Subgenre Sampler

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A TV Dante (The Inferno Cantos I - VIII) (1989): Dir. Peter Greenaway
Feat. John Gielgud, Bob Peck, Joanne Whalley; Striking recitation by Gielgud and company of the first eight cantos. Greenaway superimposes some truly potent images over a series of talking heads.…
A World Without Pity (Un Monde Sans Pitie) (1989): Dir. Eric Rochant
Feat. Hippolyte Girardot, Mireille Perrier, Yvan Attal; A young Parisian slacker falls in love with an ambitious, bright student but finds the tables turning on his egocentric existence. Rochant's debut…
Angel and the Soldier Boy (1989): Dir. Alison de Vere; Charming story about a little girl's toy soldier and angel, who try to recover her piggy–bank savings, stolen while she was asleep by wicked…
Apartment Zero (1989): Dir. Martin Donovan
Feat. Colin Firth, Hart Bochner; Weird tale in which a loner (Colin Firth) rents half of his apartment to a man of dubious motives and background (Hart Bochner). Pays homage to many…
As Time Goes By (1989): Dir. Barry Peak
Feat. Bruno Lawrence; A distinctively Oz sci–fi comedy, centering around a strange encounter between a knockabout surfer and a time–travelling alien.
Babar: The Movie (1989): Dir. Alan Bunce; Feature–length animated antics of the lovable, wise and courageous King of Elephantland, who defends his folk from the evil Rhinos.
Bear, The (1989): Dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud
Feat. Jack Wallace, Tcheky Karyo; Shot in the Canadian mountains, this follows the unique story of an orphaned bear cub, the Grizzly who befriends him and the two hunters who try to…
Belt, The (La Cintura) (1989): Dir. Giuliana Gamba
Feat. James Russo; American teacher James Russo embarks on an affair with a beautiful Italian woman in Rome, which gets interesting when she buys him a belt... to whip…
Best of Billy T, The (1989): Feat. Billy T. James; A collection of fine moments from the TV career of New Zealand's very own comic genius.
Best of the Best (1989): Dir. Robert Radler
Feat. Eric Roberts, James Earl Jones, Sally Kirkland…; Five young men learn what it takes to compete at the highest level in this late eighties favourite. Think Karate Kid meets Breaking Away.
Beyond Gravity (1989): Dir. Garth Maxwell
Feat. Iain Rea, Robert Pollock; Gay romance blossoms for a astronomy–obsessed technician when he encounters a free–spirited Italian.
BFG, The (Big Friendly Giant) (1989): Dir. Brian Cosgrove; Animated as a telemovie this version of Roald Dahl's story is commendable is a little stiff. Concerns the adventures of orpahn Sophie who is abducted…
Billy Crystal - Midnight Train to Moscow (1989): Dir. Paul Flaherty
Feat. Billy Crystal; Billy Crystal explores his Russian roots, with a mockumentary 'Jokenost' tour of Russian and a standup performance live at the Pushkin Theatre.
Butter Battle Book (1989): Dir. Ralph Bakshi
Feat. Charles Durning; Ralph Bakshi animates the Dr. Suess favourite about the ridiculously trivial feud between the Yooks and the Zooks.
