In theaters 9/12/14

Dolphin Tale 2

(Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jr., Morgan Freeman)

No Good Deed

(Idris Elba, Taraji P. Henson)

Atlas Shrugged Part III

(I thought the first part was terrible, but they're at least completing the story.)

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby

(Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader)

The Drop

(Tom Hardy, James Gandolfini, Noomi Rapace)

The Skeleton Twins

(Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Ty Burrell, Luke Wilson)

Given my druthers, I'd be seeing Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, The Drop, and Skeleton Twins in a heartbeat, and preferably a marathon viewing.  Good weekend for small releases.

In theaters 9/5/14

The Identical

Featuring Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd, Joe Pantoliano, Seth Green

In theaters 8/29/14

The November Man

Looks like Pierce Brosnan misses playing Bond.

As Above, So Below

At last, the long-awaited catacombs horror movie!

In theaters 8/22/14

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

I loved the first one.  I think I'll love this one, too.

If I Stay

Chloe Grace Moretz is an acting dynamo.

When the Game Stands Tall

Jim Caviezel outside of his action comfort zone.

Historic Blockbusters 1915-1979

1910s

The Birth of a Nation (1915) $10M

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916) $8M

1920s

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) $9M

~Features Rudolph Valentino.

The Big Parade (1925) $11M

Ben-Hur (1925) $9M

The Singing Fool (1928) $10M

~Features Al Jolson.

1930s

Frankenstein (1931) $12M

King Kong (1933) $10M

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) $184M

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) $9M

The Wizard of Oz (1939) $28M

Gone with the Wind (1939) $198M

1940s

Boom Town (1940) $9M

~Features Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy.

threshold switches to $10M

Pinocchio (1940) $84M

Fantasia (1940) $83M 

Sergeant York (1941) $16M

~Features Gary Cooper.

Mrs. Miniver (1942) $13M

Bambi (1942) $102M

Casablanca (1943) $10M

For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) $17M

~Features Ingrid Bergman and Gary Cooper.

Going My Way (1944) $16M

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) $12M

~Features Judy Garland.

The Dolly Sisters (1945) $10M

The Lost Weekend (1945) $11M

~Directed by Billy Wilder.

Mom and Dad (1945) $16M

The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) $21M

Leave Her to Heaven (1945) $13M

~Features Vincent Price.

1946

Notorious (1946) $24M

~Directed by Alfred Hitchcock; features Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant.

Gilda (1946) $10M

~Features Rita Hayworth.

Margie (1946) $10M

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) $12M

The Jolson Story (1946) $19M

Blues Skies (1946) $14M

~Features Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby.

Song of the South (1946) $65M

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) $23M

Duel in the Sun (1946) $20M

~Features Gregory Peck.

Forever Amber (1947) $16M

Mother Wore Tights (1947) $10M

Samson and Delilah (1949) $28M

Father of the Bride (1950) $10M

Cinderella (1950) $85M

King Solomon's Mines (1950) $11M

~Features Deborah Kerr.

David and Bathsheba (1951) $14M

Quo Vadis? (1951) $30M

Show Boat (1951) $11M

The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) $36M

~Directed by Cecil B. Demille; features Charlton Heston and James Stewart.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) $12M

Peter Pan (1953) $87M

House of Wax (1953) $23M

~Features Vincent Price and Charles Bronson.

Shane (1953) $20M

From Here to Eternity (1953) $30M

~Features Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, and Donna Reed.

The Robe (1953) $36M

The Egyptian (1954) $15M

~Features Victor Mature.

The High and the Mighty (1954) $10M

~Features John Wayne.

Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) $26M

~Sequel to The Robe.

The Caine Mutiny (1954) $21M 

~Features Humphrey Bogart and Fred MacMurray.

Rear Window (1954) $27M

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) $28M

~Remake of a previous blockbuster; features Kirk Douglas.

The Sea Chase (1955) $12M

~Features John Wayne and James Arness.

Love is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955) $10M

Lady and the Tramp (1955) $93M

Mister Roberts (1955) $21M

~Directed by John Ford; features Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon, and James Cagney.

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956) $10M

~Features Gregory Peck.

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) $11M

The King and I (1956) $21M

Around the World in 80 Days (1956) $42M

Giant (1956) $35M

~Biggest hit for James Dean.

