>> what do you stand for? >> robinson apparently tired and rocked jake lamotta. >> a director, an actor find a story at the right time in the right place. out comes this amazing combination of cinematic verility and absolute fear. it's like watching an animal. >> i think "raging bull" is a great title. the film fulfills the promise. the reality of the boxing and the great slow motion and all of the black and white gore and the flashbulbs. when he designed the movie, mardi didn't put a clutch on the film. there's no clutch. >> hey, never got down. he never got me down. >> "raging bull" is a boxing movie for people who don't like boxing. it's not about that. it's about this man, jake lamotta, based on a real person who is at war with himself. >> harder. harder. >> i didn't understand boxing. the character was interesting. he was just so contraire as they say. evers just so difficult. >> what are you trying to prove? what does it prove? >> bob de niro, he's not afraid of the negative characters, he's not afraid to go, as they say, those places. >> i was down to 152. in my prime then i went up to 212, so i gained 60 pounds. that's not easy. first 15 pounds, it's fun. then it's drudgery. >> go get 'em, champ. >> it's absolutely true that the movies of 1980 look like movies of the 1970s. very personal, very passionate filmmaking rules. and then you had "ordinary people," which was the movie that defeated "raging bull" for best picture in 1980. >> do it. >> this incredibly precise and very emotional study of a family in deep crisis. >> give me the camera. >> i didn't get it yet. >> give her the camera. >> i want a really good picture of the two of you. okay? >> no, but i really want a shot of the three men. give me the camera. >> not until i get a picture of the two of you. >> hal. >> hang on a second. >> give her the goddamn camera. >> it centers on people who cannot get in touch with their feelings and who avoid the darker underpinnings. so i'd like to tell a story about what people will do to avoid being seen for who they really are. i gave mary tyler moore the script. i said, look, i could see you playing this. she was drawn to it and that really hit me because that told me that there was some part of herself she was willing to expose that had been not exposed before. and she wanted that chance. and so she was given that chance and she did a great job. >> that moment where mary tyler moore comes downstairs and she asks her husband what's wrong. >> i don't know if i love you anymore. >> she goes upstairs and she's -- there's something so moving to me about somebody who is so deeply repressed cracking open. >> that's where the dam breaks. she gets hit by some truth that she can't articulate. she's so taken back, she can't adjust. she can't take it in. that's what that moment was about. >> then you look at some of these films of the 1980s, like "ordinary people." and "blue velvet." those films are explicitly about how things look are not the way they really are. you have to understand, this was when ronald reagan became president. and the idea was that after all sorts of traumas, particularly watergate and vietnam, we healed. but as the republican pronouncement is, we're good again, our movies are telling us, no, we're not. no, we are not. >> wendy, i'm home. >> i play this game. all your favorite filmmakers, alive or dead, were opening a movie on the same day, which movie would you see first? and for me it would be stanley kubrick because you are going to see something you never saw before. and he did that in -- think about it -- every genre. he's going to make a horror movie. it's going to be the horror movie done in a way that you would not expect. >> to me "the shining" isn't about horror. it's about dread. from the very first frame, something grabs your solar plexus and pulls on it. nobody uses silence like stanley kubrick. >> ma. >> it was as if i had been in the overlook hotel for 2 half hours. he creates a pacing where it overtakes the way you are breathing and the way you are existing and you are in there. in all kubrick films, he controls you. >> kubrick steady cam work in "the shining" broke new ground. it gave stanley a chance to put us in a scene that didn't have any time constraints. you get so hypnotized being behind that tricycle. you don't even see his face. you are behind it. which leads to one of the scariest shots in the movie. >> hello, danny. >> hello, danny. come and play with us. fantastic. >> united artists was betting $40 million on its new movie "heaven's gate." but after two years of preparation, the movie has been yanked from american theaters after one day. >> took almost a year to complete. the director whose "deer hunter" film was a great success, his producer said he was out of control. the result, a 3 1/2-hour bomb. >> "heaven's gate" is a stake through the heart. it's a cautionary tale able to say, no, no, the studio will step in here. this is not going to be another "heaven's gate" and that's how you get the movies of the 1980s. ♪ >> you knew where you were when you first saw "the empire strikes back" because it was the "star wars" movie that took the whole thing to another level. "star wars" was huge. but "empire strikes back" was phenomenal. these established characters, you saw them intermix in a way you hadn't in the previous film. this is a budding romance between solo and princess leia. >> i love you. >> i know. >> luke is transitioning into wanting to become a jedi knight. >> i saw it as this is the good act because in classical dramatic philosophy, you set the thing up in the first act. in the second act, your heroes are put in a position that is unresolvable. they are put in enormous jeopardy. you don't know how it's going to work out. that is always the most interesting part of the story to tell. >> obi-wan never told you what happened to your father. >> he told me enough. he told me you killed him. >> when we actually started work, it was just me and george in the office and george says to me, you know, darth vader is luke's father. >> i am your father. >> no shit. >> no! >> it was about fathers and sons, about good and evil personified. >> it is your destiny. >> i thought that made the whole saga better instantly. to all the kisses... ...that led... ...to this one. celebrate every kiss, with kay. trelegy for copd. ♪ birds flyin' high ♪ ♪ you know how i feel ♪ (coughing) ♪ breeze driftin' on by ♪ ♪ you know how i feel ♪ copd may have gotten you here, but you decide what's next. start a new day with trelegy. ♪ ...feelin' good ♪ no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. it also helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. take a stand and start a new day with trelegy. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. and save at trelegy.com. 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[echoing] get a quote today. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ there's a different way to treat hiv. it's once-monthly injectable cabenuva. cabenuva is the only once-a-month, complete hiv treatment for adults who are undetectable. cabenuva helps keep me undetectable. it's two injections, given by a healthcare provider once a month. hiv pills aren't on my mind. i love being able to pick up and go. don't receive cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients or taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. serious side effects include allergic reactions post-injection reactions, liver problems,...and depression. if you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms, stop cabenuva and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have liver problems or mental health concerns, and if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. some of the most common side effects include injection site reactions, fever, and tiredness. if you switch to cabenuva, attend all treatment appointments. with once-a-month cabenuva, i'm good to go. ask your doctor about once-monthly cabenuva. four of the biggest money-making films of recent times have come from two young, gifted filmmakers, george lucas and steven spielberg. they're friends as well so it was inevitable they would joint talent. they have in an adventure film to be released this week. ♪ >> george says, i have something called "raiders of the lost ark." it's an idea i have for a movie, but he told me about the story of this sort of marauding adventurer archaeologist with the hat and whip. i committed to the movie based on a story george told me. then larry george and i sat around for three days and just basically made up the story from beginning to end. >> there is a line in "raiders" that means a lot there just buried in the middle of a big action sequence. they have lost control of the arc of the covenant, and indy says, i will get it back. his friend says, how are you going to do it? >> i don't know. i'm making this up as i go. >> that to me was what life was like. we just make it up as we go. indiana jones is very good at that. >> we came up with an idea, like a truck chase. then we figured, how do we get the truck chase in the movie? we had these big kind of subjects. then we reverse engineered in order for it to earn its place in the story. >> spielberg is a master of staging. even when they're moving fast and cutting very quickly, you always know the lay of the land. >> he can create suspense out of details big and small. there's always the action that the audience can see but the characters can't see. the audience is aware that not only is indy maybe going to get beaten to death by this enormous nazi, but also the whole thing might blow up. >> you wonder why your blood gets up when you watch them. it's craftsmanship and art. ♪ >> everybody in this town is talking