♪ ♪ ♪

♪ robinson, apparently tired, punched fairly well and rocked jake right to his heels. >> come on, ray. >> a director and actor finds a story at the right time in the right place. and out comes this amazing combination of cinematic virility and absolute fear. it's like watching an animal. >> "raging bull" is a great title. the film fulfills the promise. the reality of the boxing and

the great slow motion, all of the black and white gore, the violence of the flush bulbs going off. when he designed the movie, marty, he purposefully didn't put a clutch on the film. there's no clutch. >> hey, ray, you never went down, ray. you never got me down, ray. >> it's a boxing movie for people who don't like boxing. it's not about that. it's about this man who was based on a real person who is really at war with himself. >> come on. harder. harder. >> i didn't really understand boxing, but the character was interesting. he was just so contraire, as they say. he was just so difficult. >> what are you trying to prove? what does it prove? >> bob de niro, he is not afraid of the negative characters, he's not afraid to go to, as i say, those places. [ applause ] >> i was down to 152. in my prime.

and then i went up to 212. so i gained 60 pounds. that's not easy, though. the first 15 pounds is fun, then it's drudgery. >> go get 'em, champ. >> it's absolutely true that the movies of 1980 look like movies of the 1970s. very personal, very passionate filmmaking rules. and then you had ordinary people which was the movie that defeated "raging bull" for best picture in 1980. this incredibly precise and very emotional study of a family in deep crisis. >> calvin, give me the camera. >> i didn't get it yet. >> dad, give her the camera. >> i want a really good picture of the two of you. >> but i really want to get a shot of the three of you men. give me the camera, kelvin, please. >> not until i get a picture of the two of you. hang on a second. >> give her the god damn camera. >> "ordinary people" centers on people who cannot get in touch with their feelings and who

avoid the darker underpinnings. i would like to tell a story about what people will do to avoid being seen for who they really are. i gave mary tyler moore the script. i said, look, i could see you playing this. she was drawn to it. and that really hit me because that told me that there is some part of herself that she was willing so expose that has not been exposed before and she wanted that chance. and so she was given that chance. and she did a great job. >> kelvin? >> in that moment where mary tyler moore comes downstairs and she asks her husband what's wrong. >> i don't know if i love you anymore. >> she goes upstairs and she's just -- there's something so moving to me about somebody who is so deeply repressed cracking open. >> that's where the dam breaks. she gets hit by some truth that she can't articulate. she's so taken aback, she can't

adjust, she can't take it in. that's what that moment was about. >> then you look at some of these films of the 1980s like "ordinary people" and like "blue velvet," those films are explicitly about how things look are not the way they really are. you have to understand this was when ronald reagan became president and the idea was that after all sorts of traumas, particularly watergate and vietnam, we healed, but as the public pronouncement is we're good again, our movies are telling us, no, we're not. no, we are not. >> wendy, i'm home. >> i play this game. all your favorite filmmakers alive or dead were opening a movie on the same day, which movie would you see first? and for me it would be stanley

kubrick because you're going to see something you never saw before, and he did that in, think about it, every genre. he's going to make a horror movie, it's going to be the horror movie done in a way that you would not expect. >> to me "the shining" isn't about horror, it's about dread. from the very first frame, something grabs your solar plexus and pulls on it. nobody uses silence like stanley kubrick. >> mom? >> it was as if i was in the overlook hotel for 2 1/2 hours. he creates a pacing where it overtakes the way you're breathing and you're existing and you're in there. in all films, he controls you. >> kubrick's steady cam work in "the shining" broke new ground. the steady cam gave stanley a

chance to put us in a scene that didn't have any time constraints. you get so hypnotized being behind that tricycle. you don't have to see his face, you're behind it. which leads to one of the scariest shots in the movie. >> hello, danny. >> hello, danny. come and play with us. fantastic. >> united artists was betting $40 million on its new movie "heaven's gate," but after two years of preparation and eight months of production, the motion picture has been yanked from american theaters after only one day. >> "heaven's gate" took almost a year to complete. the director's whose "deer hunter" film was a great success got a free hand. his producer said he was out of control. the result, a 3 1/2-hour bomb. >> "heaven's gate" is a stake through the heart in hollywood. it's the cautionary tale that's all about to say, no, no, the studio's going to step in here and this is not going to be

another "heaven's gate" and that's how you get the movies of the 1980s. ♪ >> you knew where you were when you first saw "the empire strikes back." because it was the "star wars" movie that took the whole thing to a whole another level -- "star wars" was huge but "empire strikes back" was phenomenal. these established characters, you saw them intermix in a way you hadn't in the previous film. where there is this budding romance going on between han solo and princess leia. >> i love you. >> i know. >> luke is transitioning into wanting to become a jedi knight. >> i saw that as this is the good act because in classical dramatic philosophy, you set the thing up in the first act, in the second act your heros are put in a position that is unresolvable. they're put in enormous jeopardy. you don't know how it's going to work out.

and that is always the most interesting part of the story to tell. >> obi-wan never told you what happened to your father. >> he told me enough. he told me you killed him. >> when we actually started work, it was just me and george in the office, and george says to me, you know, darth vader is luke's father. >> i am your father. >> no shit! >> no! >> and it was about fathers and sons, about good and evil personified. >> it is your destiny. >> i thought that made the whole saga better instantly. ♪

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four of the biggest. moneymaking films of recent times have come from two young gifted filmmakers, george lucas and steven spielberg. they're friends as well, so it was inevitable those two would join talents and they now have in an adventure film to be released this week. >> george says, i have something called "raiders of the lost ark." it's just an idea i have for a movie. he told me this story about this sort of marauding archeologist

adventurer with the hat and the whip and i committed to the movie based on one-line story george told me. larry, george and i sat around for three days and basically made up the story from beginning to end. >> there's a line in "raiders" that means a lot to me. in the beginning of an action sequence, they've lost control of the ark of the covenant and indy says, no, i'm going to get it back. and his friend says, how are you going to do it? >> i don't know. i'm making this up as i go. >> that, to me, was what life was like. we just make it up as we go. indiana jones is very good at that. >> we came up with an idea, like a truck chase. and then we figured, well, how do we get the truck chase in the movie? so we had these big kind of subjects, and then we kind of reverse engineered in order for it to earn its place in the story. >> spielberg is a master of staging.

even when they're moving very fast and cutting very quickly, you always know the lay of the land. >> he can create suspense out of details big and small. there's always the action that the audience can see but the characters can't see. so the audience is aware that not only is indy maybe going to get beaten to death by this enormous nazi, but also, the whole thing might blow up. >> you wonder why your blood gets up when you watch them. it's craftsmanship and art. ♪ >> everybody in this town is talking about steven spielberg's latest film, "e.t." i was there at 12:00 noon today and there were literally thousands of people in the street waiting to get in. >> the wait is hours long in chicago, days long in los angeles. >> "e.t." has become the movie industry's biggest moneymaker ever.

