By Popular Request The FiLM BiTCH Awards are travelling back in time. I don't consider anything official until the "under construction" part is lifted below.
Disclaimer. This is very much a work in progress... Changes will occur as I rewatch or see things I missed... but based on reader responses over the past few years you'd rather see "in progress" than wait patiently for years.
Awards
Page Index
* OSCAR coverage here
1985 FiLM BiTCH [Retroactive]
Awards
82/83/84/85/86/87/88/89__90/91/92/93/94/95/96/97/98/99
by Nathaniel
R
Erected August 2005 * Still Under Construction
I started watching the Oscars is 1983 (for the 1982 film year) but 1985 is the first year in which awards season build-up started to interest me. I specifically remember reading an article in People about the huge number off contenders in the Best Actress field and wondering "who will it be!?". I began writing down my own movie awards that year (though sadly --or perhaps thankfully-- I cannot find them).
I was crazy obsessed with Ladyhawke though not for the reason my readers will suspect. Though the film did kick off the interest in Michelle Pfeiffer it was only really a seed planted (which did not really sprout until 1988/1989). I was far more into the medieval-lite fantasy of the thing. I was really into genre movies and Starlog magazine and Dungeons & Dragons. Yes, basically a geeky 80s kid.
In 1985 I was also heavily invested in anything involving the Brad Pack: Ally Sheedy, Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy... You know the actors and you know the films: The Breakfast Club & St Elmos Fire. My other very vivid memory of moviegoing from that year was seeing The Purple Rose of Cairo and being completely blown away. Upon leaving the theater I was shocked to discover that everyone else I was with had hated it. My family, I discovered, did not share my Woody Allen fixation. From that film on I never missed an Allen picture and my family never saw another.
56 Films I have seen from 1985 (missing any? it's possible)
After Hours, Agnes of God, Back to the Future, The Black Cauldron, Blood Simple, Brazil, The Bride, The Breakfast Club, A Chorus Line, Clue, Cocoon, The Color Purple, Compromising Positions, Dance with a Stranger, Desperately Seeking Susan, Dreamchild, The Emerald Forest, Enemy Mine, Explorers, Fool For Love, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, The Goonies, Gotcha!, Insignificance, Into the Night, The Jagged Edge, The Jewel of the Nile, The Jounrey of Natty Gann, Just one of the Guys, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Ladyhawke, The Last Dragon, Legend, Lost in America, Mask, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, Murphy's Romance, Once Bitten, Out of Africa, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Perfect, Plenty, Prizzi's Honor, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Ran, Real Genius, Rocky IV, St. Elmo's Fire, The Sure Thing, Teen Wolf, Transylvania 6-5000, A View to a Kill, Vision Quest, Volunteers, Weird Science, White Nights, Witness, Young Sherlock Holmes,
I did not see:
Better off Dead, The Company of Wolves, D.A.R.Y.L., Day of the Dead, Defence of the Realm, Falcon and the Snowman, Fandango, Flesh and Blood, Fright Night, Maxie, Mishima, The Official Story, Pale Rider, A Private Function, Re-Animator, Red Sonja, Return of the Living Dead, Return to Oz, Runaway Train, Silverado, Subway, Sweet Dreams, The Trip to Bountiful, Twice in a Lifteime, When Father Was Away on Business, Year of the Dragon should I? which one?
| Best
PICTURE |
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 |
 |
BEFORE:
My top ten list is built from an unholy combo of kid memory and adult
taste twisting aforementioned memory. Other than Ran &
Ladyhawke I haven't seen any of these in maybe 10 years... My top ten list in descending order: The Purple Rose of Cairo (Allen) Out of Africa (Pollack)Pee Wee's Big Adventure ( Burton) Witness (Weir) The Breakfast Club (Hughes) Ran (Kurosawa) Kiss of the Spiderwoman ( Babenco) Ladyhawke (Donner) Prizzi's Honor (Huston) Insignificance (Roeg) Obviously subject to change! AFTER: TBA |
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 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Best
DIRECTOR |
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BEFORE:
Akira Kurosawa Ran, Woody Allen
Purple Rose of Cairo, Sydney Pollack Out
of Africa, Tim Burton Pee Wee's Big Adventure
and Peter Weir Witness. AFTER: tba |
 |
|
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Best
ACTRESS |
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 |
 |
BEFORE:
No best actress list from virtually any year in the 80s is complete
without Meryl Streep. In 85 you can choose between
Plenty and Out of Africa. I'd also go with
Mia Farrow in The Purple Rose of Cairo, Coral
Browne Dreamchild and maybe Whoopi Goldberg
The Color Purple and Miranda Richardson Dance
with a Stranger but my memory is shady... AFTER: tba |
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Meryl
& Mia at their best. |
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best
ACTOR |
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| BEFORE:
I was just as enthused as Oscar with William Hurt in
Kiss of the Spiderwoman. My list as of now would also include
Jeff Daniels The Purple Rose of Cairo, Jack
Nicholson Prizzi's Honor Harrison Ford Witness
and either Griffin Dunne After Hours or James
Garner Murphy's Romance. But 20 years ago --well, it aint so
clear. AFTER: tba |
 |
 |
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|
Hurt
& Daniel's characters were both trapped in the cinema. |
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best
SUPPORTING ACTRESS |
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 Ally & Molly in their 80s heyday in The Breakfast Club |
 |
BEFORE:
My lineup currently includes Anjelica Huston in Prizzi's
Honor, Sonia Braga The Kiss of the Spiderwoman,
Margaret Avery The Color Purple Meiko
Harada Ran and Molly Ringwald The
Breaksfast Club (I was obsessed OK? I practically started a fan
club)... with apologies to Tracey Ullman in Plenty, Demi
Moore St. Elmos Fire, and Helen Mirren in White Nights. |
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 |
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Best
SUPPORTING ACTOR |
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| BEFORE:
I thought Klaus Maria Brandauer deserved the Oscar
for Out of Africa. My list would also probably include
Ian Holm Dreamchild, John Gielgud
Plenty Lukas Haas Witness and William
Hickey Prizzi's Honor but I'm open to suggestions...
