#1988 films

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

November: Oscar winners

Dangerous Liaisons / Uma Thurman as Cécile de Volanges

Year: 1988

Designer: James Acheson

While the Marquise gets the most eye-popping wardrobe in this movie, really all the costumes are good. I've always liked this fresh and springy-looking gown, especially with the little cap and apron. I thought at first that the pattern was of cherries (which would be, cough, thematically appropriate) or apples, but it seems to be strawberries. According to FrockFlicks, the same material was used in Marie Antoinette (2006).

[adamwatchesmovies]

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

Some of the jokes in A Fish Called Wanda haven't aged well - this shouldn't be a surprise considering it was released nearly 35 years ago. They’re worth forgiving for the amount of laughs and memorable scenes the film has to offer.

After a successful jewelry heist, four thieves are forced to stall their escape when their ringleader, George (Tom Georgeson), is arrested. While animal lover Ken (Michael Palin) waits for his boss’ instructions, femme fatale Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her lover (who is pretending to be her brother) Otto (Kevin Kline) try and deduce where the jewels are hidden so they can run off with them. They hope George will disclose their location to his barrister, Archie (John Cleese). To get the information out of him, Wanda begins seducing Archie. Jealousies and double-crosses make this already complex situation much messier.

The characters are this film's strength. Michael Palin is hilarious as a man suffering from a horrible stutter who is assigned to take out an old woman who will be the key witness at George’s trial. An obsessive animal lover, his attempts to take out the lady wind up traumatizing him because he keeps screwing them up and killing some of her many dogs instead. What’s that? Are you upset because a beloved pooch might bite the dust instead of a human being? Well, it if makes you feel any better, Ken is upset about it too. The woman though? Nah, she can die. He doesn’t care.

Next, we have to talk about Otto. He’s this wannabe lothario who is crippled by his insecurities and incapable of keeping his jealousy in check. He knows Wanda is only putting the moves on Archie so they can get rich and leave the country but he can’t stop himself from making what should be a simple situation needlessly complicated. He’s so dumb you wonder what Wanda sees in him. Then, you realize she has this uncontrollable fetish for foreign languages. So what if the only Italian Otto knows is pasta and cheese-related? It’s all it takes for her to start tearing off her clothes.

Speaking of Wanda, she’s double-crossing everybody. Despite her excitement for foreign words while in bed, she’s way too good for Otto. She’s too good for George - whom she has fooled into thinking they’re a couple. An expert manipulator, she could have anyone wrapped around her finger… except maybe Archie. Well, no. She can definitely get the barrister’s attention. The question is whether his brick-solid Britishness will get in the way. All of these characters thrown together in this whirling dervish of a heist gone wrong make for big laughs over and over. Sometimes it gets dark, sometimes it gets absurd. It’s constantly making you wonder what’s next and filled with memorable scenes. There is a running gag about Otto pretending to be gay - it's so Ken doesn’t suspect he and Wanda are in cahoots - that feels a little weird and the movie feels a bit like it’s making fun of Ken for his stutter, but the gags still work for the most part.

A Fish Called Wanda is a smart film that uses its characters wisely, contains nothing but great performances and never holds back. That may ruffle a few feathers nowadays but it's hard to argue with the results. The characters are so great and they make for many big, memorable laughs. (On DVD, April 29, 2022)

[astolfocinema]

Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) ------------------------------------ dir. Terence Davies cin. William Diver, Patrick Duval cou. UK

[wehavewords]

“Whatever you end up doing, love it.”

Cinema Paradiso, dir. Giuseppe Tornatore

[zegalba]

Akira (1988) dir. Katsuhiro Otomo

[365filmsbyauroranocte]

Soleil (Pierre Clémenti, 1988)

[70sscifiart]

Craig Nelson’s 1988 Crime Zone poster

[20th-century-man]

Sherilyn Fenn / Zalman King’s Two Moon Junction (1988)

[odetokeons]

i don't know what this movie genre is called, but it's my favourite movie genre

[zanephillips]

JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME Bloodsport (1988)

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

April: Yellow Redux

Dangerous Liaisons / Glenn Close as the Marquise de Merteuil

Today I learned that this style of jacket is called a caraco. According to Wikipedia, the caraco was adapted from styles worn by working-class women first became fashionable for informal wear in the 1760s, which is right around the time this movie is set. So the Marquise is up to the minute in style but also comparatively dressed down--though it's amazing to think of calling this beautiful silk jacket and skirt "dressing down"!