>> i had this story i was going to write about how the divorce between my mom and dad affected me and my three sisters. and so i combined that with one about an alien who himself is divorced from his own species and is lost 3 million light years from home. >> i don't like his feet. >> can you imagine if that film didn't have those kids, every one of them, henry thomas, drew barrymore, robert macnaughton? that's the secret sauce to that movie. >> i just want to say good-bye. >> all the kids had fallen in love with e.t., and i like to think that e.t. had fallen in love with all of them. and that good-bye scene was genuine. those tears were real. >> be good. >> yes. >> steven spielberg movies, they're big blockbusters, but they are personal stories. they are small stories told against a giant canvas. >> they're here.

>> in the 1980s, i really felt that i was speaking to myself. loving escapism. "poltergeist" was about all the things that scared me. i had a tree out my window as a kid. it used to scare the hell out of me. so what happens in "poltergeist?" the tree comes in the house and grabs the kid. i made stories about kids opposite one final adventure, "the goonies" going on an adventure to save their parents' homes, gremlins tearing up the town. just loving stories that were bizarre. >> everybody has dreams or thoughts, fantasies of going back in time somewhere. and bob put it together for the modern age. >> you're telling me that you built a time machine out of a delorean? >> the way i see it, if you're going to build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style? >> it's a mystery it was as big

a hit as it was when it came out. but what the real mystery is that it endured for decades. >> saturday night we're sending you back to the future. >> a simple idea which is what would it be like to see your parents when they were younger is something that is obviously multigenerational. >> jeez, you smoke, too? >> you're beginning to sound just like my mother. >> the only thing that was weird about the story, it's a boy going back in time and meeting his mother and she falls in love with the son she hasn't yet had. that was pretty kinky for me. >> that's a big bruise you have there. >> but they pulled it off. >> i was exhausted at the end of "back to the future." and then he makes "who framed roger rabbit?"

it's like he took "back to the future" and tripled it. >> you're under arrest. >> there's a scene where donald duck and daffy duck are having a piano duel. at the same time penguins are serving drinks. and if you look at the making of of that individual scene, it's utter, complete, total chaos. there's real actors pretending to be drinking. there's trays moving around on these iron rods. >> that was a hard movie. that's a sort of ignorance is bliss category that movie should fall into because that's a movie no sane person would ever attempt to make. >> i love playing villains. i was a kid when the first walt disney films came out. there are dark moments in each of those that scare the hell out of me, so it's payback. >> remember me, eddie? when i killed your brother, i talked just like this! >> i got some moments in there that will be in their worst nightmares for the rest of their lives.

>> the trick to making that blend of live action animation is that the live action actor has to believe it. bob always believed that the rabbit was there. it really is an amazing performance. i mean, it's really one that actors should study. >> because it was made before a lot of cgi existed, it was old-school moviemaking with physical special effects. "who framed roger rabbit?" is the most complicated movie ever made. >> don't tell me you lost your sense of humor already. >> does this answer your question? look, it's just like when i tell people about saving with geico.

be confident. stand up straight. and speak with purpose. yeah? go on, give it a practice run. kelsey. kelsey. marriage? oh. okay. look maybe you should just show her this beautiful helzberg diamond ring? that's a better idea. yeah, maybe not in the bathroom. oooh! oh my word! geico. it's easy to switch and save.

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one of the really great films of the '80s is "the verdict," written by david mammit. beautifully told my master director sydney la met. paul newman plays a kind of washed up lawyer who was an alcoholic kind of ambulance chaser. what makes it uniquely lamet is that even when it's movie stars, big movie stars, he manages to

bring them down in the case of "the verdict" to the boston streets. you can see the stars in the movie but they have not turned the movie into something glamorous, but the opposite, have entered the drudge and reality of the world lamet's painting. >> i never should have taken it. there's no way i could win. >> newman did what he was asked to do. he was often asked to just be the leading man and be charming and witty and funny. when he does "the verdict," it makes you cry. here newman shows you what he's really made of as an actor. >> i think you guys are making a big mistake. i think you ought to reconsider. i think you ought to get the principals back together again. >> when you see the scene to call the insurance company to rekindle the deal that he turned down. >> okay. no, i understand. >> it's really one of the greatest pieces of acting i've ever seen in my lifetime, that phone call. no cuts. lamet just goes, okay, here we go.

>> so how's your life? >> oh, great. how's yours? >> not so great. >> oh, we're telling truth. >> "the big chill," it's about these kids who were in college together in the late '60s and are now no longer anti-establishment but actually are part of the establishment and trying to reconcile that history with their present. >> movies aren't being made for adults. that's all "the big chill" is, really, it's an adult film, and it tries to be as complex as life is. >> i had wanted to make a movie about something i was observing among my friends. this imagined power we came out of college thinking we had was nonexistent. ♪ ♪ i know you wanna leave me but i refuse to let you go ♪ >> i remember when it first came out i thought, well, this will be for this generation, the children of the '60s, this will be very relevant. then i'd meet kids in high school ten years after the movie came out and they said, i love that movie. it's about friendship. it's also about growing up. there is something in its

essence that is timeless and universal. >> i'm marrying him tomorrow. i thank god for him getting me out of there. i think if this is your attitude you shouldn't bother showing up at my wedding. >> that's right. i think you're right. the hypocrisy was bothering me, too. >> "terms of endearment" based on a book adapted and directed by james l. brooks, it made you cry, it made you laugh. it was the stuff of life. >> just a minute. >> shirley mclean plays aurora. gets involved with an astronaut played by jack nicholson. ♪ fly me to the moon, baby >> they just had this incredible comic chemistry. the romantic scenes between them are hilarious. >> it's not my fault, but i'm sorry. >> if you wanted to get me on my

back, you just had to ask me. >> "terms of endearment" may be the first dramedy, it's a word we hear all the time. a movie that's funny and tragic simultaneously. >> it's time for her shot, you understand? do something. all she has to do was hold on to 10:00 and it's past 10:00. your daughter's in pain. give her the shot. do you understand? >> if you're going to behave -- >> give my daughter the shot! thank you very much. >> james brooks was able to take humor, tragedy, the best writing delivered beautifully by actors that cared so much. it felt like life, it felt human, it felt funny. >> the winner is "terms of endearment." >> jim was into the delicate shades of humanity before it was cool.

