9 to 5 (1980)

Director: Colin Higgins

Cast: Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, Dabney Coleman

Have I Seen It Before: Never. One would be forgiven (or may be apt to forgive me) for thinking that a movie probably release to be counter-programming for a Christmas re-release of <Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)>, but I’m not sure if I ought to be forgiven for only coming around to the film after the theme became was pretty delightfully grafted on to <Deadpool 2 (2018)>.

Did I Like It: There are two films struggling for supremacy here, and unfortunately, I think that the wrong movie won the battle over the larger landscape of the movies. At its core, this is a sitcom plot that at about the midway point realizes it is a sitcom plot and comes to the conclusion that the only way to get out of the proceedings with its dignity (is that the right word?) intact is to hope people aren’t paying attention, and get out of their increasingly dubious plot by ratcheting  up the fundamental sitcomy-ness to a level that a sitcom writer (even one of that era) would term the whole affair “a bit much.”

That’s the movie that keeps getting made over and over again. That’s kind of a bummer.

The movie that everyone should have been trying to re-create is just Dolly Parton. We now know her as the greatest philanthropist this side of Bruce Wayne, and apparently she’s notably sung some music, but the fact that we never really gave Parton a chance as a film star. Sure, she had The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) but then Rhinestone (1984) came around, and everybody forgot to blame Stallone for that film’s problems. Here, she is so guileless and likable, by all accounts she should have had the career of Sly, Burt, Fonda, and Tomlin all put together. I’m sure she’s not bothered by the fact that she could have meant more to the movies, but we are poorer for it.

WarGames (1983)

Director: John Badham

Cast: Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, Dabney Coleman, John Wood

Have I Seen it Before: Many, many times. Long ago was the time that I dreamed of nothing more than a IMSAI computer rig the likes of which David Lightman (Broderick) wields in this film. One would think that I’d be happy with a far more powerful device that fits in my pocket, but I’m not.

Did I Like It: Without a doubt.

There’s always a hesitation with anything older than, say, five years. One wonders if it will not only age, but age poorly. One might have found Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) pretty funny (although, one would have been ten-years-old at the time), but now it is one of the more pointedly transphobic films ever committed to screen. All of Woody Allen’s movies are out, even the ones he hasn’t made yet. The less said about American Beauty (1999), the better off we all are.

And then there are films that—while not mired in the backward thinking of their day—can not overcome the aesthetic trapping of their age. A film like Forbidden Planet (1956) might be trying to tell us a story of the far-flung 23rd century, but you need to take a look at only a few seconds of the film to guess when it was made and be accurate within a few years. Few films even try for an ageless quality about them, and even fewer succeed.

I’m happy to report that WarGames happily transcends the earlier issue. The characters feel real, even if the situations around them occasionally veer into the farfetched. There’s not an attitude on display that feels mired in the myopia of the age. It even manages to fly in the face of the Reagan-era Star Wars mentality, distrusting the computers that would eventually run every facet of our lives.

Now, as far as aesthetically transcending the time in which it is made, WarGames gleefully clings to the time in which it was made. How could it not? The computers—although capable of doing things just beyond their reach at the time—are filled with the kind of pre-Macintosh clunkiness. One imagines that after the events of this film, Lightman found the first Macintoshes to come off the assembly line to be glossy, annoying toys. I also like to think that he just kept upgrading his IMSAI and still uses it to this day, but then again, I’m a dreamer. If you were unaware of when this film was made before playing it, you’d be able to guess as to it’s origins within a few years margin of error, but that is why it has miraculously stood the test of time. Just try to affect a robotic voice and say “The only way to win is not to play.”

Most people are right on board with that idea. If they’re not, they should be.