A Farewell to Arms (1957) $11M

~Features Rock Hudson.

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) $11M

~Features Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster.

Peyton Place (1957) $25M

~Features Lana Turner.

Sayonara (1957) $26M

~Marlon Brando's biggest hit.

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) $33M

The Big Country (1958) $10M

~Features Gregory Peck and Charlton Heston.

Auntie Mame (1958) $23M

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) $17M

~Features Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman.

1959

North by Northwest (1959) $13M

The Nun's Story (1959) $12M

~Features Audrey Hepburn.

On the Beach (1959) $11M

~Features Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, and Anthony Perkins.

Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) $10M

Imitation of Life (1959) $14M

~Features Lana Turner.

A Hole in the Head (1959) $11M

~Directed by Frank Capra; features Frank Sinatra and Edward G. Robinson.

Pillow Talk (1959) $18M

~Features Doris Day and Rock Hudson.

The Shaggy Dog (1959) $29M

~Features Fred MacMurray.

Ben-Hur (1959) $73M

~Remake of a previous blockbuster; features Charlton Heston.

Operation Petticoat (1959) $23M

~Features Cary Grant and Tony Curtis.

1960s

The Apartment (1960) $18M

~Directed by Billy Wilder; features Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray.

Elmer Gantry (1960) $10M

~Features Burt Lancaster.

Exodus (1960) $21M

~Features Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint.

Psycho (1960) $32M

Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960) $11M

~Features Doris Day.

Spartacus (1960) $30M

Judgment at Nuremberg (1960) $10M

101 Dalmatians (1961) $153M

The Absent Minded Professor (1961) $25M

The Parent Trap (1961) $25M

Come September (1961) $12M

~Features Rock Hudson.

King of Kings (1961) $14M

Flower Drum Song (1961) $10M

~From Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Blue Hawaii (1961) $10M

~Elvis Presley's biggest hit.

Babes in Toyland (1961) $10M

Lover Come Back (1961) $16M

~Features Doris Day and Rock Hudson.

Hatari! (1962) $12M

~Features John Wayne.

Gypsy (1962) $11M

~Features Natalie Wood.

The Music Man (1962) $14M

The Longest Day (1962) $39M

~Features John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Sean Connery, Robert Mitchum.

Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) $13M

~Features Marlon Brando.

1963

McLintock! (1963) $14M

~Features John Wayne.

55 Days at Peking (1963) $10M

~Features Charlton Heston.

How the West Was Won (1963) $46M

The Birds (1963) $11M

Bye Bye Birdie (1963) $13M

Hud (1963) $10M

Come Blow Your Horn (1963) $12M

~Features Frank Sinatra.

Cleopatra (1963) $48M

Irma La Douce (1963) $25M

~Directed by Billy Wilder; features Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon.

The Great Escape (1963) $11M

It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) $46M

Charade (1963) $13M

~Features Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, Walter Matthau, and James Coburn.

The Cardinal (1963) $11M

The Sword in the Stone (1963) $22M

Move Over, Darling (1963) $12M

~Features Doris Day and James Garner.

The Carpetbaggers (1964) $28M

Mary Poppins (1964) $102M

My Fair Lady (1964) $74M

Father Goose (1964) $12M

~Features Cary Grant.

How to Murder Your Wife (1965) $12M

~Features Jack Lemmon.

Our Man Flint (1965) $16M

The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) $15M

The Sound of Music (1965) $163M

Shenandoah (1965) $17M

~Features James Stewart.

The Sandpiper (1965) $13M

~Features Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Eva Marie Saint, and Charles Bronson.

Cat Ballou (1965) $20M

~Features Lee Marvin and Jane Fonda.

The Great Race (1965) $25M

Doctor Zhivago (1965) $111M

1966

Fantastic Voyage (1966) $12M

The Silencers (1966) $16M

~Features Dean Martin.

Harper (1966) $12M

~Features Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, and Janet Leigh.

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966) $21M

~Features Alan Arkin, Eva Marie Saint, and Carl Reiner.

Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. (1966) $22M

~Features Dick Van Dyke.

The Bible (1966) $34M

Hawaii (1966) $34M

~Features Julie Andrews, Max von Sydow, Richard Harris, and Gene Hackman.

The Professionals (1966) $19M

~Features Lee Marvin and Burt Lancaster.

The Sand Pebbles (1966) $30M

~Directed by Robert Wise; features Steve McQueen and Candice Bergen.

Grand Prix (1966) $20M

~Directed by John Frankenheimer; features James Garner and Eva Marie Saint.

threshold switches to $15M

Barefoot in the Park (1967) $19M

~Features Robert Redford and Jane Fonda.

In the Heat of the Night (1967) $24M

Bonnie and Clyde (1967) $50M

The Born Losers (1967) $36M

The Jungle Book (1967) $141M

Camelot (1967) $31M

~Features Vanessa Redgrave and Richard Harris.

Cool Hand Luke (1967) $16M

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? (1967) $56M

The Graduate (1967) $104M

The Fox (1968) $19M

The Planet of the Apes (1968) $33M

Blackbeard's Ghost 1968) $21M

~Features Suzanne Pleshette.

The Odd Couple (1968) $44M

threshold switches to $20M

Rosemary's Baby (1968) $33M

The Green Berets (1968) $21M

~Features John Wayne.

Funny Girl (1968) $58M

Bullitt (1968) $42M

The Love Bug (1969) $50M

Goodbye, Columbus (1969) $22M

~Based on a book by Philip Roth; features Jack Klugman.

Midnight Cowboy (1969) $44M

Easy Rider (1969) $41M

threshold switches to $30M

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) $31M

~Features Natalie Wood, Dyan Cannon, Robert Culp, and Elliott Gould.

Paint Your Wagon (1969) $31M

~Features Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) $102M

1970s

Airport (1970) $100M

~Features Burt Lancaster.

Patton (1970) $62M

Love Story (1970) $106M

~Features Tommy Lee Jones.

The Aristocats (1970) $55M

Little Big Man (1970) $31M

~Features Dustin Hoffman and Faye Dunaway.

Billy Jack (1971) $98M

~Sequel to The Born Losers.

Fiddler on the Roof (1971) $80M

The French Connection (1971) $41M

Cabaret (1972) $41M

The Godfather (1972) $134M

Jeremiah Johnson (1972) $44M

Deep Throat (1972) $45M

~Only registered hit porn movie.

Deliverance (1972) $46M

The Poseidon Adventure (1972) $93M

The Getaway (1972) $36M

~Features Steve McQueen.

Paper Moon (1973) $30M

~Directed by Peter Bogdanovich; features Madeline Kahn.

American Graffiti (1973) $115M

~Directed by George Lucas; features Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, and Harrison Ford.

Robin Hood (1973) $32M

Papillon (1973) $53M

~Features Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.

The Exorcist (1973) $204M

Magnum Force (1973) $44M

~Second Dirty Harry; features Clint Eastwood and Hal Holbrook.

Earthquake (1974) $79M

~Music by John Williams; features Charlton Heston.

Freebie and the Bean (1974) $30M

~Features James Caan and Alan Arkin.

Blazing Saddles (1974) $119M

Herbie Rides Again (1974) $31M

The Longest Yard (1974) $43M

Airport 1975 (1974) $47M

~Features Charlton Heston.

Benji (1974) $31M

The Godfather: Part II (1974) $57M

Rollerball (1975) $30M

~Features James Caan.

Shampoo (1975) $49M

~Features Warren Beatty and Goldie Hawn.

Funny Lady (1975) $40M

~Sequel to Funny Girl; features Barbara Streisand, Omar Sharif, James Caan, and Roddy McDowell.

Jaws (1975) $260M

The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) $31M

Dog Day Afternoon (1975) $46M

~Features Al Pacino.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) $108M

The Other Side of the Mountain (1975) $34M

The Enforcer (1976) $46M

~Third Dirty Harry; features Clint Eastwood and Tyne Daly.

Murder By Death (1976) $32M

~Screenplay by Neil Simon; features Peter Sellers, Peter Falk, and Alec Guinness.

All the President's Men (1976) $51M

The Bad News Bears (1976) $42M

~Features Walter Matthau.

Midway (1976) $43M

~Features Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, and James Coburn.

Silent Movie (1976) $36M

~Directed by Mel Brooks.

Rocky (1976) $117M

Silver Streak (1976) $51M

~Features Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor.

King Kong (1976) $52M

~Remake of a previous blockbuster.

1977

The Gauntlet (1977) $35M

~Directed by and featuring Clint Eastwood.