about steven spielberg's latest film "e.t.." i was there at 12 noon and there were thousands of people in the street waiting to get in. >> the wait is hours long in chicago. days long in los angeles. >> "e.t." has become the movie industry's biggest moneymaker ever. >> i had the story i was going to write about how the divorce between my mom and dad affected me and my three sisters. and so i combined that with one about an alien who is divorced from his own species and is lost 3 million light-years from home. >> i don't like his feet. >> can you imagine if that film didn't have those kids, every one of them? henry thomas, drew barrymore, robert macnaughton. that's the secret sauce to that movie. >> i just want to say good-bye. >> all the kids have fallen in love with e.t. and i like to think e.t. had fallen in love with all of them and that good-bye scene was genuine. those tears were real. >> be good. >> yes. >> steven spielberg movies, they are big blockbusters but they are personal stories. they are small stories told against a giant canvas. >> they're here. >> in the 1980s i really felt i was speaking to myself loving escapism. "poltergeist" was about all the things that scared me. i had a tree that scared me when i was a kid that used to scare the hell out of me. what happens? a tree grabs the kid. when i made stories about kids, one final adventure is "the goonies" and discovers the riches to save their parents' homes. suburban stories about gremlins running around and tearing things up. loving stories that were bizarre. >> everybody has dreams or thoughts, fantasies of going back in time somewhere and bob zemeckis put it together for the modern age. >> are you telling me you built a time machine out of a delorean? >> the way i see it, if you are going to build a time machine, why not do it with style? >> it was a mystery it was as big a hit as it was when it came out but what the real mystery is is that it endured for decades. >> saturday night we're sending you back to the future. >> a simple idea, which is what would it be like to see your parents when they were younger is something that obviously is multi-generational. >> you smoke, too? >> marty, you're beginning to sound just like my mother. >> the only thing weird about the story, it's going back in time and meeting his mother and she falls in love with the son she doesn't have yet. that's pretty kinky to me. >> that's a big bruise you have there. >> ah! >> but they pulled it off. >> i was exhausted at the end of "back to the future" and then he makes "who framed roger rabbit?" it's like he tripled it. >> you are under arrest. >> there's a scene where donald ducky and daffy duck are having a piano duel. at the same time penguins are serving drinks. and if you look at the making of that individual scene, it's utter and complete total chaos. there's real actors pretending to be drinking. there's trading moving around on these iron rods. >> that was a hard movie. that is ignorance is bliss category that that movie should fall into. it's a movie that no sane person would ever attempt to make. >> i love playing villains. i was a kid when the first walt disney films came out and there are dark moments that scare the hell out of me. it's payback. >> remember me? when i killed your brother, i talked. just like this! >> i got some moments in there that will be in their worst nightmares for the rest of their lives. >> the trick to making that blend of live action animation is that the live action actor has to believe it. bob always believed the rabbit was there. it is an amazing performance. i mean it's really one that actors should study. >> because it was made before a lot of cgi existed, it was old-school moviemaking with physical special effects. "who framed roger rabbit?" is the most complicated movie ever made. >> don't tell me you lost your sense of humor already. >> does this answer your question? because you're forever connected by love... two touching center diamonds, representing the connection you share. forever connected. the perfect gift to give this holiday. exclusively at kay. small businesses like yours make gift-giving possible. now, comcast business has an exclusive gift for you. introducing the gift of savings sale. for a limited time, ask how to get a great deal for your business. and get up to a $500 prepaid card with select bundles when you switch to the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses. or get started with internet and voice for $64.99 per month with a 2-year price guarantee. give your business the gift of savings today. comcast business. powering possibilities. >> one of the really great films of the '80s is "the verdict" by david mamet and beautifully told by sidney lumet paul newman plays a kind of washed up lawyer who is an alcoholic ambulance chaser. what makes it unique is even when its movie stars, big movie stars, he manages to bring them down in the case of "the verdict" to the boston streets. you can see the stars in the movie, but they have not turned the movie into something glamorous but on the opposite have entered the drudge and reality that he is painting. >> i should have never taken it. there was no way i could win. >> newman did what he was asked to do, and he was asked to be the leading man and be charming and funny. when he does "the verdict," it makes you cry. newman shows you what he is made of as an actor. >> i think you are making a big mistake. i think i ought to reconsider. i think you ought to give the principaling back together again. >> to see that scene where he is calling the insurance company to rekindle the deal he turned down. >> okay. no, no. i understand. >> it's really one of the greatest pieces of acting i've ever seen in my life, no cuts. i mean, lumet just goes, here we go. >> how is your life? >> great. how is yours? >> not so great. >> oh. we're telling the truth? >> "the big chill" is about kids in college together in the late '60s and now are now no longer anti-establishment but actually are part of the establishment and trying to reconcile that history with their present. >> movies aren't being made for adults. that's all "the big chill" is. really it's an adult film and it tries to be as complex as life is. >> i had wanted to make a movie about something i was observing among my friends. just imagine the power we had when we came out of college that was nonexistent. ♪ >> when it came out, i thought, this will be for this generation, children of the '60s, this will be very relevant. then i would meet kids in high school, ten years after the movie came out, love that movie. ♪ don't you go ♪ it's about friendship. it's also about growing up. there's something in its essence that's timeless and universal. >> i'm marrying flap horton tomorrow. i thank god for flap for getting me out of here and if this is your attitude you shouldn't bother showing up at my wedding. >> that's right. i think you are right. the hypocrisy was bothering me, too. >> "terms of endearment" based on a book by larry mcmurtry adapted and directed by james l. brooks. it made you cry. it made you laugh. it was the stuff of life. shirley maclaine plays aurora, gets involved with an astronaut played by jack nicholson. >> fly me to the moon. >> they just had this incredible comic chemistry. the romantic scenes between them are hilarious. >> it's not my fault. but i'm sorry. >> you wanted to get me on my back, you just had to ask me. >> "terms of endearment" may be the first dramedy. you know, it's a word we hear all the time. a movie that's funny and tragic simultaneously. >> it's time for her shot. do you understand? do something. all she has to do is hold out until 10:00. it's past 10:00. my daughter is in pain. give her the shot. do you understand? give me daughter the shot! thank you very much. >> james brooks was able to take humor, tragedy, the best writing, delivered beautifully by actors that cared so much. it felt like life. it felt human. it felt funny. >> the winner is "terms of endearment." >> jim was into the delicate shades of humanity before it was cool. >> oh, well, that was a long time ago. people change. >> i hope you changed. >> yeah, i hope you have to. >> i hope so for yours. >> and yours. >> you've left something to be desired, namely a personality. >> you look at woody's career in the '80s which theoretically should have been past his prime. which, how can you go on after " "manhattan." wait a minute. there's "zelig." there's "purple rose of cairo." when i the times you get to "crimes and misdemeanors" woody allen has expanded his sensibility. it's an ensemble piece. it's got some humor in it and it's got some satire in it but he is not trying to get a laugh every second. >> it's a wonderful moral conundrum from a very original standpoint. i think that's why it holds. >> you told me over and over you would leave miriam. we made plans. >> no, i didn't. >> you did. i gave up things for you, business opportunities. >> pipe dreams. >> "crimes and misdemeanors" is two parallel stories. one of which is a very traditional woody allen and mia farrow relationship joke fest and the other one, which is a serious examination of literal life and death themes. >> a guy is having an affair. and she's threatening to tell his wife and threatening to disrupt his world. so he has a hit man kill her. >> i had a woman killed. and i thought i was going to go to hell and nothing happened. woody is constantly getting shit on by life and he's just doing the right thing. >> you look very deep in thought. >> i was plotting the perfect murder. >> his writing is very strong for that reason. it always feels like he was thinking about some philosophical truth about human nature. and says, oh, i want to write a movie about that. >> i'm