Top 10 Films of 1986

1. "Peking Opera Blues" (Tsui Hark, Hong Kong)

2. ''Blue Velvet'' (David Lynch, USA)

3. "Hannah And Her Sisters" (Woody Allen, USA)

4. "Stand By Me" (Rob Reiner, USA)

5. "Aliens" (James Cameron, USA)

6. ''Children Of A Lesser God'' (Randa Haines, USA)

7. "Le Rayon vert" (Eric Rohmer, France)

8. "Something Wild" (Jonathan Demme, USA)

9. "A Room With A View" (James Ivory, UK)

10. "Le Déclin de l'empire américain" (Denys Arcand, Canada)

Other great films:

37,2 le matin (France)

52 Pick-Up

Absolute Beginners (UK)

After Spring (Norway)

Alla vi barn i Bullerbyn (Sweden)

A Better Tomorrow (Hong Kong)
Born To Defend (China)

Castaway (UK)

Castle In The Sky (Japan)

Charlotte For Ever (France)

CK Dezerterzy (Poland)

Crocodile Dundee (Australia)

Devil In The Flesh (Italy)

Down By Law 

Egeszseges erotika (Hungary)

Fantasies

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

From Beyond

The Funeral (Japan)

The Great Mouse Detective

Hands Of Steel

Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer

Highlander

Jean de Florette (France)

Lepota poroka (Yugoslavia)

Letters From A Dead Man (Soviet Union)

Little Shop Of Horrors

Manon des sources (France)

Maris The Chojo (Japan)

Martial Arts Of Shaolin (China)

Matador (Spain)

Mauvais sang (France)

Mélo (France)

Menu Total (Germany)

The Mission

My Beautiful Laundrette (UK)

My Sweet Little Village (Czechoslovakia)

The Name Of The Rose 

El Ojete de Lulu

Platoon
Pouvoir intime (Canada)

Reform School Girls

Righting Wrongs (Hong Kong)

River's Edge

The Sacrifice (Sweden)

Salvador

She's Gotta Have It

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Tampopo (Japan)

Tenue de soiree (France)
Top Gun

Working Girls

Short Top 3:

1. "Bois ton cafe" (Eric Rohmer, France)

2. "Precious Images" (Chuck Workman, USA)

3. "L'Eleve" (Harry Kumel, Belgium)

Other great shorts:

La Fessée (Belgium)

King Of Sex

Meetin' WA

Top 3 Music Videos:

1. "Sledgehammer" (Stephen R. Johnson, Peter Gabriel)

2. "Big Time" (Stephen R. Johnson, Peter Gabriel)

3. "Wild Wild Life" (David Byrne, Talking Heads)

Top Commercial:

"Mr Right" (Right Guard)

TV Top 3:

1. "Yes Prime Minister: The Key" (Antony Jay, Jonathan Lynn, BBC, UK)

2. "The Singing Detective" (Jon Amiel, BBC, UK)

3. "Cheers: Thanksgiving Orphans" (James Burrows, NBC)

Other great TV shows:

Alternatywy 4 (Poland)
Yes Prime Minister: A Real Partnership (UK)
Yes Prime Minister: Bishop's Gambit (UK)
Yes Prime Minister: Grand Design (UK)
Yes Prime Minister: The Ministerial Broadcast (UK)
Yes Prime Minister: The Smoke Screen (UK)

Cartoon Top 3:

1. "The Frog The Dog And The Devil" (Bob Stenhouse, New Zealand)

2. "Lupo The Butcher"  (Danny Antonucci, Canada)

3. "Broken Down Film" (Osamu Tezuka, Japan)

Other great cartoons:

Adam (Greece)
The Characters (Holland)
Every Dog's Guide To Complete Home Safety (Canada)

A Greek Tragedy (Belgium)

Luxo Jr
Mongo Makongo
Royal Flush
Set In Motion
Snookles

Sweet Dreams Luv

When Bats Are Quiet (Brazil)

Weak films of 1986:

An American Tail
Cobra
Down And Out In Beverly Hills
The Golden Child
In A Glass Cage (Spain)
In The Line Of Duty (Hong Kong)
The Karate Kid. Part II
Kronika wypadkow milosnych (Poland)
Legacy Of Rage (Hong Kong)
Legal Eagles
The Millionaires Express (Hong Kong)
The Mosquito Coast
Peggy Sue Got Married
Pirates
The Pointsman (Holland)
Ruthless People
Snow Queen
Yellow Earth (China)