The black accents and accessories definitely add to the effect. Note that her gloves have yellow stripes on the back, so they match the outfit. She also wears earrings of gold with black beads (probably jet).

[adamwatchesmovies]

Big (1988)

No conversation about the "body switch" genre would be complete without mentioning the king of the hill: Big. Even without Tom Hanks’ excellent performance and endless charms, this would be a great film. It has the big laughs and the right amount of sweetness to make it an everlasting classic.

At a carnival, Twelve-year-old Josh Baskin (David Moscow) inserts a coin into a fortune-teller machine and wishes to be “big”. The next morning, he’s grown into an adult (played by Tom Hanks). Unable to convince his mother of who he is, Josh moves to New York City to search for the machine, getting a job at the MacMillan Toy Company to make ends meet.

As a pre-teen in a grown-up’s body, Tom Hanks is perfect. He captures the giddy excitement and awkwardness of a child so well he makes it look like the easiest role an actor could play. The film makes it clear, however, that childlike innocence and wide-eyed wonder easily disappear - even among the people who work at a toy company. The story naturally lends itself to many funny moments. Josh and his best friend Billy (Jared Rushton) piecing together a resume for a job application, the two of them “living it up” now that they have access to the things only adults can normally get their hands on, several misunderstandings that happen as Josh navigates the grown-up world, etc. Just thinking about any of those moments is sure to bring a smile to your face even years after you’ve finished the movie. What you might not remember and don't expect to see are the more sensitive moments, the ones that prove this movie is more than a big piece of cotton candy.

For every scene of pure joy and wonder - the best of which features Josh meeting with his boss (Mr. MacMillan, played by Robert Loggia) in a toy store - there is another that… I don’t want to say cuts deep, but reminds the adults watching of everything they’ve lost between now and the time they were twelve. It’s uncanny how so many of Josh’s co-workers can be so childish and so unlike children at the same time. Anyone who remembers what it’s like to play with toys should be able to tell Paul (John Heard) that the plaything he’s proposing is lame but it took a literal child to put the company on the right track. Once his idea has been shot down (for all the right reasons), what does Paul do? he acts like a child and a bully. The fact that everyone sees right through him shows how juvenile he is. He's not the only character who passes through the thin barrier separating children and adults, reminding us quite elegantly that while the years can bring a lot of changes… some things always stay the same.

A lesser film would’ve latched onto Paul and made him a villain but Big doesn’t need a villain. The obstacles are everyday things, like emotions. We often look back fondly at their childhood, but would anyone REALLY want to go back to that time? Kids dream of growing up. Do grown-ups dream of becoming kids again? That question gets a lot more complicated once Josh experiences the emotional growth that comes with his exposure to the "real world". As a twelve-year-old, Josh was interested in girls but it’s not like anything was actually going to happen. As a man, his friendship with Susan (Elizabeth Perkins) could turn into a relationship, and then what? a marriage? a family? He’s still a boy; too young for that kind of thing… or is he? This movie isn’t playing by real-world rules. That makes you unsure of where it’s ultimately headed.

Big checks all the boxes. The performances are terrific. If I had to single out a top three, I’d have to hand it out to Hanks first, then a tie between David Moscow and Jared Rushton. Elizabeth Perkins, John Heard and Robert Loggia are all excellent as well. The screenplay is fantastic, with so many wonderful little details that make these characters feel real. The emotions are powerful and cover the complete spectrum - from heartbreaks to big, memorable laughs. Penny Marshall (who teamed up with Hanks again in 1992 for A League of Their Own, another great film”) has made an instant favorite that will stand the test of time. It’s hard to imagine anyone watching Big and not falling in love with it. (Theatrical version, February 18, 2022)

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Barbie Wilde relaxing behind the scenes of Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 listening to her cassette player (1988)

[gameraboy2]

Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988)

[vampirologist]

creatures of horror

pumpkinhead (1988) / brain damage (1988) / alien (1979) / the thing (1981) / possession (1981) / eraserhead (1977) / the fly (1986) / basket case (1982) / beetlejuice (1988)

[hellhoundteeth]

“Dead Ringers” (1988)

dir David Cronenberg