talking about reality. if you want a happy ending, you should go see a hollywood movie. >> you realize, of course, we could never be friends. >> why not? >> what i'm saying is -- this is not a come on in any way, shape or form. is that men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way. >> nora ephron wrote "when harry met sally." and she got a lot of help from reiner creating the neurotic main character. that's because he was based on rob reiner. >> every scene has to be good. you work and work and work. you torture yourself. rewriting the script. >> i had known nora. and i pitched this idea for this film about the dance that people go through to get together after they have both gotten out of long-term relationships. and they become friends and does sex come into the picture? and if it does, does it ruin the friendship? and she said, well, that's i would be interested in. >> he rips off my clothes. >> then what? >> that's it. >> that's it? a faceless guy rips off your clothes and that's the sex fantasy you have been having since you were 12? exactly the same? >> well, sometimes i vary it a little. >> which part? >> what i'm wearing. >> a good romantic comedy is, listen, you know they're going to be together so how do you get them there? what's the roadblocks? it's all about the story. it's all about the people. do you care about them? do you want them to be together? are you seeing what they're not seeing? >> it's just that all men are sure it never happened to them and most women have happened it so you do the math. >> you don't think i could tell the difference? >> no. >> get out of here. >> in the deli scene, when we first did it, meg was rightfully a little nervous bit. you got crew member, extra, people standing around. >> ooh. >> are you okay? >> oh. >> rob says, here is what i want. he proceeds to have an orgasm that mighty joe young would be jealous of. yes, yes, i'm pounding the table. >> yes, yes, yes. ah, ah. >> and i realize, because my mother is sitting -- i'm having an orgasm in front of my mother. >> i'll have what she's having. ♪ ♪ i had a dream that someday ♪ ♪ i would just fly, fly away ♪ ♪ ♪ discover a world of giving with ralph lauren fragrances. snacking can mean that pieces get stuck under mike's denture. but super poligrip gives him a tight seal. to help block out food particles. so he can enjoy the game. super poligrip. ♪"you are the reason" by calum scott♪ to all the kisses... ...that led... ...to this one. celebrate every kiss, with kay. ♪ i see trees of green ♪ ♪ red roses too ♪ ♪ i see them bloom ♪ ♪ for me and you ♪ ♪ and i think to myself ♪ ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ a rich life is about more than just money. that's why at vanguard, you're more than just an investor, you're an owner so you can build a future for those you love. vanguard. become an owner. ♪ it's part of a trilogy, a musical trilogy i'm doing in "d" minor, which i always find is the saddest of all keys. i don't know why, but it makes people weep instantly to play it. >> what do you call this? >> this piece is called lick my love pump. >> the idea was we were going to do a mock documentary. we were going to make a satire of a rock 'n' roll band on tour. we basically had the tour outlined. but essentially it was a very, you know, thin thumbnail sketch of what was going to happen. the whole movie is improvised. >> do the dead bird. >> get the dwarf cannolis. >> i did the bird. >> don't talk back. let's go. come on. >> you had these brilliant performances by all of them. then rob put it all together and made it sing. >> people didn't know what we were doing. they thought it was a real documentary. when we previewed it, people saw it and said, why would you make a movie about a band that nobody ever heard of? and one that is so bad. ♪ working on a sex bomb plowing through your -- >> let's say you look at a perspective movie and it's a square. rob reiner has a way of finding turning it sideways and looking at it differently and finding a way to enjoy it in a completely nonconventional way. >> he didn't fall? inconceivable. >> you keep using that word. i do not think it means what you think it means. >> "the princess bride" is a blend between romance, satire, adventure, swashbuckling. i mean, it's all mixed in and it's a very strange mixture, hard to capture. >> wesley, what about -- >> rodents of unusual size? i don't think they exist. >> you have to walk a balance. you know, it's a fine line between stupid and clever. >> eat it or i will call the brute squad. >> i'm on the brute squad. >> you are the brute squad. >> rob is a phenomenal director. his first movie, one after the other, beauties and took risks and different genres. to be in three of them, i'm really blessed. >> one-half of the '80s was a lot of different styles of comedy being thrown at audiences. there was the spoof that became popular. whether it be "airplane" or "naked gun." you had ensemble comedies like "police academy." you had "crocodile dundee." it was an enormous hit or "three men and a baby" and the other story of the decade is the rise of "saturday night live" on the influence of film. >> it's 106 miles to chicago. we have a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses. hit it. >> john belushi and dan aykroyd made up these characters with a hat and dark glasses. they did "the blues brother" on "saturday night live" and got a huge response. so we got to make the movie. >> "saturday night live" is such a specific place. people started realizing, this is where you are going to get your quality comedy. so then you started wanting to see those people in movies. >> i tell you what, i'm going to clean this up. >> you clean up a little bit. it looks fine to me. thanks for the dope. >> comedy is a precious commodity. when you shake the pan looking for the nuggets, when they shine out like that, then you love them forever. people who understood how to be funny, they can be funny anywhere. ♪ something strange in the neighborhood ♪ ♪ who you gonna call ghostbusters ♪ >> "ghostbusters" is a rare film because it combined sci-fi, action and comedy. >> well, there's something you don't see every day. >> "ghostbusters" was written by dan aykroyd with harold ramis. on paper it shouldn't work but it does work because you have bill murray and dan aykroyd and rick moranis and they are flawless. >> we have been going about this wrong. mr. stay puft is okay. he is a sailor. he is in new york. we get this guy laid, we won't have any trouble. >> bill's always explored what it means to escape sort of the constraints of convention. you feel in some way that you want to be as liberated as he is. ♪ ghostbusters ♪ >> instead of worshipping musicians, now we're worshipping stand-up comedians and skit comedians and there's this idea that comedy in the '80s is going to be the new rock and roll. >> listen up. i don't like white people. i hate rednecks. you people are rednecks. it means i'm enjoying this shit. >> you got to remember when eddie murphy first started with "48 hours," he was 20 years old. then he does "trading places" and then he does the blockbuster "beverly hills cop." eddie murphy in the '80s was comedy. he is a perfect every man and so likeable even though he is kind of a shit. >> it wasn't about necessarily being the put upon guy. it's being the guy smarter than the room. he is bugs bunny. >> this is the cleanest and nicest police car i have ever been in in my life. it's nicer than my apartment. >> up until that point, hollywood movies that featured or starred a black artist, their color was always a plot point. in "coming to america," their color has nothing to do with the plot. >> it is my 21st birthday. do you think perhaps just once i might use the bathroom by myself? >> most amusing, sir. >> wipers! >> he is a prince in a fictional african nation. and he decides that he and his best friend played by arsenio hall are going to go to america so he can find himself a queen. if you want to find a queen, where do you go? you go to queens, new york. it's got to be full of queens. >> everybody who has seen "coming to america" embraced the movie. the movie is funny as hell. i think it's eddie murphy at his best. >> it feels so lovely to be here tonight. give yourselves a round of applause. everyone is so lovely. >> there's barely a white person in the cast and the one person is played by eddie murphy. >> what about rocky marciano. >> there they go. every time i start talking about boxing, a white man got to pull a rocky marciano out of their ass. >> who is the start up guy? >> young guy named eddie murphy. >> oh, christ, i hate him. the kid with the filthy mouth. >> yeah, he's the one. >> oh, he's the worst. >> he can do these voices. he can do the physicalization. it speaks to the magnitude of his talent. is that not acting? is that not comic acting at the highest level? >> what do you know about funny, you bastard. cabenuva is the only once-a-month, complete hiv treatment for adults who are undetectable. cabenuva helps keep me undetectable. it's two injections, given by a healthcare provider once a month. hiv pills aren't on my mind. i love being able to pick up and go. don't receive cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients or taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. serious side effects include allergic reactions post-injection reactions, liver problems,...and depression. if you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms, stop cabenuva and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have liver problems or mental health concerns, and if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. some of the most common side effects include injection site reactions, fever, and tiredness. if