Film Dictionary

May 5, 1984

Sonatine (1984) *

Pascale Bussieres plays a young girl riding on buses.

April 4, 1984

An excellent music video from The Cars. It received four MTV Video Music Awards nominations (including concept, art direction and experimental), winning the top prize for best video of the year (and beating Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in the process).

Morning In America (1984) ****

Probably the most famous positive political commercial of all times.

1984 (1984) *****

Legendary commercial for the Apple Computers.

J'ai faim j'ai froid (1984) ***

Innovative film about two runaway girls in Paris.

After Hours (1984) ***

Short Australian film about sexual harrassment.

Hello Again (1984) ***

Recollections Of Pavlovsk (1984) ***

Oscar-nominated Soviet documentary about the Siege of Leningrad and the rebuilding of Pavlovsk.

The Painted Door (1984) ***

Short film with a memorable ending.

Le Voleur vit en enfer (1984) ***

Excellent short film directed by Robert Morin and Lorraine Dufour.

Stranger In Town (1984) ***

Music video directed by Steve Barron.

A Girl's Own Story (1984) **

Autobiographic film by Jane Campion, about a pubescent girl's sexual desires and yearnings.

Jumping (1984) ****

A superb cartoon presenting the point-of-view of a little bouncing ball as it flies higher and higher above ground. The Grand Prize winner at the Zagreb Animation Festival.

Romeo And Juliet (1984) ***

A clever parody of the famous Shakespeare's play.

Question de forme (1984) ***

Clearly inspired by Norman McLaren's works (particularly "Mosaic"), this computer-animated film presents intricate patterns, first consisting of colorful dots, and then of various geometric shapes.

Moa Moa (1984) ***

Paradise (1984) ***

A beautiful film about birds, nominated for an Academy Award. A wonderful musical score by Zamfir (i.e. the Master of the Pan Flute).

Hopla Badigeonneurs (1984) ***

A claymation film about two painters (one tall, one short, just like Laurel and Hardy). There are plenty of great gags as they try to paint a wooden fence, but things really get hectic when they move on to a smokestack.

Gravity (1984) ***

Brief cartoon about an apple trying to detach itself from a tree.

Doctor DeSoto (1984) ***

Bitz Butz (1984) ***

Excellent cartoon from Israel.

Charade (1984) ***

An Oscar-winning cartoon about some not-too-clever folks who fail to solve some very simple charades ("Dracula", "Jaws" and "Superman").

Blackberry Subway Jam (1984) ***

A little boy's home is turned into a subway station.

Anijam (1984) ***

A unique film conceived by Marv Newland. It consists of 22 separate segments, executed by 22 different animators. The first drawing of each sequence is the last drawing from the previous one. The animators didn't know what action came before or went after their own sequence. The result is one of the weirdest cartoons ever made, completely devoid of any narrative thread. Animators included Guido Manuli, Paul Driessen and Zlatko Grgic. The film won a Special Jury Award at the Toronto Animation Festival.

Le Metro (1984) **

An animated subway ride.

Rectangle et rectangles (1984) **

Flickering images of various rectangles. Colors: yellow, red, green and blue. **

Observational Hazard (1984) **

Non-narrative cartoon with interesting, but pointless images.

Lights Before Dawn (1984) **

A brief tribute to Emile Reynaud, an animation pioneer. A nice song by Edith Piaf.

Sigmund (1984) *

Little Sigmund (Freud) is watching television. Winner of the Second Prize at the Hiroshima Animation Festival.

Etienne et Sara (1984) *

The birth of a little girl and the first steps of a little boy. A mix of live-action and direct animation from Pierre Hébert.

March 3, 1984

Talk Dirty To Me Part III (1984) ***

Lilian (1984) ***

Miami Vice: Brother's Keeper (1984) ***

Family Ties: 4 Rms Ocn Vu (1984) ***

Yes Minister: Party Games (1984) ***

07 zglos sie 4 (1984) ***

Histoire d'O. Chapitre 2 (1984) ***

Fanny Hill (1984) ***

Miami Vice: Calderone's Return (1984) ***

March 2, 1984

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Jak sie nie krec (1984) **

Piosenki:

"Szampanski humor" *

"Robmy cos" *

"Mloda wdowa" *

"Pobudka zagra" *

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Blondynka Alternatywa (1984) **

Piosenki:

"Hej da dana!" *

"Widzicie ludzie flagi na budzie" *

"Tajemnica poliszynela" *

"Stonka" *

"To much reality" *

"Od kulisy do kulisy" *

"Pisarze do pior" *

"Pijmy wino za kolegow" *

"Idziemy przez zycie w podskokach" **

February 2, 1984

Revenge Of The Nerds (1984) **

The Element Of Crime (1984) **

Before Stonewall (1984) **

A documentary about the persecutions of gay people in America before the famous Stonewall riots in the summer of 1969.

Little Drummer Girl (1984) **

An American actress is recruited by the Mossad.

Places In The Heart (1984) **

A widow (Sally Field) tries to save her family farm.

Sixteen Candles (1984) **

Molly Ringwald plays a sixteen-year old ugly duckling (sic!), whose family forgets her birthday.

Repo Man (1984) **

Weird film about punks, repo men and alien creatures. It's a meandering mess, lacking coherence and focus.

January 1, 1984

Best Defense (1984) *

Eddie Murphy was brought in to save this boring Dudley Moore comedy, but he failed miserably. Murphy's character was added to the film after an original version was complete and tested very poorly with audiences.