TWO OF A KIND
A could-have-been-good attempt at reviving the heavenly comedy mold of old, with John Tavolta and Olivia Newton-John
MODERN PROBLEMS
A creepy and off-putting 1981 “comedy” that’s most interesting for the fact that the narrative, about a deeply unhappy man descending into a vortex of sex, drugs and miscellaneous bad behavior, closely mirrored the offscreen existence of its star Chevy Chase
ADVENTURES OF ALI BABA AND THE 40 THIEVES
A highly ambitious and very of-its-time Indo-Soviet co-production from 1980
DARK DREAMS: AN OBSESSIVE LOOK AT ROMANO SCAVOLINI’S NIGHTMARE
A book that is indeed quite obsessive in its probe of this 1981 anti-classic
BETTY BLUE
A sprightly account of a tragic love affair that was made into an enormously popular 1986 film. The book’s better.
POSSIBLY IN MICHIGAN
This profoundly bizarre 12 minute short was made back in 1983, yet has become quite popular online (with good reason!)
ANDRIESH vs. ASHIK KERIB
About the first, and last, film made by the late Sergei Parajanov
LOOKER
1981 SF from writer/director Michael Crichton that deserves points for its prophetic concepts—but that’s ALL it deserves points for
ROAD GAMES
A standout Ozploitation flick from 1981, with Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis in a stealthy and suspenseful truckbound varient on REAR WINDOW
SUPERGIRL
This is about what you would expect quality-wise from a novelization of what was (until the 1987 release of SUPERMAN 4: THE QUEST FOR PEACE) the worst of the SUPERMAN movies