In Search of Noah's Ark (1977) $55M

~Documentary.

Airport '77 (1977) $30M

~Features Jack Lemmon.

Annie Hall (1977) $38M

~Directed by Woody Allen.

Star Wars (1977) $460M

~You've probably heard about this one.

Smokey and the Bandit (1977) $126M

A Bridge Too Far (1977) $50M

~Features Sean Connery, Michael Caine, and Laurence Olivier.

The Deep (1977) $50M

~Features Nick Nolte and Louis Gossett, Jr.

The Rescuers (1977) $48M

Oh, God! (1977) $51M

Pete's Dragon (1977) $36M

Semi-Tough (1977) $37M

~Features Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) $166M

Heroes (1977) $33M

~Features Henry Winkler, Sally Field, and Harrison Ford.

The Turning Point (1977) $33M

~Features Shirley MacLaine.

Saturday Night Fever (1977) $139M

The Goodbye Girl (1977) $83M

~Features Richard Dreyfuss.

High Anxiety (1977) $31M

~Directed by Mel Brooks.

1978

Coming Home (1978) $32M

~Features Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, and Bruce Dern.

The End (1978) $30M

~Features Burt Reynolds and Sally Field.

Grease (1978) $181M

Jaws 2 (1978) $102M

Heaven Can Wait (1978) $98M

Convoy (1978) $45M

~Features Kris Kristofferson.

Foul Play (1978) $40M

~Features Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, Dudley Moore, and Burgess Meredith.

Hooper (1978) $51M

~Features Burt Reynolds and Sally Field.

National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) $141M

Halloween (1978) $47M

California Suite (1978) $42M

~Screenplay by Neil Simon; features Maggie Smith, Jane Fonda, Michael Caine, and Walter Matthau.

Every Which Way but Loose (1978) $104M

~Features Clint Eastwood.

1979

The Deer Hunter (1979) $50M

Love at First Bite (1979) $43M

~Features George Hamilton.

Chapter Two (1979) $30M

~Screenplay by Neil Simon; features James Caan.

The China Syndrome (1979) $35M

The Champ (1979) $30M

Manhattan (1979) $39M

~Directed by Woody Allen.

The In-Laws (1979) $38M

~Features Peter Falk and Alan Arkin.

Rocky 2 (1979) $85M

The Main Event (1979) $37M

~Features Barbara Streisand.

Escape from Alcatraz (1979) $43M

~Features Clint Eastwood.

The Amityville Horror (1979) $86M

Apocalypse Now (1979) $78M

10 (1979) $52M

~Features Dudley Moore and Bo Derek.

...And Justice For All (1979) $33M

~Features Al Pacino.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) $82M

The Jerk (1979) $73M

1941 (1979) $34M

~Directed by Steven Spielberg; music by John Williams; features John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd.

The Electric Horseman (1979) $42M

~Features Robert Redford and Jane Fonda.

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) $106M

~Features Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep.

All That Jazz (1979) $37M

The Black Hole (1979) $35M

Threshold changes determined by ease of access to previous marker.

Underlined titles are the outsize blockbusters, earning $40 million or more, listed here again for your convenience in descending order of totals:

