Category: 1980s
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China Girl (1987)
I knew going in that this was director Abel Ferrara’s version of Romeo and Juliet. But China Girl (1987) feels more like an updated West Side Story. There’s a MTV energy in this night-time, neon-lit, wet-sidewalked vision of New York with young gangs clattering down darkened alleyways, climbing up chain-linked fences. At one point, a… Read.
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Harlequin (1980)
I remember either my parents or a member of the family had the video of Harlequin (1980), and it always fascinated me, that painted harlequin face on the cover. Shot in Western Australia but the film’s producers keep it vague for the international markets: all the cops and security guards talk with American accents. The… Read.
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Eureka (1983)
I remember stumbling across Nicolas Roeg’s film Eureka (1983) one late night on television and being blown away by the listed cast and the amazing first act documenting a prospector Jack McCann (Gene Hackman) searching for gold in the snowy mountains. I think I had to go to bed and missed out on the rest… Read.
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Blood Simple (1984)
I’m such a fan of the Coen Brothers that Blood Simple (1984) is low on my list of favourites since it is their first (directed by Joel Coen, produced by Ethan Coen, written and basically made together). From the show-off camera moves and bold imagery to the way in which action over dialogue is emphasised… Read.
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Night Of The Juggler (1980)
Thank you, Cinephobe TV, for screening this lost gem. Night Of The Juggler (1980) stars James Brolin as a bearded trucker who returns home for his daughter’s birthday but then spends the whole day tearing up the city after she is kidnapped by a psychotic Cliff Gorman in a case of mistaken identity (this creep… Read.
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