The 1989 Mini-List

[knives]

Yeah, I voted just now and had a hard time skimming things down to just 25. I imagine I know which film you are referring to and It was my number two choice (number one is Imamaura’s Black Rain)

[TechnicolorAcid]

I haven’t finished up all my viewings but if it’s what I’m thinking about than it’s most definitely Number Two (if only because Cats on Park Avenue is an eternal burst of joy and one of my favorite films of all time). Although I will like to say that this year has been wonderful as an introduction to experimental film and I would love to recommend Phil Solomon’s Remains to Be Seen and Jiri Barta’s Club of the Discarded as wonderful and visually vibrant little films.

[Balthazar]

I haven’t finished up all my viewings but if it’s what I’m thinking about than it’s most definitely Number Two (if only because Cats on Park Avenue is an eternal burst of joy and one of my favorite films of all time). Although I will like to say that this year has been wonderful as an introduction to experimental film and I would love to recommend Phil Solomon’s Remains to Be Seen and Jiri Barta’s Club of the Discarded as wonderful and visually vibrant little films.

Thank you for reminding me of Remains to Be Seen, which I saw projected earlier this year but which I hadn't noticed was a 1989 film. Similarly I'd mention Brakhage's Visions in Meditation is eligible for this list - for the sake of simplicity I'll be voting for the whole thing.

Favourite discovery of this month is Recollections of the Yellow House, the first Monteiro I've seen. As Dave Kehr said, much of the comedy comes from banal actions contrasting with the colour and compositions. Then there's a moment towards the end where Monteiro suddenly draws his narrative and direction closer together, briefly reminding me of nothing as much as Lavant in Mauvais Sang.

[andyli]

Just submitted my votes. If you plan to vote for Kuroi ame a.k.a. Black Rain, don't confuse it with Black Rain by Ridley Scott (and vice versa). I made the mistake only to realize seconds before submission...

[TechnicolorAcid]

Swo can you also add the Russian 1989 Treasure Island please?

[swo17]

Is that this? My understanding is the first part was released in 1986 and the second in 1988, so I had the whole thing eligible for 1986

[TechnicolorAcid]

Is that this? My understanding is the first part was released in 1986 and the second in 1988, so I had the whole thing eligible for 1986

Oh wait you’re right, the 1989 listing is for the whole thing. Apologies for that. But if you can, can you add Persecution by Usenzhan Ibragimov please.

[swo17]

Done

[TMDaines]

Can you please add Wicki’s Das Spinnennetz and Scola’s Splendor?

[swo17]

Added

[swo17]

My lowest effort yet. Please watch these shorts:

https://youtu.be/AWGPK5Apv5A?si=5kFiR-31_Kh1o2jR
https://youtu.be/pJEe0O-Z_70
https://youtu.be/AnDagpv4kUk?si=QKp-YXqCsBhjgI8T
https://youtu.be/uLRiujSnQFI?si=xDvPyELK0iYkE1jA
https://youtu.be/h1DDndY0FLI?si=ilH_etbU_8ButgYc
https://youtu.be/MEVfHmjKOrM?si=uqi8NlnEBVXVIoto

[TechnicolorAcid]

I also watched a couple shorts so if I may I would like to recommend:

Balance - Nice little commentary on greed in society and how it affects us, not very subtle but I had a great time with it

Isle of Flowers - Pair this with Roger & Me for a movie night centered on how horribly society treats the lower class, though this is a bit more fun, in part because of how much more openly satirical this is with it’s mockery

The Exquisite Hour - Death and fading memories abound that create several images that will never leave my mind, the kind of film to die to

Impressions from the Upper Atmosphere - The birth of the universe captured in celluloid, I cried watching this

Finestra davanti ad un albero - I just really like this one

Visions in Meditation - I only watched 1 and 2 but Brakhage’s shorts are never not beautiful and this is no exception (P.S., this works really well with Ceiling Songs by Ethan Rose)

The Subject of the Picture - Mindbending stuff captured wonderfully in animation reminiscent of classical paintings

[Toland's Mitchell]

Hey swo, I voted a few hours ago but I just realized I forgot sex, lies, and videotape. I just sent an updated ballot so you can disregard the first.

[swo17]

Got it, although for future reference it's preferable for you to PM me to request the link to your original list (if you can't find it yourself) which you can then edit as you see fit.

Also, thanks to everyone for the last minute shorts recommendations. I'm voting for several of them!

[swo17]

It's going to be 3-4 hours before I post results, if anyone else wants to submit or revise their lists before then

[ryannichols7]

My lowest effort yet. Please watch these shorts:

I have been atrocious at the 80s project, so I relate. I've been watching and voting, but writing up on here and my personal Letterboxd has been incredibly bad. it's actually even going to be a new year's resolution for me to improve this next year!