you switch to cabenuva, attend all treatment appointments. with once-a-month cabenuva, i'm good to go. ask your doctor about once-monthly cabenuva. even though the 1980s is often viewed as sort of an upbeat era, it's the period when the united states came out of the doldrums of the '70s. there was still this underlying fear that that could all collapse at some point. you see that playing out in this post apocalyptic subgenre of action films. >> two days ago i saw a vehicle that would haul that tanker. you want to get out of here? you talk to me. >> george miller's movies do an amazing trick of making dystopia look good in a terrifying way. you watch "the road warrior" and think, i would love to go there but i think i would die within five minutes. >> it's the idea of this one man who regains his humanity when he loses everything. but then there's the filmmaking craft. to see those stunts play out in long shots, just absolutely incredible and visceral. >> it's so in your face. it's almost like a heavy metal rock 'n' roll movie. ♪ >> "brazil" is one of these futures that seem all too likely to come to pass. it's a future where things don't work, where bureaucracy is ossified. it's a future that feels like if things don't get better, we will end up there. >> that convoy of personnel carriers is still unaccounted for. i thought i told you to deal with it and what the hell is this mess? an empty desk is inefficient. >> terry gilliam's visual sensibilities are so distinctive. there was an audacity to that movie that you rarely see. >> it arouses very strong reactions from people. that's what cinema should be about. it's exciting. it's stimulating. it makes us think. i'm quite happy with a film that does that. >> smart filmmakers can use genre as a trojan horse to talk about other things. ♪ >> "blade runner" is based on phillip k. dick's novel "do androids dream of electric sheep?" and the central question of the novel is what is the difference between humans and non-humans? is harrison ford a human? can you fall in love with an android? >> she doesn't know. >> she's beginning to suspect, i think. >> suspect? how can it not know what it is? >> commerce is our goal here at tyrell. more human than human is our motto. >> the screenplay was excellent. a rare entity because it told not only a very fascinating and different story but it was written and described as well. so you could smell a movie. >> i don't think there's any director who can encode content into the visual presence like ridley can. so that when you see the street markets, it tells you that in the future, technology runs cross-class. that populations are tremendously mixed. there's overcrowding. there's poverty. he's projecting so much content into those images. and you just soak it in. >> i was constantly beaten up every day. people say why is it raining always? why do you want it to be at night? i said because that's the way i [ bleep ] want it. >> harrison ford thought his character deckard was a human noting and ridley scott was planting clues in the movie that he actually was a rep lickant with planted memories like this unicorn he daydreams about. >> harrison is in full denial today that he's a rep lickant. at the end the whole point of leading that unicorn on the floor when he walks out, stops, picks it up and he nods. that nod is an assent, that is correct. somebody knows about my most private dream which is about a unicorn. duh. >> james cameron's "aliens" is the perfect sequel because it doesn't just repeat the first film. it takes elements of the first one and builds upon them but it then makes it into a different genre. >> can't be -- that's inside the room. >> it's reading right. look. >> you're not reading it right! >> five meters, man! four! what the hell? >> jim is a real innovator and real artist. i did one. he did two. and he said you know, it's hard to do two because you've shown him, the alien. so i'm going more military. ♪ [ screaming ] >> you feel like james cameron doesn't get enough credit as a screenwriter as well. "aliens" is the template of how to write a great blockbuster. >> my mommy always said there were no monsters, no real ones. but there are. >> yes, there are, aren't there? >> back in those days women weren't really permitted to be strong. so sigourney really broke the mold in the "aliens" movies and one of the ways cameron figured out to let her be as tough as she was was because she was protecting newt, her adopted child. [ screaming ] >> there's real skill to building the perfect roller coaster. "aliens" is example number one of how brilliant action cinema can be. >> get away from her, you bitch! ♪ luna rossa ocean the new fragrance by prada when love finds us, this is how we shine. ( ♪ ) you found the one. now find the ring at zales, the diamond store. (burke) this is why you want farmers claim forgiveness... [echoing] claim forgiveness-ness, your home premium won't go up just because of this. (woman) wow, that's something. 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[echoing] get a quote today. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ xfinity rewards are our way of thanking you just for being with us. enjoy rewards like sing family fun nights! rent sing for $1, then belt out all your favorite tunes from the movie with sing karaoke. plus, see sing 2 in theaters with buy-one-get-one free fandango tickets. join over a million members by signing up for free on the xfinity app. our thanks. your rewards. what does a foster kid need from you? to be brave. to show up. for staying connected. the questions they weren't able to ask. show up for the first day of school, the last day at their current address. for the mornings when everything's wrong. for the manicure that makes everything right, for right now. show up, however you can, for the foster kids who need it most— at helpfosterchildren.com we were attracted to each other at the party. that was obvious. you had your home for the night, that's also obvious. ♪ we're two adults. ♪ >> let's get the check. >> "fatal attraction" was like a cautionary tale. the cheating husband and the mistress turns out to be insane and a stalker who murders bunnies and boils them, as a matter of fact. [ screams ] >> glenn close's legacy is forever tied to this film. and she's an incredible actress. >> what am i supposed to do? you won't answer my calls. you change your number. i'm not going to be ignored, dan. >> in the original script, the audience sympathies were more evenly balanced between the male character and the female character. but with each iteration they made her such an extreme character. the original ending was that she was supposed to cut her own throat. but that did not satisfy test audiences. so they had the good wife kill the bad, single woman. [ shot fired ] >> that's hollywood. >> thank you, sir. i'm happy to be working here. >> well, you're a welcome addition, and a damn pretty one, too, if i might add. >> thank you, sir. >> i mean that, you should see some of the crones that have been coming through here lately. real pathetic. right, violet? >> "9 to 5" was a me too movie before the me too movement. it was this idea of women coming together and being like yes, my life has been ruined by egotistical, bigoted men who are trying to hold me back. >> coffee, violet. now. >> this was when women were going into the workforce but they were still secretaries. they were still the subservient roles. they weren't the boss of the company. >> that's all right. i did it. >> what about you, dora lee? what's your fantasy for doing him in? >> me? well, i think i'd like to just come riding up one day and give him a taste of his own medicine. >> i loved their female camaraderie, and i loved dolly parton in that movie. she's like liquid gold. >> let's just sit down. >> look, i've got a gun out there in my purse and up until now i've been forgiving and forgetting because of the way i was brought up. but i'll tell you one thing, if you ever say another word about me or make another indecent proposal i'm going to get that gun of mine and i'm going to change you from a rooster to a hen with one shot! >> they in time realize nothing is ever going to change unless we change it. >> they string him up, that male chauvinist, sexually inappropriate guy and they make changes to the workplace to be able to share hours and a day-care center. it was an important movie then and it's an important movie now. >> "working girl" looks like a fairy tale of a young woman becoming the fantastically glamorous princess that she'd always kind of secretly dreamed of being and her humble working-class upbringing would not allow her to be. but it's got serious points to make about women in the workplace. >> dress shabbily they notice the dress. dress impeccably they notice the woman. coco chanel. >> how do i look? >> you look terrific. you might want to re-think the jewelry. >> traditionally, it's the man that's holding you down, but in this instance it turns out it's sigourney weaver. that she's been stealing all of tess's ideas in order to further herself. >> while i was laid up with broken bones, she rifled through my desk, found my memo outlining a trask radio acquisition, and has been passing it off as her idea. >> it was my idea. >> the melanie griffith character shows that once she was given the opportunity to show she was smart enough, she did. >> guess where i am? >> it's one of the greatest endings in the world. i'm here in my own office with my feet up because i made it. >> not since the movie "network" has hollywood so brilliantly indicted the business of television like it does in "broadcast news." the perfect modern anchor is played by oscar winner william hurt. so how is it that the star of this movie is