The BEST OF 1982

Bob le Flambeur. Trench coats, neon lights, rain-washed streets. And a man of honor in a world of thieves. French Writer-Director Jean-Pierre Melville's drama of a gambler down on his luck took 27 years to arrive in the U.S.; it is a classic example of the dark, doom-dripping genre known as film noir.

Diner. The not quite coming of age of five guys in Baltimore back in the 1950s. Nothing much happens--except the dawning realization that, in these lives, nothing much will ever happen. Writer-Director Barry Levinson found saving good humor in this landscape of deferred dreams and encouraged Oscar-worthy performances from Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon and Daniel Stern.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. The most successful movie ever is also the best film of the year--an effortless display of cinematic ingenuity that buoys the spirit. Bravos to Steven Spielberg, Screenwriter Melissa Mathison and a remarkably mature young actor, Henry Thomas, as E.T.'s best friend. Peter Pan is alive and well and commuting to Southern California.

Gandhi. Richard Attenborough's 3-hr. 20-min. film is a historical epic on the grand scale, but one that touches the heart with its moral earnestness and the marvelous humanity of Ben Kingsley's performance in the title role.

Mephisto. An actor in search of a role sells his soul to the Nazis in order to obtain it. In Istvan Szabo's unbalancing and brilliant study of a theatrical mind at the end of its tether, Klaus Maria Brandauer gives a great performance as a man too innocent about his own ambition.

Moonlighting. Four Polish laborers spend an edgy month in London--December 1981, when Poland fell under martial law. Writer-Director Jerzy Sko-limowski has devised a bitterly funny metaphor for the dilemma of the liberal tyrant. As the foreman, isolated from his workers and his own best instincts, Jeremy Irons is quietly spectacular.

My Favorite Year. A has-been movie star, played with flopsy charm by Peter O'Toole, redeems his career and character by doing a guest shot on a '50s TV variety show. It's a great comic turn, and the film, written by Norman Steinberg and Dennis Palumbo and directed by Richard Benjamin, is the year's sweetest trip down memory lane.

Poltergeist. The hell-mouth side of Spielberg's suburban diptych: vengeful spirits drive a middle-class family beyond bananas. The film delivers honest special-effects shocks without forfeiting its good nature. Under Tobe Hooper's direction Jobeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson shine as the dogged mom and the heroic-in-spite-of-himself dad.

The Road Warrior. An apocalypse for the car culture: the good guys have the gasoline, the bad guys own the autos. The violence is glancing, but stings; the vision is dark and hot-rod fast. Australian Director George Miller's socko comic strip is also a textbook of sophisticated film making.

Tootsie. A screwball comedy for our times, with Dustin Hoffman splendid as an actor who dons a dress to win a role and becomes a better man as a result. The supporting cast is extraordinary, the writing and direction on pitch. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.