I Will Watch EVERY 80s Movie Ever Made!: Catching Up Pt 6

This is strictly by-the-numbers teen slasher horror. Final exam time at local college, except that a madman is murdering everyone one by one. This movie could almost be a template for the '80s teen slasher genre.

I liked this one so much, I saw it twice. Cher deservedly won the Oscar for Best Actress for this - she plays an Italian accountant from a large family, whose first husband died some time ago and now, lonely and getting older, she decides to get married again. There's a twist: her somewhat pathetic groom-to-be (the fantastic Danny Aiello) asks her to invite his estranged, wayward brother (Nic Cage), and when she finds the brother it turns out they have explosive chemistry. I love Nic Cage, and he eventually settles down in his role here, but his first scenes are so over the top that I am consistently pushed out of the movie: he screams, he shouts, his cadence is weird, he threatens, he's aggressive. Then... just as suddenly... he's tender, he's mysterious, he's soulful, he's committed... he's fantastic. When he switches gears, the movie really takes off. His first scenes are very unconvincing. That's my only gripe. Every supporting actor in this movie is A-level, and the plot is very touching. Great film.

I hated this. You would think that Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep would have chemistry that melted the celluloid, but it's the opposite - I never felt they clicked at all. It felt like two individuals acting towards each other, rather than two halves of a couple trying to cope with life and its twists and turns. I also felt the movie was a little capricious - decisions just happen for reasons that violate both logic and emotion. Nora Ephron, so it has pedigree, but I couldn't like it. Avoid.

By contrast, I loved this. And it's the second time I've reviewed it! Great cast, especially Michelle Pfeiffer (boy is she good!), great script, great fun. Mob wife Angela (Pfeiffer) decides she wants more from life after her husband is rubbed out for getting cozy with the mistress of his boss. She moves to the city with her son Joey, and tries to start over - but the mob boss takes an unwanted liking to her, and the FBI gets involved too. Great direction by Jonathan Demme (Something Wild, Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia).

I liked this one a lot. Sarah Jessica Parker just wants to be on Dance TV (a loose imitation of MTV), but her uptight parents won't let her audition. She says "To hell with that!" and skips school to go practice and audition anyway, with her best friend (an amazing Helen Hunt). Surprise - she gets in! But she and her partner have to figure out a complicated routine while everyone in their world tries to stop them. It's great fun, I loved seeing the dad (Ed Lauter!) have a change of heart near the end. Written by Amy Spies, who helped develop Beverly Hills: 90210 and Melrose Place.

I Will Watch EVERY 80s Movie Ever Made!