[swo17]

I do kind of like the idea of there being a mystery to what's behind those links. I don't know if that element appeals to anyone else though

[swo17]

The 1989 List



##. Film (Director) points/votes(top 5 placements, aka likely votes in decade list)/highest ranking

01. Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee) 371/16(14)/1(x9)
02. Sex, Lies, and Videotape (Steven Soderbergh) 256/13(6)/2
03. Crimes and Misdemeanors (Woody Allen) 207/10(7)/1(x2)
04. 黒い雨 [Kuroi ame] [Black Rain] (Shōhei Imamura) 192/9(7)/1
05. 魔女の宅急便 [Majo no takkyūbin] [Kiki's Delivery Service] (Hayao Miyazaki) 163/10(3)/3(x2)
06. 喋血雙雄 [Dip huet seung hung] [The Killer] (John Woo) 154/9(2)/1
07. Elephant (Alan Clarke) 144/8(4)/2
08. Mystery Train (Jim Jarmusch) 129/8(3)/2
09. 悲情城市 [Bei qing cheng shi] [A City of Sadness] (Hou Hsiao-hsien) 118/7(2)/2(x2)
10. Tongues Untied (Marlon Riggs) 105/6(1)/4
11. When Harry Met Sally... (Rob Reiner) 104/5(3)/2
12. The Unbelievable Truth (Hal Hartley) 100/7/8
13. Near Death (Frederick Wiseman) 98/5(3)/2
14. Roger & Me (Michael Moore) 97/6(1)/5
15. Der siebente Kontinent [The Seventh Continent] (Michael Haneke) 94/5(1)/3
16. La Bande des quatre [The Gang of Four] (Jacques Rivette) 89/6(3)/3
17. Chameleon Street (Wendell B. Harris Jr.) 87/7(1)/2
18. The Little Mermaid (John Musker & Ron Clements) 86/7(2)/2(x2)
19. Sweetie (Jane Campion) 82/6/6(x2)
20. Астенический синдром [Astenicheskiy sindrom] [The Asthenic Syndrome] (Kira Muratova) 81/5(2)/1
21. Heathers (Michael Lehmann) 80/5(1)/3
(tie) A Grand Day Out (Nick Park) 80/6(1)/5
23. Celia (Ann Turner) 79/5(2)/4
24. Santa sangre (Alejandro Jodorowsky) 76/4(2)/3(x2)
(tie) Az én XX. századom [My 20th Century] (Ildikó Enyedi) 76/4(1)/4
26. La Vie et rien d'autre [Life and Nothing But] (Bertrand Tavernier) 75/4(1)/3
27. The 'Burbs (Joe Dante) 72/6/6
28. ¡Átame! [Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!] (Pedro Almodóvar) 66/6(1)/3
29. Field of Dreams (Phil Alden Robinson) 65/3(2)/1
(tie) The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (Peter Greenaway) 65/4(2)/1
31. Born on the Fourth of July (Oliver Stone) 61/4(1)/4
32. Lonesome Dove (Simon Wincer) 60/4(2)/3(x2)
33. For All Mankind (Al Reinert) 57/4(1)/1
34. Remains to Be Seen (Phil Solomon) 55/4(1)/4
35. Water and Power (Pat O'Neill) 52/3(2)/1
(tie) Enemies, a Love Story (Paul Mazursky) 52/5/11
37. My Left Foot (Jim Sheridan) 49/4/7
38. The Firm (Alan Clarke) 48/4(1)/4
(tie) Say Anything... (Cameron Crowe) 48/4/10
(tie) Batman (Tim Burton) 48/5/10(x2)
41. Vampire's Kiss (Robert Bierman) 45/6/12
42. Drugstore Cowboy (Gus Van Sant) 41/3/9
43. Society (Brian Yuzna) 40/2/6(x2)
44. Visions in Meditation (1989-1990) (Stan Brakhage) 39/2(1)/3
45. Leningrad Cowboys Go America (Aki Kaurismäki) 38/2(1)/4
(tie) Troop Beverly Hills (Jeff Kanew) 38/2(1)/5
47. Breaking In (Bill Forsyth) 37/3/6
(tie) مشق شب [Masq-e sab] [Homework] (Abbas Kiarostami) 37/3/9
49. Dead Calm (Phillip Noyce) 34/2/7
(tie) スウィートホーム [Suwīto hōmu] [Sweet Home] (Kiyoshi Kurosawa) 34/2/8
(tie) Sea of Love (Harold Becker) 34/3/7
(tie) Trop belle pour toi [Too Beautiful for You] (Bertrand Blier) 34/3/11

