sex, lies, and videotape (1989)

1989 | USA | Steven Soderbergh | ★★★★★

Steven Soderbergh's impeccably crafted sex, lies, and videotape is an intimate, appropriately titled feature, comprised of beautifully shot, elegantly edited scenes of discomfortingly seductive human drama, revolving around the mesmeric James Spader and the radiant Andie MacDowell.

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"With smoldering sensuality and biting humor, the surprising relationship between the three title subjects is revealed in sex, lies, and videotape, the most-talked about erotic comedy of the decade. James Spader ran away with the Best Actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his brilliantly understated and seductive performance as Graham, a long-lost college friend who drifts back into town and into the lives of John,a self-involved philanderer, his angelic wife Ann, and her saucy sister Cynthia. One by one, each is drawn into the very 'personal project' Graham is working on, leaving the relationships between them forever transformed." Sony Pictures

See also:

Stotty's 1980s Favourites

The 'burbs (1989)

1989 | USA | Joe Dante | ★★★★★

Joe Dante's The 'burbs is a consistently hilarious, hugely entertaining social satire, featuring a wealth of wonderful comic detail, great performances, unforgettable dialogue, and an ending that is simultaneously both utterly, breathtakingly brilliant and a  colossal cowardly cop-out.

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"Family man Ray Peterson (Tom Hanks) is looking forward to a week of putting his feet up at home in the quiet, leafy cul-de-sac of Mayfield Place. But his plans are scuppered by the arrival of new next-door neighbours, The Klopeks, whose behaviour and habits are more than just a little kooky. But things go from kooky to downright sinister when local old boy Walter disappears, leading Ray and his buddies to suspect their new neighbours of killing and eating him! Sure, the Klopeks are a strange bunch what with their digging up the backyard in the middle of the night but they re not devil-worshipping cannibal killers... are they?" Arrow Video

See also:

Stotty's 1980s Favourites

Cheers (1982-93)

1982-93 | USA | James Burrows, Glen Charles, & Les Charles | ★★★★★

Set in a lively Boston bar owned by a former sportsman, James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles's rightly venerated Cheers is a consistently warm and witty sitcom, packed with memorable episodes, cracking dialogue, and decidedly loveable characters.

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"Laid-back Sam Malone, a former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, owns and runs Cheers, a cozy bar in Boston. He hires smart, uptight -- and jilted -- Diane Chambers as a server, out of sympathy, but their attraction causes constant bickering. Wacky characters fill the bar: sarcastic waitress Carla, beer-loving accountant Norm, know-it-all postman Cliff. When Diane leaves Boston much later, Sam sells the bar, buys a boat and sails the world, but his boat sinks, so he returns. New, ambitious manager Rebecca Howe hires him back, but they love to hate each other too." IMDb

See also:

Stotty's 1980s Favourites