neither the anchorman nor the network correspondent, but an actress who many of you will never have seen until now. >> okay, bobby. go back to 9:45:46, the sound bite in the alley. it starts "so why were you in angola?" >> please, bobby! we're pushing! >> it was the first time i had seen on screen a real female because she was flawed, and she was allowed to be human and different and irascible, difficult, shrill, bossy. possibly bitch. there's a lot of words people use that are pejorative to women that jane craig could kind of inhabit. >> what i love is holly's character, just tears streaming down her face and then her controlling like that and getting it together and going forward. >> i'm really struck by the courage that jim brooks showed in writing a character like that. >> the f-14 is one of the most difficult planes to master. they're called tomcats. >> isn't the f-14 tomcat one of the most difficult machines for a pilot to master? >> to have a film about the high-integrity ideals of what it means to be a journalist and a woman in that business. >> it must be nice to always believe you know better, to always think you're the smartest person in the room. >> no, it's awful. >> the fact that that movie exists and always will is a gift. >> wait a minute. wait, wait, wait. >> i'm new in town and i'm awfully lonely. i wonder if you wouldn't mind buying me lunch. >> ethel, you can't -- gregory -- >> george, george, george, it's michael dorsey, okay? your favorite client. how are you? last time you got me a job, it was a tomato. >> oh, no, no, no, no. >> it is. swear to god. >> michael? >> yeah. >> god, i begged you to get some therapy. >> "tootsie" is kind of an updating of the guy in the dress. you're taking a believable character and putting him in a fantastic situation. and the reason it works is every single thing in that movie could really happen. we show you at the beginning, he's a great actor and he happens to be a pain in the ass and then to prove to his agent that he can get work he puts on the dress. >> it's almost like a play that's been performed enough so that they knew where the gems were. >> don't you find being a woman in the '80s complicated? >> extremely. >> one of the hardest things to do in a comedy is to have a comedy climax and to have all your story threads come together at the same moment. >> i am not emily kimberly, the daughter of dwayne and alma kimberly. no, i'm not. i'm edward kimberly, the reckless brother of my sister anthony. [ screaming ] >> the climactic scene in "tootsie" is this incredible moment where the main story plot and then four or five different subplots all climax and turn on that one action. >> "tootsie" is what people want movies to be and very few filmmakers invest the time and the sweat and the integrity to go all the way, which "tootsie" does. >> that is one nutty hospital. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ hey google. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ because you're forever connected by love... two touching center diamonds, representing the connection you share. forever connected. the perfect gift to give this holiday. exclusively at kay. it's the most joyous time of year. especially at t-mobile! let's go to dianne. i got the awesome new iphone 13 pro and airpods, and t-mobile is paying for them both! and this is for new and existing customers. upgrade to the iphone 13 pro and airpods both on us. only at t-mobile. the living room slash yoga shanti slash regional office slash... and this is the basement slash panic room. maybe what your family needs is a vacation home slash vacation home. find yours on the vrbo app. ♪ "flashdance" was a very big deal. ♪ she's a maniac, maniac on the floor ♪ ♪ and she's dancing like she's never danced before ♪ >> she was a sexy welder who danced at night, but didn't take her clothes off. >> so, what's a dancer doing working as a welder? >> i've got to make a living. >> jennifer beals was everything in that movie. she was beautiful. she was strong, and she was sexy. >> it benefited from the beginnings of mtv because you would see videos of the songs of the "flashdance" soundtrack on mtv all the time. ♪ what a feeling ♪ >> that was the thing when the video was very much a trailer for the movie. and you can tell that the movie was designed with the video in mind. >> let's dance! ♪ >> kenny loggins, "footloose," that was a huge hit. it was all over mtv. you watch the video and you're seeing kenny loggins in that? no. you're seeing lots of scenes of alienated high school kids dancing against the rules. >> i didn't see "footloose" until after i started dating kevin bacon. and then i rented it and i was like oh, i see why people fell in love with him. how cute was he with those high-waisted jeans and that like white tank. ♪ because i had the time of my life ♪ ♪ i never felt this way before ♪ >> they knew who was buying these moves was teenagers and the thing they want to do as soon as they watch the movie is then go get the soundtrack so they can relive it. ♪ purple rain, purple rain ♪ >> "purple rain" hit me really hard. to this day i have yet to see a mainstream film that uses music as an emotion in such an incredible way. ♪ i only want to see you ♪ ♪ i only want to see you ♪ ♪ in the purple rain ♪ >> what do you care about mark ratner for? he's a 16-year-old usher in the movie theater. you have dated older guys. you work at the best food stand in the mall and you're a close, personal friend of mine. >> there was so much reality in the script to "fast times." the way that cameron wrote "fast times at ridgemont high" is that he went back to high school. >> i never graduated traditionally. so the idea was i could go back and have the senior year that i didn't have and write about what it is to be a high school student. i learned so much. the pop culture establishment, they don't know what's happening with kids right now. >> stacy, what are you waiting for? you're 15 years old. >> i did it when i was 13. it's no huge thing. it's just sex. >> these kids are having a super short adolescence. they're having sex years before you know they're having sex, and they're all working. it's fast food, it's fast adolescence, it's all disposable and what are we doing to a generation that has to be adult at a younger and younger age? >> there are so many incredible people in the movie. a lot of careers get launched. judge reinhold to phoebe cates and jennifer jason leigh. >> who ordered the double cheese and sausage? >> right here, dude. >> and a cast full of soon to be stars, he gives the performance that everyone walks out of the theater and says oh, my god, sean penn. >> sean penn in particular brought a lot of the vocabulary. if it's written in the script as like fiction he turned into awesome, gnarly and all of the other classic words of the '80s. >> why don't you get a job, spicoli? >> what for? >> you need money. >> all i need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz and i'm fine. >> a couple things about myself. i'm 19, and been overseas a couple of semesters. now i'm back. i'm an athlete, so i rarely drink. kickboxing. you heard of kickboxing? sport of the future. don the dragon -- he can see by your face no. my point is you can relax because your daughter will be safe with me for the next seven to eight hours, sir. >> "say anything" is a romantic comedy for guys. here is the story of being an optimist and how that can sometimes be a revolutionary act. rebellion takes many different forms and sometimes the rebellion takes the form of loving the woman that they say you can't love. and you make your life's goal her. >> watch out for that glass. >> thanks. >> if moments make movies, as they say for "say anything," it's the moment when lloyd dobler holds the boom box and plays peter gabriel to try to woo diane court back. ♪ all my instincts they return ♪ >> we had a hard time with the boom box. we tried it a couple of different ways and he had a hard time holding it up, so there was one version we did where the boom box is on the car playing it. not as good. we finished the last shot on the last day of "say anything." there was only a little light in the sky left and the light is disappearing and the shot's moving in on cusack, and i see it. i see it through the camera. the anger, the resentment, the love, the pain, the glory, the adolescence, all of it was there in his face. ♪ i am complete ♪ ♪ in your eyes ♪ >> we got lucky. >> how's it going? >> how's what going? >> you know, things, life, whatnot. >> life is not whatnot and it's none of your business. >> the john hughes scripts. they just jumped off the page. they were funny. i remember reading "sixteen candles" in the back of my parents' car just stretched out on the seat cracking up. >> his movies were always something to look forward to. because you knew that you would be entertained and you knew that you would see some version of yourself or what you wanted yourself to be. >> my father will come home and he'll see what i did. i can't hide this. he'll come home and he'll see what i did and he'll have to deal with me. >> he always got deep. i mean, even with something like "ferris bueller's day off," he got deep into the alan ruck character. and matthew's character was the wise fool. but alan ruck was troubled by this evil father. that was really moving. >> here we are. i want to congratulate you for being on time. >> excuse me, sir? i think there's been a mistake. i know it's detention, but i don't think i belong in here. >> "the breakfast club" is the teenage touchstone. it's a film that's about the tension of being a teenager and kind of knowing that people in other cliques don't really want to be your friend until you're locked in a room together. >> the first 20 minutes of "the breakfast club" is perfect filmmaking. the way that it's structured. the way the characters are introduced. it still is my favorite of the john hughes films just because i think it's so unique and nothing like that had ever been done. >> so on monday, what happens? >> are we still friends, you mean? we're friends now, that is. >> yeah. >> do you want the truth? >> yeah. i want the truth. >> i don't think so. >> the picture was saying to adults, what those characters were saying to adults is please listen to my being upset because someone doesn't like me or i can't -- i don't have any friends or whatever. it looks relatively insignificant to you, but it's really hurting me. >> it was so powerful because people were talking about shit that they never talked about. kids were not talking about dark stuff in school and with their peers. ♪ don't you forget about me ♪ >> there weren't a lot of movies that spoke to teenagers, and it's just really surprising because who doesn't want to see this incredible period of time in a person's life where they're just changing so rapidly. and to see something that you relate to, i think that's really why the john hughes films are still so important. >> i just remember thinking how does this grown-up know everything about all of us? it was like he looked inside of all of us. ♪ at lowe's were home to great values, during the holidays and every day. where everything comes with competitive prices. yeah! and it's all backed by our lowe's price promise. which means if you find an exact product from a qualifying retailer for less, we'll match it. bye! so you can make the most of every single season. and that's just basic wavy guy maintenance, right? next up, carvana. oh, boy. carvana just doesn't seem to understand how the test drive works. they give their customers seven days. and if they don't like it, they give 'em their money back. wait, they take the car back? that's crazy! what if it was driven by like a zookeeper? or a mud wrestler? or a guy who's on the outs with the missus and he just needs a place to sleep for seven days? yeah. (vo) buy your car online. love it or return it. with carvana. ♪ have yourself a merry little christmas. ♪ ♪ ♪ make the yule-tide gay. ♪ ♪ ♪ from now on our troubles will be miles away. ♪ ♪ and have yourself a merry little christmas now. ♪ celebrate the season together with a holiday gift from pandora jewelry. ♪ ♪ you are my fire ♪ ♪ the one desire ♪ ♪ you are, you are, ♪ ♪ don't wanna hear you say... ♪ ♪ ♪ i want it that way ♪ every day in business brings something new. so get the flexibility of the new mobile service designed for your small business. introducing comcast business mobile. you get the most reliable network with nationwide 5g included. and you can get unlimited data for just $30 per line per month when you get four lines or mix and match data options. available now for comcast business internet customers with no line-activation fees or term contract required. see if you can save by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities. how not to be a hero: because that's the last thing they need you to be. you don't have to save the day. you just have to navigate the world so that a foster child isn't doing it solo. you just have to stand up for a kid who isn't fluent in bureaucracy, or maybe not in their own emotions. so show up, however you can, for the foster kids who need it most— at helpfosterchildren.com ♪ ♪ just take those old records off the shelf ♪ "risky business" really was everybody's intro to tom cruise. of course, it wasn't just the underwear and the dancing, but that certainly helped. >> are you ready for me? >> "risky business" really surprises people. they think it's a teen sex comedy because it literally is about a guy that opens a brothel in his parents' house. but it's actually an incredibly dark film about capitalism and about selling out. >> for someone with that limited a resume, to be able to walk in and actually make the complexity of the movie work, his all-american boyness with this dark side of impulses and you look at that performance and you think that guy's going to be a huge star. ♪ highway to the danger zone ♪ >> what people don't realize about "top gun" is we think about it this rah, rah, jingoistic action movie, but the movie tom cruise was making is about a man wrestling with his dad's legacy and feeling phony aaround all of of these military that he's trying to impress. it's really a movie about masculine performance. >> his performance post "top gun" tells you who he was and who he wanted to be. >> some piece of work. >> you also have natural character. >> i've been telling her that. i have natural character. >> that's not what i said, kid. i said you are a natural character. you are an incredible flake. >> paul newman and tom cruise had the old and the new. this was kind of the sequel to "the hustler." paul newman's character, he's a hustler. he's always going to hustle. what if he takes this young kid under his wing and corrupts him? and then he gets hustled? >> i showed you all i got. what the hell else do you want? that's it. that's all! >> tom cruise is terrific. newman finally gets an oscar for it. >> tom cruise has a very specific agenda in his career, to spend the '80s working with the best directors he can find and so he's going to work with scorcese and barry levinson. >> i'm not going to go back to cincinnati. you don't have to go to cincinnati to pick up boxer shorts. >> what did i say? >> kmart. >> you hear me. i know you hear me. >> you don't fool me with this shit for a second. >> yours are too tight. >> did you [ bleep ] hear what i said? shut up! >> movie stars often need to prove over and over again they can act. i think he really proved to the world he can act and then some. >> i like having you for my big brother. >> yeah. ♪ >> let me see some i.d. all right. you're under arrest. >> the 1980s introduces us to the character of john rambo. who's one of the iconic cinematic figures of that era. but what people tend to forget is he was introduced in a way that was much more in line with '70s filmmaking. >> if you look at the first "first blood," it is a very dark movie about how we let our veterans down and about how we do not know what to do with them when they come back and we make killers and then just turn them loose into america. that's a pretty heavy movie and even for a sylvester stallone action film it plays that realistically. the second film threw that out the window page 1. >> sir? do we get to win this time? >> this time it's up to you. >> there was a desire to move past the perceived failures of the late '60s and the '70s. you can't re-write history, but at least we can go back and we can bring back these p.o.w.s. we can send back this representative of american might. >> i must break you. >> stallone had become so devoted to having the perfectly chiseled, ultra muscled upper body, at the same time that arnold schwarzenegger who, of course, had been a bodybuilder suddenly became an unlikely action star in the '80s, too. >> i don't know if prior to 1980 anyone would have had a firm visual image of what their favorite actor looked like with their shirt off. can you close your eyes and imagine jimmy stewart or montgomery clift or even john wayne without their shirt on? it's not essential to their image as actors. >> it would be ridiculous for me to play outside of that role. and it would be crazy for dustin hoffman to try to be commando or to be conan or terminator or to be rambo. it doesn't work, you know? people only accept you for certain things. >> there was a lot of ideas of returning to traditional notions of masculinity after the sensitive '70s. but these thing goes in cycles. and i think that by the late '80s we were ready for an action hero who was a little more sensitive. >> do you think you have a chance against us, mr. cowboy? >> yippie ka-yay mother [ bleep ]. >> "die hard" is as perfect in its own way as "casablanca." it is an action move where the action is great. it is a heist movie where the heist makes sense. you have john mclean who is not a superhero, who is a regular new york cop, who is not only out of his element but he's out of his shoes. >> that's a great thing to do in an action movie, is include something that everybody can sympathize with. i don't know what it's like to throw a chair or explosives down an elevator shaft but i accidentally trod on glass and it hurt. >> you watch him and you go, i see myself. this person who is flawed, but can overcome it which is a narrative that we all have about ourselves. if push came to shove i would show up. >> alan rickman's performance as hans grueber is one of the key movie performances of the '80s because of the idea that the villain could be intellectual. it wasn't a beefy villain who beat up our hero, but it was a guy who our hero had to outthink. >> a lot of action stars think it's cool to show no fear. to me that's not a courageous person, that's a stupid person. the courageous person is the one who has fear and goes through it anyway. >> john, what the [ bleep ] are you doing? >> it isn't the size of the fireball. it's how much you care about the person running from the fireball. ♪ vazalore... is the first liquid-filled aspirin capsule clinically shown to cause fewer ulcers than plain aspirin. try new vazalore. aspirin made amazing! hey, hey, hey! check it out! at lowe's were home to great values, during the holidays and every day. where everything comes with competitive prices. yeah! and it's all backed by our lowe's price promise. which means if you find an exact product from a qualifying retailer for less, we'll match it. bye! so you can make the most of every single season. where's mom? she said she