I’m struggling to name anything close to a contemporary comparison. On Golden Pond (1981), a story of familial love and marriage starring Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda made an incomprehensible $120 million at the box office, finishing the year between Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Superman II (1980). As Heaven’s Gate (1980) decimated an entire studio and George Lucas and Steven Spielberg brought escapist adventure serials into the blockbuster age, Warren Beatty still found a way to make a three-hour romantic epic about socialism in the United States and the Russian Revolution. The filmmaking mischief of the 1970s lingered into the early years of the decade-art house epics and auteurs raging against the twilight of the New Hollywood years. By the power of Grayskull, I have the power… to rent a whole mess of 1981 movies. I would bring 1981 into the fold along with all the other years of the 1980s. I tore off my 1980s merit badges but reserved their place on my sash. No longer could I lord my expertise over friends and family (okay, that’s a lie) because 1981 had arisen as such a blind spot. I felt the oppressive weight of all the Cinema Shame.
![thief 1981 script thief 1981 script](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjE0NTg0NTczM15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNzA3MDI5._V1_.jpg)
As I gathered my major unseen movies from 1981, the watch-pile swelled, threatening an avalanche of supposedly essential titles I’d just avoided or overlooked. Without a doubt or any shred of evidence, the 1980s are my most-watched decade of cinema. This month, it’s time to fire up the flux capacitor and travel back in time to 1981. That list made from your suggestions will inspire an upcoming episode of the Cinema Shame Podcast, where I discuss five new first-time watches.
![thief 1981 script thief 1981 script](https://movielistnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/34783-768x432.jpg)
Meanwhile, over on Twitter, I’ll send a monthly message calling for recommendations. Over the course of 2021, I’ll call out the Underseen and Underappreciated films from the year’s big anniversaries-10, 20, 30 years ago… you get the picture.