While Happy Together has its moments, it relies too much on the chemistry between Dempsey and Slater – which is unexisting.
Kuukausi: huhtikuu 2015
#181 Biohazard (1985)
An interesting mix of 50s monster from outer space sci-fi movie combined with 80s, tits and gore, Biohazard walks into the pitfall of being bad – but not bad enough to be good.
#180 Mississippi Burning (1988)
Two FBI agents sent out to tackle the case of human right activists gone missing inadvertently clash with local police force, each other and even the people they try to help.
#179 At Close Range (1986)
A chilling story of kinship, false paragons, disillusion and the tragedy that’s due to follow. Sean Penn and Christopher Walken give some truly powerful performances here.
#178 Destroyer (1988)
A promising action horror puts too much emphasis on its antagonist, the weakest link of the movie. Destroyer has some fine action moments, but is a dud as a horror movie.
#177 Ishtar (1987)
Often dubbed as the worst movie ever, it’s obvious that expectations of this Hoffman-Beatty co-op were sky high. But it’s not that bad, just completely mediocre and forgettable.
#176 Mask (1985)
Based on a real story about a teen affected by a deforming condition, Mask takes a bit too much artistic freedom with its subject – but as a fiction it’s a truly beautiful movie.
#175 Get Crazy (1983)
Get Crazy cooks up a mix of crazy comedy, backstage madness and musical numbers in a fascinating and fun way. It’s a party and everybody’s invited!
#174 The Money Pit (1986)
A perfect example how a mediocre story and concept can be turned into a decent comedy with the right craftsmanship and actors. Another triumph for Tom Hanks!
#173 All the Marbles (1981)
All the Marbles tries to sell us choreographed show wrestling as a real sport, and the included far too lengthy matches ruin what could’ve been a decent road movie.
#172 Supergirl (1984)
Supergirl continues on the unfortunate trail lead by Superman II and III, both of which are similar incoherent mess. Helen Slater is Super cute as a super girl, though!
#171 52 Pick-Up (1986)
An stylish neo noir crime film about an industrialist turning tables with his blackmailers is praiseworthy for its flawed, imperfect characters, but loses some suspense towards the end.
#170 Dorothy Stratten trilogy: Galaxina (1980)
Stratten plays a picture perfect mute female android in a sci-fi comedy that spoofs the likes of Star Wars, Aliens and Star Trek. Too bad it never succeeds to be funny at all.
#169 Dorothy Stratten trilogy: Star 80 (1983)
Released two years after the tragic incident, Star 80 is clearly more refined and superior one of the two feature movie made about the story of Dorothy Stratten.
This time around the ground work is well made and both Mariel Hemingway and Eric Roberts portray the characters faithfully. Hemingway has that innocent small town girl look and feel to her and Roberts gets much deeper to the Snider’s persona of a small time crook with his sickly fixation to make it big.
Roberts’ stellar performance encapsulates Snider not only as an unlikeable and possessive creep, but also as a man struggling with his sense or inferiority and there are many scenes you can’t help but to feel sorry for him, even knowing what he did in the end.
The tragic story of Dorothy Stratten, the playmate and a star on the rise deserved to be told the right way – and Star 80 does just that
#168 Dorothy Stratten trilogy: Death of a Centerfold (1981)
Dorothy Stratten was a waitress from a small town seduced by a small time hustler called Paul Snider who soon after starting dating started booking her some petty appearance deals. Snider then persuaded Dorothy to pose in nude photos and she was picked up by Playboy to be their centerfold and to his shock, the possessive and manipulative Snider soon found Dorothy, his sure meal ticket to the stars, drifting away from his clutches.
When the separation was finally confirmed, Snider invited Stratten to his home, shot her and then committed a suicide; she was only twenty at the time.
A rising star, Stratten’s death was a huge news story in the early 80s and spawned two movies depicting the tragedy.
First one of these is Death of a Centerfold, a TV-movie rushed out and released the same year. The production quality is fine for a TV-movie, but the story takes far too many liberties with the subject, changing names of the people involved and the actual events that took place. Both lead roles are strong, fine actors, but clearly miscasts for the movie.
It’s not entirely a lemon, but the movie could’ve been a lot better had they waited some more and done their home work on the subject before commencing filming.
A soap-opera take on the life of Dorothy Stratten pays no homage to the people involved and was clearly rushed out to cash quickly on the tragedy
#167 When Time Ran Out… (1980)
An early 80s release of a typical 70s disaster movie with effects straight from 60s, plus it has that soup opera look and feel to it. Not even its all-star cast can save this one.
#166 Shoot to Kill aka Deadly Pursuit (1988)
Shoot to kill builds up a great premise by taking a who-dunnit to a wild wilderness trek – and then losts its focus by revealing the killer and taking the story back to city.
#165 Tapeheads (1988)
Cusack’s and Robbins’ spoof of the music video business is very 80s and not without laughs, but feels like it’s just adding scene after another to make it to the 90 minute mark.
#164 Blaze (1989)
Dubbed as a drama, Blaze is really more like a cartoony biography. Both leads perform flawlessly, but the whole concept just isn’t that interesting, despite all the sensationalism.
#163 Project X (1987)
Unless you have a heart of stone, Project X, Matthew Broderick’s lightweight thriller of an airman trying to save a research chimpanzee from its cruel fate will most likely get to you.
80s-o-meter: 82%
Total: 61%