ALSO-RANS

Route One/USA (Robert Kramer) 33/2/6
Dead Poets Society (Peter Weir) 32/2/6
Glory (Edward Zwick) 32/2/9
গণশত্রু [Ganashatru] [An Enemy of the People] (Satyajit Ray) 31/2/7
鉄男 [Tetsuo] [The Iron Man] (Shinya Tsukamoto) 31/2/10
The Abyss (James Cameron) 30/2(1)/2
Back to the Future Part II (Robert Zemeckis) 30/3/13
Speaking Parts (Atom Egoyan) 29/3(1)/4
Tma, světlo, tma [Darkness, Light, Darkness] (Jan Švankmajer) 29/3/8

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Steven Spielberg) 28/4/12
Henry V (Kenneth Branagh) 26/2/8
Valmont (Miloš Forman) 25/3/11
Ilha das Flores [Isle of Flowers] (Jorge Furtado) 25/3/12
The War of the Roses (Danny DeVito) 24/2/9
殺手蝴蝶夢 [Sat sau woo dip mung] [My Heart Is That Eternal Rose] (Patrick Tam) 24/2/13
Pièce touchée (Martin Arnold) 22/2/14
Recordações da Casa Amarela [Recollections of the Yellow House] (João César Monteiro) 21/2/6
Orapronobis [Fight for Us] (Lino Brocka) 21/2/8
O Sangue [The Blood] (Pedro Costa) 21/2/9

Great Balls of Fire! (Jim McBride) 18/3/17
Klub odložených [The Club of the Laid Off] (Jiří Barta) 17/2/15
Monsieur Hire (Patrice Leconte) 16/2/14
指圧王者 [Shiatsu oja] [The Master of Shiatsu] (Gakuryū Ishii) 15/2/14
Yaaba [Grandmother] (Idrissa Ouédraogo) 15/2/17
奇蹟 [Kei zik] [Miracles: The Canton Godfather] (Jackie Chan) 15/2/17
Scandal (Michael Caton-Jones) 13/2/17
Intruder (Scott Spiegel) 12/2/15
Balance (Christoph & Wolfgang Lauenstein) 10/2/20

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (Stephen Herek) 5/2/22
Central Park (Frederick Wiseman) 3/2/24

ORPHANS

Film (Director) highest ranking

The Lunch Date (Adam Davidson) 25
Traffik (Alastair Reid) 11
Корова [Korova] [The Cow] (Aleksandr Petrov) 15
Прикосновение [Prikosnoveniye] [The Touch] (Amanzhol Aituarov) 13
달마가 동쪽으로 간 까닭은? [Dalmaga dongjjok-euro gan ggadakeun] [Why Has Bohdi-Dharma Left for the East?] (Bae Yong-kyun) 2
Das Spinnennetz [Spider's Web] (Bernhard Wicki) 11
Casualties of War (Brian De Palma) 12
Driving Miss Daisy (Bruce Beresford) 18
Electronic: Getting Away with It (Chris Marker) 17
Maux croisés [Danger Lies in the Words] (Claude Chabrol) 13
Dead Cat (David Lewis) 14
Pet Shop Boys: It's a Sin (Derek Jarman) 13
Pet Shop Boys: King's Cross (Derek Jarman) 14
War Requiem (Derek Jarman) 20
The Phantom of the Opera (Dwight H. Little) 9
Begotten (E. Elias Merhige) 4
Harlem Nights (Eddie Murphy) 16
Месть [Mest] [Revenge] (Ermek Shinarbaev) 13
Che ora è? [What Time Is It?] (Ettore Scola) 1
Splendor (Ettore Scola) 5
A Dry White Season (Euzhan Palcy) 17
Bajarse al moro [Going Down in Morocco] (Fernando Colomo) 12
El mar y el tiempo [The Sea and the Weather] (Fernando Fernán Gómez) 11
Weather Diary 5 (George Kuchar) 18
Bal poussière [Dancing in the Dust] (Henri Duparc) 21
Steel Magnolias (Herbert Ross) 18
Looking for Langston (Isaac Julien) 15
Christmas Vacation (Jeremiah Chechik) 2
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (Joe Johnston) 25
Prancer (John D. Hancock) 14
Licence to Kill (John Glen) 23
Knick Knack (John Lasseter) 16
Powwow Highway (Jonathan Wacks) 24
Impresiones en la alta atmósfera [Impressions from the Upper Atmosphere] (José Antonio Sistiaga) 13
Kate Bush: The Sensual World (Kate Bush & Peter Richardson) 7
The Rainbow (Ken Russell) 8
Посетитель музея [Posetitel muzeya] [A Visitor to a Museum] (Konstantin Lopushansky) 9
Les Sièges de l'Alcazar (Luc Moullet) 11
Buon Natale, buon anno [Merry Christmas, Happy New Year] (Luigi Comencini) 18
八兩金 [Bat leung gam] [Eight Taels of Gold] (Mabel Cheung) 15
The Kill-Off (Maggie Greenwald) 17
Before My Eyes (Mani Kaul) 18
Life Lessons (Martin Scorsese) 11
New York Stories (Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola & Woody Allen) 9
Jézus Krisztus horoszkópja [Jesus Christ's Horoscope] (Miklós Jancsó) 13
عروسی خوبان [Arousi-ye khouban] [Marriage of the Blessed] (Mohsen Makhmalbāf) 21
True Love (Nancy Savoca) 17
Beastie Boys: Shadrach (Nathanial Hörnblowér) 18
In Country (Norman Jewison) 8
Finestra davanti ad un albero [Window in Front of a Tree] (Paolo Gioli) 20
The Exquisite Hour (Phil Solomon) 21
Lethal Weapon 2 (Richard Donner) 16
Black Rain (Ridley Scott) 5
Laurin (Robert Sigl) 11
Road House (Rowdy Herrington) 20
公園通りの猫たち [Kōendōri no nekotachi] [Cats on Park Avenue] (Shinichi Nakada) 1
Visions in Meditation #1 (Stan Brakhage) 6
The Fabulous Baker Boys (Steve Kloves) 11
ミイラの夢 [Miira no yume] [The Mummy's Dream] (Takashi Itō) 21
その男、凶暴につき [So no otoko kyōbō ni tsuki] [Violent Cop] (Takeshi Kitano) 4
The Cure: Fascination Street (Tim Pope) 16
The Cure: Lovesong (Tim Pope) 18
The Cure: Lullaby (Tim Pope) 19
Fear, Anxiety and Depression (Todd Solondz) 23
XTC: King for a Day (Tony Kaye) 15
Uçurtmayı Vurmasınlar [Don't Let Them Shoot the Kite] (Tunç Başaran) 3
Last Exit to Brooklyn (Uli Edel) 10
Johanna d'Arc of Mongolia [Joan of Arc of Mongolia] (Ulrike Ottinger) 7
Oedipus Wrecks (Woody Allen) 12

