A little about my favorite movies of 1983:

The Big Chill: Well, even if it was a sloppy wet kiss to the 
narcissistic baby boom generation, it was still a pretty good 
film.  Especially William Hurt as the asshole and Meg Tilly as Bjork.

A Christmas Story: Nostalgia done right.

The Dead Zone: One of the better Stephen King adaptations, thanks 
mostly to director David Cronenberg, who specializes in stories 
about men with unique problems, and actor Christopher Walken, for 
playing himself.

The Hunger: An arty vampire movie?  Leave it to Ridley Scott.  This 
is like a Vampire Tone Poem, a pretty bauble to just look at and not 
think much about.  Cinematography is everything, and the camera could 
do worse than lingering over Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan 
Sarandon and the group Bauhaus.

Local Hero: This is the movie I recommend to people who like "sweet" 
movies.  It thinks itself a little cleverer than it actually is, but 
what is the harm in that?

The Man With Two Brains: Steve Martin at the peak of his powers.

The Meaning of Life: The last of the Monty Python movies.  When this 
first came out, I sat through it twice.  It may not be great, but it's 
full of moments.

Risky Business: Hey, didn't this star little Tommy Cruise?  I think 
he was also in "Taps" before this, but this was the movie that Put 
Him On The Map.  If I had known that at the time, I might not have 
enjoyed it as much.  This movie is the best retelling of "The Cat In 
The Hat" I have ever seen.

Tender Mercies: This movie has "Horton Foote" written all over it, 
which is not a bad thing at all.

The Year of Living Dangerously: I like this movie even more for 
refusing to explain what the hell was going on in Indonesia back 
then.  If you don't know what the PKI was, go look it up!  I think 
that mirrors how much the white reporters knew about anything.  
Remember when people thought Mel Gibson could act?