Flashback 1985: My top 10 favorite movies from 30 years ago

Back to the Future

Following my post on my favorite movies from 10 and 20 years ago, here's the next one in my series of top tens -- my favorite movies from 1985.

This was another great year for pop entertainment -- I was 3 years old, this was the year my little sister was born and it was arguably the peak of one of my biggest comedy idol's career. But more on that later.

I had a really hard time narrowing this list down, because I have a lot of films I cherish from this year -- but alas this is what I came up with ...

10) The Purple Rose of Cairo - One of the few films of Woody Allen's that the director himself says he's totally satisfied with. It is also one of his most moving and sweet. A downtrodden housewife during the Depression-era (played by Mia Farrow) falls in love with a movie character (Jeff Daniels) who literally walks off the screen into her life. A whimsical fable that gets increasingly complex as it goes along -- the kind of thing Allen does best, he tread similar ground with Midnight in Paris.

9) The Color Purple - I saw Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Alice Walker's best-seller initially with a lot of skepticism. It has been widely criticized for watering down Walker's searing portrait of an impoverished black family in the 1930s South. While the film is less grueling, it is still incredibly powerful. Featuring stellar, Oscar-worthy performances from Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and yes, Oprah Winfrey, this is a drama that really stands the test of time.

8) Brazil - Terry Gilliam's creative genius is on full display in this endlessly creative riff on bureaucratic evil and repression. This visually inventive -- and at times nightmarish -- black comedy is thought provoking and a total original. It's still my favorite Gilliam film (not counting Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which he co-directed) and its influence is still being felt today when it comes to how the movies portray the future.

7) Police Story - Hands down the coolest and most effective Jackie Chan movie I've ever seen. He's hilarious in this but also totally credible as an action hero. And unlike a lot of Chan's movies, the plot is not so bad that you have to look past it. This film features some of his most incredible, dangerous stunts of Chan's illustrious career and its breakneck pace never lets up. If you're looking for the ideal vintage Chan movie, I would start here.

6) Desperately Seeking Susan - A perfect time capsule of the art scene in New York in the mid-'80s. This movie is largely remembered for being Madonna's first major movie role, and she is terrific in it, but it's also a very sophisticated and clever look at identity, with some feminist asides thrown in. The real star of the show is the sexy and luminous Rosanna Arquette as a neglected wife who gets drawn into a brave new world after assuming the identity of a woman who's drama she follows in the personal ads.

Chevy Chase in Spies Like Us

5) Spies Like Us - The first of two classic Chevy Chase comedies to appear on this list. Chase was one of the top box office stars of the year, totaling three hits, each of which showcase him at this best. Here he makes an ideal partner for a droll Dan Aykroyd as two D.C. pencil pushers who are selected to be decoys for real CIA agents in serious harm's way. I grew up on this movie and have many of its lines committed to memory.

4) After Hours - One of Martin Scorsese's most underrated films is another great look at '80s-era New York City. It features an amazing cast of character actors, with Griffin Dunne in the lead, playing out one spectacularly crazy night in the Big Apple. Of course the NYC of today in no way resembles the grimy metropolis presented here, but that only makes the film more fascinating. It's full of adventurous camera trickery and stylish flourishes from a filmmaker really trying to work outside of his comfort zone.

3) Back to the Future - The biggest box office hit of the year is also one of the best releases of its era. A sci-fi movie, romance and comedy rolled into one irresistible package. I actually love the whole trilogy -- but the first film is definitely the best. Michael J. Fox has the iconic role of Marty McFly, the wannabe rock star teen whose best friend is inexplicably an aging scientist with a time machine (a note-perfect Christopher Lloyd). A genuinely smart and creative mainstream movie that just delivers on every conceivable level. So many modern blockbusters owe a little something to this one.

2) Witness - As I just recently said in my ode to Harrison Ford, this police drama features one of his greatest performances of all time. He scored his first, and so far only, Oscar nomination for his role as John Book, a Philadelphia cop who falls in love with an Amish woman and becomes a father figure to their son while hiding out with them to escape a ring of corrupt officers. A movie that has increasingly become an all-time favorite of mine. It's beautiful to look at and has one of the most sexy and affecting love stories I've ever seen.

1) Fletch - I've written about this one before -- one of my favorite characters of all time, my favorite journalism-themed movie ever and the poster for this hit comedy proudly sits on my apartment wall. There's been remake talk for years which I kind of hope never happens because this Chevy Chase vehicle is already perfection. He plays a wisecracking investigative reporter named Irwin Fletcher who takes on a series of personalities and disguises to expose a complex fraud scheme. And he's damn funny doing it.

That's my list -- I hope you like it. And stay tuned for my top 10 favorites from 40 years ago!