1983

The Big Chill (1983), 103 minutes, D: Lawrence Kasdan
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A Christmas Story (1983, US/Can.), 94 minutes, D: Bob Clark
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El Norte (1983, US/UK) (aka The North), 139 minutes, D: Gregory Nava
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Flashdance (1983), 95 minutes, D: Adrian Lyne
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The King of Comedy (1983), 108 minutes, D: Martin Scorsese
Scorsese's original, under-appreciated dark comedy - a stark contrast to his own Taxi Driver (1976), about the bizarre relationship between stardom, the cult of celebrity, and violence-prone wannabe obsessed fans, similar to Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd (1957). With Robert De Niro (in his fourth film with Scorsese) as a wimpy, aspiring stand-up comedian named Rupert Pupkin, a man in his mid-30's who still lives with his mother (only heard off-screen). The untalented and self-deluded Rupert worships fame and is determined to become a celebrity. He is totally obsessed with late-night talk show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis, playing the role absolutely straight in his best dramatic role ever), a Johnny Carson-esque character (the part was originally written for Johnny Carson), and stalks his 'love' object at his show. He brazenly appears unannounced at Langford's country estate with an embarrassed date-friend Rita (Diahnne Abbott, De Niro's wife at the time). Later, with the help of an equally deranged, amorous fan and talk-show groupie Masha (Sandra Bernhard, who won Best Supporting Actress with the National Society of Film Critics), Rupert kidnaps Langford and demands as ransom that he get to do the opening monologue one night on Langford's show, and be named the new "King of Comedy." Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Zimmerman manage to pull off a story that is not only chilling and spooky, but geniunely funny, yet the film was so far ahead of its time that it flopped at the box-office upon release.

Local Hero (1983, UK), 111 minutes, D: Bill Forsyth
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(National Lampoon's) Vacation (1983), 98 minutes, D: Harold Ramis
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Return of the Jedi (1983) (aka Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi), 132 minutes, D: Richard Marquand
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The Right Stuff (1983), 192 minutes, D: Philip Kaufman
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Risky Business (1983), 98 minutes, D: Paul Brickman
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Scarface (1983), 170 minutes, D: Brian De Palma
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Terms of Endearment (1983), 130 minutes, D: James L. Brooks
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Videodrome (1983), 87 minutes, D: David Cronenberg
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Zelig (1983), 80 minutes, D: Woody Allen
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