Weak shorts:

The Masters Of Disaster
Women - For America For The World

Weak cartoons:

Animation Has No Borders
Augusta Feeds Her Child (Hungary)
Augusta Kneading (Hungary)
Heure des anges (Czechoslovakia)
Quest: A Long Ray's Journey Into Light
Si seulement (Canada)

Weak TV shows:

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Kabaret Sylwestrowy (Poland)

Top Musical of 1986

"Little Shop Of Horrors" (Frank Oz, Warner)

Blue Velvet (1986) *****

Peking Opera Blues (1986) *****

The daughter of a Chinese general participates in a plot against him. It's a superb pastiche of the spy movie genre, directed by Tsui Hark. One of the first films heralding the Golden Age of the Hong Kong cinema.

Hannah And Her Sisters (1986) *****

One of Woody Allen's best films.

Le Déclin de l'empire américain (1986) ****

A Room With A View (1986) ****

Something Wild (1986) ****

Le Rayon vert (1986) ****

Children Of A Lesser God (1986) ****

Stand By Me (1986) ****

An outstanding adaptation of a Stephen King's novel about four young boys searching for the body of their friend. A moving, very intelligent film about growing up.

Manon des sources (1986) ****

Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer (1986) ****

Aliens (1986) ****

Fantastic action movie.

Castle In The Sky (1986) ****

A superb animated feature from Japan.

From Beyond (1986) ***

Down By Law (1986) ***

Reform School Girls (1986) ***

The Name Of The Rose (1986) ***

She's Gotta Have It (1986) ***

Working Girls (1986) ***

Pouvoir intime (1986) ***

An excellent caper film about an armored car heist.

A Better Tomorrow (1986) ***

Violent crime film from Hong Kong about two brothers on the opposite sides of the law.

Born To Defend (1986) ***

Since this is a Jet Li movie, first-rate chop-socky action is de rigeur. It's set in 1940's China and the villains are... Yankee sailors. US citizens (and sympatizers) beware: movies just don't get any more anti-American than that. The kickboxing scenes are terrific; usually pitting Li against a larger, Caucasian opponent. Co-directed (and co-starring) Jet Li and Tsui Siu-Ming, it was produced in China, not Hong Kong.

The Great Mouse Detective (1986) ***

Basil of Baker Street investigates a mysterious disappearance of a toymaker. A nice little animated film from Disney, a warm-up before the great avalanche of classics that would begin in a few years. It's not a musical, but there are a couple of songs: 

"The World's Greatest Criminal Mind" * 

"Let Me Be Good To You" * 

"Goodbye So Soon" **

Little Shop Of Horrors (1986) ***

A musical film about a killer plant. Steve Martin's turn as a sadistic dentist is a riot. Bill Murray has a cameo as his masochistic patient, but that role was played even better by Jack Nicholson in the original, non-musical version from 1960. Songs include:

"Little Shop Of Horrors" **
"Downtown" **
"Somewhere That's Green" *
"Some Fun Now" *
"I'M Your Dentist" **
"Suddenly Seymour" *
"Suppertime" *
"Mean Green Mother From Outer Space" **

Martial Arts Of Shaolin (1986) ***

Great kung-fu fighting amid gorgeous scenery (Forbidden City, the Great Wall and Guilin).

Righting Wrongs (1986) ***

A frustrated attorney (Yuen Biao), tired of seeing criminals go free, decides to take the law into his own hands. But that puts a ball-breaking female cop (Cynthia Rothrock) on his ass. A standard chop-socky fare, but much sexier, as Rothrock does some of her leg kicks wearing a skirt. There is a major kung-fu fight scene every ten minutes.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) ***

The best and funniest of all Star Trek films. Kirk, Spock and the rest of the gang travel to present-day San Francisco to save a pair of whales.

The Mission (1986) ***

River's Edge (1986) ***

Salvador (1986) ***

Highlander (1986) ***

Hands Of Steel (1986) ***

52 Pick-Up (1986) ***

Absolute Beginners (1986) ***

Excellent British film.

Crocodile Dundee (1986) ***

Excellent comedy from Australia.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) ***

Matthew Broderick is terrific in the title role.

Jean de Florette (1986) ***

Sad film starring Gérard Depardieu.

Mélo (1986) ***

An adaptation of a popular play.