>> oh, well, that was a lifetime ago. people change. >> well, i hope you've changed. >> i hope you have, too. >> i hope so for your sake because your personality left something to be desired, namely a personality. >> you look at woody's career in the '80s, which theoretically should have been past his prime "manhattan"? wait a minute, there is also "broadway danny rose," there is "purple rose of cairo." >> by the time you get to "crimes and misdemeanors," it's an ensemble piece, it's got some humor in it and it's got some satire in it, but he's not trying to get a laugh every second. >> it's a wonderful moral conundrum from a very original standpoint. i think that's why it holds up. >> you told me over and over again you'd leave merriam. we made plans. >> we didn't. >> i gave up things for you, business opportunities. >> oh, dreams. >> "crimes and misdemeanors" is two parallel stories, one of which is a very traditional woody allen and mia farrow

relationship jokefest, and the other one which is a serious examination of literal life and death themes. >> a guy is having an affair, and she's threatening to tell his wife and threatening to disrupt his world, so he has a hitman kill her. >> he realized, i had a woman killed and i thought i was going to go to hell and nothing happened. with woody, he's constantly getting, you know, shit on by life and he's just doing the right thing. >> you look very deep in thought. >> i was plotting the perfect murder. >> his writing is very strong for that reason. it always feels like he was thinking about some philosophical truth about human nature and says, oh, i want to write a movie about that. >> i'm talking about reality. i mean, if you want a happy ending, you should go see a hollywood movie. >> you realize, of course, that we can never be friends.

>> why not? >> what i'm saying is -- and this is not a come-on in any way, shape or form, is that men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way. >> nora ephron wrote "when harry met sally" and got a lot of help from reiner creating the neurotic main character, and that's because he was based on rob reiner. >> every scene has to be good. you work and work and work torture yourself rewriting the script. >> i know nora, and i pitched this idea about the dance that people go through to get together after they've both gotten out of long-term relationships and they become friends, and does sex come into the picture? and if it does, does it ruin the friendship? she said, well, that would be something i'd be interested in. >> he rips off my clothes. >> then what happens? >> that's it. >> that's it? a faceless guy rips off your clothes and that's the sex fantasy you've been having since you were 12, exactly the same? >> well, sometimes i vary it a little.

>> which part? >> what i'm wearing. >> a good romantic comedy is, listen, you know they're going to be together, so how do you get them there and what's the roadblocks? it's all about the story and it's all about the people. do you care about them? do you want them to be together? are you seeing what they're not seeing? >> it's just that all men are sure it never happened to them and most women at one time or another have done it, so you do the math. >> you don't think i can tell the difference? >> no. >> get out of here. >> in the deli scene, when we first did it, meg rightfully was a little nervous about it. you got crew members. you got extras. people standing around. >> ooh. >> are you okay? >> oh. >> rob says, meg, here's what i want. he proceeds to have an orgasm that mighty joe young would be jealous of. >> yes, yes, oh, god. i'm pounding the table. >> yes! yes! yes!

>> and i realize because my mother is sitting there, i'm having an orgasm in front of my mother. >> i'll have what she's having. (smoke alarm)

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it's part of a trilogy, really, a musical trilogy that

i'm doing in "d" minor, which i always find is really the saddest of all keys, really. i don't know why, but it makes people weep instantly. ♪ >> what do you call this? >> this piece is called "lick my love pump." >> the idea was we were going to do a mock documentary. we were going to make a satire of a rock 'n' roll band on tour. we basically had the tour outline, but essentially it was a very, you know, thin thumbnail sketch of what was going to happen. the whole movie is improvised. >> do the dead bird. get the dwarf cannolis, the little ones. >> i did the bird. >> don't talk back. >> mime is money. come on. move it. >> you had all these brilliant performances by all of them and then rob put it all together and made it sing. >> people didn't know what we were doing. they thought it was a real documentary.

when we first previewed it, they said why would you make a movie about a band that nobody ever heard of and one that's so bad? ♪ working on a sex farm ♪ plowing through your field >> let's say you look at a prospective movie and it's a square, rob reiner has a way of turning it sideways, looking at it differently and finding a way to enjoy it in a completely nonconventional way. >> he didn't fall? >> inconceivable. >> you keep using that word. i do not think it means that you think it means. >> "the princess bride" is a blend between romance, satire, adventure, swashbuckling. i mean, it's all mixed in and it's a very strange mixture hard to capture. >> wesley, what about the r.o.u.s.s? >> rodents of unusual size? i don't think they exist. >> you have to walk a balance, you know? it's a fine line between stupid and clever. >> beat it or i'll call the brute squad. >> i'm on the brute squad. >> you are the brute squad. >> rob is a phenomenal director.

his first movies one after another, beauties, and took risks in different genres. to be in three of them, i'm really blessed. >> one half of the '80s was a lot of different styles of comedy being thrown at audiences. there was the spoof comedy that became popular, whether that be "airplane" or "the naked gun." you had ensemble comedies like "police academy," imports like "crocodile dundee," which was an enormous hit and "three men and a baby" the other is the rise of influence of "saturday night live" on film. >> there's 106 miles to chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses. >> hit it. >> john belushi and dan aykroyd, they made up these characters with the hat and dark glasses. they did "the blues brothers" on "saturday night live" and got a huge response so we got to make the movie. >> "saturday night live" is such a specific place. people started realizing, like, oh, this is where you're going

to get your quality comedy, so then you wanted to start seeing those people in movies. >> i tell you what, i'm going to clean this up. >> you go ahead and clean up a little bit. looks fine to me. thanks for the dope. >> comedy is such a precious commodity. when you shake the pan looking for the nuggets, when they shine out like that, then you love them forever. people who understood how to be funny, they can be funny anywhere. ♪ if there's something strange in the neighborhood ♪ ♪ who you gonna call? ♪ ghostbusters >> "ghostbusters" is a rare film because it combined sci-fi, action, and comedy. >> well, there's something you don't see every day. >> "ghostbusters" was written by dan aykroyd with harold ramis. on paper it shouldn't work. but it does work because you have rick moranis and they're flawless. >> we've been going about this all wrong.