Canton Godfather, The (Miracles; Mr. Canton and Lady Rose) (1989): Dir. Jackie Chan
Feat. Jackie Chan, Anita Mui; Though light on martial arts, this lavish period production is generally considered Jackie Chan's most accomplished movie. At once inspired by THE…
Cat Chaser (1989): Dir. Abel Ferrara
Feat. Peter Weller, Kelly McGillis, Charles Durning…; The director atypically sidesteps controversy in adapting Elmore Leonard's political novel about a Miami hotel owner who courts danger when he…
Circus Boys (1989): Dir. Kaizo Hayashi
Feat. Hiroshi Mikami, Moe Kamura, Shu Ken; Sumptuous film blends illusion and reality in contrasting the paths of two brothers from a circus family, one an idealist who attempts to rejuvenate…
City of Sadness, A (Beiging Chengsi) (1989): Dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Feat. Tony Leung (Chiu-wai), Hsin Shu-fen, Chen Sown-yung…; The first of the director’s trilogy of films about the modern history of Taiwan, here depicting the unstable post–WW2 period through the eyes…
Club Extinction (Dr. M) (1989): Dir. Claude Chabrol
Feat. Alan Bates, Jennifer Beals, Jan Niklas…; Chabrol’s re–examination of Fritz Lang’s DR MABUSE is set in a future Berlin saturated with Big Brother messages and a plague of…
Cold Feet (1989): Dir. Robert Dornhelm
Feat. Keith Carradine, Sally Kirkland, Tom Waits…; A deranged assassin and a strange couple concoct a scheme to smuggle emeralds over the Mexican border. Bawdy, off–kilter Southern romp features…
Criminal Law (1989): Dir. Martin Campbell
Feat. Gary Oldman, Kevin Bacon, Tess Harper…; Hot shot lawyer Gary Oldman successfully defends psycho–killer Kevin Bacon, only to find he had made a costly misjudgement.
Dark Woods, The (1989): Dir. Jacques Deray
Feat. Beatrice Dalle; Beatrice Dalle (BETTY BLUE) marries a stranger on a whim, and lives to regret it when her affections for his brother leads to a brutal crime of…
Dead Funny (Penn and Teller Get Killed) (1989): Dir. Arthur Penn
Feat. David Patrick Kelly, Jon Cryer, Reg E. Cathey…; Black comedy and magic duo Penn and Teller deploy an array of morbid stage show theatrics within the framework of a fictional feature.
Diamond Skulls (1989): Dir. Nick Broomfield
Feat. Gabriel Byrne, Amanda Donohoe; This brittle stab at fiction from renowned documentarian Nick Broomfield about "sex, class and obsession" suffers from unsympathetic…
Dink the Little Dinosaur (1989): A recent creation from the Hanna–Barbera stable. Dink and his prehistoric pals brave it against the perils of Mother Nature over five episodes.
Dominion Tank Police (1989): Four parts on two cassettes.
Eat a Bowl of Tea (1989): Dir. Wayne Wang
Feat. Victor Wong; Witty Chinese–American fable about a young New Yorker under increasing social pressure, especially from his father, who arranged his marriage…
Emma's Shadow (1989): Dir. Soeren Jacobsen
Feat. Line Kruse, Borje Ahlstedt, Erik Wedersoe; 12–year–old Emma, feeling that her affluent parents would care more for her if she were missing, fakes her own kidnapping, and discovers…
Enemies, A Love Story (1989): Dir. Paul Mazursky
Feat. Ron Silver, Anjelica Huston; Ron Silver and Anjelica Huston star in this sobering story of a Jewish immigrant in post–war New York who winds up married to three different…
Fellow Traveller (1989): Dir. Philip Saville
Feat. Ron Silver, Hart Bochner; A classy political thriller concerning the traumas of a blacklisted writer exiled in London during the McCarthy era.
Feud, The (1989): Dir. Bob D'Elia
Feat. Rene Auberjonois, Joe Grifasi, Stanley Tucci; David Lynch meets Norman Rockwell in this oddly likeable satire of '50s Hicksville gazes upon a spiralling feud between two eccentric families.
Five Days in June (1989): Dir. Michel Legrand
Feat. Sabine Azema, Annie Girardot, Matthieu Roze; Yet another addition to the canon of dramas based on childhood memoirs. A renowned composer takes the helm to recall five days in his life on the…
For Adults Only (Sex and Buttered Popcorn) (1989): Dir. Sam Harrison; A must–see for schlock film fans, this investigates the origins of exploitation film–making in the 1930s and 1940s, mixing rarely seen…
Francesco (1989): Dir. Liliana Cavani
Feat. Mickey Rourke, Helena Bonham Carter; Mickey Rourke and Helena Bonham–Carter star in this lavish yet clunky Italian production of the story of Francis of Assisi, the 13th Century…
George's Island (1989): Dir. Paul Donovan
Feat. Ian Bannen, Sheila McCarthy, Maury Chaykin…; Fleeing his nasty foster parents, 10–year old George goes in search of Captain Kidd's buried treasure, having to outwit, among other adults,…
Hardcover (1989): Dir. Tibor Takacs
Feat. Jenny Wright, Clayton Rohner, Randall William Cook; Low–budget horror compendium delivers some unexpected thrills after a young woman unleashes the supernatural upon reading a spooky novel.
