In 1989:
The Nissan Infiniti and Toyota Lexus debuted;
George H.W. Bush was sworn in as the 41st President of the United States;
Ayotollah Khomeini issued a fatwah against author Salman Rushdie;
The Exxon Valdez ran aground and spilled 240,000 barrels of oil;
Chinese students began massive protests in Tiananmen Square;
Nintendo released the Gameboy;
Colin Powell became the first black Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff;
Lyle and Erik Menedez murdered their parents;
The World Series was postponed for ten days because of an earthquake in San Francisco;
The Simpsons premiered;
Nina Dobrev, Kelly Marie Tran, Elizabeth Olsen, Nathalie Emmanuel, Lily Collins, J.J. Watt, Lily James, Alia Shawkat, Rory McIlroy, Cam Newton, Rob Gronkowski, Imogen Poots, Lucy Hale, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kimiko Glenn, Matthew Lewis, Elle King, Juno Temple, Daniel Radcliffe, Zelda Williams, Madison Bumgarner, Joe Jonas, Hayden Panettiere, James Harden, Bebe Rexha, Zedd, Avicii, Andrew Luck, Jason Derulo, Brie Larson, Dakota Johnson, Mia Wasikowska, PewDiePie, Aaron Hernandez, Giancarlo Stanton, Taron Egerton, Nicolas Hoult, Katherine Schwarzenegger, Taylor Swift, Jordin Sparks were born;
While Emperor Hirohito, Salvador Dali, Ted Bundy, John Cassavettes, Barbara Tuchman, Abbie Hoffman, Lucille Ball, Sergio Leone, Gilda Radner, Jim Backus, Mel Blanc, Laurence Olivier, William Shockley, Tim Richmond, Huey Newton, Robert Penn Warren, Irving Berlin, Ferdinand Marcos, Graham Chapman, Secretariat, Cornel Wilde, Frances Bavier, Lee Van Cleef, Samuel Beckett, and Billy Martin died.
The following is a list of my ten favorite films released in 1989:
10) Field of Dreams
A mystical voice instructs Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) to turn half of his farmland into a baseball field, travel to Boston to find reclusive author Terrence Mann (James Earl Jones), and hunt down failed ballplayer Moonlight Graham (Burt Lancaster). All of this culminates in long delayed reconciliation between Ray and his deceased father during a game of catch.
Deceased Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) and other member of the infamous Black Sox emerge from the corn to play the game they love, while Moonlight Graham transforms from an old man into a younger version of himself to reclaim his dream and then back into his older self to save Ray’s choking daughter (Gabby Hoffman).
The film romanticizes baseball as the preeminent bond between father and son. It’s hokey and takes liberties with the JD Salinger inspired Mann, but it’s hard not to tear up watching Ray play catch with his dad.
It’s what every child wants from their parent: to remain fixed in that time when spending ten minutes playing a game with dad was the greatest thing in the world. Who hasn’t lost a parent and yearned for one last game of catch? Who hasn’t yearned for one more opportunity to play with their grown children?
This is the quintessential move about the possible place of sports as connective tissue and Kevin Costner will forever be remembered for his cornfield in Iowa.
While the first move is about unintended consequences of altering the past, this movie is about how time travel could be intentionally used for nefarious purposes, as old Biff commandeers the DeLorean to give his younger self a ticket to unlimited wealth.
The future predictions are great: Cafe 80s. Automatic laces. Mr. Fusion. Flying cars. A Miami baseball team. The Cubs winning the World Series. And, of course, the hoverboard.
Watching it now, the dystopian present plays like a pro-version of the Trump era.
Going back to the past and rewatching the events from the first movie from a different perspective is fun, and the twist, when Doc is accidentally sent back to 1885 and has a Western Union telegram delivered to Marty in his future, is a clever way to set up a sequel.
This movie is, in its own way, just as iconic and influential as the first, expanding the first film’s universe in exciting ways.
After the second World War, Boolie Werthan (Dan Aykroyd) hires a black chauffer, Hoke Colburn (Morgan Freeman) for his elderly mother Daisy Werthan (Jessica Tandy).
As Hoke drives Miss Daisy around Atlanta, the two develop a unique friendship which transcends their race and class differences.
