Reviews of '87: Monsters-A-Go-Go

Each of these film involves something that isn't human...sometimes not of this world...monsters - but not necessarily monstrous.

Harry and the Hendersons

dir: William Dear

scr: William Dear and Bill Martin & Ezra D. Rappaport

Oscar Winner: Best Makeup

Family finds sasquatch and takes him home. Works in its own wacky family-friendly comedy way. Brilliant casting: John Lithgow in Lithgow mode, of course; Melinda Dillon as a deadpan-irked but also devoted wife and mom, duh; but a pre-Poirot David Suchet as a French bigfoot hunter?! GENIUS! Impressive makeup effects aid in Kevin Peter Hall's sweet execution of the titular Harry. I love a movie that knows what it is and embraces it.

The Lost Boys, Prince of Darkness, and more - after the jump.....

Reviews of '87: Read a Book, Read a Book....

These were all based on books.

The Princess Bride

dir: Rob Reiner

scr: William Goldman, based on his novel

Oscar Nominee: Best Original Song ("Storybook Love")

Terrific fun. Large cast of heavy-hitters delivers the goods: Mandy Patinkin stands out, but Andre the Giant, Wallace Shawn, Christopher Guest, Chris Sarandon, Billy Crystal...all great! Bad electronica orchestration of an otherwise good score; wish Robin Wright had more to do.

Full Metal Jacket, The Living Daylights, and more, after the jump....

Reviews of '87: Keep It Brief

The following films should be easy to remember - they are, after all, only one word apiece!

RoboCop

dir: Paul Verhoeven

scr: Edward Neumeier & Michael Miner

Oscar Winner: Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing

Oscar Nominee: Best Film Editing, Best Sound

Near future cop becomes law-and-order cyborg. Fierce critique of commodification of public services increasingly relevant; glorification of violence also biting (RoboCop is a good guy with a gun!). Not a detail missed: the ads, the cheery news reports, murder as minor setback at work. Peter Weller's performance a ballet of understatement. Lean, mean, sharp. Dare I say...perfect?

Ten more, including Predator and Mannequin, after the jump...

Reviews of '87: Everything But...

The following films were all nominated for Academy Awards - and won nothing. HOWEVER! They did win other awards, like a BAFTA or a critics' award, and I have noted those wins in each entry.

Empire of the Sun

dir: Steven Spielberg

scr: Tom Stoppard, based on the novel by J.G. Ballard

Oscar Nominee: Best Score, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Sound

Award Winner: BAFTA Award for Best Score, Best Cinematography, Best Sound; National Board of Review for Best Film, Best Director (Steven Spielberg), Outstanding Juvenile Performance (Christian Bale)

Experiences of an English boy in China during Japanese occupation. Stands alongside the great epics. Large-scale evacuation of Shanghai, playful run through the POW camp, dreamlike tour of the abandoned stadium, wrenching "I can save everyone!" moment among Spielberg's greatest achievements.

Eleven more, after the jump...

1987: Woody Allen Double Feature

The last year we went without a Woody Allen movie was 1981. Maybe that's why Allen felt he needed to fit two into 1987. 

By the time Hannah and Her Sisters was winning Oscars, filming was already underway on Radio Days, a fact Dianne Wiest alluded to in her acceptance speech. Radio Days was already out by the time September was in reshoots - this according to Thierry de Navacelle's Woody Allen On Location. A year later, one would be up for Academy Awards, while the other would be tossed aside, doomed to become an "oh yeah" title in the writer-director's filmography.

Let's discuss!

1987: Robert Altman Double Dips

Robert Altman is my favorite filmmaker.

I've seen 22 of his films (just a small dent in his filmography, but why blow through everything before I'm 30? Let me keep finding the gems!), and really only have a problem with two or three of them. He released an average of one film a year over a period of 40 years, making him one of the most prolific filmmakers in modern history. And wouldn't you know? He released two movies in 1987! Let's talk about them!

Hello May, Hello 1987

A new month, a new retrospective: for the next five weeks, the Silver Screening Room is dedicated to the films of 1987, from the Oscars to the also-rans! I'm talking The Last Emperor and The Lost Boys; The Princess Bride and Prince of Darkness; Broadcast News and House II: The Second Story!

Of the 71 movies screened, 66 will be reviewed by next Friday; the remaining five are Oscar's Best Picture nominees - Broadcast News, Fatal Attraction, Hope and Glory, The Last Emperor, Moonstruck - which we'll discuss at the end of the two-week Oscar retrospective; and we'll close out the month with the Top Ten, Nominees, and two-part "ceremony" for the 1987 Hollmann Awards.

The films screened:

84 Charing Cross Road

Adventures in Babysitting

Angel Heart

Anna

Au Revoir Les Enfants

Baby Boom

La Bamba

Barfly

The Believers

Beverly Hills Cop II

Beyond Therapy

Blood Diner

Broadcast News

Cry Freedom

The Dead

Dirty Dancing 

Empire of the Sun

Fatal Attraction

Flowers in the Attic

Full Metal Jacket

The Funeral

Gaby: A True Story

Good Morning, Vietnam

Gothic

Harry and the Hendersons

Hellraiser

The Hidden

Hollywood Shuffle

Hope and Glory

House II: The Second Story

Innerspace

Ironweed

The Last Emperor

Lethal Weapon

The Living Daylights

The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne

The Lost Boys 

Mannequin

Masters of the Universe

Matewan

Maurice

Moonstruck

The Monster Squad

My Life as a Dog

Near Dark

Nuts

O.C. and Stiggs

Ping Pong

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Predator

Prick Up Your Ears

Prince of Darkness

The Princess Bride

Radio Days

Raising Arizona

River's Edge

RoboCop

Roxanne

September

Street Smart

Surf Nazis Must Die

Tampopo

Three Men and a Baby

Throw Momma from the Train

The Untouchables

Walker

Wall Street

The Whales of August

Who's That Girl?

The Witches of Eastwick

Withnail & I

We begin properly tomorrow, with a look at the films of Robert Altman, who double-dipped with O.C. and Stiggs and Beyond Therapy - and not on purpose...

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