Where the Buffalo Roam (1980)

Bill Murray does a great Hunter S. Thompson, throwing away every line in a mumbled monotone. The film is funny but too safe in its sketch comedy-style humor. Peter Boyle plays Thompson’s attorney (Carl Lazlo, Esq.), and Neil Young provides the score.

d: Art Linson | imdb.com | trailer | Super Sunday | For writers ...

Hero at Large (1980)

The film wants to say something about fictional super heroes and everyday ones — “people putting themselves on the line for other people.” John Ritter is engaging but not enough to save a script that needs some real substance to counter its cloying optimism.

d: Martin Davidson | imdb.com | trailer

Starting Over (1979)

In possibly his best performance, Burt Reynolds is sweet and sensitive in a romantic comedy about life after divorce. Dumped by Candice Bergen, Reynolds portrays the uneasiness of dating again with the equally wary Jill Clayburgh. Bergen performs three songs.

d: Alan J. Pakula | imdb.com

Meatballs (1979)

Bill Murray’s charming friendship with 12-year-old Chris Makepeace and his “It just doesn’t matter” speech highlight the comedic set pieces at Camp North Star, where the counselors fool around and there’s an Olympiad showdown with Camp Mohawk.

d: Ivan Reitman | imdb.com | trailer | It just doesn’t matter

Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979)

Richard Pryor masters the art of autobiographical comedy, inhabiting and impersonating white people, squirrel monkeys and body parts — the most stunning, his heart during his heart attack. It is, quite possibly, the best stand-up concert ever.

d: Jeff Margolis | imdb.com | Kids lying | Pet monkeys | Ali

The Inglorious Bastards (1978)

Imagine Sam Peckinpah making a World War II picture on a drive-in movie budget starring blaxploitation hero Fred Williamson. Italian director Enzo G. Castellari did and Quentin Tarantino enjoyed it so much he spun it off into his own war epic.

d: Enzo G. Castellari | imdb.com | trailer | “Inglourious Basterds”