The 100 Project: Top 10 Movies of 1986

Believe it or not, The 100 Project is still going...ever so slowly. No matter. Here we are, in 1986. '84 was a watershed year for movies. I found '85 zany. 1986 is strong, but not all that deep. Well, it's not according to what I've seen. The reality is I've missed a lot from this year. I've only seen one of the Academy's five Best Picture nominees. It made the list, by the way. Of their ten nominated performances in the Best Actor and Best Actress categories, I've seen all of one, and three of the ten in the supporting categories. So...yeah...I didn't watch (hardly) any of those stuffy Oscar flicks. And somehow, I still haven't seen Top Gun. Let's talk about the best of what I did watch.

• According to my Letterboxd account I've seen 57 movies that were released during this year.
• I watched 7 movies in theaters in '86. 2 made the list. 2 more were honorable mentions.
• 2 of my top 10 and 3 of 11 honorable mentions have female leads.

Tension. Cat-and-mouse. That's really all I need to say about this movie. It's Rutger Hauer at his most horrifying as the titular hitcher terrorizing C. Thomas Howell, and us in the process. Ever since seeing this for the first time, I thoroughly check my fries before eating them.


So, here's the Oscar flick. I didn't actually see this one until about 7 or 8 years ago. When I finally did, I was blown away by it. I immediately realized why many consider it to be among the very best war films ever made.


Occasionally, a movie is not only a labor of love for the filmmaker, but also a form of therapy. Jo Jo Dancer is one such movie. Richard Pryor stars in the only feature he directed, which he also co-wrote. It's known as a semi-autobiographical movie, but I'm not sure how "semi" it is.


When thinking of the most unsettling movies I've ever watched, this one always leaps to mind. As fun as movies like Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and other slasher flicks are, hulking and/or supernatural masked men hunting down drunk, horny teenagers is theatrical enough to allow us a disconnect. They tap into our fears, but are silly enough to set aside. Henry feels like it could be happening next door. That's what makes it stick to us.


Speaking of slasher flicks, the original Alien was a marvelous one. For this arguably better sequel, they didn't try to reinvent the wheel. They switched genres and made it an action flick, and cemented Ellen Ripley as THE cinematic heroine.


I first saw this at my best friend's house about a year or so after it came out. Weirdly, it was a late morning viewing with all sorts of sunlight coming through the window. Still, we were glued to the screen as Jeff Goldblum held us in the palms of his ever-transforming hands.


I remember there was lots of hype around this when it came out so I wanted to go to the theaters to see it. That didn't happen, but I made sure I got my hands on it when it hit VHS. And I had a blast watching it. It was also my first inkling that dark comedies masquerading as horror flicks were my thing.


Bueller? Bueller? There are so many iconic moments packed into this movie that I probably can't say much about this you don't already know, even if you've never seen it. I've probably seen this more than any other movie that I've never actually owned. That's because when I come across it while flipping channels I tend to stop.


If there's a movie that makes me giddier than Ferris Bueller's Day Off, it's this one. I loved it the first time I saw it, thirty years ago, and enjoy the hell out of it every time I watch it. I got my daughter to watch it with me a year or two ago. She didn't like it, but I still got something out of it. Now, I can randomly say "Feed me, Seymour!" whenever I want to pluck a nerve. Ya' know us dads, always trying to annoy our kids.


The coming of age movies we tend to love are the ones that came out when we were coming of age ourselves. For me, this is one of those movies. It helps that it is absolutely fantastic. The added bonus is that I shared this one with my kids when they were a lot younger and they actually like this one. To that, all I can say is "Hey, wanna see a dead body?"