Reds: One of My Ten Favorite Movies From the 80s

I actually saw this movie in HBO! And it blew me away because it was so courageous of Warren Beatty to make a movie of this scope and range and topic in the early 80s! And he looks so ravagingly handsome here! Dianne Keaton and Jack Nicholson are also fantastic here. I saw some of Warren Beatty's later work but I realized now that this movie was one of his best!

Tootsie: One of My Ten Favorite Movies from the 80s

I was still 11 years old when I saw this movie and at that age, I didn't quite understand the ramifications of what Dustin Hoffman had to do but when I saw it again when I was in college (you'd have to understand that we were too poor to even have betamax in the house, or a decent TV at that!), I was laughing and appreciating already how funny and beautiful the script was - and the lengths that Dustin's character had to go through to get work and be appreciated for his craft! And he did look and sound convincing as a woman!

Dangerous Liaisons: One of My Ten Favorite Movies of the 80s

I still don't understand why Glenn Close did not get the Oscar at this point of her career. She was just soooo good here! And this movie introduced me to two fantastic actresses, Uma Thurman, and Michelle Pfeiffer, who I think, also got an Oscar nomination here. I just love the costumes here and the duplicity and the mind games and the sex games - it's a very wonderfully written script - taut and gripping!

Moonstruck - One of My Ten Favorite Movies From the 80s

This is not the first movie I saw of Cher. It was actually Mask, where she gave another fantastic performance. Here though, she is impeccable in all her scenes! The scene where she kicks the Coke is particularly memorable. All the other characters here shine especially how the Italian-American culture is portrayed. How I wish a Filipino-American movie could also be made and become more mainstream so that middle America can appreciate where we come from too!

Dead Poets' Society: One of My Ten Favorite Movies From the 80s

Carpe diem! Who can ever forget Robin Williams fantastic performance here as the inspirational teacher? I too was inspired by how he handled his class and this movie was particularly important for me since I was in the 'suicidal' phase of my life when I saw this movie! I practically understood why the guy here committed suicide. None of my classmates who watched this with me, could relate to it. Because I could relate to the suicide act, I was really shaken by it since I knew I was this close to killing myself too (and that was in real life! - this is just a movie!) In a way, this movie showed me another way out of my 'misery' at that time. Thanks again to Peter Weir!

Mississippi Burning: One of My Ten Favorite Movies From the 80s

Mississippi Burning is one of the most powerful movies about racism that I saw when I was young. I think I was still too young to appreciate Roots when it was shown, but when this movie was shown, I could already understand the racial divide that America had to go through during those turbulent times. Gene Hackman is superb here - although I'm not sure if he got an Oscar for this - but I was really cheering for his character to nail the bad guys.

Working Girl: One of My Ten Favorite Movies from the 80s

Working Girl is one of my favorite comedies from that decade! It's funny and you really root for the Tess, the role played by Melanie Griffith. I discovered Joan Cusack here and realized what a great comedic actress she is. Sigourney Weaver is here too as the bitch-y boss and again, Harrison Ford! The Academy, again, snubbed him here. Porque? If I feel down and out - I just pop this movie in to make me feel good again!

Witness: One of My Ten Favorite Movies of the 80s

This classic is probably the best acted work by Harrison Ford, I don't know why the Academy still did not nominate him for it. Peter Weir also does a fantastic job here showing the Amish community and juxtaposing it with a murder of a police officer - by a police officer. One of the best police corruption movies done by Hollywood!

Accidental Tourist: One of My Ten Favorite Movies of the 80s

I just love this movie! I like movies where the most unlikely characters end up with each other - and this movie is one of them. William Hurt, Kathleen Turner and Geena Davis, who won an Oscar for this role, were topnotch in their portrayals here. And the family of William Hurt's character is so quirky and interesting!

Fatal Attraction: One of My Ten Favorite Movies From the 80s

Fatal Attraction is probably the most terrifying non-horror movie Hollywood has ever released! I watched this movie in college already since when it was shown one year later here in the Philippines. Movie distribution in the 80s was not like what it is today. Glenn Close should've won an Oscar for this role but well, she may get it next year though, in Albert Nobbs. Her famous line, "I don't want to be ignored", surely did chills down the spines of many an errant husband.