20 lists submitted

[domino harvey]

Thanks swo! No-brainer number one for a reason. I’ve only seen half of the top 20 though!

[therewillbeblus]

Thanks swo! Top ten and orphans

1. Do The Right Thing
2. Crimes and Misdemeanors
3. Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
4. Gang of Four
5. Black Rain
6. Sex, Lies and Videotape
7. The ‘Burbs
8. When Harry Met Sally
9. Troop Beverly Hills
10. Sweet Home

11. Les sièges de l'Alcazar
20. Road House
23. Fear, Anxiety & Depression

[TechnicolorAcid]

Personally I am shocked that Tetsuo is not on the list considering it’s general popularity but anyways here’s my Top 10:
1. Cats on Park Avenue
2. Do the Right Thing
3. Heathers
4. Black Rain (The Imamura One)
5. When Harry Met Sally
6. The Killer
7. sex, lies, and videotape
8. The Unbelievable Truth
9. The Firm
10. Tetsuo: The Iron Man

Orphans:
Cats on Park Avenue, Impressions from the Upper Atmosphere (13), Before My Eyes (18), The Exquisite Hour (21)

[knives]

Thanks so much Swo (and I feel utterly ridiculous for not thinking of Do the Right Thing as the obvious choice). Anyways, personal top ten was
Black Rain
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Near Death
Tongues Untied
Do the Right Thing
The Seventh Continent
Chameleon Street
Darkness Light Darkness
Homework
The Unbelievable Truth

[the preacher]

11. Les sièges de l'Alcazar

I didn't support this... but I do love Cottafavi!

[TMDaines]

Really wish I had recommended my number 1 for the year, Che ora è? (1989) directed by Ettore Scola. Both of Scola's films of that year have decent English-friendly releases from Gaumont out in France, which seems to be the only country that have given Scola his due on home video. Che ora è? and Splendor are spiritually paired, as the two male leads in both films are Mastroianni and Troisi. Che ora è? is a fairly simple film. Think Linklater's Before Trilogy, or even Scola's A Special Day // Una giornata particolare, which went down well here when Criterion released it. Here we follow Mastroianni and Troisi over the course of an afternoon together, when the father meets the son on leave from military service in a small coastal town. The film, largely a two-hander, offers the opportunity for both to immerse themselves in their characters and explore their semi-estranged relationship through their dialogue. I could have watched them all afternoon myself. One of Mastroianni's very best and a film like this makes me sad that we lost Troisi so soon.

[domino harvey]

11. Les sièges de l'Alcazar

I didn't support this... but I do love Cottafavi!

I revisited Moullet’s film this year and downgraded it quite a bit. Once you get past the fun references, it’s impossible to not notice that these are fragments of a presumably aborted feature film and that nothing really goes anywhere or even fits together. Extremely unsatisfying as a movie, but entertaining as an artifact