FILM FRENZY

Ghostbusters; Amadeus (Photos: Columbia; Warner Bros.)

By Matt Brunson

When film scholars and buffs mull over the topic of the best year in cinematic history, the answer is almost invariably 1939. Certainly, a movie year that gave us (among others) The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, and Stagecoach deserves its exalted status, and other select years in the 1940s through 1970s have also been singled out for celebration.

But what of 1984? As a whole, the cinema of the 1980s has often been downgraded, doubtless in association with the general disdain many often direct at the era. Sure, the ’80s gave us Manimal, “Sussudio,” and Reaganomics, but it also gave us Hill Street Blues, “Billie Jean,” and ACT UP. The same dichotomy applies to its movies: Yes, it polluted the world with such turkeys as The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, Stroker Ace, and Leonard Part 6, but any 10-year stretch that produced the likes of Raging Bull, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Ran hardly deserves to be tossed under the bus.

Ten years ago, I wrote an article (for Charlotte’s now-defunct alternative newsweekly Creative Loafing) celebrating the 30th anniversary of the cinema of 1984. For a sidebar, I also named my picks for the 10 Best & 10 Worst Films of 1984. Now that we’ve hit the 40th anniversary, it seems like the right time to plug the pieces as they now reside on Film Frenzy.

To read Film 1984: A Look Back, go HERE. And to check out The Best & Worst Films of 1984, go HERE. (Both links open in new windows.)