Fame (1980) – Alan Parker

The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Grease is the iconic 1980 film Fame. The movie proved so popular that it inspired a television series, as well as a remake, but there is nothing like the classic. The film follows a group of students at…

Superman: Miracle Monday (1981) – Elliot S. Maggin

Superman has always been a hero of mine, and when Christopher Reeve brought the character to the big screen back in 1978, I was a fan for life. At that age, I was completely enchanted by the first film, and it’s follow up in 1980, Superman II. I had the Superman: The Movie Book, I…

The Last Metro (1980) – Francois Truffaut

The next film on the What Else to Watch list of DK Canada’s very enjoyable The Movie Book is this classic Truffaut film from 1980 featuring performances from Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu. It’s the early 1940s in occupied France, and theatres are doing a booming business chasing away the spectre of war. But the…

Bosom Buddies: The Complete Series

Back in 1980, Tom Hanks was an up and coming actor with a decidedly comedic bent. In fact, he seemed to be perfectly cast alongside Peter Scolari as advertising executive Kip Wilson. Alongside Scolari’s Henry Desmond, the pair work as a creative team, and are best friends. But when their apartment is destroyed, the only…

Scarface (1983) – Brian De Palma

A story of greed wiping out any trace of humanity, and the dark side of the immigrant story, Brian De Palma’s update of the classic gangster 1932 film remains a staple of the genre as I return to the Thriller & Crime section of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film. Al Pacino plays…

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980) – Douglas Adams

Sometimes you need a good laugh, and Douglas Adams never disappoints. Picking up where the first book finished, Arthur Dent, Ford, Trillian, Zaphod and Marvin are looking for a bite to eat. They are famished after everything they have just gone through, and Arthur still wants a good cup of tea. But things are never…

Raging Bull (1980) – Martin Scorsese

  We move back to Drama in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, and take a look at Martin Scorsese’s biopic on boxing legend Jake La Motta, brought to visceral life by an Oscar wining performance by Robert De Niro. As succesful as La Motta would prove to be inside the boxing ring,…

Doctor Who (Tom Baker) – The Android Invasion

  This week finds us visiting the small village of Devesham in this four-part story penned by Terry Nation, which aired from 22 November to 13 December, 1875. The Doctor (Baker) and Sarah-Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) arrive back in the right time, 1980, but still not quite to London. Instead they discover the little town of…

Doctor Who (Tom Baker) – Pyramids of Mars

  Aliens are using Earth’s mythology to put themselves in the roles of gods in this four-part story written by Stephen Harris (a pseudonym for Robert Holmes and Lewis Greifer) that ran from 25 October to 15 November, 1975. Trouble starts when a shocking discovery is made in an Egyptian tomb in the year 1911….