167 articles
La Ley del Deseo
La ley del deseo (Law of Desire) is Pedro Almodóvar's 1987 Spanish melodrama-thriller, the first production of El Deseo, starring Eusebio Poncela, Carmen Maura, and Antonio Banderas; it premiered at Berlin's Panorama, won a Teddy Award, and was Almodóvar's first film released abroad.
Landscape in the Mist
Landscape in the Mist (Τοπίο στην Ομίχλη, Topio stin Omichi; Paysage dans le brouillard) is Theo Angelopoulos's 1988 Greek-French-Italian drama about two children searching for their father in Germany; it won the Venice Silver Lion and the 1989 European Film Award for Best Film.
Legend of Tianyun Mountain (天云山传奇)
Legend of Tianyun Mountain (天云山传奇), 1980 Shanghai Film Studio drama directed by Xie Jin from Lu Yanzhou's novella; first Chinese film on the Anti-Rightist Campaign's excesses, first Golden Rooster Best Feature Film winner.
Less than Zero (film)
Less than Zero is a 1987 American drama film directed by Marek Kanievska, loosely based on Bret Easton Ellis's novel, starring Andrew McCarthy and Robert Downey Jr.
Lola (1989 film)
Lola is a 1989 Mexican-Spanish drama film directed by María Novaro, about a young single mother who supports her seven-year-old daughter as a street vendor in Mexico City.
Longtime Companion
Longtime Companion is a 1990 American drama directed by Norman René, written by Craig Lucas, following gay friends in New York and Fire Island from 1981 to 1989 during the AIDS crisis; the first wide-release AIDS feature, it won Sundance's Audience Award and earned Bruce Davison an Oscar nomination.
Making Love
Making Love is a 1982 American drama directed by Arthur Hiller, starring Michael Ontkean, Kate Jackson, and Harry Hamlin, about a married doctor confronting his attraction to men.
Mandala (만다라) (1981 film)
Mandala (만다라, 1981) is Im Kwon-taek's drama about two Buddhist monks, Beob-wun and Ji-san, based on Kim Seong-dong's novel; it won the 1981 Grand Bell Best Director award, screened at Berlin 1982, and ranks second in Korean film history polls.
Manon des Sources
Manon des Sources (Manon of the Spring), 1986 French-Italian drama by Claude Berri, second part of the Jean de Florette diptych adapted from Pagnol's L'Eau des collines, starring Montand, Auteuil, and Béart; shepherdess Manon avenges her father by blocking the village spring.
Mommie Dearest (film)
Mommie Dearest is a 1981 American biographical drama directed by Frank Perry, starring Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford and Diana Scarwid as her daughter Christina, adapted from Christina Crawford's memoir.
Mon oncle d'Amérique
Mon oncle d'Amérique (My American Uncle) is a 1980 French film by Alain Resnais, written by Jean Gruault from Henri Laborit's behavioral theories, interweaving three lives with scientific commentary; it won the Cannes Grand Prix Spécial du Jury.
New York Stories
New York Stories is a 1989 Touchstone anthology film of three New York-set shorts by Martin Scorsese (Life Lessons), Francis Ford Coppola (Life Without Zoe), and Woody Allen (Oedipus Wrecks), released March 1989.
Nuts (1987 film)
Nuts (1987) is a Martin Ritt courtroom drama starring Barbra Streisand as Claudia Draper, a call girl fighting a competency ruling, based on Tom Topor's play; Richard Dreyfuss co-stars, Warner Bros. released it November 20, 1987, grossing $30,950,002 domestically.
Old Well (老井)
Old Well (老井) is a 1987 Chinese drama directed by Wu Tianming from Zheng Yi's novel, starring cinematographer Zhang Yimou as well-digger Sun Wangquan; it won the 2nd Tokyo International Film Festival Grand Prix and 1988 Golden Rooster best picture.
