Movies by year: 1991

(Be warned, possible spoilers ahead)

1991 was an interesting year with interesting films. David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch weirded us all out, The Commitments grew to a crescendo and flew apart, The Silence Of The Lambs put the lotion on its skin, scissors freaked everyone out in Dead Again, Raul Julia and Angelica Huston perfectly embodied the heads of The Adams Family, and I saw Hugo Weaving for the first time in Proof (Russell Crowe too, but I didn't care about him). But I have an easy favourite for this year:

Packrat tendencies

I'm a packrat. And a clotheshorse. Some of my friends joke that I'm actually a hoarder.

But sometimes I suspect they're not really joking.

Movies by year: 1990

(Be warned: spoilers ahead)

In 1990 I moved away from home and off to school - and there were some notable movies that year too. Kevin Costner finally became a big deal in Dances With Wolves. Ron Silver made us wonder whether Claus von Bülow was really innocent or guilty in Reversal Of Fortune. Sean Connery was Scottish again as a Russian in The Hunt For Red October. Johnny Depp made all the girls cry (and a little boy sitting behind us in the theatre exclaimed, 'but he didn't do anything!') in Edward Scissorhands. Quade had a really bad day in Total Recall. And David Lynch gave us Wild At Heart, which is definitely not a date movie. And one more really interesting piece of film:

Movies by year: 1989

(No fooling, there are definitely spoilers ahead)

In 1989 there were some great movies. Heathers was a fantastic black comedy, introducing most of us to the sideshow that was Christian Slater. When Harry Met Sally had us all ordering "what she's having." Harrison Ford and Sean Connery brought us Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, wherein we learn the origin of Indy's name. Kevin Kline hunted The January Man while trying to get an espresso. Dead Calm gave me the heebie jeebies about being out on the ocean. Kenneth Branagh was outstanding in Henry V. Leningrad Cowboys Go America had the Russian brothers with the big hair and pointy shoes touring the midwest. And Shirley Valentine discovered that "boat is boat, fuck is fuck." I could have written about any of these really, but I chose:

Movies by year: 1988

(Don't call me stupid - I'm warning you now about spoilers!)

1988 was a pretty good year, I have a lot of good memories from that time of my life. Including movies!

Dangerous Liaisons was a tightly-woven tapestry of sexual intrigue and one-upmanship in the 1700s - John Malkovich was hypnotic. Beetlejuice warned us that, when you die but you don't go away, you really should just read the manual and not turn to shysters in stripey pants. The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey was out of left field - The Black Death is coming to a 14th century Cumbrian village, and their only hope is to install a new cross on the biggest church in the world - which they find by digging downward and ending up in 20th century New Zealand. Terry Gilliam brought us The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen, a weird (of course) tale of a distracted hero who may or may not be just a senile actor. Willow was tasked with protecting Elora Dennan from the evils of the world, with the help of some great stop-motion animation. And Young Einstein proffered the theory that Albert Einstein was, in fact, from Tasmania (amazing soundtrack).

My choice?

Movies by year: 1987

(Telling the truth can be dangerous business - look out for spoilers!)

The pickings were a little slimmer in 1987, but there were a few standouts. Let's be clear though, Overboard was not one of them - I just love it anyway, it's goofy and stupid. But there were better movies that year - The Hidden, for example, was a cop movie with an interstellar twist. Less Than Zero was a lesson in the dangers of excess. The Princess Bride taught us that not even death can stand in the way of true love. The Untouchables was a fantastic star-studded gangster flick of epic proportions. And Withnail And I told the simple story of two out-of-work actors going on holiday by mistake - and introduced me to both Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann, the latter of whom set up shop in my heart and has never left.

I was pretty sure I was going to write about W&I actually, but then I realized I had to make sure one very important one was not forgotten: