Eisenstein’sThe Battleship Potemkin(1925). Sean
Connery’s role as an honest cop earned him an
Oscar.
Wall Street (American Entertainment Partners/
Twentieth Century-Fox; dir. Oliver Stone) Mi-
chael Douglas won an Oscar as an unprincipled
corporate raider in Stone’s evisceration of 1980’s
greed.See alsomain entry.
1988
Beetlejuice(Warner Bros.; dir. Tim Burton) The
highly imaginative Burton’s first big hit presents
dead newlyweds (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis)
who enlist the aid of rambunctious spirit Beetle-
juice (Michael Keaton) to rid their house of an
obnoxious couple (Catherine O’Hara and Jeffrey
Jones), only for Beetlejuice to fall for the yuppies’
gloomy daughter (Winona Ryder). Beetlejuice’s
distinctive makeup received an Oscar.
Big(Twentieth Century-Fox; dir. Penny Marshall)
Tom Hanks became a star playing a thirteen-year-
old granted his wish to be “big,” becoming an
adult overnight, getting a job with a toy company,
and falling for a fellow employee (Elizabeth
Perkins), only to discover that adulthood is not so
wonderful.
Bull Durham(Mount Company/Orion; dir. Ron
Shelton) One of the decade’s sexiest romantic
comedies, as well as one of the best baseball films
ever, presents career minor-leaguer Crash Davis
(Kevin Costner) and his romance with a baseball
groupie (Susan Sarandon). Tim Robbins gives a
star-making performance as Crash’s goofy rival,
Nuke LaLoosh.
Die Hard(Gordon Company/Silver Pictures/Twen-
tieth Century-Fox; dir. John McTiernan) A New
York cop (Bruce Willis) visits his estranged wife
(Bonnie Bedelia) in her Los Angeles office build-
ing just as a ruthless criminal (Alan Rickman) and
his gang take everyone in the skyscraper hostage.
This huge hit spawned sequels and imitations.
A Fish Called Wanda(MGM/United Artists; dir.
Charles Crichton) A con artist (Jamie Lee Curtis)
plots to obtain jewels stolen by her gangster lover
(Tom Georgeson) and falls in love with his stuffy
lawyer (John Cleese, who also wrote the screen-
play). Kevin Kline won an Oscar for portraying
her dim-witted henchman.
The Last Temptation of Christ(Cineplex Odeon
Films/Universal; dir. Martin Scorsese) The de-
cade’s most controversial film offers a look at the
human side of Jesus (Willem Dafoe).See alsomain
entry.
Rain Man(Guber-Peters Company/MGM/United
Artists; dir. Barry Levinson) A selfish young man
(Tom Cruise) learns he has an autistic older
brother (Dustin Hoffman) and discovers his hu-
manity as they travel across the country together.
It won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best
Actor (Hoffman), and Best Original Screenplay.
The Thin Blue Line(American Playhouse/Third
Floor/Miramax; dir. Errol Morris) Randall Dale
Adams was released from prison in 1988 after
Morris’s documentary proved he was innocent of
a 1976 Texas murder. The failure of the film to
earn an Oscar nomination called into question
the Academy’s procedure for considering docu-
mentaries.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being(Saul Zaentz
Company/Orion; dir. Philip Kaufman) Adapted
from Milan Kundera’s 1984 novel, the decade’s
most erotic drama presents a womanizing Prague
surgeon (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his relations with
his wife (Juliette Binoche) and his mistress (Lena
Olin) against the backdrop of the 1968 Soviet in-
vasion of Czechoslovakia.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit(Amblin Entertain-
ment/Buena Vista/Silver Screen Partners III/
Touchstone; dir. Robert Zemeckis) Cooperation
between Disney and Warner Bros. allowed most
of the 1940’s cartoon characters to appear in this
live-action and animation tribute to film noir. Its
technical virtuosity earned four Oscars.See also
main entry.1989
Batman(Guber-Peters Company/Warner Bros.; dir.
Tim Burton) The year’s box-office champion
finds Burton creating a darker view of the super-
hero than previously seen in serial and televi-
sion versions. The affection of Batman/Bruce
Wayne (Michael Keaton) for reporter Vicki Vale
(Kim Basinger) makes him vulnerable to the evil
Joker (Jack Nicholson). Its art direction won an
Oscar.
Dead Poets Society(Buena Vista/Silver Screen Part-
ners IV/Touchstone; dir. Peter Weir) Robin Wil-
liams subdues his manic style as an unconven-
tional teacher at a 1959 prep school, though
the teacher’s unorthodox approach to educationThe Eighties in America Entertainment: Major Films of the 1980’s 1081