I've written about Rob Reiner before (most recently here). He directed a run of classic movies from 1984 to 1992 that wasn't just the best of his day but rivaled similar runs by all-time greats Buster Keaton, Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks and Billy Wilder.
In case you've forgotten, I'll repeat the list: This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery and A Few Good Men.
In the course of that run, he made stars of River Phoenix, Meg Ryan and Kathy Bates (who won an Oscar as James Caan's biggest fan); turned the mockumentary up to eleven, establishing a beloved comedy genre in the process; gave us Jack Nicholson's best known catchphrase ("You can't handle the truth!"); and most importantly, taught women everywhere how to fake an orgasm (Oh, no, sorry — I've just been informed they've been doing that since the beginning of time).
Throw in The Sure Thing (1985), a very funny screwball rom-com that put John Cusack on the map, and you can say Reiner's movies helped shape everything that came after.
The son of comedy legend Carl Reiner, he was also a very good comedic actor in his own right. On the groundbreaking comedy All in the Family, his performance as Mike Stivic — a.k.a. the earnest, sometimes misguided but always funny "Meathead" — twice earned him a Primetime Emmy.
Maybe of more significance, Reiner, with his comic foil Archie Bunker (the great Carroll O'Connor), helped left-wing and right-wing America carry on a conversation at a particularly fraught moment in our history.
If only there were such a cultural meeting place these days! But alas, times change and we're lucky now if we can agree on the day of the week much less things that matter.
Finally, on a personal note, Rob Reiner taught me how to put on my shoes — one foot at a time, of course, not like the rest of you animals, with your sock and a sock and a shoe and a shoe.
Saw that as a kid fifty-plus years ago and I've been walking in Rob Reiner's footsteps, so to speak, ever since.
For that, and for all those movies I still watch and love, thank you, Mr. Reiner. You will be missed.
The Academy picked Out of Africa as the year's best movie but I think Back to the Future is the one that has become a permanent part of the culture ...
My choices are noted with a ★. A tie is indicated with a ✪. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.
My choices are noted with a ★. A tie is indicated with a ✪. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.
For a long time, I had Akira Kurosawa's Ran down as the best picture of 1985, and it's a beautiful, beautifully-made movie. But Filmsite.org defines classic movies as "renowned films of first rank, reference points in film mythology, or films that have become a part of American cultural folklore."
That sure sounds like Back to the Future to me so that's what I'm going with. But you decide.
Note: William Hurt won the Oscar for best actor in 1985, but to me, it was such a joint effort with Raul Julia that to split them apart would be like trying to assess Laurel without Hardy or Curly without Moe. They win together or don't win at all.
In 1985, the Academy had a chance to give Akira Kurosawa a long-overdue Oscar for directing one of the best films of his career, Ran, so of course they gave it to Sydney Pollack. Not that Out of Africa is a bad picture, any more than a Quarter Pounder is a bad hamburger—just a wholly forgettable one. But that's the Oscars for you.
By the way, despite what the poster above says, Out of Africa did not star Gilbert Roland and Norma Talmadge—but it might as well have. (That's one I made for the Great Recasting Blogathon back in July.)
Named for Katie-Bar-The-Door, the Katies are "alternate Oscars"—who should have been nominated, who should have won—but really they're just an excuse to write a history of the movies from the Silent Era to the present day.
To see a list of nominees and winners by decade, as well as links to my essays about them, click the highlighted links:
Remember: There are no wrong answers, only movies you haven't seen yet.
The Silent Oscars
And don't forget to check out the Silent Oscars—my year-by-year choices for best picture, director and all four acting categories for the pre-Oscar years, 1902-1927.
Look at me—Joe College, with a touch of arthritis. Are my eyes really brown? Uh, no, they're green. Would we have the nerve to dive into the icy water and save a person from drowning? That's a key question. I, of course, can't swim, so I never have to face it. Say, haven't you anything better to do than to keep popping in here early every morning and asking a lot of fool questions?
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