Favorite Films of the 80's

Bret Easton Ellis, or Patrick Bateman, I'm not sure which, Tweeted that he believes Something Wild and Blue Velvet to be the two key films of the 1980's.  As I've said before, Something Wild tops my list as well; and it got me to thinking abot my other favorites.


These films aren't necessary the best films of the 80's (though a couple arguably are); these are the films I think best represent the essence: the look, the feel, of the decade.  And more importantly (to me anyway), these are my favorite films of the 80's:


Something Wild
Repo Man
Valley Girl
The Decline of Western Civilization
Sex, Lies, and Videotape
After Hours
Roger and Me
Do the Right Thing
Blue Velvet
Ferris Bueller's Day Off

The Tin Man v. Scarecrow

Why did The Tin Man want a heart? Its nothing but a pain in the ass! Crying and rusting up his armor. The Scarecrow had it right. A brain! The brain expands and grows forever; a limitless cup to fill. The Heart is a broken record. It feels good; it hurts; it feels good; it hurts...

R.E.M., Woody Allen, and The Coen Bros. Collapse Into Now

After my first listen to R.E.M.'s new album Collapse Into Now, I thought, oh well, another uneven effort; a disappointment after their excellent previous release, Accelerate. And I thought, R.E.M. may be the Woody Allen of modern rock; artists who at one time could do no wrong; but lately, oscillate between mediocre and good.

I listened to R.E.M.'s Collapse Into Now several times during my drive to Florida and back; and it just got better and better with each listening. At first, the songs are so obscure and confounding, with flashes of grandeur, the album just seemed frustrating. But, once the beauty and complexity soaked in, I remembered, this is exactly the kind of stuff that made me so fanatical about them 25+ years ago.

Collapse Into Now is a great, frustrating, indefinable, complex, lovely album; on par with some of R.E.M.'s best efforts, like Out of Time and Murmur. And I thought, maybe R.E.M. is not Woody Allen, but, The Coen Bros.; after watching a Coen Bros. movie, sometimes you sit there and think, I love all their movies, but, what the hell was that? Until several viewings later, you realize, you just saw a masterpiece.