1980, films of the year

great follow up after starwars, not directed by lucas so maybe thats why its so dark, great continuing story, and a ending that has a great twist, which is still up there today as one of the best,

victorian england, london, freaks shows are everywhere, and one person john merick, is performing as part of a freak show, his condition, is of being so disfigured on his head and body he is known as the elephant man, anthony hopkins a local dr and teacher of medicine takes intererest in the man and takes him in at the hospital, t be studied and to lead a more stress free life, once there, he is welcomed but with much curiosity, frm not just the staff, but society in london, bad elements also come into play, a worker at hospital takes advantage by charging for showings from his very room, john sees hes basically swapped one bad home for another, but also enjoys many chats from very inportant people, and his comfort, something hes never experienced, this could work out for him, but are there tooo many bad elements in place,
from director david lynch this film looks fantastic, shot in black and white, it shows and portrays victorian london in a terrific light, some haunting images, especialy johns dream sequences, of rampaging elephants, quite eery. the score is also worth mentioning, as there quite modern sounds and piecse going on, it adds up well, anthony hopkins, who i never realised was in this is reliable and great to watch, and of course john hurt, undergoing over 7 hours of make up, it would amount to nothing if his acting wasent up to scratch, and some scenes he gets here, where his charactor is thriled at new lifeand meeting people, or the terror faced by new enemys is superb, portraying a gentle and intelligent man, with a major illness, the ending will also stick in your mind for a long time, when merrick takes action, heartbreaking and stunning, superb, as this is based on a true story, a must watch, and just great film making

deniro is superb here as jake le motta, and possibly best performance ever, not just by deniro but any actor, perfectly capturing his stages in life, from his prime as a middleweight fighter, living in bronx, and resisting temptation to tangle with local mob, to his later years in miami, where hes gained 60 pounds and is a mess, this isnt just a sports movie, actually boxing scenes only make up a very short time, but more a study of a man on edge, his life with family and brother, exellently played by joe pesci, and the demons he has floating around, superbly directed by scorsese, amazing black and white, and great technics especially while in the ring, and edited superbly by thelma schoonmaker, a superb watch

not a gag a minute, much more than that, every frame, filled with gags, superb dialogue, very funny dialogue, and dont call me shirley

stanley kubrick steers away from main point of stephens kings novel, and makes it his own, a typical kubrick film, and in nicholson a superb manic and deranged performance. the film looks superb, kubrick as usuall giving his look depth, everything looks massive in kubrick films, from rooms to scenery, and this film is no diferent, this film is also the first to use the steadycam, a great tool for filming and here put to great afect, going round the hotel with a spooky feel, thestory is always great to watch,not really gory, but very spooky.