would be home in time for the show. don't worry, sweetie. she promised she'd be here for it. ooh! nice shot! thanks! glad we have xfinity, with wifi speed faster than a gig! me too! woah, look! mom is on tv! she's amazing! (cheers) xfinity brought us together, after all! power your whole home this holiday with wifi speeds faster than a gig. click, call, or visit a store today. sing 2 ♪ ten years ago i would have been a millionaire by this time. by this time i would have had my own boat, my own car, my own golf course. >> one thing the '80s was about was gangster capitalism and tony montana captures that desire for respect, for money, for influence, for power. >> oliver stone came into the '80s as a well-respected and well-paid screenwriter. this was the guy who had written "scarface" and who had a very alpha male voice and was making these sweaty, morally complicated films. >> you want to play rough? okay! say hello to my little friend! [ shot fired ] >> i thought it was excessive and cartoony until i started spending a lot of time in miami. after that i thought it was a model of restraint. >> it really was a decade that was fueled by how much money can i make and how can i display it best? >> the point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. greed is right. greed works. >> "wall street" is a movie about more than just gordon gekko. it's about a father and a son with different world views playing different roles in an ever-changing economy. >> he's using you, kid. he's got your prick in his back pocket, but you're too blind to see it. >> no. what i see is a jealous old machinist who can't stand the fact that his son's become more successful than he has. >> what you see is a guy who never measured a guy's success by the size of his wallet! >> that's because you never had the guts to go out into the world and stake your own claim! >> it's the connection between wall street and main street. main street is martin sheen. main street are those people who will be affected by the decisions made by wall street. >> oliver stone is a guy saying the purpose of film, the purpose of cinema is to make political commentary about our society and he made some very compelling films in the process. >> what happened today is just the beginning. we're going to lose this war. >> come on. you really think so? us? >> we've been kicking other people's asses for so long i figure it's time we got ours kicked. >> "platoon" had this intensity so much of that charlie sheen character oliver stone has said was him, was him going into the war as a patriotic kid who wanted to do his part and really had his eyes opened to the horror. and i think it maintains that gut punch. >> i hope people go to see what the war was really like. that's the statement and once you see it, you have to think about it for yourself. think about what you think about war, and think about what it really is as opposed to the fantasy comic book stuff of "top gun." >> the attitude of the '70s had been to take out some of the scorn that the american public felt for the foreign policy establishment as it had completely screwed up vietnam on the men returning home. >> i want my leg. can you understand that? alls i'm saying is i want to be treated like a human being. i fought for my country. i am a vietnam veteran! >> there was an atonement for that in the '80s. there was a second wave of pictures that attempted to honor the service that these men had performed for their country. >> my father was a civilized man. that's a word, yeah? civilized? >> very good word. >> yeah? >> my father was a civilized man living in an uncivilized time. the civilized, they were the first to die. >> "sophie's choice" is, i think, the quintessential holocaust drama because it doesn't ever explicitly touch on the details of the horror. it's more about the dramatic implications of it. >> i'm going to tell you something now i have never told anybody. >> i never worked with anyone who was that confident, who trusted her instincts so thoroughly. >> she learned polish and german just for the film. she lost weight. that encompasses why meryl is so special. because she manages to get to the heart of every single person she's playing. >> and the winner is marvelous meryl streep. [ applause ] >> you can ask meryl to do anything. she can make anything work. >> someone spiked my urine sample container. >> who? >> how do i know who? anybody could have done it! >> can you stay? >> for a day or so. >> for meryl, i can see she worked from a very deep place. and what she was really focused on was the truth of her character to the point where she had to get the language and the sound and the voice perfect. and she was adamant and she was relentless in that pursuit. >> people marry it's not revolutionary. there are animals that mate for life. >> geese. >> you use the dumb animals for your own argument. you won't let me use them for mine. >> the nominees for the performance of an actress in a leading role, meryl streep in "out of africa." >> meryl streep in "ironweed." >> from "a cry in the dark," meryl streep. >> she ended up transcending the job of an actor. she leapt into this other realm of becoming. she wasn't playing a woman with an australian accent. she was an australian mom. >> you're talking about my baby daughter, not some object. >> most movie stars are not the greatest actors and most great actors don't become great movie stars, but meryl streep is both. >> what does that mean to you, movie star? >> oh, it means katharine hepburn, bette davis, greta garbo. it doesn't mean me. ♪ don't just put on a light show—be the light show. make your nights anything but silent. and ride in a sleigh that really slays. because in a cadillac, tradition is yours to define. so visit a cadillac showroom, and start celebrating today. ♪ ♪ it's the most joyous time of year. especially at t-mobile! let's go to dianne. i got the awesome new iphone 13 pro and airpods, and t-mobile is paying for them both! and this is for new and existing customers. upgrade to the iphone 13 pro and airpods both on us. only at t-mobile. hey, hey, hey! check it out! lowe's price promise means if you find an exact product from a qualifying retailer for less, we'll match it. bye! so you can make the most of every single season. let's get ready for jalapeñoooo popperrrs! turns out, michael buffer speaks like that all the time. and it turns out the general is a quality insurance company that's been saving people money for nearly 60 years. for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage, go with the general. did you know some deodorants may not last all day? secret works immediately! and is designed to last for up to 48 hours. with secret, keep it fresh. available in over 10 amazing scents and aluminum free. secret. ♪ if you boys just turn on right around and head on back down that way and you let us head out where the real fighting is. >> young men are dying down that road. >> and it wouldn't be nothing but rebs dying if they let the 54th in it. >> people had no idea that there were black soldiers fighting for the union in the civil war. >> you men move on. >> stripes on a nigger. like tits on a bull. >> you're looking at a higher rank, corporal, and you'll obey and you'll like it. >> "glory" stars matthew broderick, but the movie really belongs to denzel washington as a former slave who is now going to fight. he runs away because he needs shoes. and they do what they have to do. they whip him. >> proceed. >> he sits there and he takes his beating like a man. he does not scream. he does not flinch. but there's a moment when a single tear comes down his face. that's the moment when denzel wins the oscar. >> the idea of american legacy and what it really is is brought home to people when they see that. >> in the '80s, you had some big, sweeping, stunning epics that at the time were seen as the apotheosis of the movie firm. these are substantial movies by great filmmakers. you have "the last emperor." and you have "ragtime." and there was "gandhi," which came out in 1982. >> we must defy the british. >> a lot of people were rooting for "e.t. the extraterrestrial" to win best picture that year. but you know, fantasy and sci-fi don't usually win oscars. what wins oscars is epic. ♪ >> "amadeus" is a kind of meditation on genius. >> i know you work well, senor. do you know i actually composed some variations on a melody of yours. >> really? which one? >> mio caro adonne. >> i'm flattered. a funny little tune. but it yielded good things. >> the protagonist of the movie is not mozart. the protagonist of the movie is salieri, who is actually deficient. he's not a great artist. he doesn't have great inspiration. he's jealous of mozart, who does. >> shouldn't it be a bit more -- ♪ or this? ♪ this. ♪ yes. ♪ >> the most intelligent and rational individual in the movie is the jealous figure who isn't particularly talented and the least rational and mature figure in the movie is the genius. >> when i saw "amadeus" there was humor to it and there was a liveliness to it and there was a nastiness to it, and tom hulce is so fantastic in that film. >> do you have it? >> not so fast. >> do you have it? >> one thing the '80s does for us, is it gives us some really remarkable filmmakers. you see, talent is there immediately. these directors are going to go on to have long careers and in some cases they're making small movies, but they get their start in the '80s. >> why don't you let me tape you? >> doing what? >> talking. >> about what? >> about sex. your sexual history, sexual preferences. >> stephen soderberg's "sex, lies and videotape" is a coming-out party for one of the most prodigiously talented filmmakers ever. >> why are you doing this to yourself? are you going