Subgenre Sampler
Drama: 8102 Films to Buy & Rent
Union City (1980)
- Dir. Mark Reichart
Feat. Debbie Harry, Dennis Lipscomb
- Underrated low–budget film noir starkly depicts urban neurosis in a seedy apartment. Grungy lead performances from Debbie Harry and Dennis…
Urban Cowboy (1980)
- Dir. James Bridges
Feat. John Travolta, Debra Winger, Scott Glenn…
- An early role for John Travolta, as an oil–worker trying to 'make it' riding mechanical bulls in the roadhouses of Houston. The grimy, downbeat…
Water Under the Bridge (TV Mini-series) (1980)
- Dir. Igor Auzins
Feat. Judy Davis, Robyn Nevin, David Cameron
- Unsentimental drama set between the two World Wars observes an aspiring actor and the three women who shape his life.
Wim Wenders on Film (Lightning over Water, The State of Things, A Trick of the Light) (1980-1995)
- Dir. Wim Wenders
- Boxset of three underseen Wim Wenders classics, each concerning the agony and ectasy of filmmaking.
Xanadu (1980)
- Feat. Olivia Newton-John, Gene Kelly
- Diabolical disco–kitsch with a plot as thin as a plastic–wrapper. Designer Michael Beck is visited by ethereal muse Olivia…
Agatha (1979)
- Dir. Michael Apted
Feat. Vanessa Redgrave, Dustin Hoffman, Timothy Dalton…
- Speculating over the 11 days in 1926 when detective–writer Agatha Christie (Vanessa Redgrave) went missing, this gently–toned drama sees…
Alexandria... Why? (1979)
- Dir. Youssef Chahine
- An autobiographical film about the early life of director Youssef Chahine, set in Alexandria. Winner of the Silver Bear at the 29th Berlin…
All That Jazz (1979)
- Dir. Bob Fosse
Feat. Roy Scheider
- Audacious, some would say self–indulgent, musical–comedy – a semi–autobiography of celebrated New York choreographer and…
Amour en fuite, L' (Love on the Run) (1979)
- Dir. Francois Truffaut
Feat. Jean-Pierre Leaud, Marie-France Pisier
- The fifth and final entry in dir. Truffaut's loosely autobiographical 'Anoine Doinel' series. Here, the footloose hero reaches his 30s and a new…
And Justice for All (1979)
- Dir. Norman Jewison
Feat. Al Pacino, Jack Warden, Craig T. Nelson…
- Intense, if uneven courtroom–drama in which hot–shot lawyer Al Pacino defends a judge on a rape charge. Even a top supporting cast and a…