'80s, '90s, & Contemporary Film

According to Rotten Tomatoes, it seems like most of the John Hughes movies are considered to be the best of the decade, like The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Sixteen Candles. Movies like Die Hard, The Terminator, Ghostbusters, and Back to the Future are also high up on the list.

b. What are the highest grossing, most "popular" movies of the '80s (according to where/who?)

In terms of most popular, it seems like the Rotten Tomatoes list stays pretty much the same for this. Teen movies or romance movies like all of John Hughes', as well as Say Anything, Better Off Dead, The Goonies, Heathers, Dirty Dancing, and Stand By Me were and are pretty beloved. So are big action movies like Blade Runner, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, and Die Hard.

According to filmsite, a big characteristic of 80s movies was being "high-concept," which meant that they could be cinematically spectacular but summed up in just one to two sentences, making them easy to understand. This made them more marketable to the wider population, bringing in more viewers and ultimately more money. Also, for all the the John Hughes or teen movies of the 80s, there was always a "villian" who had social status, notable hair, and a stand-out name (Roy Stalin from Better Off Dead or Hardy Jennz in Some Kind of Wonderful). I guess the decade was also known as "the Dawn of the Sequel," which seems pretty accurate because all of the big blockbuster action movies I listed above had sequels or were sequels. It seems like a lot of 80s movies really pandered to the younger demographics with action and romance and adventure and relatable teen situations.

d. What are some notable, important things that happened in the film industry in the '80s? What's film known for in the '80s?

Sherry Lansing became president of production at 20th Century Fox, the first female ever to head a major studio. And at 36 years old! The first Blockbuster video rental store opened in Dallas, Texas. Videodisk/laserdisc players also started to become available, making at-home viewing more common. In the 80s, it seems like film was really known for making really intense emotion-inducing movies (fear with The Shining or Nightmare on Elm Street, excitement and adrenaline with all the action movies I mentioned above, or joy and contentment or sentimentality with all the teen movies). They also really capitalized on making spectacles out of movies, packed with popular music and fashion from the time, as well as the CGI they had available to them.

According to Rolling Stone, the best include Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, Jurassic Park, Fight Club, The Matrix, The Silence of the Lambs, Groundhog Day, and more.

b. What are the highest grossing, most "popular" movies of the '90s (according to where/who?)

Some of the highest grossing movies, according to filmsite, include Titanic, The Phantom Menace, Jurassic Park, The Lion King, and Forrest Gump, among others. It seems like these are also consistently the most popular ones of the 90s on the same site.

It seems like what was appealing in 90s movies was really setting the stage for what would explode in the 2000s: big-budget movies with impressive CGI, actors/agents being hired for their names, remakes, and more sequels. People like Tom Hanks, Demi Moore, Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, and Robin Williams were very sought after, and the movies they were promoting built up a lot of anticipation among their fans.

d. What are some notable, important things that happened in the film industry in the '90s? What's film known for in the '90s?

Like I said in part c, film in the 90s seemed to be known for remakes (Little Women), sequels (Star Wars), and big-budget films with lots of CGI. In terms of big things that happened in the 90s film industry, Disney kept expanding by taking over the ABC Network; Warner Communications and Time Inc. merged to form Time/Warner; DreamWorks Studio was formed.

After thinking about what Mr. D said, what's he leaving out, based on what you know about contemporary film?

It seems like in contemporary film, more and more movies are being made about social issues that have been sort of taboo to bring out into the open. More movies about abortion (like Juno, or the new movie Never Rarely Sometimes Always), for example, are being made than in the past. There are also more indie films being shown in theaters and getting recognition, like First Cow.

I guess this isn't completely different from what he was talking about, but there are too many remakes and sequels being put out that just recirculate and revamp old stories and ideas without opening up anything totally new and exciting to the public. It seems like there's nothing really "revolutionary" happening right now in cinema. I also think there's issues with the rating system, if that can be lumped in with contemporary cinema as a topic. The whole idea that a person can't see a rated R film until they're 17 and can't be taken to see the film by anyone other than legal adult if you're under 17 seems silly, especially now since an underage person has free range of all the rated R movies at home. It seems like a pretty outdated system.

Sarah L's Film Studies Blog 2020