Film Dictionary: 1987

1. "My Life As A Dog" (Lasse Hallstrom, Sweden)

2. "No Way Out" (Roger Donaldson, USA)

3. "L'Ami de mon amie" (Eric Rohmer, France)

4. "Wings Of Desire" (Wim Wenders, Germany)

5. "Stagefright" (Michele Soavi, Italy)

6. "Full Metal Jacket" (Stanley Kubrick, USA)

7. "The Princess Bride" (Rob Reiner, USA)

8. "Babette's Feast" (Gabriel Axel, Denmark)

9. "A Chinese Ghost Story" (Ching Siu-Tung, Hong Kong)

10. "Soigne ta droite" (Jean-Luc Godard, France)

Other great films:

Anna

Au revoir, les enfants (France)

Bad Taste (New Zealand)

La Bamba

Beverly Hills Cop 2

The Big Easy

The Brave Little Toaster
Broadcast News

Dark Eyes (Italy)
The Dead

Diary For My Loved Ones (Hungary)

Dirty Dancing

Discopribeh (Czechoslovakia)

Evil Dead 2

Faceless

Family Viewing (Canada)

Fatal Attraction

Good Morning, Vietnam
House Of Games

Intervista (Italy)

The Last Emperor

Law Of Desire (Spain)

Lethal Weapon

The Living Daylights

Maramao (Italy)

Moonstruck

Nekromantik (Germany)

Predator

Prick Up Your Ears (UK)
Quatre aventures de Reinette et Mirabelle (France)

Radio Days

Raising Arizona
Robocop

Roxanne

The Running Man

Sammy And Rosie Get Laid (UK)

September

Stakeout

Swimming To Cambodia

A Taxing Woman (Japan)

The Untouchables

Wall Street

Where Is The Friend's Home ? (Iran)

Wicked City (Japan)

The Witches Of Eastwick

The Year My Voice Broke (Australia)

Un Zoo la nuit (Canada)

Top 10 Guilty Pleasures of 1987:

1. "Une Flamme dans mon coeur" (Alain Tanner, Switzerland)

2. "A Wedding In Galilee" (Michel Khleifi, Palestine)

3. "Pociag do Hollywood" (Radoslaw Piwowarski, Poland)

4. "La Passion Beatrice" (Bertrand Tavernier, France)

5. "Aria" (UK)

6. "Ceremonie d'amour" (Walerian Borowczyk, France)

7. "Flower And Snake 4: Rope Magic" (Masayuki Asao, Japan)

8. "Emmanuelle 5" (Walerian Borowczyk, France)

9. "A Taste Of Traci" (Jean-Pierre Floran, France)

10. "Sweet Country" (Michael Cacoyannis, Greece)

Short Top 3:

1. "Point de fuite" (Olivier Smolders, Belgium)

2. "A Place For Many Rooms" (Fumiko Kiyooka, Canada)

3. "The Ants" (Rosemarie Blank, Holland)

Other great shorts:

Adoration (Belgium)

Top 3 Music Videos:

1. "Need You Tonight - Mediate" (Richard Lowenstein, INXS)

2. "U Got The Look" (David Hogan, Prince)

3. "The One I Love" (Robert Longo, R.E.M.)

Top Commercial:

"Preppens-Paret" (Roy Andersson, Sweden)

Other great commercials:

Cute Neighbour

TV Top 3:

1. "Moonligting: I Am Curious... Maddie" (Allan Arkush, ABC)

2. "Hollywood: The Golden Years: The RKO Story: Let's Face The Music And Dance" (BBC)

3. "Moonlighting: Come Back Little Shiksa" (Allan Arkush, ABC)

Other great TV shows:

07 zglos sie 5 (Poland)

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Wieczor Sylwestrowy (Poland)

Yes Prime Minister: A Conflict Of Interest (UK)

Zmiennicy (Poland)

Cartoon Top 3:

1. "The Man Who Planted Trees" (Frederic Back, NFB, Canada)

2. "An Inside Job" (Aidan Hickey, Ireland)

3. "Your Face" (Bill Plympton, USA)

Other great cartoons:

Baeus (Italy)

Breakfast On The Grass (Soviet Union)

Drawing Lesson #2

George And Rosemary (Canada)

Girls Night Out (UK)
Itinéraire (Canada)
Plus One Minus One (Italy)

Quiniscopio (Cuba)

You Can't Teach An Old Dog New Tricks

Weak films of 1987:

Armour Of God (Hong Kong)
An Autumn's Tale (Hong Kong)
A Better Tomorrow II (Hong Kong)
Black Widow
City On Fire (Hong Kong)
Critical Condition
Eastern Condors (Hong Kong)
Empire Of The Sun

Female Inquisitor (Japan)
Hope And Glory (UK)
Kenny (Canada)
King Lear

Like Father Like Son
Outrageous Fortune
Rouge (Hong Kong)
Someone To Watch Over Me
Three Men And A Baby
Throw Momma From The Train

Weak cartoons:

Adieu bipede (Canada)
Charles et François (Canada)
The Chore
Full Of Grace (Belgium)
The Jump (UK)
Going Equipped (UK)
Great British Moments (UK)
The Haploid Affair (Canada)
Maxi Cat's Lunch
Oniromance (Canada)
The Prayer (Yugoslavia)
Rondino (Hungary)

October 10, 1987

A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) ****

A tax collector falls in love with a mysterious woman who might be a ghost. A perfect example of the "wu xian pian" genre of Hong Kong cinema.

Broadcast News (1987) ****

This comedy follows the careers of three TV journalists: handsome and witless William Hurt, smart and clumsy Albert Brooks, ambitious and neurotic Holly Hunter.

The Dead (1987) ****

John Huston's last film, a brilliant adaptation of James Joyce's short story about a Christmas reception in Dublin.

Evil Dead 2 (1987) ****

A classic of "splat-stick" cinema - a scary, hilarious and very inventive mixture of comedy and gore.

A powerful anti-war movie about a group of US Marines who survive a harrowing training in South Carolina, only to find themselves fighting the Viet Cong during the Tet Offensive in 1968. The battle scenes in Hue are particularly memorable.