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Welcome to IndieWire ’80s Week

An encyclopedic series on ’80s film bursting with meticulous lists, rare interviews, deep-cut essays, and more.

Exhaustive pieces on a decade of cinematic excess.


IndieWire's '80s Week
’80s week: From “Paris, Texas” to “A City of Sadness,” and from “Blue Velvet” to “The Green Ray,” these are the films that defined the 1980s.
The Sundance Film Festival
’80s Week: While “Star Wars” put franchises front and center, Redford had different plans for American cinema.
The films of Susan Seidelman
’80s Week: “I wanted to tell stories about people who I wanted to watch on screen,” the “Smithereens” and “Desperately Seeking Susan” director tells IndieWire.
"Chariots of Fire," "Round Robin"
’80s Week: It was a decade of synths and sad jazz, of legends reaching the height of their powers, and of newcomers from other disciplines becoming cinematic virtuosos in their own right.
After Hours
’80s Week: “Fear, paranoia, terrible situations” plague Griffin Dunne’s fraying Paul Hackett in Scorsese’s 1985 screwball nightmare. The film’s star and its producer Amy Robinson tell us why it remains so influential.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
‘80s Week: Giacchino tells IndieWire how “Raiders” sparked his love of movies as an adolescent and how Williams’ rousing score taught him all the musical tricks of the craft.
"Blade Runner," "Tron"
’80s Week: After Hollywood’s years of experimenting with electronic music, a new invention changed the sound of cinema.
streets of fire
’80s Week: Walter Hill’s “rock & roll fable” was a box office bomb, but four decades on, it’s finally getting the recognition it’s always deserved.
IndieWire's '80s Week
’80s Week: It’s a decade that boasts iconic performances, indelible breakouts, and the best work of some talents who only ever churn out top-tier work.
"Fatal Attraction"
’80s Week: Adrian Lyne’s genre classic is also a cautionary tale about modern feminism, the femme fatale trope, and how little things change.
"The Unbelievable Truth"
‘80s Week: “I was going to have to rely on the thing that I felt most confident about, and which, in fact, is the cheapest: words,” remembers the “Henry Fool” director.
"Buddies"
’80s Week: The film’s only living star, David Schachter, tells IndieWire how pornographer-turned-activist filmmaker Arthur J. Bressan Jr.’s microbudget 1985 indie was the first to tell the story of AIDS from a gay-specific perspective.
IndieWire's '80s Week
‘80s Week: Game-changing as “Akira” and “My Neighbor Totoro” may have been, these are the films that tell the real story of the decade that changed everything for anime.
my brother's wedding
’80s Week: “I thought that if it was cut right, then we could’ve had a story that really spoke to what was going on in the community,” the filmmaker told IndieWire of his second feature.
Garrett Brown, inventor of the Steadicam, on the set of Stanley Kubrick film The Shining
’80s Week: Garrett Brown, Stanley Kubrick, and the decade when Steadicam forever altered the language of camera movement. 
revenge of the nerds, vampire's kiss, sixteen candles, breakfast club
’80s Week: Star Molly Ringwald has reflected on the legacy of her John Hughes classics, but how did an entire decade decide to make fun of consensual sex?
IndieWire's '80s Week
Do you love the cinema of the ’80s? So do dozens of your favorite directors, writers, producers, and stars, all of whom shared their lists with IndieWire.
The color of money
’80s Week: How the greatest director of his generation came back from near-defeat with the help of cinematographer Michael Ballhaus.
Gary Goetzman
’80s Week: Asked what “Stop Making Sense” looks like on IMAX ahead of A24’s upcoming re-release, Goetzman replied: “The big suit… is REALLY big.”
"Pumpkinhead," "Prince of Darkness," "Vamp," and "Christine"
From “Pumpkinhead” and “Christine” to “Inferno” and “Bad Taste,” these are 10 of the most underrated horror movies made between 1980 and 1989 — when “Halloween,” “Friday the 13th,” and “Evil Dead” first reigned.

Schedule

Keep an eye on this space. As stories go live, find them here.


From the Archive: IndieWire ’90s Week

Check out our unfettered celebration on the decade that every millennial will always think of as “10 years ago.”


Chloë Sevigny in the Last Days of Disco
’90s Week: Chloë Sevigny reflects on defining the American film scene of the decade, what she loved about it, and why she wasn’t crushed to let it go.
THE CELEBRATION, (aka DOGME #1 - FESTEN), Henning Moritzen, Birthe Neumann, 1998. ©October Films/courtesy Everett Collection
’90s Week: Even though it was kind of a joke, these gritty digital video undertakings were essential challenges to commercial cinema.
Bill Duke, Deep Cover, Sister Act 2
’90s Week: The iconic actor and director on the leaps of faith that made him one of the most vital Hollywood filmmakers of the decade.
IndieWire's '80s Week
’90s Week: From Julia Roberts to Meg Ryan, the rom-com never would have worked without the stars that brought it to life.
"Malcolm X"
’90s Week: The filmmaker tells IndieWire how he poured everything he had learned about cinema, politics, behavior and culture into one 201-minute Molotov cocktail of epic filmmaking.
The 20 best needle drops of the 90s: goodfellas rushmore chungking express reservoir dogs beau travail Fucking Åmål
’90s Week: From “Belly” to “Beau Travail,” “Clueless” to “Chungking Express,” these are the decade’s best soundtrack cues.
IndieWire's '80s Week
’90s Week: From “Paris Is Burning” to “Boys Don’t Cry,” the history of independent film is the history of queer film.
Gregg Araki Andrew Ahn
’90s Week: “Fire Island” filmmaker Andrew Ahn interviews the ’90s icon about his Teenage Apocalypse trilogy and the punk DIY aesthetic of indie filmmaking.
IndieWire's '80s Week
’90s Week: The actress was just 14 when she won an Indie Spirit for her iconic role, and she tells IndieWire how it changed her life forever.
HERCULES, Philoctetes (voice: Danny DeVito), Hercules (voice: Tate Donovan), Pegasus,  1997. © Buena Vista Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection
’90s Week: Ron Clements and John Musker’s animated reimagining of the Greek myth needed to be a major hit, but its box office disappointment obscures its many enduring strengths.
Best Movie Soundtracks 90s
’90s Week: The best music from a movie decade that was as exciting to listen to as it was to watch.
IndieWire's '80s Week
’90s Week: The 1997 sci-fi horror film flopped in theaters and with critics. On its 25th anniversary, the director tells us about the one thing that made audiences take a second look.
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