80. Jason's Mom( got the murder cycle started
79. Brian Th would be more famous if
77,78. Yuji Okumoto and Sean Kanan have enjoyed renewed relevance on "Cobra Kai". The Okinawan nightmare and karate's bad boy relished their physical(but not spiritual) superiority over Ralph Macchio's Daniel-san, before being softened by middle-age. Just be glad you're post-high school experiences didn't involve these guys.
76. Patinkin
75. Diane Keaton is delighful in her second best '80s role(behind "Reds"). Wyatt works 5-9, until baby Elizabeth and Sam Shepherd teach the Tiger Lady what really matters in life. Her and Nancy Meyers would meet again.
74. There's an alternate reality where blue-eyed blonde beauty Helen Slater is a huge star(sigh).
73. Albert Brooks
72. Nicolas Cage can thank the Coen brothers for his A-list entry. Critics loved the comic criminality of this 5x felon.
71. Why was Clark Griswold always shamelessly flirting with other women? Beverly D was more than enough for any man.
70. Turner
69. Tom Berenger's best role? Slide into home with the Cleveland Indians' aging star catcher.
68. Dean Stockwell is an Oscar-nominated scene-stealer in Jonathan Demme's madcap mob comedy. Shout out to his equally-entertaining screen wife, Mercedes Ruehl.
67. Where was the Best Supporting Actor nomination?
66. He's got nowhere else to go. That's not really true. Richard Gere's rebellious Navy recruit has been welcome in the homes of film fans for forty years now.
65. Debra Winger was wonderful as Shirley MacLaine's long-suffering daughter in 1983's Best Picture winner. The earthy Emma is as real and relatable as movie characters get, what a shame that "difficult" Debra would never be this good again.
64. Remember when Cher was a real actress? The 1988 Academy Awards do.
61, 62, 63. I want to party with these guys in their sick NYC pad. Who knew that being a thirtysomething-year old bachelor was this much fun? Unfortunately, that's only if you're Tom Selleck, Ted Danson, or Steve Guttenberg.
60. She's not expendable. There's an alternate reality where Sylvester Stallone's super-soldier takes this Vietnamese hottie back to the States and lives a normal life in the suburbs.
59. Robert R
58. Casey Siemaszko fell way short of the Michael J. Fox/Matthew Broderick/John Cusack fame that he was probably aiming for. He'll always have this cult comedy that was on cable every single day in the late '80s. Don't fuck this up, Mitchell.
57. I've probably never pronounced his name right, but Elias Koteas is good in everything. I could have used a friend like this in high school.
56. I could have used a "friend" like Mary Stuart Masterson even more.
55. Jodie Foster went to Yale and didn't act for four years. You'd never know it from this Oscar-winning performance.
54. Christopher Walken's best starring role next to "King of New York" was this Stephen King-David Cronenberg chiller. This sullen psychic sacrifices himself to stop a malevolent Presidential candidate(Martin Sheen). That's heroism.
53. Dan
52. Charlie Sheen owes his career to Oliver Stone. This buttoned-up broker almost sells his soul to the god of greed Gordon Gekko(the magnificent Michael Douglas). He wears a wire instead.
51. Dafoe
50. Matthew Modine showed us his war face in this career-defining deployment to Vietnam. The experience inspired
49. While we're on Vietnam, Sean Penn is warped(in the best way) in Brian De Palma's fact-based war movie about the rape and murder of a teenage girl in 1966.
48. A bearded Kurt Russell battles the Antarctic elements and an extra-terrestrial life form in his best collaboration with 5x director John Carpenter.
47. Only Jack Nicholson could seduce Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer, and such a thing could only happen in 1987.
46. comedy
45. Jane Fonda's last Oscar nomination
44. 2024 sequel
43. Weaver
42. law
41. We might as well get Bryan Brown's other big role out of the way. There's only two, actually.
40. Did Bette Midler ever know that she's the hero of millions of American '80s housewives?
39. Is your lip stuck to your teeth or is that your idea of a smile? I'm smiling, as I book a reservation at Michelle Pfeiffer's L.A. restaurant five nights a week.
38. He's your best friend. What's more important than that? Shout out to Jared Rushton, who also scored with "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids".
37. Speaking of best friends, I give you Nancy Allen. She partnered with Robo(Peter Weller) in all three of his films, even when he was played by Robert John Burke. That's loyalty.
36. When I think of garbage, a lot of Eddie Murphy movies come to mind. This John Landis comedy definitely isn't one of them.