The performances of the central characters (Aykroyd, Freeman, and Tandy) are superb. The movie oversimplifies the realities of race in America, but it points to a world where we can see each other as people and not monolithic representatives of different groups.
7) Batman
Michael Keaton’s Batman will always have a special place in my heart, and Jack Nicholson’s Joker is second only to Ledger; while Jack Palance, Kim Basinger, and Robert Wuhl give memorable performances.
Today, it seems crazy to think of Tim Burton directing a superhero movie, but it was a well suited match. I prefer the sequel, but I still think of this movie quite a bit and it remains in contention for my favorite superhero movie.
6) Decalog
Kristof Kieslowski’s ambitious miniseries about the Ten Commandments is a loosely connected study with a couple of thru characters, one of which might be a supernatural figure.
It’s a great rumination on the spiritual, casting the commandments as a set of ideals instead of a literal set of rules and exploring the way these principles can be extrapolated.
5) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
The Holy Grail is a better Macguffin than the previous film and a natural progression from the Ark of the original.
Spielberg (who famously wanted to direct a James Bond film), got close to his wish, directing Connery as Indy’s dad.
It’s filled with memorable lines: “X marks the spot.” “He’d get lost in his own museum.” “She talks in her sleep.” “You have chosen poorly.”
And memorable scenes: The elder Jones using his umbrella to manipulate a flock of birds into taking out a Nazi threat. Hitler signing the book.
I’m not prepared to say this is better than Raiders, but it’s in the ballpark. The first Indy movie I saw in theaters left an indelible impression on me.
4) Henry V
Following the playbook of his idol, Laurence Olivier, Kenneth Branagh directed himself in this version of the Bard’s venerable play.
His version features an incredible cast: Robbie Coltrane as Falstaff; Paul Scofield as the king of France; Emma Thompson (Brannagh’s then wife); Judi Dench; Derek Jacobi; a young Christian Bale; and demonstrates how evergreen and adaptable the material is.
This story of a charming English teacher at a New England, male prep school in the late 1950s is what we all wish our education was like, teaching us to strive for ideals, giving us the courage to find who we really are. John Keating (Robin Williams) is funny and probing, a sort of Uber-teacher.
The black and white view of education is unrealistic and I’m sure there are think pieces on the privilege the film espouses, but this movie had a deep impact on me as an adolescent and forever formed my opinion of Walt Whitman as a “sweaty toothed madman.”
In addition to Williams, Kurtwood Smith, Normal Lloyd, Sean Leonard, Josh Charles and, of course, Ethan Hawke give standout performances.
In spite of my deep affection for the film, there are parts of it which are harder to understand thirty years later: Neil’s death now plays a like a glorification of suicide as a viable alternative to not being able to live your truth.
However, the possibilities it opened up are still foundational to my understanding, and the climatic ending, when the boys show they have internalized Keating’s admonishment to “seize the day,” is still powerful.
2) Dad
My love of this obscure film is deeply personal. My dad died when I was young and a movie about a son coming to terms with his dad’s mortality is guaranteed to pull my heart strings.
Jack Lemmon’s performance as Jake Tremont is another notch in his illustrious career. Ted Danson’s turn as his son John is proof of his versatility. Ethan Hawke continues his stellar year as the third generation Tremont, whose own relationship with his dad has hit a bumpy spot. Olympia Dukakis is wonderful and the depiction of the Tremont’s difficult, but long lasting marriage is a wonderful homage to a time when matrimony was supposed to last.
This movie was an immense comfort to me and I still see it that way.
Successful ophthalmologist Judah Rosenthal (Martin Landau) is having an affair with Dolores Paley (Anjelica Huston). When she threatens to expose their affair, he arranges for someone to kill her.
Cliff Stern (Woody Allen) is hired by his brother-in-law Lester (Alan Alda) to make a documentary. During the job, he falls in love with Lester’s assistant, Halley (Mia Farrow). The finished product is a satire of Lester’s life and work and, to Cliff’s dismay, Halley announces her engagement to Lester.
Nearing the end of the second phase of Woody Allen’s career (coinciding with his relationship with Mia Farrow), this movie is a wonderfully tragi-comic interpretation of Doystoyevsky, which asks important questions about the nature of guilt and the relationship between art and commerce.