| At The Movies: 1982
January 19, 2012
Now that we are several weeks into the calendar year of 2012, I thought that perhaps it might be fun to go back in time and take a look at some of the films that will celebrating their thirtieth birthday this year. Alongside the many genuine classics that were released that year, there are also numerous gems that have been unjustly forgotten over the ensuing decades. With that in mind allow me to ruminate on twenty films from the calendar year of 1982 and, maybe, just maybe, you’ll be inspired to seek out one of the films among the batch.
(1) Shoot the Moon is a film that still packs an emotional punch after all these years. Diane Keaton and Albert Finney star in the emotionally wrenching tale of a couple whose marriage is disintegrating. The insightful script is by Bo Goldman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest).
(2) Vice Squad is one of the films that is best described as a guilty pleasure. Season Hubley stars as a single mother trying to support her kid who is hired to catch a killer by posing as a prostitute. Wings Hauser chews the scenery appropriately as the murderous pimp.
(3) One From the Heart was director Francis Ford Coppola’s follow up to Apocalypse Now. Originally planned as a modestly budgeted musical romance set in Vegas, the budget ballooned to a then unheard of $27 million. The film, though not perfect, has its own charms and features good work from all of its actors, in particular, Harry Dean Stanton, Frederic Forrest, and Teri Garr.
(4) Deathtrap — Christopher Reeve and Michael Caine star in director Sidney Lumet’s film adaptation of the 1978 Ira Levin play of the same name. The film, a delightful murder mystery, rewards its viewers with many twists and turns in its plot.
 (5) Victor Victoria was one of filmmaker Blake Edwards’ best projects to materialize in the decade of the 80s. The film concerns a starving singer (Julie Andrews), circa 1930s Paris, who launches a career as a male impersonator pretending to be a female impersonator and becomes the toast of society.
Andrews in Victor Victoria
(6) Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid was director Carl Reiner and actor Steve Martin’s tribute to crime films of the forties as Martin is literally inserted into footage from many of those films, but with a new story.
(7) Fighting Back stars Tom Skerritt as a Philadelphia deli owner who decides to take the law into his own hands after a rash of crime in the city starts affecting his own family. It’s similar in theme to Death Wish, but overall a much more engrossing film.
(8) The Thing — John Carpenter’s remake of the much beloved fifties classic The Thing From Another World didn’t find an audience during its original theatrical run but is now considered a classic and is always worth revisiting.
(9) The World According to Garp was the film adaptation of John Irving’s tragicomic 1977 novel of the same name. Robin Williams, in the lead role, was never better and the rest of the cast, which includes John Lithgow and Glenn Close, is flawless as well.
(10) Class of 1984 is one of the best films I know of dealing with the subject of a teacher being terrorized by the students they’ve been hired to teach. Perry King is the teacher and Timothy Van Patten is the student and the film features a memorable finale involving King’s character and a chainsaw. I won’t say anymore except that Michael J. Fox also turns up in a small and very early role as a victimized student.
(11) The Last American Virgin looked like just another raunchy teen comedy on the surface but a poignant turn during the film’s final act takes it several notches above the usual standard teen fare of the 80s variety.
 (12) Cult film staple, Paul Bartel, does double duty as director and actor in Eating Raoul, a wonderfully dark satire about a hip couple who lure wealthy swingers to their apartment and then murder them as a way of financing their restaurant.
Peter McNichol, Streep & Kevin Kline in Sophie’s Choice
(13) It Came From Hollywood is a wonderful collection of film clips featuring some of the worst movies ever made. What makes it even better is that it is hosted and narrated by such comedic legends as John Candy, Cheech and Chong, Gilda Radner and Dan Ackroyd.
(14) My Favorite Year is a nostalgia piece set in the year 1954 as a top comedy writer who is given the task of entertaining his show’s guest star (Peter O’Toole) for a week.
(15) Masters of horror George Romero and Stephen King first collaborated together on Creepshow, an anthology featuring five witty tales of terror. The large cast includes E.G. Marshall, Leslie Nielsen, and Adrienne Barbeau.
(16) Q stars the late David Carradine as a detective who discovers a gigantic winged serpent is roosting upon the Chrysler building in NYC. Larry Cohen (It’s Alive) wrote and directed.
(17) White Dog was a film that was unjustly buried due to its controversial subject matter but that doesn’t make it a bad film. An aspiring actress (Kristy McNichol) adopts a german shepherd only to discover it was originally trained to attack and kill African Americans. The film is more intelligently done than its subject matter might suggest.
(18) Frances stars Jessica Lange in a powerhouse performance as troubled actress Frances Farmer.
(19) Sophie’s Choice features Meryl Streep in one of her signature roles as a Jewish woman troubled by the secrets of her past.
(20) Tootsie is still one of the all time classic comedies and features Dustin Hoffman in an award worthy performance as a struggling actor who dresses as a woman to land a role on a soap opera.
There you have it. Twenty good-to-great films from thirty years ago. Now, what are you waiting for? Discover for yourself some of these films you may have missed.
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