1986 - Platoon: "Take the pain!"

1986 Best Picture

Premiered December 19, 1986 in New York & Los Angeles

Budget $6 Million

Gross $138 Million

We felt that Deer Hunter was brash and in your face. The hope was that it would not get more harsh than that. However, Platoon takes the Vietnam War to a whole new level. It was raw, it was harsh, it was offensive and it was a realistic look at what life in the infantry may have been like. 

The movie's beauty is the raw aspect of it. The life-like war violence of the film makes it stand apart from all of the rest of the wartime movies that we've seen. It is not necessarily the best war movie but it is the most intense and thought provoking. 

Callie

Favorite: The movie was too harsh and offensive.

Least Favorite: I am glad that the mistreatment of the civilians bothered Charlie Sheen's character.

Joel

Favorite: The score added to the movie. Adagio for Strings was fitting and was used effectively.

Least Favorite: The movie is a little too intense. The atrocities are so egregious that it makes many in the military look terrible. 

1985 - Out of Africa: "I had a farm in Africa."

1985 Best Picture

Premiered December 10, 1985

Budget $31 Million

Gross $87 Million

The great Meryl Streep shines once again in a movie that was less that stellar. She was one of the bright spots in an otherwise dull story. The romance between her and Robert Redford was boring and the film moved very slowly. However, the cinematography was gorgeous. It was obvious that much of the film was actually filmed on location. The shots of the Africa and the wildlife was a highlight. 

Callie
Favorite: I liked that it was a true story.
Least Favorite: I did not like the view of marriage that it portrayed.

Joel
Favorite: I enjoyed the scene where Karen and Deyns shot the charging lions (ironically, movies today would  not include a scene where a wild animal gets killed)
Least Favorite: Bror (Karen's husband) was a weak man who did as he pleased and was not a good man at all. 

1984 - Amadeus: "You make too many demands on the royal ear."

1984 Best Picture

Premiered September 6, 1984 in Los Angeles

Budget $18 Million

Gross $52 Million

We were expecting yet another boring biography but it was not for two reasons: it was a story that was narrated by Mozart's enemy and it was largely fiction. The movie turned out to be an intriguing story that moved along at a decent pace. It was fun to see sections of Mozart's operas and to hear music that he composed that we had never heard.

Callie

Favorite: I liked the fact that at the beginning, I did not like Amadeus but over time I became endeared to him.

Least Favorite: I hated Amadeus' laugh. 

Joel

Favorite: I liked watching a story about a well known man whom I had previously known little about.

Least Favorite: The movie lacked a protagonist. I did not want to see success come to any of the characters.

1983 - Terms of Engagement: "He can't even do simple things, like fail locally"

1983 Best Picture

Premiered November 20, 1983

Budget N/A

Gross $108 Million

This movie started out so...normal. The first 90 minutes were nothing terribly special and even Jack Nicholson's performance was pedestrian. Then, the story took a drastic turn and we were hooked. At that point, the acting and directing began to shine and the characters drew us in. The first part of the film warranted 1 popcorn bag and the second half earned three so we compromised and gave it two. It was quite the feast to famine experience.

Callie
Favorite: It was one of the most character driven movies that we have seen. I began to care for the character.
Least Favorite: Their marriage was so twisted that it was hard to support and root for them to stay together.

Joel
Favorite: The twist at the end was genius on the part of the writers.
Least Favorite: The level of morality has reached a new low. It made it appear that affairs were a normal part of marriage.

1982 - Gandhi: "An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind."

1982 Best Picture

Premiered December 6, 1982 in New York

Budget $22 Million

Gross $53 Million

The biographies we've encountered on our quest have all been high on the educational level and low on the entertainment level. Gandhi was no different. It was a compelling story overall but the story just drug on and on. It was an artistic film with pretty scenes and good acting, it just tried to cover a very long period of time with too much detail given to each stage of his life. 

Callie

Favorite: It was informative.

Least Favorite: It was the longest movie ever!

Joel

Favorite: Ben Kingsley gave a wonderful performance.

Least Favorite: It was to long.

1981 - Chariots of Fire: "I believe that God made me for a purpose. But he also made me fast."

1981 Best Picture

Premiered September 25, 1981 in New York and LA

Budget $5 Million

Gross $58.8 Million

It is certainly the most inspirational story thus far. After the depressing endings of the 70s it was nice to have a feel good story. The movie has no antagonist for the viewer to root against but that does not take away from the power of the movie. It is a story of a man who has his values in the right place and a man with missed-placed values.  The message of the movie is powerful.

Callie
Favorite: The honor and integrity of Liddell's life.
Least Favorite: The theme song is so famous and inspirational but the rest of the soundtrack is so dated and hokey.

Joel
Favorite: I liked the fact that Liddell got his value from being a child of God.
Least Favorite: The soundtrack was poorly done.

1980 - Ordinary People: "Hm. Catchy"

1980  Best Picture

Premiered September 19, 1980

Budget $6 Million

Gross $56.8 Million

This was a very character driven movie. It was our first family drama in several decades. It was a decent movie but it did not move the art form or the genre forward in any way.

Joel
Favorite: I liked the way that the audience was drawn in by the characters.
Least Favorite: It was a slow movie.

Callie:
Favorite: It was strong it its character development. You felt for the characters.
Least Favorite: The mom was so annoying. It was painful that the mom made such bad choices. I hated that Mary Tyler Moore played that part because it made me not like her.