1980’s

[5] C. Thomas Howell (The Hitcher) headlines this politically incorrect comedy about a teen who overdoses on tanning pills to appear black, so he can win a full scholarship to Harvard law school. While hiding his identity from a love interest (Rae Dawn Chong) and a professor (James Earl Jones) who comes to think highly of him, Howell’s character experiences racism first-hand and comes to …

[7] A filthy rich, alcoholic man-boy is threatened with disinheritance if he doesn’t immediately marry a well-to-do woman his family has approved for him. Trouble is, the flyboy suddenly finds himself infatuated with a lower-class shoplifter. Will true love triumph over the all-mighty dollar? Arthur, written and directed by Steve Gordon, is a welcome, class-oriented throwback to screwball comedies of the ’30s and ’40s. It’s …

[7] After a confrontation with bullies leads to attempted rape and gunfire, Helen Slater (Supergirl) hits the road with her brother (Christian Slater) and a pair of friends (Yeardley Smith and Martha Gehman). They dodge the police and profess their innocence to the press while Slater tries to find a way to resolve the escalating conflict before someone gets hurt. In the meantime, word-of-mouth and …

[6] Lillian Gish and Bette Davis play aged sisters living in an old house on the coast of Maine. The sisters are civil, but disagreements light up over the subject of change. Gish’s character still has a lust for life and welcomes new neighbors and new ideas, while Davis’ character, blind and in need of care, resents visitors and change. The sisters contemplate whether or …

[7] Writer/director Richard Lowenstein takes us inside the lives of a Melbourne punk band called Dogs in Space, living in a run-down house full of misfits, pissing off their neighbors with their late-night partying, and doing hard drugs between gigs. There’s not much by way of structured narrative here — but Lowenstein succeeds in creating a memorable, voyeuristic look into a subculture that’s equal parts …

[6] Lily Tomlin stars in this gender-bent retelling of Richard Matheson’s short story. Tomlin plays Pat Kramer, who after being exposed to a combination of myriad household chemicals, begins to physically shrink. As she becomes a reluctant worldwide celebrity and her family tries to adjust to her ever-changing size, an evil corporation plans to kidnap her and use her ailment as a weapon of warfare. …

[6] Michael J. Fox stars in this adaptation of Jay McInerney’s novel about a New York yuppie named Jamie who keeps life’s problems at bay by constantly partying and doing drugs. With the help of his bad-influence friend Tad (Kiefer Sutherland), Jamie barely ever has to think about his unfulfilling job as a fact-checker for a magazine, the fact that his super-model wife left him, …

[5] A straight detective (Ryan O’Neal) and a closeted gay police clerk (John Hurt) are summoned by their police chief (Kenneth McMillan) to pose as an undercover gay couple to try and solve a series of murders in the gay community. Yes, Partners is a buddy-comedy version of Cruising, where the straight man overcomes a mild case of homophobia and the closeted gay man begins …

[7] Producer/director Sean S. Cunningham admits Friday the 13th was a post-Halloween cash grab, but slasher fans decided there was plenty of room in the world for more than one killer franchise. All Cunningham needed was a great title that lent itself to recurring significance, and a compelling core piece of mythology — that a little boy drowned at Camp Crystal Lake when the teenaged …

[8] Gordon Warnecke and Daniel Day-Lewis star as young lovers trying to forge their own way in life by opening a successful laundromat in London. Warnecke’s character rails against the old-world expectations of his Pakistani father and uncle (Roshan Seth and Saeed Jaffrey), while Day-Lewis tries to break free from the influence of his skinhead friends. Somehow, the two make it work, and begin to …

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