In this year I also loved Tim Curry in Legend but maybe I'd
consider that over the top now? AFTER: tba |
 |
 |
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| Other
PRIZES (Oscar Categories) |
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Orig.
Screenplay |
Cinematography |
Costume
Design |
Film
Editing |
Original
Song |
After
Hours J Minion Back to the Future B Gale & R Zemeckis Breakfast Club J Hughes Purple Rose of Cairo W. Allen Witness Wallace & Kelley H.M. Brazil Gilliam, McKeown, & Stoppard |
Color
Purple Allen Daviau Dance w/ a Stranger Peter Hannan Out of Africa David Watkin Ran Saito, Ueda, & Nakai Witness John Seale H.M. After Hours Michael Ballhaus Blood Simple Barry Sonnenfeld Dreamchild Billy Williams The Emerlad Forest Phillipe Rousselot Murphy's Romance William Fraker Plenty Ian Baker |
The
Color Purple Aggie G Rodgers Out of Africa Milena Canonero Plenty Ruth Myers Purple Rose ofCairo Jeffrey Kurland Ran Emi Wada H.M. Dance w/ a Stranger Pip Newbery Dreamchild Jane Robinson Journey of Natty... Albert Wolksy Legend Charles Knode Prizzi's Honor Donfeld |
A
Chorus Line John Bloom Purple Rose of Cairo Susan Morse Ran Akira Kurosawa Witness Thom Noble And??? Kiss of Spiderwoman Mauro Alice Out of Africa Steinkamp, Herring, & Kahn Prizzi's Honor Fehr |
The
Breakfast Club |
| Adap.
Screenplay |
Art
Direction |
Original
Score |
Sound |
 |
|
Kiss
of Spiderwoman L Schrader Out of Africa Kurt Luedtke Plenty David Hare Prizzi's Honor Condon & Roach or ??? ??? |
Brazil Norma Garwood Out of Africa Stephen Grimes Purple Rose of Cairo Stuart Wurtzel Ran Muraki & Muraki Witness Stan Jolley or ??? The Color Purple Plenty |
Black
Cauldron Elmer Bernstein The Color Purple Quincy Jones Out of Africa John Barry White Nights Michel Colombier Witness Maurice Jarre or ??? ??? |
Back
To the Future A Chorus Line Ladyhawke Out of Africa or ??? ??? |
|
| Sound
f/x |
Visual
Effects |
Makeup |
 |
 |
| Back
to the Future |
Back
to the Future |
Dreamchild |
||
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Diva |
Sexpot |
Hero |
Villain |
Kiss |
Desperately
Seeking "Susan" Insignificance "The Actress" Mad Max: BT "Aunty Entity" Plenty "Susan Traherne" St. Elmos Fire "Jules" or??? |
A
Chorus Line 'dance 10 looks 3' Dance w/ a Stranger Rupert Everett Desperately Seeking Madonna White Nights Mikhail Baryshnikov and ??? |
Back
to the Future Marty McFly Ladyhawke Phillipe the Mouse Ladyhawke Etienne Navar Mad Max: BT Mad Max Pee Wee's Big... Pee Wee or??? |
Legend |
The
Color Purple Goldberg & Avery (so shy) Witness Ford & McGillis (passionate) and??? |
Poster |
Sex
Scene |
Musical
Moment |
Opening
Sequence |
Ending |
Back
to the Future Dance w/ a Stranger Desperately Seeking Out of Africa and??? |
Plenty |
Breakfast
Club group A Chorus Line One Purple Rose of Cairo Mia & Jeff Witness (the car radio) and??? |
Pee
Wee's Big and???
|
Ladyhawke Purple Rose of Cairo Ran and??? |
Ensemble
Cast |
Costumes
(Contemporary) |
Action
Sequence |
Limited
or Cameo Role (Male) |
Limited
or Cameo Role (Female) |
The
Breakfast Club The Color Purple Witness ??? |
After
Hours Breakfast Club Desperately Seeking Prizzis Honor Witness or ??? |
Ladyhawke (Mouse vs. Soldiers) Witness (finale) |
??? |
Jane
Weidlin Clue ??? |
And
now...
