shirley Valentine (1989). Shirley is a 42-year-old bored Liverpudlian housewife who takes a holiday trip to Greece and meets a local man who bolsters her self-confidence. She evolves and transforms to the point that her husband doesn't even recognize her.
It took me a while to get into this one, but it won me over somewhere in the middle and had totally charmed me by the end. What a fun little belated coming of age film and what a sparkling performance from Pauline Collins. Seeing her grow, figure out what she wants and stick to a new path is genuinely pretty special, and I particularly like the way it kind of feels a bit vignette-y in parts? The sequence with her old school friend is a particular delight. 7/10.
Steel Magnolias (1989). A young beautician, newly arrived in a small Louisiana town, finds work at the local salon, where a small group of women share a close bond of friendship, and welcome her into the fold.
I feel like this is so woven into the pop culture lexicon, but weirdly I didn't actually really know what it was about? Anyway, I loved this weird movie. Sure, it's unfocused, sprawling, and picks and chooses which characters to add real depth to, but it just works for me. A lot of that is probably based on the strength of the cast (Sally Field and Shirley MaclLine in particular, the actresses you are!), but there's also just this throughline of big, messy, beating heart that gets me. 8/10.
For All Mankind (1989). An in-depth look at various NASA moon landing missions, starting with Apollo 8.
God, I would love to see this on the big screen. What incredible footage, and a genuinely very good documentary. It really feels like it lets the astronauts guide the stories, following these chapters of travel to the moon in a way that feels as awe-inspiring as it should. Just a really, really good doco. 8/10.
Born on the Fourth of July (1989). The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country for which he fought.
Echoing what many have said on Letterboxd, but this truly has to be one of Tom Cruise's best performances. He's vulnerable in a way he rarely lets himself be here, both as the boy who enters the war sold on the promise of patriotism and heroism and as the broken man spat out of it, failed by the country he wanted only to serve. It's a great performance in a scathing, albeit flawed indictment of the Vietnam War and America, and I only wish the script and other performers really matched it (although Willem Dafoe is, as always, tremendous too). 7/10.
Camille Claudel (1988). Camille Claude impresses already-famous sculptor Auguste Rodin. He hires her as an assistant, but soon Camille begins to sculpt for herself and she also becomes his mistress. But after a while, she would like to get out of his shadow.
Isabelle Adjani truly one of the best actresses of her generation, but she's dragged down a bit in this one by a script that never quite delivers on its own promise. It's a beautifully shot film though, and it was an interesting exploration of an artist I didn't really know too much about, so worth checking out in that sense. 7/10.
Valmont (1989). France before 1789: When a widow hears that her lover is to marry her cousin's daughter, she asks the playboy Valmont to take the girl's virginity. But first she bets him, with her body as prize, to seduce a virtuous, young, married woman.
One day I'll rate all the Dangerous Liaisons movies and this will probably be in the lower half unfortunately. Annette Bening seems to be having a lot of fun though at least, but weirdly I don't really buy Colin Firth here? Costumes are great though! 5/10.
Cinema Paradiso (1988). Salvatore, a famous film director, returns to his hometown for the funeral of the local theater's film projectionist, Alfredo. He reminisces about his life as a young boy falling in love with cinema.
Honestly can't believe it took me this long (and The Oscars Project) to finally watch this one. What a staggering feat of cinema, not just a love story to the medium itself, but the community it creates around it. Profoundly beautiful and tender and oddly un-self-consious for a movie of this sort. An all-timer for me, I think. 10/10.