1. Star Wars (1977) $460M
2. Jaws (1975) $260M
3. The Exorcist (1973) $204M
4. Gone with the Wind (1939) $198M
5. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) $184M
6. Grease (1978) $181M
7. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) $166M
8. The Sound of Music (1965) $163M
9. 101 Dalmatians (1961) $153M
10. The Jungle Book (1967) $141M
11. National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) $141M
12. Saturday Night Fever (1977) $139M
13. The Godfather (1972) $134M
14. Smokey and the Bandit (1977) $126M
15. Blazing Saddles (1974) $119M
16. Rocky (1976) $117M
17. American Graffiti (1973) $115M
18. Doctor Zhivago (1965) $111M
19. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) $108M
20. Love Story (1970) $106M
21. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) $106M
22. The Graduate (1967) $104M
23. Every Which Way but Loose (1978) $104M
24. Bambi (1942) $102M
25. Mary Poppins (1964) $102M
26. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) $102M
27. Jaws 2 (1978) $102M
28. Airport (1970) $100M
29. Billy Jack (1971) $98M
30. Heaven Can Wait (1978) $98M
31. Lady and the Tramp (1955) $93M
32. The Poseidon Adventure (1972) $93M
33. Peter Pan (1953) $87M
34. The Amityville Horror (1979) $86M
35. Cinderella (1950) $85M
36. Rocky 2 (1979) $85M
37. Pinocchio (1940) $84M
38. Fantasia (1940) $83M
39. The Goodbye Girl (1977) $83M
40. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) $82M
41. Fiddler on the Roof (1971) $80M
42. Earthquake (1974) $79M
43. Apocalypse Now (1979) $78M
44. My Fair Lady (1964) $74M
45. Ben-Hur (1959) $73M
46. The Jerk (1979) $73M
47. Song of the South (1946) $65M
48. Patton (1970) $62M
49. Funny Girl (1968) $58M
50. The Godfather: Part II (1974) $57M
51. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? (1967) $56M
52. The Aristocats (1970) $55M
53. In Search of Noah's Ark (1977) $55M
54. Papillon (1973) $53M
55. King Kong (1976) $52M
56. 10 (1979) $52M
57. All the President's Men (1976) $51M
58. Silver Streak (1976) $51M
59. Oh, God! (1977) $51M
60. Hooper (1978) $51M
61. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) $50M
62. The Love Bug (1969) $50M
63. A Bridge Too Far (1977) $50M
64. The Deep (1977) $50M
65. The Deer Hunter (1979) $50M
66. Shampoo (1975) $49M
67. Cleopatra (1963) $48M
68. The Rescuers (1977) $48M
69. Airport 1975 (1974) $47M
70. Halloween (1978) $47M
71. How the West Was Won (1963) $46M
72. It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) $46M
73. Deliverance (1972) $46M
74. Dog Day Afternoon (1975) $46M
75. The Enforcer (1976) $46M
76. Deep Throat (1972) $45M
77. Convoy (1978) $45M
78. The Odd Couple (1968) $44M
79. Midnight Cowboy (1969) $44M
80. Jeremiah Johnson (1972) $44M
81. Magnum Force (1973) $44M
82. The Longest Yard (1974) $43M
83. Midway (1976) $43M
84. Love at First Bite (1979) $43M
85. Escape from Alcatraz (1979) $43M
86. Around the World in 80 Days (1956) $42M
87. Bullitt (1968) $42M
88. The Bad News Bears (1976) $42M
89. California Suite (1978) $42M
90. The Electric Horseman (1979) $42M
91. Easy Rider (1969) $41M
92. The French Connection (1971) $41M
93. Cabaret (1972) $41M
94. Funny Lady (1975) $40M
95. Foul Play (1978) $40M

Source: The Numbers

(Any errors or omissions are their fault and/or mine.)

1990

Viewed/Ranked

1. Dances with Wolves
2. The Godfather Part III
3. Awakenings
4. Hamlet
5. Home Alone
6. Pretty Woman
7. Goodfellas
8. Mo' Better Blues
9. Young Guns II
10. Dick Tracy
11. Edward Scissorhands
12. The Freshman
13. Rocky V
14. Kindergarten Cop
15. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
16. Ghost Dad

Other Notable Releases

1. Another 48 HRS.
2. Back to the Future Part III
3. Cinema Paradiso
4. Days of Thunder
5. Die Hard 2: Die Harder
6. Ghost
7. The Hunt for Red October
8. Miller's Crossing
9. Misery
10. The Two Jakes
11. Three Men and a Little Lady
12. Total Recall

1989

Viewed/Ranked

1. Born on the Fourth of July
2. Glory
3. Dead Poets Society
4. Batman
5. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
6. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
7. Field of Dreams
8. Do the Right Thing
9. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
10. The Abyss
11. Henry V
12. When Harry Met Sally...
13. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
14. Earth Girls Are Easy
15. Kickboxer
16. Who's Harry Crumb?
17. K-9
18. The Little Mermaid
19. All Dogs Go to Heaven
20. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
21. Ghostbusters II
22. Weekend at Bernie's
23. Akira

Other Notable Releases

1. A Dry White Season
2. The Adventures of Milo and Otis
3. Back to the Future Part II
4. Crimes and Misdemeanors
5. Driving Miss Daisy
6. Heathers
7. Lethal Weapon 2
8. License to Kill
9. Look Who's Talking
10. Say Anything
11. sex, lies and videotape
12. Steel Magnolias
13. Turner & Hooch

In theaters 8/15/14

The Expendables 3

(Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Jet Li, Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas, Dolph Lundgren)

This whole series is improbably fantastic for fans nostalgic for classic modern action stars.