to answer me? >> no, please, don't do that? >> why not? >> why not? i just want to ask you a few questions. why do you tape women talking about sex, huh? >> that was a great example of something that was totally brand new. and it was very, very low budget. and i just felt it was so special. and it was a point of view that we just hadn't seen before. >> to deal openly with voyeurism and sexual dysfunction on screen was stunning to people and it was a trendsetter then and it's a movie that mattered a lot. ♪ >> joel and ethan's first film was "blood simple." it was kind of a cross between a slasher film and a film noir. >> lock the door. >> they knew that would be a great calling card. people would pay attention if they had enough scares. >> they make intensely cool and creative films. it always kind of feels a little bit like they've adapted a book that no one has ever heard of. >> every shot has been thought about, every note of music. the dialogue. and it's shocking. all the time there's shocks in their movies. visceral shocks. and then moments of great humor. >> turn to the right. ♪ >> what's the matter, ed? ♪ >> my fiance left me. >> they had just finished writing "raising arizona" so they asked me to read it and i thought it was amazing. amazing. so funny. >> "raising arizona," as far as i'm concerned, is a masterpiece. the idea of taking that 100-mile-per-hour preston surges style dialogue and putting it in the mouths of like rednecks in arizona. >> you busted out of jail. >> no, ma'am, we released ourselves on our own recognizance. >> what he's saying is we believed the institution no longer had anything to cover us. >> i will take these huggies and whatever cash you got. >> just the fact that this film is hurtling along with banjos and yodelling -- ♪ i still don't have the courage to have a soundtrack with banjos and yodeling. and that was their second film. >> there's these people that come along and they have the same equipment and the same playing field and to take that and to make something fully aesthetically that is completely different than anything else you had seen is, like, a big deal. that's a triumph. ♪ >> comedy in the '80s, my favorite niche subject is tim burton. ♪ >> i was never scared by any horror movie ever because i always liked them too much. do you know what i mean? i mean, things that scared me was like going to school or seeing my relatives. >> i love tim burton because he's the best thing you can be as a director. he's completely unique. you start noticing the black and white stripes on things and just the vibe and you're, like, we've got something here with this guy. >> we did "beetlejuice" and his idea was that the living people were the scary and the dead people would be the kind of ba na'll. >> i was very lucky early on in my career to work with people who come from comedy and were good at improving. there's a whole different energy when people are there and there may be some written things and then it just goes off and you start riffing and you start getting into it. he was great at that. he's like a pressure cooker. >> you like it? ♪ day ♪ >> "beetlejuice" is underrated. as well regarded as it is, it's still underrated, because it shouldn't work. i don't know if it's a horror movie set in a comedy or a comedy that's a horror movie. i can't figure out the algorithm behind it, but it works. ♪ six foot, seven foot, eight foot ♪ the guest bedroom slash music studio. the daybed slash dog bed. the living room slash yoga shanti slash regional office slash classroom. and this is the basement slash panic room. maybe what your family needs is a vacation home slash vacation home. find yours on the vrbo app. ♪ ♪ ♪ you are my fire ♪ ♪ the one desire ♪ ♪ you are, you are, ♪ ♪ don't wanna hear you say... ♪ ♪ ♪ i want it that way ♪ ♪ ♪ the holidays are happening at lowe's. thank you! shop our winterfest event online now for pick up at the store. bye! 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(vo) buy your next car 100% online. with carvana. when a truck hit my car, the insurance company wasn't fair. i didn't know what my case was worth. so i called the barnes firm. i was hit by a car and needed help. i called the barnes firm, that was the best call i could've made. i'm rich barnes. it's hard for people to know how much their accident case is worth. let our injury attorneys help you get the best result possible. ♪ the barnes firm injury attorneys ♪ ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ ♪ what is going on here? has america gone mad for the movies? apparently some of us have. they were buying bat shirts, bat hats, bat anything. and the movie hadn't even opened. >> what's new with tim burton's movie "batman" is that a mechanical marketing machine begins to tease this movie a year in advance. >> i'm finishing a movie and seeing a poster for it out there in the street and it kind of freaks me out. it's like, the movie's not done yet. for me, batman is the root of some of that imagery, was more horror than it was like comic books. so, i liked that about it. and i liked the kind of split personality nature, the light, the dark. for me, it was definitely my favorite of all comic book characters because of those reasons. >> visually, it's timeless. he consciously doesn't let you know where this is. it seems like the '40s. and all of a sudden, there's a car from the '70s. he's just using everything. >> we were lucky the movie was made before there was any superhero shit going on. it felt like new territory at the time. >> batman begat all of what we see now. the idea of a comic book being made into a film, that's taken over the movie business. >> you could have predicted some of the big moneymakers, "batman," "ghostbusters 2," "indiana jones." but who would have guessed a modestly budgeted film about racism set in a black neighborhood of brooklyn would be a national hit? >> mookie. >> what? >> your brother is up on the wall. >> ask sal. >> in the '80s, there was a push to have more diversity on-screen. but diversity on-screen doesn't mean you have diversity behind the camera. and you weren't having a lot of black filmmakers who were getting a chance to make films. so you really do need spike lee at that point. >> don't start shit, all right? >> beatle's down. all right? all right? >> "do the right thing" is one of the most important films in the history of cinema certainly as it pertains to the representation of race. >> it was like a cultural hand grenade. someone set it off and you just couldn't believe the things that were being said in that film. they were all under the surface but they weren't said in that way. >> who is your favorite basketball player? >> magic johnson. >> who's your favorite movie star? >> eddie murphy. >> who's your favorite rock star? prince. >> bruce. >> prince. >> bruce. >> all you talk is nigger this and nigger that. and all your favorite people are so-called niggers. >> it's such a time capsule of new york in that era. at the same time its themes are universal. everyone's interacting. and it's funny. >> move back to massachusetts. >> i was born in brooklyn. >> it's creative. it's cultural. it's social. >> stay black. >> it's political. and it has this edge to it. it has this provocation as part of its core. >> get his arm. get his arm. >> that's enough! >> gary, that's enough, man. >> towards the end of the film mookie is sort of presented with this choice. a young black man has been murdered. do i retaliate? do i basically kick off this riot? and he wrestles with it for a split second. and spike when he talks about it he says black people don't ask him if mookie did the right thing. >> what mookie represents at the end of that movie is black rage. it was important, i think, for spike to say, this is where we are. >> not enough people credit the maturity of what he did, in terms of posing a question that he then did not answer. lots of people like to make films and button it up, making sure that you feel a certain way about a certain thing. and spike has always been determined to ask you a question. it forces you into confrontation with your own feeling. >> the '80s was a time when so many new filmmakers got their start. the '80s was an incubator for new voices, new visionaries, new ideas. >> seize the day. >> cinema, to me, has always been an escape from whatever my life was at the time. >> what i really love in cinema, is just to go and be swept away. it's a different world. >> there's something really special about being in a movie. you can sit in the back and feel everybody enjoying it. there's something really great about that. >> hey. >> this is why we love movies. we get to see portraits of people and how they deal with whatever the struggle is, to be a human being. >> snap out of it. >> the '80s was a good period for american movies. there were comedies that had to do with real life. they weren't over the top. there were dramas that took on tough subjects. there were genres that hadn't been explored in that way. >> but at the same time there's just more overload on us. the aesthetic gravitated to bigger, faster and louder. ♪ >> it's the only medium where you can present both story and spectacle. only movies can do that. only movies can present the truth of human drama and then transport you to a place that can't be seen in real life. ♪ the omicron variant on the rise in europe where it's leading to new restrictions and new protests and here in the united states, where there's a dire warning for the unvaccinated this holiday season. also hong kong is voting right now for their legislative council, but there's a catch. only pro-beijing patriots can run. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada and around the world. i'm kim brunhuber. this is "cnn