Miami Vice (1984) – Calderone’s Return Part I & II

This two parter sees the threat of the pilot episode come back to wreak revenge on Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) and Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Micheal Thomas). The first episode, originally aired as The Hit List was written by Joel Surnow, and first broadcast on 19 October, 1984. Sonny is due in court for a divorce…

Miami Vice (1984) – Brother’s Keeper

1984. This was a big year for me. It featured one of the biggest most influential moves of my life, as well as helping to define the person I would become. I became more and more immersed in pop culture. When Miami Vice came along, it was getting into pop music in a big way,…

Black House (2001) – Stephen King & Peter Straub

Back in 1984, Stephen King and Peter Straub paired up to craft a titanic fantasy novel known as The Talisman. Seventeen years later they paired up again to create a sequel to the tale that brought (Travelin’) Jack Sawyer back into the lives of readers. It’s some twenty odd years later, Jack Sawyer is 31,…

Paris, Texas (1984) – Wim Wenders

Harry Dean Stanton and Dean Stockwell headline as brothers in the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Thelma & Louise. Featuring a fantastic score by Ry Cooder the film is a look at a shattered American dream as Travis Henderson (Stanton) having been missing for…

The NeverEnding Story (1984) – Wolfgang Petersen

The first recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Fellowship of the Ring is Wolfgang Petersen’s 1984 adaptation of only a small part of Micheal Ende’s fantasy novel, The NeverEnding Story. It has been more than thirty years since I watched this one, so I was…

The Bounty (1984) – Roger Donaldson

The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my return to the action genre and my screening of The Pirates of the Caribbean, is The Bounty. This one has everything working for it, a score by Vangelis, an all-star cast including Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson, Liam Neeson, Daniel Day-Lewis,…

Gremlins (1984) – Joe Dante

Practical effects, matte paintings and a dark, playful sense of humour… They just don’t make them like the used to. I was delighted when I returned to the Family section of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book that Joe Dante’s horror comedy Christmas movie (it’s set at Christmas therefore it IS a…

Red Dawn (1984) – John Milius

The final recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Dr. Strangelove is John Milius’ dark and violent film, Red Dawn. With an all-star cast including Patrick Swayze, Lea Thompson, C. Thomas Howell, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey, Powers Boothe and Harry Dean Stanton, the film chronicles an invasion…

The Talisman (1984) – Stephen King and Peter Straub

There are very few Stephen King novels I haven’t read, and even as I revisit the occasional one, I realised that I had never finished The Talisman. A copy of this book was a Christmas gift to my Mom the year it came out. She read it first, and I was next in line to…