The Giver

(Jeff Bridges)

I've never gotten around to reading the 1993 book by Lois Lowry.

Let's Be Cops

(Jake Johnson, Damon Wayans, Jr.)

Johnson's pretty great in New Girl.

1988

Viewed/Ranked

1. Big
2. U2: Rattle and Hum
3. Die Hard
4. Young Guns
5. Talk Radio
6. Beetlejuice
7. A Fish Called Wanda
8. Rain Man
9. Eight Men Out
10. Au Revoir, Les Enfants
11. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
12. Willow
13. Coming to America
14. The Land Before Time
15. Gorillas in the Mist
16. Stand and Deliver

Other Notable Releases

1. Big Top Pee-Wee
2. Bull Durham
3. Cocktail
4. Crocodile Dundee II
5. Dangerous Liaisons
6. The Dead Pool
7. The Last Temptation of Christ
8. Mystic Pizza
9. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
10. Oliver & Company
11. Rambo III
12. School Daze
13. Scrooged
14. They Live
15. Twins
16. Working Girl

1987

Viewed/Ranked

1. Wall Street
2. The Princess Bride
3. Spaceballs
4. The Untouchables
5. Lethal Weapon
6. Full Metal Jacket
7. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
8. Masters of the Universe
9. La Bamba
10. Critical Condition

Other Notable Releases

1. Beverly Hill Cops II
2. Broadcast News
3. Dirty Dancing
4. Dragnet
5. Eddie Murphy Raw
6. Empire of the Sun
7. Evil Dead 2
8. Fatal Attraction
9. Good Morning, Vietnam
10. Harry and the Hendersons
11. Hellraiser
12. Ishtar
13. The Last Emperor
14. Less Than Zero
15. The Living Daylights
16. Moonstruck
17. Planes, Trains and Automobiles
18. Predator
19. Raising Arizona
20. Robocop
21. Roxanne
22. The Running Man
23. Three Men and a Baby
24. The Witches of Eastwick

Fun Facts!

• 1987 saw a reissue of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  This was the first time I saw a movie in a theater.
• Dragnet's TV previews might have been the first time I saw either Tom Hanks or Dan Ackroyd.

1986

Viewed/Ranked

1. Salvador
2. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
3. Stand by Me
4. An American Tail
5. Top Gun
6. Platoon
7. Highlander
8. The Name of the Rose
9. Three Amigos
10. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
11. Aliens
12. Manhunter
13. Labyrinth
14. The Karate Kid Part II
15. Crocodile Dundee
16. Space Camp

Other Notable Releases

1. 9 1/2 Weeks
2. A Room with a View
3. Big Trouble in Little China
4. Blue Velvet
5. The Color of Money
6. Every Time We Say Goodbye
7. The Fly
8. Friday the 13th Part VI
9. Hannah and Her Sisters
10. Heartbreak Ridge
11. Howard the Duck
12. Legend
13. Little Shop of Horrors
14. The Mission
15. The Money Pit
16. Nothing in Common
17. Peggy Sue Got Married
18. Police Academy 3: Back in Training
19. Poltergeist II: The Other Side
20. Pretty in Pink
21. Psycho III
22. Sid and Nancy

1985

Viewed/Ranked

1. Back to the Future
2. Brazil
3. Return to Oz
4. After Hours
5. Rocky IV
6. Once Bitten
7. Lifeforce
8. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
9. Cocoon
10. Santa Claus: The Movie

Other Notable Releases

1. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
2. A View to a Kill
3. The Black Cauldren
4. The Breakfast Club
5. Clue
6. The Color Purple
7. Commando
8. Death Wish 3
9. Desperately Seeking Susan
10. European Vacation
11. Fletch
12. Follow That Bird
13. Friday the 13th - Part V
14. The Goonies
15. The Jewel of the Nile
16. Kiss of the Spider Woman
17. Out of Africa
18. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
19. Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment
20. Porky's Revenge (Part III)
21. Prizzi's Honor
22. The Purple Rose of Cairo
23. Rambo: First Blood Part II
24. Ran
25. Re-Animator
26. Real Genius
27. Return of the Living Dead
28. Teen Wolf
29. To Live and Die in L.A.
30. Weird Science
31. Witness

