| It Was 25 Years Ago... The
Films of 1980 Some of these film, and others
will screen at the Egyptian April 15 - 17, 2005.
To many looking back, the year 1980 signaled not only the end of the
70’s – a decade that saw Watergate, the end of the Vietnam War, the birth of
punk and disco - but also the finish of the turbulent, brilliant creative decade
that’s come to be known as The New Hollywood. So the question is: was 1980 the nail
in the coffin of possibly the greatest period in Hollywood history – or was it a
crossroads, when the movie industry began to split into two distinct but related camps,
the Blockbuster and the Independent film? At the quarter century mark, it’s a good
time to take a closer look at a watershed year that saw mainstream Hollywood in full force
with mega-hit comedies (THE BLUES BROTHERS), horror films (FRIDAY THE 13th)
and a terrific, much-anticipated sequel (THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK) to one of the
most successful films of all time. At the other end of the spectrum, 1980 also fostered
the nascent American indie film scene in movies such as director John Sayles THE RETURN
OF THE SECAUCUS 7 and Jonathan Demme’s wildly offbeat MELVIN AND HOWARD.
And before anyone says the creative explosion of the New Hollywood had died out,
there’s Martin Scorsese’s towering masterpiece RAGING BULL and David
Lynch’s eerie, heartbreaking THE ELEPHANT MAN.
Thursday, April 28 - 7:30 PM
RAGING BULL, 1980, MGM/UA, 128 min. Widely regarded as
one of the finest American movies of the past 25 years, director Martin Scorsese’s
masterpiece is a stunning B&W portrait of prizefighter Jake La Motta (Robert
DeNiro) and his harrowing, destructive bouts in and out of the ring. Winner of Academy
Awards for Best Actor (DeNiro) and Editing (Thelma Schoonmaker). With Cathy Moriarty, Joe
Pesci.
>> Also playing at the Egyptian on April 14.
Friday, April 29 - 7:30 PM
STAR WARS: EPISODE V – THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK,
1980, 20th Century Fox/LucasFilm, 127 min. Dir. Irvin Kershner. Starring
Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and Billy Dee Williams, with the voices
of Frank Oz and James Earl Jones. George Lucas’s action-packed (and
surprisingly moving) sequel to the original STAR WARS is everything a great
sci-fi/adventure film should be, filled with astounding set pieces (the battle on the ice
planet Hoth, the Cloud City), rich and wonderful characters (look at Han Solo and Princess
Leia’s ongoing romance, Luke and Darth Vader’s climactic light saber duel). And
don’t forget one of the oddest heroes in all moviedom: 3-foot high Jedi Master, Yoda!
This film originally played at the Egyptian when it was released 25 years ago!
>> Also playing at the Egyptian on April 15.
Saturday, April 30 - 5:30 PM
MELVIN AND HOWARD, 1980, Universal, 95 min.
Director Jonathan Demme created one of his most enduring, rewarding films in this
warmly funny sleeper, a hymn to independent dreamers everywhere. Paul LeMat is
perfect as Melvin Dummar, a hapless average Joe who unknowingly gives a ride to the
elderly Howard Hughes (Jason Robards) in the nocturnal Nevada desert and finds he
may be the heir to Hughes’ vast fortune as a consequence. Mary Steenburgen,
priceless as Melvin’s lovable, slightly daft spouse, won the Best Supporting Actress
Oscar. Bo Goldman also won an Oscar for Best Screenplay. With a sterling cast that
includes Michael J. Pollard, Jack Kehoe, Gloria Grahame.
>> Also playing at the Egyptian on April 17.
Saturday, April 30 - 8:00 PM
New 35 mm print! ELEPHANT MAN, 1980, Paramount,
122 min. Based on two books about the real-life Elephant Man, John Merrick, director David
Lynch recounts this severely deformed man’s perilous life in Victorian England in
breathtaking black and white. Sir Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins), rescues
Merrick from a circus freak show where he is assumed to be retarded, takes him to a
hospital for tests, and discovers that Merrick, in fact, has great intellect and capacity
for emotion. John Hurt’s ability to project Merrick’s humanity earned him
a Best Actor Oscar nomination, along with the film’s seven other nominations
including Best Picture, and Best Director. Lynch’s use of costumes,
makeup, Freddie Francis’ cinematography, and John Morris’ score remain
commendably understated, allowing the sadness of the film to avoid sentimentalism. With
Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller. "Elephant Man has the power and some of
the dream logic of a silent film, yet there are also wrenching, pulsating sounds--the
hissing steam and the pounding of the start of the industrial age. It's Dickensian London,
with perhaps a glimpse of the process that gave rise to Cubism."— Pauline
Kael. Our enormous thanks to Paramount Pictures for striking a new 35 mm. print of the
film for this screening!
An Aero Theatre Exclusive!
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