35. John Malkovich's th seducer is "problematic" now. No matter. This Stephen Frears costume drama is the best '80s movie that never get talked about.
34. Christian Slater was cool. For about ten years. Watch him kill Winona Ryder's classmates, and tell me I'm wrong.
33. short-lived TV show.
32. De Palma
31. Caan
30. Tom Cruise's hair was perfect in Scorsese's sequel to "The Hustler". Playing with Paul Newman the same year as "Top Gun"? Just, wow.
29. Rooker
28. Paxton
27. Murray
26. Williams
25. Jeff Bridges is at his pre-"Lebowski" best as a sullen piano man that makes his living in Seattle's lounge-scene. Many of Jeff's '80s efforts didn't pan out, let's thank writer-director Steve Kloves for playing just the right note.
24. Hang on, we're going for a ride. Harrison Ford's funniest sidekick Ke Huy Quan beat out John Rhys-Davies and Denholm Elliott for this slot. Indy 5("The Dial of Destiny") passed on a fan-pleasing opportunity.
23. Steven Spielberg once said "there isn't an ounce of my personal feeling" in the dark middle chapter of his iconic action franchise. Future wife Kate Capshaw would surely disagree.
22. Speaking of directors that married their leading ladies, is smoking as a mysterious French waif in Roman Polanski's underrated thriller. Did Dr. Richard Walker even want his kidnapped wife back?
21. John C
20. Mary Steenburgen
19. God-damn, Goldie. This cute California lawyer beats out Private Judy Benjamin(also 1980) in the aptly-titled Neil Simon-scripted comedy. Chevy Chase or Charles Grodin? One thing's for sure, they don't make 'em like this anymore.
18. Shelley Duvall was famously pushed over the limit by Stanley Kubrick and pretend-husband Jack Nicholson during an 11-month stay at the Overlook Hotel. I hope the retired actress is doing well. "WENDY, LIGHT OF MY LIFE..."
16,17. Aykroyd and Belushi
15. Kelly
14. Sigourney Weaver
13. That's a big twinkie. Ernie Hudson is finally getting the respect he deserves for helping save NYC twice. He didn't show up to the set with the fame or comedy credentials of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, or Harold Ramis but that didn't stop diehard fans from seeing him as their equal during endless rewatches of Ivan Reitman's franchise-starters. Jason R. knew it, when he made Winston the benefactor in 2021's warmly-received "Afterlife".
12. Haas
11. Harrison Ford left the comfort of Lucas and Spielberg and was rewarded with a Best Actor nomination. His only one. It doesn't seem right. Peter Weir's culture clash has romance, police drama, and subtle humor. What a wonderful world it would be
10. Most woman shouldn't cut their hair too short. Most women aren't Michelle Pfeiffer. Her flighty jewel thief was a brilliant counterpoint to Elvira Hancock, insuring that the blonde beauty wouldn't get locked into limiting ice-queen roles. Diana and her red Michael Jackson jacket was a dream come true for Jeff Goldblum and John Landis and every late night channel surfer.
9. It happened just the way Axl Foley said, chief. John Ashton was only 36 when he played the straight man to Eddie Murphy in 1984's biggest hit, and killing Brigitte Nielsen in the super-charged sequel puts Taggart right there with Judge Reinhold on Foley's friend list. I know I speak for all film fans when I say that his absence from 1994's "Cop III" was unacceptable. The LONG-awaited fourth installment did at least one thing right.
8. Goldblum
7. Gere
6. Men and women can't be just friends. Billy Crystal laid out the rules and became an A-lister in the process in Rob Reiner's premiere romcom. Jerry Seinfeld and Jason Alexander were surely listening, to every walk-and-talk and diner dissection of relationship dynamics and social rituals. Nora Ephron's original script opted for a Woody Allen-esque separation from Meg Ryan's sunny Sally, but when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with someone... I hope you know the rest.
5. Let's hear it for two-time Bond Timothy Dalton, the closest
3,4. Costner
1,2. Arnold Schwarzenegger cemented his movie stardom with two of the most masculine heroes in movie history. Matrix was clearly designed to match Rambo(specifically "Part II") when he mowed down a dozen mall cops and a small army in a quest to save his kidnapped daughter(Alyssa Milano). Action-loving '80s fan-boys are forever grateful. Less than two years later, the dauntless Dutch led Carl Weathers and Jesse Ventura into the jungle to dance with a lethal alien creature. John McTiernan's macho masterpiece has seemingly grown in stature with each passing year that serves us sci-fi actioners that pale in comparison.
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