Hush-A-Bye-Baby (1989): Dir. Margo Harkin
Feat. Seamus Ball, Rosina Brown, Sean Carlin…; Excellent portrayal, using 'workshop' methods, of the tribulations of four teenage girls in Northern Ireland, as they negotiate the local facts of…
Icicle Thief, The (1989): Dir. Maurizio Nichetti
Feat. Maurizio Nichetti; Italy's answer to Woody Allen directs and stars in this zany love story–cum–media satire using the film–within–a–film…
In Fading Light (1989): Dir. Amber Film Collective
Feat. Joe Caffrey, Maureen Harold; Amber collective's admirable film focuses on the plight of a fishing town on the English north coast, in the face of Thatcherite corporate investment.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989): Dir. Steven Spielberg
Feat. Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott…; When Sean Connery turns up as Indy's feisty dad, the pair embark on an adventure–laden search for a mystical Holy Grail. You'll have fun…
Indie Top Video (1989): Dir. Various; Music–vids from 15 top indie bands of the 80s: New Order, The Shamen, Pop Will Eat Itself, A Guy Called Gerald, The Darling Buds, Birdland, The…
Iron and Silk (1989): Dir. Shirley Sun
Feat. To Funglin, Zhuong Genyuan; Autobiographical account of an American in China who learns the inherent cultural differences by way of a mysterious girl and a dedication to the…
Island (1989): Dir. Paul Cox
Feat. Irene Papas, Eva Sitta; Three disparate women cross paths on a remote Greek island where they come to terms with their past to reconsider their place in the world.
Johnny Handsome (1989): Dir. Walter Hill
Feat. Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin, Elizabeth McGovern…; Mickey Rourke plays a deformed petty criminal who takes the rap for a major robbery. In prison he is given a new handsome face and proceeds to avenge…
Just Me and Mario (1989): Dir. Greg Stitt
Feat. Mark Hadlow; Mark Hadlow portrays a repressed individual obsessed with the music and life of Mario Lanza. It's a surreal, blackly comic take on suburban angst.
Kill Off, The (1989): Dir. Maggie Greenwald
Feat. Andrew Lee Barrett, Jorja Fox, Ralph Graff; In a small New Jersey town, everyone has a motive to kill off the town gossip. Fascinating, off–beat story based on Jim Thompson's novel. A…
Killer, The (1989): Dir. John Woo
Feat. Chow Yun-Fat; Action at break–neck speed with a body–count to match the running time, this smorgasbord of super–violence with lashings of good…
Kitchen Sink (1989): Dir. Alison Maclean
Feat. Theresa Healy, Peter Tait, Anagretta Christian; Three shorts from director Alison Maclean. Her 1989 award–winning Gothic horror is here paired with two earlier works, TALKBACK (1987), and the…
Legend of the Demon Womb (1989)
Leonard Cohen (1989): Feat. Leonard Cohen; 14 songs of love and hate performed live from the lengthy career of the singer/songwriting veteran. Leonard also escorts us through his inspirational…
Lily Was Here (1989): Dir. Ben Verbong
Feat. Marion Van Thijn, Thom Hoffman, Coen Van Vrijberghe de Coningh; Well known for Eurythmics' Dave Stewart's seductive score, the film follows the desperate plight of a young woman forced to resort to prostitution…
Little Thief, The (1989): Dir. Claude Miller
Feat. Charlotte Gainsbourg, Didier Bezace; Penned by the late Francois Trauffant and completed by his protege, this engaging tale of mis–spent youth follows the adventures of a…
Lock Up (1989): Dir. John Flynn
Feat. Sylvester Stallone, Donald Sutherland; Prison inmate Stallone is persecuted by sadistic warden Sutherland. A bit nasty.
