griggs's - 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die List
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Monty Python delivers a scathing, anarchic satire of both religion and Hollywood's depiction of all things biblical with their second film. The setting is Judea 33 A.D. , a time of poverty and chaos, with no shortage of messiahs, followers willing to believe in them, and exasperated Romans trying to impose some order. At the centre of it all is Brian Cohen (Graham Chapman), a reluctant would-be messiah who rises to prominence as a result of a series of absurd and truly hilarious circumstances providing ample opportunity for the entire ensemble (John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Chapman) to shine in multiple roles as they mock everyone and everything from ex-lepers, Pontius Pilate, and the art of haggling to crazy prophets, Roman centurions, and crucifixion. - Director:
- Terry Jones
- Cast:
- Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin
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Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)Kramer Versus Kramer
"Kramer vs. Kramer" is a ground-breaking drama about the heartbreak of divorce and the struggle between work and family. Young husband and father, Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffman) loves his family - and his job, which is where he spends most of his time. When he returns home late one evening from work, his wife Joanna (Meryl Streep) confronts him and then leaves him to take care of their six-year-old son while she goes off to find herself. Ted struggles with the demands of balancing a high-pressure career while trying to adapt to his new role of single parent. Just as Ted starts to feel like a fulfilled parent, Joanna returns, but this time she wants her son back... - Director:
- Robert Benton
- Cast:
- Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander
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Steve Martin makes his film-starring debut in this wild and crazy comedy hit The Jerk. Steve portrays Navin Johnson, adopted son of a poor black sharecropper family, whose crazy inventions lead him from rags to riches and right back to rags. Along the way, he's smitten with a lady motorcycle racer, survives a series of screwball attacks by a deranged killer, becomes a millionaire by inventing the "Opti-grab" handle for eyeglasses - and shows why he's on of the hottest comic performers in the world. - Director:
- Carl Reiner
- Cast:
- Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Catlin Adams
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"All That Jazz" is actually a semi-autobiographical account of the life of its celebrated writer/director/choreographer, Bob Fosse. The multi-talented performer was an Oscar, Tony and Emmy Award winner who brought home a combined total of eight trophies. Part tragic, part comic, this outrageous look at life in the fast lane is the Academy Award - winning musical about Bob Fosse's excessive life in show business, played by Roy Schneider. Dazzlingly presented, this electrifying story about the perils of pushing yourself too hard is filled with Fosse's legendary song-and-dance choreography. - Director:
- Bob Fosse
- Cast:
- Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Leland Palmer
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After Being There was published, author Jerzy Kosinski got a telegram from its lead character Chance the Gardner: "Available in my garden or outside of it". Kosinski dialled the accompanying telephone number and Peter Sellers answered. Sellers indeed got the part and gave an indelible performance in this modern comedy classic. Isolated all his life in a Washington DC townhouse, Chance knows only what he's seen on TV. Cast into the world, he stumbles into the inner circle of governmental power brokers eager for "sage wisdom". As Chance might say, you'll like to watch - Director:
- Hal Ashby
- Cast:
- Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas
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The Big Red One (1980)The Big Red One: The Reconstruction
"The Real Glory of War", Samuel Fuller said, "is surviving". A decorated combatant with the tamed U.S. First Infantry in World War II. Fuller survived. His 1980 film version of his war experiences did not... Until now. Working with 70. 000 feet of vault materials and Fuller's shooting script critic/filmmaker Richard Schickel heads a reconstruction that adds over 40 minutes and transforms a truncated but admired war film into an epic masterwork. Lee Marvin, in a richly layered performance now revealed as one of his finest stars as the sergeant of peach-fuzzed riflemen fighting from North Africa to Normandy and across Europe. The film is the squad's combat diary, war as it's fought and sweated and bled and, maybe, survived. - Director:
- Samuel Fuller
- Cast:
- Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine
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Following the destruction of the Death Star, Imperial forces pursue the Rebel Alliance to the ice planet Hoth. After a devastating defeat, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) journeys to the planet Dagobah to train with the Jedi Master Yoda. Meanwhile, in the Cloud City of Bespin, Darth Vader attempts to lure Luke into a trap by kidnapping Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher). When Luke comes to their rescue, he must fight a fierce lightsaber duel with Darth Vader himself and come face to face with a stunning revelation that could change his destiny. - Director:
- Irvin Kershner
- Cast:
- Mark Hamill, Jason Wingreen, Michael Santiago
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Writer Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), a former alcoholic, accepts a job as the winter caretaker for a hotel high in the Rocky Mountains, isolating him, his wife (Shelley Duvall) and their psychic young son until spring. But when the first blizzard blocks the only road out, the hotel's stored energy from evil past deeds begins to drive Jack insane...a and there may be no escape for his family in this haunting story of madness, memory and violence. - Director:
- Stanley Kubrick
- Cast:
- Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd
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Featuring Robert Hays as an ex-fighter pilot forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning; Julie Hagerty as his girlfriend/ stewardess/ co-pilot; and a cast of all-stars including Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Leslie Nielsen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar…and more! Their hilarious high jinks spook airplane disaster flicks, religious zealots, television commercials, romantic love…the list whirls by in rapid succession. And the story races from one moment of zany fun to the next! - Director:
- Jim Abrahams
- Cast:
- Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen
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Atlantic City (1980)Atlantic City, USA
On the Boardwalk of Dreams, everyone has a fantasy. Once the Queen of Resorts, Atlantic City has become the seedy Queen of Rackets. And with the legalisation of gambling, small-time gangsters like Lou (Burt Lancaster) are the losers; running numbers for the Mob can no longer offer a livelihood. But aging Lou's life changes abruptly when he becomes involved with Dave (Robert Joy), a young dope dealer, and his estranged wife, the beautiful and ambitious Sally (Susan Sarandon). Working at the Casino oyster bar whilst taking a rigorous course in blackjack dealing, she dreams of a glamorous new life in the casinos of Monte Carlo. When Dave is killed, Lou and Sally find themselves thrown together in a real-life escapade involving love, money, dope and danger. - Director:
- Louis Malle
- Cast:
- Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon, Kate Reid
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Gerard Depardieu plays Loulou, a layabout and petty criminal who meets middle-class Nelly (Isabelle Huppert) in a nightclub. Nelly is bored by her job in advertising and by the possessiveness and violent tempers of her boss and lover Andre (Guy Marchand). Much to the dismayed disbelief of Andre, Nelly decides to leave him and move in with Loulou. - Director:
- Maurice Pialat
- Cast:
- Isabelle Huppert, Gérard Depardieu, Guy Marchand
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The Last Metro (1980)Le Dernier Métro
In Nazi-occupied Paris Marion and her Jewish husband decide to conceal him in the very theatre that they own with the alibi that he has fled abroad. As he hides in the cellar from the Gestapo she must continue her job as lead actress in the play and take on her husband's job as director to hold up the facade. Meanwhile the German oppression continues to increase on both the characters' lives and the play itself. - Director:
- François Truffaut
- Cast:
- Catherine Deneuve, Gérard Depardieu, Jean Poiret
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An extraordinary motion picture, 'Ordinary People' is an intense examination of a family being torn apart by tension and tragedy. Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore star as the upper-middle-class couple whose "ordinary" existence is irrevocably shattered by the death of their oldest son in a boating accident, suicide and guilt left by the drowning, Judd Hirsch is the empathetic psychiatrist who provides his lifeline to survival. Mary Tyler Moore gives a riveting portrayal of the inexplicably aloof mother. Robert Redford's achievement as director, after more than twenty years as a superstar in front of the camera, earned him an Oscar. Superb performances and masterful direction complement the award-winning screenplay, based upon the novel by Judith Guest. - Director:
- Robert Redford
- Cast:
- Donald Sutherland, Mary-Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch
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John Merrick (John Hurt) is the elephant man, forced into circus sideshows and spurned by society because of the disfiguring disabilities he was born with. Rescued by a well meaning surgeon (Anthony Hopkins), he tries to escape a life of prejudice and cruelty as he tries to fit into the world ruled by Victorian sensibilities. - Director:
- David Lynch
- Cast:
- Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft
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Raging Bull (1980)The Life of Jake La Motta
"Raging Bull" is arguably the finest work from the Scorsese and De Niro partnership. De Niro gives and amazing portrayal of a man whose animal side lurks just beneath the surface, ever ready to erupt. Vivid and unremitting in its uncompromising brutality and honesty, the fight sequences are famed for their realism. Violent throughout, this film is a testament to Scorsese's and De Niro's skills, creating a thoroughly absorbing film about such an unlikable character. Renowned for throwing himself into the roles of his character, De Niro went on a diet to gain fifty pounds during production for the role of the faded star. - Director:
- Martin Scorsese
- Cast:
- Robert De Niro, Ted Husing, Cathy Moriarty
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