A 1984-1986 Summer Viewing List (and more) from Richard Linklater

Since you’re reading this I can guess that you’re a big movie enthusiast. Me too. Together we’ve seen a lot of movies. When we get together with our friends we’re the ones who know that actor’s name or that director’s name, or what year that came out. But in my peer group there’s someone who knows so much more, who has so many more years of experience at this, that I am constantly learning from him and tracking down films he recommends. That person is Austin Film Society founder and Artistic Director Richard Linklater.

Last summer we presented a series of films chosen and introduced by Linklater called Jewels In The Wasteland, spotlighting the first 4 years of that maligned decade, the ’80s. You can see the full lineup here.

This spring, even though Linklater was hard at work finishing a new film, we managed to squeeze in a 10 film series covering the years 1984-1986. But due to the brevity of our time window and, in some cases, non-availability of certain film prints from the era, we were not able to show everything we necessarily wanted to.

Last year, Linklater created a 1980-1983 Summer Viewing List” for people who wanted to keep the series going at home, or just to get some great movie recommendations. Now he has created the 1984-1986 Summer Viewing List.

Pro-tip, if you create a free account on Letterboxd, you can use these lists to create your own watchlist of films you want to get around to seeing. We recommend it.