Mack the Knife (1989): Dir. Menahem Golan
Feat. Raul Julia, Richard Harris, Julie Walters…; Muddled adaptation of The Threepenny Opera is notable for some pretty inept dance sequences and some rather overt mugging by some well–known…
Magazine (1989): Feat. Howard Devoto; Five songs from Howard Devoto and co's late 70s New Wave band.
Man Called Rainbo, A (1989): Dir. Lesser Pizmo
Feat. Sylvester Stallone; Awful hippy film Rebel featuring a young Stallone is here redubbed for comic effect by failed film students. Unfortunately they manage to make it…
Master of the Marionettes, A (1989): Dir. Pedr James
Feat. Kenneth Cranham, Carol Drinkwater; Effective though modest BBC drama–thriller posits a 'Twilight Zone' scenario of a salesman suspected of stabbing a man he has rescued. As…
Matter of Degrees, A (1989): Dir. W.T. Morgan
Feat. Arye Gross, Sarah Bork; Student life on a Long Island university campus, centering around the imminent commercialisation of their beloved radio station. Well–made…
Miles Davis in Paris (1989): Feat. Miles Davis; Son of a dentist Miles blows life into his later material at the 1989 Paris Jazz Festival.
Miracle Mile (1989): Dir. Steve DeJarnatt
Feat. Anthony Edwards, Mare Winningham, John Agar…; Anthony Edwards has 60 minutes in which to contemplate a phone call that claims to be the instigation of an imminent nuclear assault. A good crack at…
Neil Young - Unplugged (1989): Feat. Neil Young; Neil pours his heart of gold into acoustic interpretations of 14 great songs drawn from his expansive career.
New Order - A Collection (1989): Dir. Jonathan Demme, Kathryn Bigelow; Definitive compilation of New Order videos, from 'Confusion' to 'Waiting for the siren's call', including clips directed by Jonathan Demme and…
On a Moonlit Night (Up to Date) (1989): Dir. Lina Wertmuller
Feat. Rutger Hauer, Nastassja Kinski, Peter O'Toole…; A reporter (Rutger Hauer) travels the world pretending to have AIDS so that he write a story. In English.
Open Doors (1989): Dir. Gianni Amelio
Feat. Gian Maria Volente, Ennio Fantastichini, Renato Carpentieri; A resonant political drama set in corrupt fascist Italy about a juror's attempt to save a political murderer from the gallows.
Parents (1989): Dir. Bob Balaban
Feat. Randy Quaid, Mary Beth Hurt, Sandy Dennis; Frightening piece of horror kitsch about a boy who suspects his parents are cannibals. Splendid, stylised direction and set design make this a…
Preston Sturges - Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer (1989): Dir. Kenneth Bowser; Celebration of the unique comic vision of Preston Sturges, who shot to success with 40s films like Sullivan's Travels and The Miracle of Morgan's…
Roadkill (1989): Dir. Bruce McDonald
Feat. Valerie Buhagiar, Don McKellar; This first road movie from dir. Bruce McDonald (HIGHWAY 61) is possessed of a naive charm and raw energy that characterizes many of the best indie…
Rolling Stones, The - 25 X 5 (1989): Dir. Nigel Finch
Feat. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood…; The consummate rockumentary, this is a richly entertaining and informative chronicle of the 25 year history of the rock phenomenon from humble…
Sandwich Years (Les années sandwiches) (1989): Dir. Emile Ghigo
Feat. Michel Aumont, Clovis Cornillac; In post–war France, a young Jewish boy befriends an elderly op–shop owner after his parents are arrested.
Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989): Dir. Paul Bartel
Feat. Jacqueline Bisset, Mary Woronov, Ray Sharkey…; This irreverant poke at Hollywood's upper–class has something to offend everyone, but its camp bad taste is kind of endearing. Jacqueline…
Secret Wedding (1989): Dir. Alejandro Agresti
Feat. Floria Bloise, Mirta Busnelli, Tito Haas; An amnesic returns to his home village after 15 years to try to reconstruct his life, but the townspeople shun him and the authorities get…
Send a Gorilla (1989): Dir. Melanie Read
Feat. Carmel McGlone, Katherine McRae, Perry Piercy; Valentine's Day spells chaos for three women who run a singing telegram company. A whimsical comedy set and filmed on location here in Wellington.