he's okay. he's a sailor. he's in new york. we get this guy laid, we won't have any trouble. >> bill's always explored what it means to escape sort of the constraints of convention. you feel in some way that you want to be as liberated as he is. ♪ ghostbusters >> instead of worshipping musicians, now we're worshipping these stand-up comedians and skit comedians. there is this idea that comedy in the '80s is going to be the new rock 'n' roll. >> all right. listen up, i don't like white people, i hate rednecks, you people are rednecks. that means i'm enjoying this shit. >> you got to remember when eddie murphy starts with "48 hours," he's 20 years old. then he does "trading places." then he does the blockbuster "beverly hills cop." >> eddie murphy in the '80s was comedy. he's the perfect every man and he's likeable even though he's

kind of a shit. >> it's about being the guy smartest in the room. he's bugs bunny. >> you know, this is the cleanest and nicest police car i've ever been in in my life. this thing's nicer than my apartment. >> up until that point, hollywood movies that featured or starred a black artist, their color was always a plot point. in "coming to america," their color has nothing to do with the plot. >> oha, it is my 21st birthday. do you think just perhaps i might once use the bathroom by myself? >> most amusing, sir. wipers. [ clapping ] >> he is a prince in a fictional african nation and he decides he and his best friend, played by arsenio hall, are going to america so he can find himself a queen. if you want a queen, where do you go? you go to queens, new york. it's got to be full of queens, right? >> everybody who's seen "coming

to america" embraced the money. the movie is funny as hell. i think it's eddie murphy at his best. >> everyone is so lovely. >> the one white person is actually played by eddie murphy. >> what about rocky marciano? >> oh, there they go. there they go. every time i start talking about boxing, a white man got to pull rocky marciano out their ass. >> who's the star of the picture? >> this young guy named eddie murphy, i think. >> oh, christ, i hate him. the kid with the filthy mouth? >> yeah, he's the one. >> oh, he's the worst. >> he can do these voices. he can do the physicalization. it speaks to the magnitude of his talent. is that not acting? is that not comic acting at the highest level? >> what do you know from funny, you bastard?

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even though the 1980s is often viewed as sort of an upbeat era, it's the period when the united states came out of the doldrums of the '70s. there was still this sort of underlying fear that that could collapse at some point.

you saw that play out in this post-apocalyptic subgenre of action films. >> two days ago i saw a vehicle that would haul that tanker. you want to get out of here? you talk to me. >> george miller's movies do an amazing trick of making dystopia look beautiful in a terrifying way. you know, you watch "the road warrior" and thinking, like, i'd love to go there. i think i would die within five minutes. >> it's the idea of this one man who regains his humanity when he loses everything. but then there's the filmmaking craft. to see those stunts just play out in long shots, just absolutely incredible and visceral. >> it's so in your face. it's almost like a heavy metal rock 'n' roll movie. ♪ >> "brazil" is one of these futures that seem all too likely to come to past.

it's a future where things don't work. where the bureaucracy is ossified. it's a future that feels like if things don't get better, we're going to end up there. >> dammit, lorrie, that convoy of personnel carries is still unaccounted for. i told you to deal with it. what the hell is this mess? an empty desk is an efficient desk. >> terry gilliam's visibility sensibility is so distinctive, there was an audacity to that movie that you rarely see. >> it arouses a strong reaction from people. i think that's what cinema should be about. it's exciting. it's stimulating. it makes us think. i'm quite happy to have a film that does that. >> smart filmmakers can use genre as a trojan horse to talk about other things. ♪ >> "blade runner" is based on phillip k. dick's novel, in and of itself, and the essential question of the in and of itself is, what's the difference

between humans and nonhumans? is harrison ford a human? can you fall in love with an android? >> she doesn't know. >> she's beginning to suspect, i think. >> suspect? how can it not know what it is? >> commerce is our goal here at tyrell. more human than human is our motto. . >> the screenplay was excellent. it told not only fascinating and different story, but it was written and described as well. so you could smell the movie. >> i don't think there's any director who can encode content into the visual presence like he can. so when you see the street markets, it tells you that in the future, technology runs cross class. that populations are tremendously mixed. there's overcrowding. there's poverty. he's projecting so much content into those images, and you just soak it in. >> i was constantly beaten up every day. people say why is it raining, why do you want it to be at

night. and i is said that's the way i [ bleep ]ing want it. >> scott was planting clues in the movie that he was the replicant with this unicorn that he dreams about. >> harrison's in doubt that he's a recommend can't. he nods. that nod is an ascent. this is correct. somebody knows about my most private dream, which is about a unicorn. duh. >> james cameron's "aliens" is the perfect sequel, because it doesn't just repeat the first film. it takes elements of the first one, builds upon them, but then makes it into a different genre. >> six. >> can't be. that's inside the room.

>> it's reading and writing, ann, look! >> you're not reading it right. >> five meters, man, four. what the hell? >> jim is a real innovator and real artist. i did one. he did two. he said it's hard to do two, because you've shown him the alien. so i'm going more military. >> you feel like james cameron doesn't get enough credit as a screenwriter as well. "aliens" is the template of how to write a great blockbuster. >> my mommy always said there are no monsters, no real ones, but there are. >> yes, there are, aren't there? >> back in those days, women weren't really permitted to be strong. so significant governory really

broke the rules. she was presenting newt, her adopted child. >> there's real skill to building the perfect rollercoaster. "aliens" is example number one of how brilliant action cinema can be. >> get away from her, you bitch! (smoke alarm) ♪

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we're attracted to teach other at the party, that's obvious. you're on your own for the night, that's also obvious. two adults. >> let's get the check. >> "fatal attraction" was like a cautionary tale. that the cheating husband and the mistress turns out to be psychotic and a stalker and boi boils bunnies. >> glen close is forever tied to this film. she is an incredible actress j what am i supposed to do? you change your number. i'm not going to be ignored.

>> in the original script, audience sympathies were more balanced between the male character and female character, but each iteration, they made her an extreme character. the ending, she was supposed to slit her own throat. so they had the good wife kill the bad, single woman. that's hollywood. >> thank you, sir. i'm happy to be working here. >> you're a welcome addition and a damn pretty one, if i might add. >> i mean that. you should see some of those who have been coming in, right, violet? >> it was this idea of women coming together and being like, yes, my life has been ruined by egotistical men who are trying

to hold me back. >> coffee, violet, now. >> this is when women were going into the workforce, but they were still secretaries. they were still the sub servient roles, they weren't the boss of the company. >> what about you, dora lee? what's your fantasy for doing him in? >> well, i think i'd like to come riding up one day and give him a taste of his own medicine. >> i loved their female comradery, and i loved dolly parton in that movie. she's like liquid gold. >> look, i got a gun out there in my purse, and right now i've been forgivin' and forgetin' because of the wayive abe i've raised. i'm going to change you to from a rooster to a hen in one shot. >> they realized nothing is ever

going to change unless we change it. >> that male sexually inappropriate guy, and they make changes to the workplace to be able to share hours and a day care center. it was an important movie then. it's an important movie now. >> "working girl" is like a fantasy, her humble working class upbringing would not allow her to be. it's got serious points to make about women in the workplace. >> dress shabbily, they notice the dress. dress impeccably, they notice the woman. coco chanel. >> and how do i look? >> you look terrific. you might want to rethink the jewelry. >> traditionally, it's, the man holding you down. but in this instance, it's sigourney weaver, that she's

been stealing all of tess's ideas to further herself. >> while i was laid up with broken bones, she rifled through my desk, found my memo and has been passing it off as her idea. >> it was my idea. >> the melanie griffith character shows that once she was given the opportunity to show that she was smart enough, she did. >> guess where i am. >> it's one of the greatest endings in the world. i'm here in my own office with my feet up, because i made it. >> not since the movie "network" has hollywood so brilliantly indicted the business of television like it does in "broadcast news". the perfect modern anchor is played by oscar winner, william hurt. so how is it that the star of the movie is neither the anchor man or a network correspondent but an actress whom many of you have never seen until now. >> the sound bite in the alley, it starts, so why were you in n

angola? please, bobby, we're pushing. >> it was the first time i had seen onscreen a female who was allowed to be human and irascible, difficult, shrill. bossy, possibly bitch. there's a lot of words that people use that are pejorative to women that jane craig could kind of inhabit. >> what i love is polly's character, just tears streaming down her face and then her controlling it like that and getting it together and going forward. >> i'm really struck by the courage that jim brooks showed in writing a character like that. >> it is the most difficult planes to master. they're called tomcats. >> isn't it one of the most difficult machines to master? >> to have an idea about the high-integrity ideals about what

it means to be a journalist and a woman. >> it must be nice to always know you're better, to think you're the smartiest person in the room. >> no, it's awful. >> the fact that that movie exists is a gift. >> i'm new in town and awfully lonely, i wonder if you would mind buying me lunch. >> gregory. >> george, george, george, it's michael dorsey, okay? your favorite client. how are you? last time you got me a job, it was a tomato. >> oh, no, no, no, no. >> yes, swear to god. >> oh, i begged you to get therapy. >> tootsie is an updating of the guy in the dress. you're putting him in a fantastic situation. the reason it works is because every single thick in that movie could really happen. we show you at the beginning. he's a great actor, happens to

be a pain in the ass, and then to prove that he can get work he puts on the dress. >> it's almost like a play that's been performed enough so that they knew where the gems were. >> don't you find being a woman in the '80s complicated in. >> extremely. >> one of the hardest things to do in a comedy is to have a comedy climax and to have all your story threads come together at the same moment. >> i am not the daughter of dave and alma. i'm edward kennedy, i'm the reckless brother. >> the climactic scene in "tootsie" is where four or five different sub plots turn on that action. >> "tootsie "as many as is what moviemakers want movies to be

and to go all the way, which "tootsie" does. >> that is one nutty.

♪ "flash dance" was a very big deal. ♪ she's a maniac ♪ maniac on the floor ♪ and she's dancin' like she's

never danced before ♪ >> she was a sexy welder, who would dance at night but didn't take her clothes off. >> what's a dancer doing working as a welder? >> got to make a living. >> jennifer beals was amazing in that movie. she was everything. she was beautiful, she was strong. and she was sexy. >> really been fitted from the beginnings of mtv. you would see videos from the songs from the "flash dance" sound track all the time. >> that's where the video was very much a trailer for the movie. you could tell the trailer was designed with the video in mind. >> let's dance! ♪ >> kenny loggins, "footloose." are you seeing him in that?

no, lots of high school kids dancing, against the rules. >> i didn't see "footloose" until after i started dating kevin bacon, and i went and i thought, i can see how people fell in love with him. how cute was he in those high-wasted jeans and white tank. ♪ i had the time of my life ♪ i never felt this way before >> you knew who was buying these movies as teenagers. and the thing they wanted to do as soon as they watched the movie is get the sound track so they can relive it. ♪ purple rain is ♪ purple rain >> "purple rain" hit me really hard. to this day i have yet to see a mainstream film that uses music in an emotion in such an incredible way. ♪ i belong to you ♪ purple rain

>> what do you care about matt ratner for, he's 16-year-old usher in the movie theater. >> you've dated older guys, work at the best food stand notice mall and a close personal friend of mine. >> there was so much reality in the script of "fast times." the way that cameron wrote "fast times at ridge mont high" is he went back to high school. >> i never graduated traditionally, so i could go back and have the senior year i didn't have and write about what it is to be a high school student. i learned so much. the pop culture establishment, they don't know what's happening with kids right now. >> stacy, what are you waiting for? you're 15 years old. i did it when i was 13. it's no huge thing. it's just sex. >> these kids are having a super short adolescence. they're having sex years before you know they're having sex, and they're all working. it's fast food, fast

adolescence, it's all disposable. and what are we doing to a generation that has to be adult at a younger and young are age? >> there are so many incredible people in the movie. a lot of careers get launched. judge reinhold to phoebe cates and jennifer jason lee. >> a cast of soon-to-be stars. he gives the performance that everyone walks out of the theater and says oh, my god, sean penn. >> he turned into awesome, gnarly, all the other classic words of the '80s. >> why don't you get a job? >> what for? >> you need money. >> all i need are some tasty waves, cool buds and i'm fine. >> tell you a couple things about myself. i'm 19, been oversaeas for a

couple semesters. now i'm back. ever heard of kick boxing? my point is you can relax, because your daughter will be safe with me for the next seven to eight hours, sir. >> here's a story about being an optimist. and how that can sometimes be a revolutionary act. rebellion takes many different forms, and sometimes the rebellion takes the form of loving the woman that they say you can't love. and you hake yomake your life's her. >> watch out for that glass. >> thanks. >> if moments make movies as they say, for "say anything", it's the moment when he holds the boom box and plays peter gabriel to try to woo die diane court back. he had a hard time holding it up. so there's one version we did

where the boom box is on the car playing it. not as good. we finished the last shot of the last day of "say anything." there's only a little light in the sky left. the light is disappearing, the shot's moving in on cusack. and i see it. i see it through the camera. the anger, the resentment, the love, the pain, the glory, the adolescence, all of it was there in his face. ♪ i am complete ♪ your eyes >> we got lucky. >> how's it goin'? >> how's what going? >> you know, things. life, whatnot. >> life is not whatnot, and it's none of your business. >> the john hughes scripts just jumped off the payable. they were funny, i remember reading "16 candles" in the back seat of my parents car, cracking up. you knew that you would be

entertained. and you knew that you would see some version of yourself or what you wanted yourself to be. >> my father will come home. he'll see what i did. i can't hide this. he'll come home, see what i did, and he'll have to deal with me. >> he even got deep, even with "ferris buehler's day off", he got deep, and matthew's character was the wise fool. but alan ruck was troubled by this father. that was moving. >> here we are. >> i want to dwrat ycongratulat for being on time. >> excuse me, sir, i think there's been a mistake. i know it's detention, but i don't think i belong in here. >> the "breakfast club" is the teenaged touchstone, knowing that people in other cliques don't really want to be your friend until you're locked in a room together. >> the first 20 minutes of "the

breakfast club" is pir fierfect making. the way it's structured. the way the characters are introduced. it still is my fafrtd favorite of the john hughes films. >> on monday what happens? >> are we still friends? we're friends now, that is? >> yeah. >> you want the truth? >> yeah, i want the truth. >> i don't think so. >> the picture was saying to adults, please listen to my being upset because someone doesn't lake mike me or i don't any friends or whatever. looks really insignificant to you, but it's really hurting me. >> it was so powerful, because people were talking about shit that they never talked about. kids were not talking about dark stuff at school and with their

peers. ♪ don't you forget about me >> there weren't a lot of movies that spoke to teenagers. and it's just really surprising. because who doesn't want to see this incredible period of time in a person's life where they're just changing so rapidly, and to see something that you relate to. i think that's really why the john hughes films are still so important. i just remember thinking, how does this grown-up know everything about all of us. it's like he looked inside of all of us.

♪ ♪ just take those old records off the shelf ♪ >> "risky business" really was everybody's intro to tom cruise. of course it wasn't just the underwear and dancing, but that certainly helped. >> are you ready for me? >> "risky business" really surprises people. they think it's a teen is sex comedy, because it really is literally about a guy who opens a brothel in his parents ahouse. >> for someone with that limited

resume to walk in and make the complex its of t complexity of the movie work, his all american boyness with the dark impulses, you think, that guy's going to be a huge star. ♪ highway to the danger zone >> what people don't realize about "top gun," we think of it as a ra, ra movie, he's wrestling with his dad's le it's about his decisions. >> you're some piece of work. >> i'm some piece of work. >> you're also a natural character. >> i've been telling her that. i've got natural character. >> that's not what i said, kid. i said you are a natural character. you are an incredible flake. >> tom cruise, had the old and

the new. this was the sequel to "the hustler." >> heavy legend action here. >> he's a hustler. what if he takes this young kid under his wing and corrupts him. and then he gets hustled. >> i showed you all i got. i showed you my ass in here. what the hell else do you want? >> tom cruise, he's terrific. newman finally gets an oscar for it. >> tom cruise has a very specific agenda in his career, to spend thele '80s working with the best directors he can find. so he's going to work with scorsese and levinson. >> you don't have to go to cincinnati to pick up boxing shorts. >> it's kmart. >> you hear me. i know you hear me. >> my boxer shorts. >> you don't fool me with this shit for a second. ray, did you [ bleep ] hear what i said? shut up! >> movie stars often need to prove over and over again they

can act. i think he really proved to the world he could act and then some. >> i like having you for my big brother. >> yeah. >> let me see some id. all right, you're ubnder arrest. >> the 1980s introduces us to the character of john rambo. but what people tend to forget, he was introduced in a way that was much more in line with '70s film making. >> if you look at the first "first blood "it is about how we let our veterans down. we create killers and turn them loose in america. that's a pretty heavy movie. and even for a sylvester st stallone movie, it shows that.

the second par threw all that out the window. >> do we get to win this time? n >> this time it's up to you. >> it was time to move past the perceived failures of the '60s and '70s. you can't rewrite history, but we can go back and bring back these p.o.w.s. >> stallone had become so devoted to having the perfectly chiselled, ultra muscled upper body, at the same time that arnold schwarzenegger suddenly became an unlikely action star in the '80s, too. >> i don't know if prior to 1980 anyone would have had a firm image of what their favorite actor looked like without their shirt off. if you closed your eyes and imagined jimmy stewart or john wayne without their shirt on, it's not especially essential to their image as actors.