On Golden Pond (1981 film)
On Golden Pond is a 1981 American comedy-drama film directed by Mark Rydell, starring Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, and Jane Fonda as a family reconciling at a lake.
Ordinary People
Ordinary People (1980) is Robert Redford's directorial debut drama, adapted from Judith Guest's novel, about the grieving Jarrett family; it won four Oscars including Best Picture and made 20-year-old Timothy Hutton the youngest Supporting Actor winner.
Out of Africa (film)
Out of Africa is Sydney Pollack's 1985 romantic drama based on Karen Blixen's 1937 memoir, starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in colonial Kenya; it won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture.
Over the Top (1987 film)
Over the Top (1987) is a Cannon Films sports drama directed by Menahem Golan, starring Sylvester Stallone as trucker Lincoln Hawk in a Las Vegas arm-wrestling tournament; it grossed $16 million against a reported $25 million budget.
Paris, Texas (film)
Paris, Texas is Wim Wenders's 1984 Palme d'Or road movie, scripted by Sam Shepard, starring Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, and Dean Stockwell, photographed by Robby Müller with a Ry Cooder score, and restored in 4K in 2024.
Permanent Vacation
Permanent Vacation (1980) is Jim Jarmusch's debut feature, a $12,000 NYU thesis film following drifter Allie Parker through decaying Manhattan; rejected at NYU, honored at Mannheim, later a Criterion extra on Stranger Than Paradise.
Personal Best
Personal Best (1982) is Robert Towne's directorial debut, a sports drama starring Mariel Hemingway and real athlete Patrice Donnelly as lovers and Olympic pentathlon rivals; released Feb 5, 1982 by Warner Bros.
Places in the Heart
Places in the Heart is Robert Benton's 1984 TriStar drama set in Depression-era Waxahachie, Texas, starring Sally Field as widow Edna Spalding. It won two of seven Oscars, including Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay.
Powaqqatsi
Powaqqatsi (1988) is Godfrey Reggio's wordless documentary, second in the Qatsi trilogy, with a Philip Glass score, filmed in twelve countries on Third World labor and transformation.
Prison on Fire (监狱风云)
Prison on Fire (監獄風雲, Gaam yuk fung wan) is a 1987 Hong Kong prison action drama directed by Ringo Lam, written by Nam Yin, starring Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung Ka-fai, and Roy Cheung; released 13 November 1987 by Cinema City, it won Lam the Asia-Pacific Best Director award and spawned a 1991 sequel.
Promised Land (1987 film)
Promised Land (1987) is an American drama directed by Michael Hoffman, starring Jason Gedrick, Kiefer Sutherland, Meg Ryan, and Tracy Pollan; a Sundance-developed, Robert Redford-executive-produced film released January 1988 about small-town friends and a fatal robbery.
Rad (film)
Rad (1986) is a Hal Needham BMX racing drama starring Bill Allen as Cru Jones, competing in Helltrack for $100,000 and a Corvette; a box-office failure that became a BMX cult classic.
Ragtime (film)
Ragtime (1981), also known as Miloš Forman's Ragtime, is an American drama adapted from E.L. Doctorow's 1975 novel, starring James Cagney and Howard E. Rollins Jr., with eight Oscar nominations and an 85% Tomatometer.
Rain Man (1990 film)
Rain Man (1988) is a Barry Levinson drama starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise about an autistic savant heir; it won four Oscars, topped the 1988 box office, and shaped autism representation.
Repentance (1984 film)
Repentance (Monanieba, მონანიება) is Tengiz Abuladze's 1984 Georgian allegory of Stalinism, in which a dead tyrant's corpse is repeatedly exhumed; shelved until glasnost, it won the 1987 Cannes Grand Prix and six Nika Awards.
Return of the Secaucus 7
Return of the Secaucus 7 (also Return of the Secaucus Seven) is John Sayles's 1980 independent debut drama about seven former 1960s radicals reuniting in New Hampshire, made for about $60,000 and inducted into the National Film Registry in 1997.