She's Been Away (1989): Dir. Peter Hall
Feat. Peggy Ashcroft, James Fox; After a lifetime in mental institutions, an elderly Peggy Ashcroft is released into the care of her liberal nephew James Fox. A disarming and…
Skinheads (1989): Dir. Greydon Clark
Feat. Chuck Connors; Vietnam vet Chuck Connors exacts violent revenge on bald Nazi supremacists for the murders of three students. Utterly dubious.
Slaves of New York (1989): Dir. James Ivory
Feat. Bernadette Peters, Chris Sarandon, Mary Beth Hurt…; Screen adaptation of Tama Janowitz' cult novel about the pretensions and perversions of fashionable New Yorkers. Stars Bernadette Peters.
Songs for Drella (1989): Lou Reed and John Cale perform live their minimalist musical biography of the life of their estranged friend and artist, Andy Warhol. A must for fans…
Spaced Invaders (1989): Dir. Patrick Johnson
Feat. Douglas Barr, Royal Dano; Five bumbling, misguided aliens crashland on earth and cause havoc in a small–town, especially for the parents of their little human friends!
Star Trek V - The Final Frontier (1989): Dir. William Shatner
Feat. William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley…; This time Shatner tries his hand at directing, in what turns out to be one of the less memorable missions of the series. The crew travel through…
Stepfather 2, The (1989): Dir. Jeff Burr
Feat. Terry O'Quinn, Meg Foster; Terry O'Quinn returns for more slaying in suburbia in a better–than–average sequel. Highlight is a sequence that gives literal meaning to…
Stephen King's World of Horror (1989): Doco covering the various facets of Stephen King's works, plus tributes to fave movies.
Still Life at the Penguin Cafe (incl. Penguin Cafe Orchestra - A Profile) (1989): Two selections featuring the unique musical entourage 'Penguin Cafe Orchestra' who combine classical and world music genres. 'Still Life at the…
Sugarcubes (1989): Compilation of interviews and live performances in London, Alabama and Reykjavik, dating from the Icelandic group's heyday.
This Dance Is Ours (Waltzing Regitze) (1989): Dir. Kaspar Rostrup
Feat. Frits Helmuth, Mikael Helmuth, Ghita Norby; Longtime married couple reminisce the good times and bad when Regitze hosts a party for family and friends. Finely crafted family drama with inspired…
Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down (Atame!) (1989): Dir. Pedro Almodovar
Feat. Antonio Banderas, Victoria Abril; A mental patient kidnaps his sexy B–movie idol in the hope that she will fall in love with him. Teasingly politically unsound, Almodovar…
True Love (1989): Dir. Nancy Savoca
Feat. Annabella Sciorra, Ron Eldard; A raw yet keenly observed slice–of–Italian–life in the Bronx. Annabella Sciorra plays a bride–to–be whose plans to tie…
Venus Wars (1989)
When the Whales Came (1989): Dir. Clive Rees
Feat. Paul Scofield, Helen Mirren; Picturesque tale set on a British Isle in which old eccentric Paul Scofield and two young locals battle to save the whale that has beached upon their…
Wired (1989): Dir. Larry Peerce
Feat. John Belushi; Stylised, controversial biopic of ailed cult funnyman John Belushi. Not sanctioned by the Belushi estate but the warts–and–all depiction…
Woman in Black, The (1989): Dir. Herbert Wise
Feat. Adrian Rawlins, Bernard Hepton, David Daker; Tastefully macabre ghost story from the makers of REILLY, ACE OF SPIES sees a young lawyer's rural visit turn macabre after his seemingly good deed…
Wonderland (the Fruit Machine) (1989): Dir. Philip Saville
Feat. Robbie Coltrane; Two gay teenagers witness a murder and flee their Northern home for Brighton, where their problems seem to escalate. Robbie Coltrane cameos as a…
Zanzibar (1989): Dir. Christine Pascal
Feat. Fabienne Babe, Andre Marcon, Francis Girod; An enigmatic, sensual work set in the tumultuous and fickle world of film–making where three self–interested obsessives – the…

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Subgenre Sampler