>> it will be important for me to play something outside of that role and crazy for dustin who haveman hoffman to be terminator or rambo. >> there was a lot of ideas of returning to traditional notions of masculinity after the sensitive '70s, but these things go in cycles. and i think by the late '80s, we were ready for an action hero who was a little more sensitive. >> do you have a chance against us, mr. cowboy? >> yippy kai aye, mother [ bleep ]. >> it's a heist movie where the heist makes sense. you have john mcclain, who is is not a super hero, a regular new york cop, who is is nnot only of

his element but out of his shoes. >> i don't know what's like to throw a chair down an elevator shaft. >> you see myself. this person who is flawed but can overcome it, which i think is a narrative that we all have about ourselves. if push came to shove, i would show up. >> alan rickman's performance as hans gruber is one of the key movie performance of the '80s, because of the idea that the villain could be intellectual. it wasn't a beefy villain who beat up our hero but was a guy who our hero had to outthink. >> a lot of action stars think it's cool to show no fear. to me, that's not a courageous person, that's a stupid person. the courageous person is is tthe who has fear but goes through it anyway. it isn't the size of the

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-- - i'm tellin' you, i started coming here ten years ago, i would have been a millionaire by this time. by this time i'd have had my own boat, my own car.

my own golf course. >> one thing the '80s was about was gangster capitalism. >> oliver stone came into the '80s as well respected and well-paid screenwriter. this is a guy who are written "scar face" had a very alpha male voice and was making morally, sweaty, complicated films. >> say hello to my little friend! >> i thought it was excessive and cartoon-y until i started spending a lot of time in miami. after that, i thought it was a model of restraint. >> it really was a decade that was fueled by how much money can i make, and how can i display it best? >> the point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good.

greed is right. greed works. >> "wall street" is a movie about more than just gordon gecko. it's about a father and son with different world views, playing different roles in an ever-changing economy. >> he's using you, kid. he's got your prick in his back pocket, but you're too blind to see it. >> no, what i see is a jealous machinist who can't stand the fact that his son's become more successful than he is. >> you haven't had the guts to go out into the world and stake your own claim. >> the difference between wall street and main street. main street is martin sheen. main street are those people affected by the decisions made by wall street. >> oliver stone is a guy saying the purpose of film, the purpose of cinema is to make political commentary about our society.

and he made some very compelling films in the process. >> what happened today is just the beginning. we're going to lose this war. >> come on. you really think so? us? >> we've been kickin' other people's asses for so long, i figure it's time to get ours kicked. >> "platoon" had so much of that intensity, oliver stone said it was his experience going into the war as a patriotic kid and having his eyes opened to the horrors of war. and i think it maintains that gut punch. >> i hope people will see what the war is really like. once you see it, you have to think about it yourself, what you think about war, what it really is as opposed to the fantasy comic book stuff of "top gun".

t >> the tooud attitude of the '7 vietnam had completely screwed up the men coming home. >> i want to be treated like a human being! i fought for my country! i am vietnam veteran. >> there was atonement for that in the '80s. a second wave of pictures to honor the way these men had performed for their country. >> my father was a civilized man. a better word, yeah? civilized? >> very good word. >> yeah? my father was a civilized man, living in an uncivilized time. to be civilized was the first to die. >> "sophie's choice" is the

holocaust drama, because it doesn't touch on the details of the horror. it's more about the dramatic implications of it. >> i'm going to tell you something now i have never told anybody. >> i never worked with anyone who was that confident, who trusted her instinct so thoroughly. >> she learned polish and german just for the film. she lost weight. that encompasses why meryl is so great. >> and the winner is marvelous meryl streep. [cheers and applause] >> you could ask meryl to do anything. she can make anything work. >> somebody spike might urine sample container. >> who in. >> how do i know who? anybody could have done it. >> can you stay?

>> for a day or so. >> meryl, i could see that she worked from a very deep place. and what she was really focussed on was the truth of her character to the point she had to get the language and the sound of her voice perfect. and she was adamant and relentless in that pursuit. >> people marry. it's not revolutionary. there are some animals that mate for life. >> geese. >> you use the damn animals for your life, you wouldn't let me use them in mine. >> meryl streep in "out of africa." >> from a "cry in the dark", meryl streep. >> she ended up transcending the job of an actor and leapt into this other realm of becoming. she wasn't playing a woman with an australian accent. she was an australian mom. >> we're talking about my baby

daughter. not some object. >> most movie stars are not the greatest actors. and most great actors don't become great movie tars, but meryl streep was both. >> what does that mean to be a movie star in. >> uh, oh, it means, you know, katharine hepburn, betty davis, greta garbo. it doesn't mean me.

if you boys just turn right around, head on down that way, and you let us head on up there where the real fighting is. >> there are men dying up that road. >> and there wouldn't be nothing but rebs dying. >> people had no idea there were black is soldiers fighting in the civil war. >> you boys move on. >> stripes on an nigger, like tits on a bull. >> you'll obey and you'll like

it. >> "glory" stars matthew broderick, but it really belongs to denzel washington. he runs away because he needs shoes. and they do what they have to do. they whip him. >> proceed. >> he sits there, and he takes his beating like a man. he does not scream. he does not flinch. but there's a moment when a single tear comes down his face. that's the moment when denzel wins the oscar. >> the idea of american legacy and what it really means is brought home to people when they see that. >> in the '80s, you had some big, sweeping, stunning epics, that at the time were seen as the apotheosis of the movie form. these are substantial movies by great film makers. you have "the last emperor." and you have "ragtime". and there was gandhi which came

out in 1 t982. a lot of people were rooting for "e.t." to win. but fantasy and sci-fi don't usually win oscars. what wins oscars is epic. ♪ >> "amadeus" is genius. >> i composed on a melody of yours. >> oh, really? which one, i'm flattered? >> the protagonist in the movie is not mozart. it is actually deficient. he's not a great artist. he doesn't have great inspiration. he's jealous of mozart who does. >> shouldn't it be a bit more -- or this in this.