1984

Ranked/Viewed

1. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
2. Ghostbusters
3. The Terminator
4. The Neverending Story
5. Amadeus
6. Romancing the Stone
7. The Muppets Take Manhattan
8. The Last Starfighter
9. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai
10. Dune
11. The Karate Kid
12. Splash
13. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
14. Revenge of the Nerds
15. Supergirl

Other Notable Releases

1. 1984
2. 2010
3. A Nightmare on Elm Street
4. A Passage to India
5. Beverly Hills Cop
6. The Bounty
7. Broadway Danny Rose
8. Cannonball Run II
9. Conan the Destroyer
10. Firestarter
11. Footloose
12. Friday the 13th: Final Chapter
13. The Gods Must Be Crazy
14. Gremlins
15. Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan
16. Johnny Dangerously
17. Meatballs II
18. Missing in Action
19. Moscow on the Hudson
20. The Natural
21. Oh, God! You Devil!
22. Once Upon a Time in America
23. Paris, Texas
24. Places in the Heart
25. Police Academy
26. Purple Rain
27. The Razor's Edge
28. Red Dawn
29. Sixteen Candles
30. Starman
31. This is Spinal Tap

1983

Viewed/Ranked

1. Return of the Jedi
2. Superman III
3. Scarface
4. Monty Python's Meaning of Life
5. Trading Places
6. The Right Stuff
7. Risky Business
8. The Curse of the Pink Panther

Other Notable Releases

1. A Christmas Story
2. The Big Chill
3. Breathless
4. Cheech & Chong Still Smokin'
5. Christine
6. Cujo
7. The Dead Zone
8. The Evil Dead
9. Fanny and Alexander
10. Flashdance
11. The King of Comedy
12. Mr. Mom
13. National Lampoon's Vacation
14. Octopussy
15. The Osterman Weekend
16. The Outsiders
17. Porky's II: The Next Day
18. Psycho II
19. Silkwood
20. Smokey and the Bandit Part III
21. Staying Alive
22. The Sting II
23. Strange Brew
24. Sudden Impact
25. Tender Mercies
26. Terms of Endearment
27. To Be or Not to Be
28. Twilight Zone: The Movie
29. WarGames
30. The Year of Living Dangerously
31. Yentl
32. Zelig

1982

Viewed/Ranked

1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
2. Blade Runner
3. Gandhi
4. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
5. Rocky III
6. The Road Warrior
7. First Blood
8. Annie
9. Trail of the Pink Panther
10. The Secret of NIMH

Other Notable Releases

1. 48 HRS.
2. A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
3. Airplane II: The Sequel
4. An Officer and a Gentleman
5. Conan the Barbarian
6. Creep Show
7. The Dark Crystal
8. Das Boot
9. Death Wish II
10. Diner
11. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
12. Friday the 13th Part III
13. Grease II
14. Halloween III: Season of the Witch
15. Night Shift
16. Poltergeist
17. Porky's
18. Sophie's Choice
19. Tootsie
20. Tron
21. The Verdict
22. Victor/Victoria
23. The World According to Garp

1981

Viewed/Ranked

1. Superman II
2. Reds
3. History of the World, Part I
4. Time Bandits
5. Excalibur
6. Clash of the Titans
7. The Great Muppet Caper
8. Raiders of the Lost Ark
9. The Fox and the Hound
10. Stripes

Other Notable Releases

1. An American Werewolf in London
2. Arthur
3. Blow Out
4. Body Heat
5. Buddy Buddy
6. The Cannonball Run
7. Chariots of Fire
8. Escape from New York
9. The Final Conflict: Omen III
10. For Your Eyes Only
11. Friday the 13th Part 2
12. Gallipoli
13. Halloween II
14. The Howling
15. The Legend of the Lone Ranger
16. Mommie Dearest
17. On Golden Pond
18. Prince of the City

1980

Ranked/Viewed

1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. Raging Bull
3. The Blues Brothers
4. The Stunt Man
5. The Formula
6. Caddyshack
7. The Shining
8. Mad Max
9. Airplane!
10. Flash Gordon
11. Herbie Goes Bananas
12. Altered States
13. Smokey and the Bandit II

