80s

Flash Gordon

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Flash Gordon. Starling Films 1980.
Flash Gordon. Starling Films 1980.

Before watching the movie:

I’ve been wanting to see this movie ever since I learned while reviewing Highlander that Queen did music for it. That is the biggest selling point of this movie for me, and will likely be the best thing about it, even if it does turn out to be an effective update of a campy adventure serial. I’m just not sure this sort of thing can be done seriously anymore.

I was surprised to learn from the box that Flash is a football player. Some quick research showed that in the original comics, he was a polo player, so that’s not a big change. I never picked up on him being an athlete. I should probably invest more time in familiarizing myself with source material.

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The Great Outdoors

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The Great Outdoors. Universal Pictures 1988.
The Great Outdoors. Universal Pictures 1988.

Before watching the movie:

The 80s, a camping trip, a family rivalry, two comedy legends. Why didn’t I know about this sooner?

I just found this while looking for something lighter, since I intentionally tried to keep January dark to offset my tendency to hit recent comedies, and it’s time for a short break.

So, Dan Aykroyd smugly one-upping John Candy on their family vacation in some mountainside lake area it is.

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Somewhere In Time

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Somewhere in Time. Rastar Pictures 1980.
Somewhere in Time. Rastar Pictures 1980.

Before watching the movie:

It occurs to me that “Time travel romance” is rather an oddball genre. I can think of two or three other examples (Assuming The Lake House counts), but it still seems more common than it ought to be, though less than it could be.

This movie somehow reminds me of Time After Time, even though the premise is almost entirely opposite. This is a modern person going back in time for love, the other is about a Victorian coming to the present and finding love accidentally.

Oddly, my conception of Christopher Reeve’s acting style is less from Superman and more from Noises Off! There may be more Superman, but I’ve seen Noises Off! more frequently.

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Creator

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Creator. Kings Road Entertainment 1985.
Creator. Kings Road Entertainment 1985.

Before watching the movie:

I think I remember seeing this in a collection of tapes held at a sports memorabilia store. I don’t remember why they were there, but since they were in the open, they were probably for sale or rent rather than for the workers’ entertainment during slow hours. I think it was right next to (or very near to) a Bride of Frankenstein remake, so that influenced my understanding of the plot. Anyway, it looked like an interesting movie I was too young for at the time, and that and other reasons meant that I left it.

I feel I really ought to have seen Peter O’Toole before, but I can’t recall anything, so I don’t really have a feel for him besides his reputation as a Great, which doesn’t tell me much specifically.

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Clockwise

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Clockwise. Moment Films 1986.
Clockwise. Moment Films 1986.

Before watching the movie:

A downward spiral of comic misadventure concerning getting to an appointment on time. Pretty self-explanatory. Since John Cleese decided to be involved in it, I expect it won’t be entirely predictable, and he’ll at least turn in a funny performance.

Maybe it’s overkill to do two Python-adjacent movies in a row, but this has been kicking around on my list for a while and it attracted my interest this week.

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Erik the Viking

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Erik the Viking. Prominent Features 1989.
Erik the Viking. Prominent Features 1989.

Before watching the movie:

This just sounds odd. It doesn’t help that all the summaries I’ve seen are one sentence long. As I recall, it runs something like Erik starts Ragnarok because he’s bored. That sounds like a two minute sketch. I don’t see how it can last as long as it does. But it’s Pythonesque, so I have to trust that it’s fun.
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The Purple Rose of Cairo

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The Purple Rose of Cairo. Orion Pictures Corporation 1985.
The Purple Rose of Cairo. Orion Pictures Corporation 1985.

Before watching the movie:

I don’t think I’ve seen a Woody Allen movie he didn’t star in yet. Well, depending on how much What’s Up, Tiger Lilly? counts.Oddly, this is a metafictional fantasy about crossing the barrier between film and reality, but it feels more traditional than I expect from Allen. I’m expecting a more traditional performance from Jeff Daniels, too, despite the fact that he’s a fictional character who’s walked off the silver screen.

One thing I’m uncertain about in my expectations is the inner movie’s style. I’m imagining a golden age of Hollywood feel, but that was the 40s at the earliest, and this movie is set in the 30s. I’m much less familiar with films of the 30s.

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The Golden Child

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The Golden Child. Paramount Pictures 1986.
The Golden Child. Paramount Pictures 1986.

Before watching the movie:

I first heard of this movie as the project that made Eddie Murphy back out of Star Trek IV. It was probably for the better, since the comedy of that movie comes from the serious characters being dumbfounded by the 20th century, and a wisecracking, street smart native would have made it more farcical.

Besides that, I know what the blurb says, about a social worker searching for a Tibetan boy destined to save the world, and I recall there being some kind of prop/replica in the quiet footpath with movie memorabilia at King’s Island before they replaced that area with something more interesting for their target clientele. Probably a gift shop, I don’t remember.

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Twins

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Twins. Universal Studios 1988.
Twins. Universal Studios 1988.

Before watching the movie:

The intent to depict contrast is very overt here. Separated at birth, a pair of twin babies grow into Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito, from completely opposite walks of life. A series of comic misadventures happen when they finally meet that probably has a “not so different” or “family is stronger than upbringing” theme.

I thought this marked my entry into Schwarzenegger’s infamous comedy period, but technically Last Action Hero is infamous and a comedy also, even if I liked it. I’ve also seen Jingle All The Way, which is frequently derided, but doesn’t get lumped in with the infamy surrounding Twins, Kindergarten Cop, and Junior. Hopefully I’ll like this better than the conventional wisdom as well.

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The Woman in Red

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The Woman in Red. Orion Pictures Corporation 1984.
The Woman in Red. Orion Pictures Corporation 1984.

Before watching the movie:

This is billed as a comedy, but it sounds like it could be more serious. How many moody dramas follow the dissolution of a marriage because the man had his head turned by a beautiful woman? The summaries point out that he’s happily married at the start, which makes it sound sadder.

On the other hand, a lot of comedies track the beginning of a relationship at the expense of another, and Wilder would do well at the flustered sort of unfaithful man like the type in The Seven Year Itch.

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