Directorial Chronology - 1981

Ms. 45, directed by Abel Ferrara

In The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929 - 1968, Andrew Sarris provided an extremely useful and entertaining appendix he called "Directorial Chronology." It was basically a best American film of the year list with a highly auteurist, idiosyncratic bent. So you would see things like Man's Favorite Sport (Hawks) ranked well above something more critically exalted (by the mainstream) like Fail Safe (Lumet). He did not numerically rank the films, but they are pretty clearly presented in order of preference (and preferred auteurs). Since it is my aim to pay tribute to the great text by the great man, I am going to attempt to do the same. Here is the next entry.

Directorial Chronology - 1981

George Miller The Road Warrior
Albert Brooks Modern Romance
Brian De Palma Blow Out
John Carpenter Escape from New York
Ivan Passer Cutter's Way
George Romero Knightriders
Steven Spielberg Raiders of the Lost Ark
Michael Mann Thief
Blake Edwards S.O.B.
Sam Raimi The Evil Dead
Lawrence Kasdan Body Heat
Warren Beatty Reds
Abel Ferrara Ms. 45
John Boorman Excalibur
Terry Gilliam Time Bandits
Michael Wadleigh Wolfen
Herbert Ross Pennies from Heaven
Walter Hill Southern Comfort
Peter Bogdanovich They All Laughed
Gary Sherman Dead & Buried
Louis Malle My Dinner with Andre
Christian Marquand Eye of the Needle
Jean-Claude Tramont All Night Long
John Landis An American Werewolf in London
Tobe Hooper The Funhouse
Burt Reynolds Sharky's Machine
Robert Aldrich ...All the Marbles
Joe Dante The Howling
Sidney Lumet Prince of the City
Bob Clark Porky's
Alan Myerson Private Lessons
Luis Valdez Zoot Suit
Arthur Penn Four Friends
Andrew Bergman So Fine
George Cukor Rich and Famous
Moustapha Akkad Lion of the Desert
Frank Perry Mommie Dearest
Hugh Hudson Chariots of Fire
George Mihalka My Bloody Valentine
Miloš Forman Ragtime
Alan Alda The Four Seasons
Rick Rosenthal Halloween II
John Irvin Ghost Story
John Waters Polyester
Alan Pakula Rollover
Joel Schumacher The Incredible Shrinking Woman
Ulu Grosbard True Confessions

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TCM Look-Ahead - Sept. 11

Underrated Auteurs - Andre de Toth

First Time Watches - August Top 10

The Garden Cinema