Other Notable Releases

1. 9 to 5
2. American Gigolo
3. Any Which Way You Can
4. The Big Red One
5. The Blue Lagoon
6. Coal Miner's Daughter
7. Cruising
8. Fame
9. Friday the 13th
10. Heaven's Gate
11. Kagemusha
12. Melvin and Howard
13. Oh, God! Book II
14. Ordinary People
15. Popeye
16. Private Benjamin
17. Prom Night
18. Somewhere in Time
19. Stardust Memories
20. Stir Crazy
21. Urban Cowboy
22. Where the Buffalo Roam
23. Xanadu

Some of the pretty good older movies I've enjoyed in recent months

Anchors Aweigh (1945)
Kind of astonishingly good, and in a pleasantly surreal way, as Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra con their way into Frank's courtship of lovely Aunt Susie, who's looking after the boy they randomly stumble across on shore leave.  Real old school Hollywood charm.

White Christmas (1954)
Here's a Bing Crosby classic I've seen previously, but really only appreciated for the first time the most recent time I saw it.  It's not just an excuse to hear the title song again (previously debuted in Holiday Inn), but rather to celebrate the soldiers who experienced WWII on the war front and who are still struggling to get back to what they "used to know."

Becket (1964)
Everyone (except Oscar voters) knows how brilliant an acting talent the late Peter O'Toole was, a magnetic and commanding presence completely unparalleled and never duplicated in film.  Here he's Henry II to Richard Burton's title character, who at first is as close a match to O'Toole as anyone could hope to be, but soon enough undergoes a religious conversion that puts Henry and Becket at odds.

These are three movies that quickly shot themselves into the ranks of my all-time favorites.  I don't tend to just assume that an older movie has earned immortality, the way some critics do.  They have to earn their acclaim through their work.  These do.

For those who became Colin Farrell fans after Saving Mr. Banks

Suppose you've just seen Saving Mr. Banks, the new movie based on the creation of Disney's Mary Poppins and you really enjoyed Colin Farrell's performance as P.L. Travers' dad.  Perhaps you're now wondering, where has this actor been all this time?

It's true that Travers Goff is a new kind of role for Farrell, but he's been this consistently good for ages, since Tigerland, really, the movie where Hollywood discovered him.  He gives a performance of considerable depth in Banks, sure, and it's probably his most romantic role in a mainstream movie ever, certainly where he wasn't top-billed (although his part as one of three Heath Ledger stand-ins in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus would give that title a run for its money).  (It's also a perfect lead-in to his upcoming Winter's Tale.)

Truth in fact, he's my favorite actor, but this is only because Farrell has consistently impressed me, even when the material around him needs a little more time to appreciate than his own work.  Critics like him, too, although the form his career has taken to date has made it hard for them to admit it, except for the Golden Globe he won for In Bruges.

That's actually the movie I'd suggest you start with, post-Banks.  He plays a mournful assassin, troubled by the accidental shouting of a child.  It presents a comparable display of his impressive full range.

So far, then, Saving Mr. Banks and In Bruges.  What else?  It's hard for me to not say everything else, but I'm trying to be objective here, okay, trying to keep his career open.

Let's go back to the beginning, then, with Tigerland, where he plays a noncomformist Army recruit during the Vietnam War, giving equal doses of hope and hell to those around him.  His early Hollywood roles after this struggled to expand on a performance that already said everything there was to know about that particular facet of his talent.

Try The New World next.  It's his John Smith in the Terrence Malick version of Pocahontas.  It's perhaps the defining role of Farrell's famous soulful eyes, nearly silent (as with all Malick films) but none the worse for it.

Another strictly bouncy performance of whimsy (if you don't want him in a superhero movie, Daredevil) is featured Ask the Dust, where he plays a struggling writer who falls in love with a woman as contentious as he is.

That's Saving Mr. Banks, In Bruges, Tigerland, The New World, and Ask the Dust.  Anything else?  Again, being a big fan already makes it hard for me to limit myself.  One of the least popular movies ever also happens to be my favorite ever, Alexander, which to my mind is Farrell's most important performance to date.  If you want to take one last suggestion from me, that's it.  As far as I'm concerned, you'd start there, but perhaps it's a better place to finish.  By this point you will probably want to just see all of his movies anyway...