My 10 Favorite Films of 1980

Many people know 1980 as the year that Ronald Reagan and the Ayatollah Khomeini both came to power- forgive the political humor (well, actually the former was inagurated in 1981 and the later overthrew the Shah in 1979).

But, it was also a year when many outstanding films came out. We are categorizing films according to their dates listed on the IMDB. "Atlantic City" actually came out in America in 1981 and "The Gods Must Be Crazy" didn't hit movie theatres in New York in 1984 (I think it actually came to my hometown of Roanoke, Va., in 1985!).

My favorite film of 1980 is Martin Scorsese's "Raging Bull." Some film connosieurs prefer his earlier film "Taxi Driver," but I think this is the stronger film overall. Both films starred Robert DeNiro.

As a Sam Fuller fan, I also love "The Big Red One" which also features one of Lee Marvin's best screen performances (he was actually Reagan's co-star in "The Killers" which came out in 1964). "Atlantic City" is also an extraordinary film, and I think it is Louis Malle's most complete film (apologies to "My Dinner with Andre" fans).

"Kagemusha" which was an Akira Kurosawa epic is my favorite foreign-language film from 1980 though for some reason it is not usually mentioned as one of the Japanese master's best films. While I would certainly that films like "Rashomon" and "Ikiru" are better, this is still a great film.

Here is the list:

1. "Raging Bull" (pictured. d-Martin Scorsese)
2. "The Big Red One" (d-Sam Fuller)
3. "Atlantic City" (Canada/France. d-Louis Malle)
4. "Kagemusha" (Japan. d-Akira Kurosawa)
5. "The Elephant Man" (d-David Lynch)
6. "Tess" (d-Roman Polanski)
7. "The Shinning" (d-Stanley Kubrick)
8. "The Gods Must be Crazy" (South Africa. d-Jamie Uys)
9. "The Long Riders" (d-Walter Hill)
10. "Gloria" (d-John Cassavettes)

NOTE: Yeah, I would agree "Gloria" has its flaws, but Gena Rowlands is just amazing in it!

Honorable Mention: "Ordinary People," "Airplane!," "Breaker Morant," "The Long Good Friday," "Dressed to Kill," "Hopscotch," "Flash Gordon" and "Mad Max."