In the enthralling Blow Out, brilliantly crafted by Brian De Palma, John Travolta gives one of his greatest performances, as a movie sound-effects man who believes he has accidentally recorded a political assassination. He enlists the help of a possible eyewitness to the crime (Nancy Allen), who may be in danger herself, to uncover the truth. With its jolting stylistic flourishes, intricate plot, profoundly felt characterizations, and gritty evocation of early-1980s Philadelphia, Blow Out is an American paranoia thriller unlike any other, as well as a devilish reflection on moviemaking.
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Tag Archives: 1980s
The Chosen (1981) Jeremy Kagan, Maximilian Schell, Rod Steiger, Robby Benson, Drama
Brooklyn 1944. Despite being the same age, having grown up within blocks of each other, and both being Jewish, late teens Danny Saunders and Reuven Malter don’t really know each other – knowing each other only by name and by sight – as Orthodox Danny stays largely within his own Hasidic community, which is just fine in Reuven’s mind. An incident between the two which on the surface threatens to tear them even further apart instead blossoms into a friendship between the two. They begin to learn more and more about the other and their lives, which for Danny includes becoming a rabbi, solely as it is a several generations old family calling. In Reb Saunders’ mind, he who rules his family by strict Hasidic traditions, Danny becoming the next rabbi in the family is not even a question, despite Danny, deep in his heart, wanting other secular pursuits which he has not told his father. Conversely, Reuven has modern sensibilities, being raised in a two-person household by his widowed academic …
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The Stunt Man (1980) Richard Rush, Peter O’Toole, Steve Railsback, Barbara Hershey, Action, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Thriller
While on the run from the police, Steve Railsback hides in a group of moviemakers where he pretends to be a stunt man. Both aided and endangered by the director (Peter O’Toole) he avoids both the police and sudden death as a stuntman. The mixture of real danger and fantasy of the movie is an interesting twist for the viewer as the two blend in individual scenes.
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Dirty Love (1988) Joe D’Amato, Valentine Demy, Cully Holland, Lisa Lowenstein, Drama, Erotic
Valentine Demy and Susan Little star in this erotic tale of a young girl who sets off from the suburbs of New York City to seek fame as a dancer on Broadway. She finds that her exuberant body brings her into contact with many different facets of the Broadway nightlife, with sex as the dominant factor.
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Corruption (1983) Roger Watkins, Jamie Gillis, Michael Gaunt, Tiffany Clark, Adult, Crime
This is a story about a businessman that “sells his soul” for power. However, he is betrayed by courier/associate and finds himself answering to his formal employee. The businessman must then call upon his sleazy half-brother to help him set things right… or so he thinks.
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The Devil Hunter / El caníbal (1980) Jesús Franco, Ursula Buchfellner, Al Cliver, Antonio Mayans, Horror, Sexploitation, Erotic
The story is set amongst jungle tribes that live in fear of the devil. Laura Crawford is a model who gets kidnapped by a gang of thugs whilst working in South America. They take her into the jungle and demand a huge ransom. Laura is guarded by some ridiculous looking native who calls himself “The Devil” and has to go through all manner of unpleasantries until the gang get their ransom. Chained maidens are offered in supplication and the devil demonstrates eating pussy in a grossly excessive literal manner. Enter Peter Weston, the devil hunter, who goes into the jungle in true Indiana Jones style to try and rescue her.
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Bankers Also Have Souls / Le cadeau (1982) Michel Lang, Pierre Mondy, Claudia Cardinale, Clio Goldsmith, Comedy
Gregoire is retiring after many years with the same bank, and his collegues surprise him with the gift of a beautiful call girl, Barbara. Thinking she is a conquest, he impersonates the bank president, leading to a comedy of mistaken identities.
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Children of the Corn (1984) Fritz Kiersch, Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, R.G. Armstrong, Horror, Thriller
A boy preacher named Isaac goes to a town in Nebraska called Gatlin and gets all the children to murder every adult in town. A young couple have a murder to report and they go to the nearest town (Gatlin) to seek help but the town seems deserted. They are soon trapped in Gatlin with little chance of getting out alive.
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Star 80 (1983) Bob Fosse, Mariel Hemingway, Eric Roberts, Cliff Robertson, Biography, Drama
Paul Snider is a narcissistic, small time hustler who fancies himself a ladies man. His life changes when he meets Dorothy Stratten working behind the counter of a Dairy Queen. Dorothy is a pretty but naive high school senior. Paul immediately falls for Dorothy, who sees in Paul a wise, worldly person unlike herself. Paul believes Dorothy is Playboy material, the magazine he sees as only a springboard to bigger and better things. Paul’s dream does become a reality: not only does Dorothy eventually marry him, she becomes the August 1979 Playboy Playmate and ultimately Playboy Playmate of 1979, which does indeed lead to the start of an acting career. As Dorothy’s star rises, Paul’s life is one of a hanger-on as those in Dorothy’s new circle, including Playboy publisher Hugh M. Hefner and movie director Aram Nicholas, don’t much like Paul. Paul is unable to eke out a life of his own without using Dorothy’s name, which she increasingly is reluctant to provide to her husband.
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Rendez-vous (1985) André Téchiné, Lambert Wilson, Juliette Binoche, Wadeck Stanczak, Drama, Romance
A woman and three men. Nina, who’s come to Paris to act and sleeps with any man at hand, meets Paulot, a young estate agent; he’s smitten. She also meets Paulot’s flatmate Quentin, a compulsive who stalks her. To Paulot’s jealous dismay, she’s willing to sleep with Quentin, and wants Paulot’s friendship. After a desperate act by Quentin, Nina and Paulot share a flat, but she still won’t take him as a lover; instead, her energy goes into a production of “Romeo and Juliet” directed by a detached, intense man who becomes her father figure. Quentin’s ghost taunts her, Paulot wants to end all contact, and the director plans to return to London. The art of the theater may be her only refuge.
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