Category: 1980s

Wannabe blues guitarist Ralph Macchio hunts down Robert Johnson’s long time friend, musician Willie Brown (portrayed by Joe Seneca), and the two embark on a blues inspired journey to Mississippi to settle some unfinished business. Touching on many of the legends surrounding Johnson, including an alleged lost song, the duo cross paths with a devilish Robert Judd and his assistant, the always entertaining Joe Morton. It all culminates in a sudden jump from the sun-drenched Mississippi landscape to an epic showdown featuring the virtuosity of guitarist Steve Vai. Throughout the film, Macchio plays true to form as a whiny young adult who is incapable of listening to his elders who obviously know better while Seneca imbues the production with soul as the older blues guide.  

The delicate balance between a decaying police precinct and the impoverished neighborhood it serves is thrown when a drugged out Pam Grier, playing against type, shoots two officers point blank. This leads newly appointed captain Ed Asner to take a hardline against the surrounding community. Cynical precinct veteran Paul Newman, partnered with a young Ken Wahl, provides the moral compass in a squad filled with corruption. It’s gritty as if from the previous decade but also feels like the pilot to the police procedurals it would later inspire.  

Mute alien Joe Morton, who resembles a Black man except for his unusual three toed feet, crash lands on Ellis Island. Pursued by men in black bounty hunters, John Sayles and David Strathairn, he attempts to blend in and learn about life on Earth while having many one sided conversations with the various denizens he encounters. One side plot involving a white drug lord is a bit thrown in, but the film is best when it simply reflects the world through Morton’s expressive eyes.  

On advice from a friend, architect Lenny Von Dohlen buys a top of the line computer to get more organized. A mishap when he was trying to download an entire database from work causes the computer to become sentient and Lenny finds himself fighting with the computer for the affections of Virginia Madsen, the attractive musician who lives upstairs. There’s a quirky 1980s vibe to the film with a fun soundtrack, great visuals, montages, and a unique perspective on the forthcoming cyber age. Von Dohlen is excellent in the lead role showing off equal levels of intelligence and bewilderment at varying times.    

Eleven days before Christmas, Earth’s orbit passes through the tail of a comet. The next day, two sisters Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney discover they are two of only a few people who survived the event unscathed. A really fun low-end 80s film, it has everything that makes the decade great. There’s plenty of neon, fashion, big hair, montages and shopping malls accompanied by a pretty great soundtrack. It’s really surprising this hasn’t become a well-known classic of the era.