yes. ♪ >> the most intelligent and rational individual in the movie is the jealous figure, who isn't particularly talented. and the least rational and mature figure in the movie is the genius. >> when i saw "amadeus", there was humor, a liveliness, a nastiness to it. tom holsz is so fantastic. >> it gives us remarkable film makers. you see talent is there immediately. these directors are going on to have long careers. in some cases, they're making mall movies. but they get their start in the '80s. >> why don't you let me tape you in. >> doing what? >> talking. >> about what? >> about sex. your sexual history, sexual preferences. >> steven soderberg, "sex, lives

and videotape" is coming out for one of the most strategy film makers ever. >> why are you doing this to yourself? you going to answer me in. >> no, please, don't do that. >> why not? why not? i just want to ask you a few questions, like why do you tape women talking about sex? >> that was a great example of something very, very new and very, very low budget. it was so special. it was a point of view that we just hadn't seen before. >> to deal openly with voyeurism and sexual disfunction on-screen was stunning to people. and it was a trend-setter then, and it's a movie that mattered a lot. >> his first film was "blood simple." >> lover boy ought to lock the door. >> they knew that would be a great calling card. people would pay attention if

they had enough scares. >> they make intensely cool and creative films. it always kind of feels a little bit like they've adapted a book that no one's ever heard of. >> every hot hshot has been tho about, and it's shocking. all this time there's shocks in their movies, visceral shocks. and then moments of great humor. >> turn to the right. >> what's the matter, ed? >> my fiance left me. >> they is asked me to read "raising arizona". it was so funny. >> it's a masterpiece. the idea of taking that 100-mile-per-hour preston sturgis style of dialog and putting it in the mouths of

rednecks in arizona. >> you busted out of jail. >> no, ma'am, we released ourselves on our on recognizance. >> we felt the institution no longer had anything to offer us. >> "raising arizona" was like you didn't know you were able to do that. just the fact that this film is he hurdling along with banjos and yodelling. i still don't have the courage to have a sound track with banjos and yodelling. and that was their second film. >> there's these people who come along with the same equipment and same playing field, and to take that and make something completely different is a big deal. that's a triumph. ♪ >> comedy in the '80s, my

favorite niche is subject is tim burton. >> i was never scared by any horror movie ever. because i always liked them too much. know what i mean? things that scared me was like going to school or seeing my relatives. >> i loved tim burton, because he is the best thing you can be as a director. he's completely unique. you start noticing the black and white stripes on things and the vibe. and you think oh, i've really got something with this guy. >> "betelgeuse" and his basic idea was that the living people would be scary and the dead people would be kind of banal. >> i was lucky early on in my career to work with people who had come from comedy that were good at improv-ing. there's a whole different energy when people are there and there may be written things, and you start riffing and getting into it. he was great at that, like a pressure cooker.

>> "betelgeuse" is underrated. >> because it shouldn't work. like i don't know if it's a horror movie set in a comedy or a comedy that's a horror movie. i can't figure out the algorithm behind it, but it works. here, it all starts with a simple...

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what is going on here? has america gone mad for the movies in apparently, some of us have. they were buying bat shirts, bat hats, bat anything. and the movie hadn't even opened. >> what's new with tim burton's movie "batman" is that a mechanical marketing machine begins to tease this movie a year in advance. >> i'm finishing a movie and seeing a poster for it out there in the street. it kind of freaks me out. it's like, the movie's not done yet. >> for me, "batman" is the root of some of that imagery was more horror than it was like comic books. so i liked that about it, and i like the kind of split personality of the light and the

dark. for me t was my favorite of all comic book characters because of those reasons. >> visually, it's timeless. he consciously doesn't let you know where this is. it seems like the '40s. then all of a sudden there's like a car from the '70s. and he's just using everything. >> we were lucky the movie was made before there was any super hero hero shit going on. >> "batman" begat all of what we see now. it's taken over the movie business. >> you could have predicted some of the big money makers. "batman." "ghostbusters" 2. but who would have thought a movie about racism would be a national hit in >> mookie! >> what? >> how come your brother's up here on the wall? >> into the '80s, there was certainly a push to have more diversity on-screen, but

diversity on-screen doesn't necessarily mean diversity behind the camera, and you didn't really have a lot of black film makers who were getting a chance to make films. so you really do need spike leta point. >> don't start no shit, all right? >> "do the right thing" is one of the most important films in the history of cinema, certainly as it pertains to the representation of race. >> it was like a cultural hand grenade. someone set it off, and you just couldn't believe the things that were being said in that film. they were all under the surface, but they weren't said in that way. >> who's your favorite basketball player? >> magic johnson. >> who's your favorite movie star? >> eddie murphy. >> who's your favorite rock star? >> prince. >> bruce. >> prince. >> bruce. >> all you talk about is nigga this and nigga that.

>> it's such a time capsule. everyone's interacting, and it's funny. >> why don't you move back to massachusetts! >> i was born in brooklyn. >> it's creative. it's cultural, it's social. >> stay black! >> it's political, and it has this edge to it. it has this provocation as part of its core. >> get his arm, get his arm! >> that's enough! gary, that's enough, man. >> toward the end of the film, mookie is presented with this choice. a young black man has been murdered. do i retaliate, do i kick off this riot? and he wrestles with it for a split second, and he says black people don't ask him if mookie did the right thing. what mookie represents at the end of that movie is black rage. it was important, i think, for spike to say, this is where we

are. >> not enough people credit the maturity of what he did in terms of posing a question that he then did not answer. lots of people like to make films and button it up, making sure that you feel a certain way about a certain thing, and spike has always been determined to ask you a question it forces you into confrontation with your own feeling. >> the '80s was a time when so many new film makers got their start. the '80s was an incubator for new voices, new visionaries, new ideas. >> seize the day! >> cinema to me has always been an escape from whatever my life was at the time. >> what i really love in cinema is just to go and be swept away. >> it 's a different world. >> there's something really special about being in a movie. you can sit in the back and feel

everybody enjoying it. there's something really great about that. >> hey! >> this is why we love movies. we get to see portraits of people and how they deal with whatever the struggle is, to be a human being. >> snap out of it! >> the '80s was a great time for movies. comedies that had to do with real life, weren't over the top. dramas that took on tough subjects. there were genres that hadn't been explored in that way. >> but at the same time, there's just more overload on us. the aesthetic gravitated to bigger, faster and louder. >> it's the only medium where you can present both story and spectacle. only movies can do that. only movies can present the truth of human drama, and then

transport you to a place that can't be seen in real life. we are learning more about the victims and the heroes involved in the london terror attack. outrage in iraq as protesters clash with police as they celebrate the prime minister's promise to resign. also, wicked winter weather. parts of the u.s. getting pummeled on the busiest travel day of the year. and welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. live in atlanta, i'm michael holmes here at cnn world headquarters. cnn "newsroom" starts right