New Year's Movie Marathon

Here’s an idea I haven’t thought of before… Movies to watch on New Year's Eve.

Hmmm… well let’s see… you can always go with a well-rounded double feature of American Graffiti and Strange Days…

Actually, I’m probably going to be out of town and not in a position to do much movie watching, but appropriate or not this is the kind of marathon I’m feeling the urge for this new year’s eve: a big pile of Kathryn Bigelow, Walter Hill and Alex Proyas movies. For those that are scratching their heads right now, I’m mostly talking about Bigelow and Proyas’ work in the 80s. All three directors are great at making atmospheric night films. Here are some of the ones I’m thinking of.

Kathryn Bigelow:

Strange Days.

The only new years film in this lot I think. It’s disturbing as hell for one of the more lower end cyberpunk films out there. It’s a heck of a lot better than Johnny Mnemonic though… so I should probably reconsider what company I put this in. Great cast and a script from none other than James Cameron!

Point Break.

Speaking of Neo! Admit it, this film is one of the great things about the 80s. It’s not like fessing up to liking ABBA. The film kicks ass and if you’ve seen it, you know it. Mr. Anderson should only play surfers roles… or Canadian productions of Shakespeare… like Merchant in Venice and Hamlet. “Dude… am I like… not a man?” That is all. Period.

Near Dark.

Tied with The Lost Boys as one of the best vampire movies of the 80ds (The Hunger just didn’t do it for me, though I should really give it another try). There has been a long debate about the dialog in this film. Some people say it’s the cheesiest ever written and acted EVER, the other side says it is right on the money for that period and local. I’ve know people that lived in both area and time who say she nailed it, and my money is with them. Oh, and it has half the cast from Aliens! What’s not to love?

Walter Hill:

THE WARRIORS

“Warriors… come out and play…” Avoid the new directors cut like the plague. I’ve heard stories it’s a complete muck up of a perfectly good film. A perfectly good film filled with some of the most gloriously over the top gangs to ever grace celluloid. Classic!

48 Hrs.

A little humor to the mix! Actually, you can skip this one if you want. I haven’t seen it in years and it might be too far off theme. Still… one of the best things Eddie was ever in! Right up there with the much too under appreciated Harlem Nights.

Streets of Fire

God I love this cracked out film. You could just take this and go in a totally different direction. It would be great in a marathon with Big Trouble in Little China, I Come in Peace, and Cobra! I mean… it’s a film set in some kind of hybrid decade. Part 50s and part 80s. With of all things, I crochet mallet duel for a final showdown!

Alex Proyas:

The Crow.

As Underworld 2 shows… we still have yet to recover from the onslaught of Interview With a Vampire and The Crow, but who cares! The Crow was one of the best comic book films since Dick Tracy. And Proyas is in many ways the next generation… the spawn of directors like Kathryn Bigelow and Walter Hill. He may lack that character charm that they had, but he makes up for it with worlds that tide me over just fine until Jean-Pierre Jeunet gets back in touch with his darker Marc Caro side.

Dark City.

Who needs Matrix when you can have Dark City? Yes… I’m dead serous.

The other nice thing about a marathon of these three for me is that they all have films that look really good that I have not seen. Proyas’ Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds sounds fantastic! Walter Hill did a film called Hard Times starring Charles Bronson and James Coburn! I’ve heard good things about it, but the cast and plot summery alone have me sold. Kathryn Bigelow’s first film The Loveless helped William Dafoe on his way up the ladder. Bigelow is great at capturing the feel and culture of small areas as she’s shown with Near Dark and Point Break. I’d love to see what she did with the greaser biker scene in that film.

Other films you could throw in from outside the trio for good measure are the Bad Boys (the 1983 film starring Sean Penn that is), Judgment Night, and Escape From New York. Well… you probably ought to consider sleeping at some point during this… so we’ll leave it there.

If anyone uses this, hope ya enjoy!

Peace.