Personal Best (1982)

Mariel Hemingway plays as an Olympic-caliber pentathlete, and Scott Glenn is her demanding coach. The film excels at presenting the beauty and grace of the athletes through slow motion and the complications of girlfriends competing against each other.

d: Robert Towne | imdb.com | Arm wrestling | the first part

The King of Comedy (1983)

Obsessed fan Robert De Niro doesn’t just want to be like his idol — talk show host Jerry Langford (played by Jerry Lewis) — he wants to be him. The dark comedy is an indictment of America’s celebrity culture, and it was long ahead of its time.

d: Martin Scorsese | imdb.com | trailer | movie | Critics’ Choice

Tootsie (1982)

Dustin Hoffman is brilliant as actor Michael Dorsey and actress Dorothy Michaels, and the cross-dressing never turns into a gimmick. A pro-feminist satire of acting, the film is also lots of fun, with supporting roles by Jessica Lange, Dabney Coleman and Bill Murray.

d: Sydney Pollack | imdb.com | trailer | No one will hire you.

Night Shift (1982)

Fast-talking idea man Michael Keaton and down-trodden straight man Henry Winkler turn their night shift at the city morgue into home base for a prostitution ring, and they make a good comedy team. Shelley Long adds smarts and heart as a prostitute.

d: Ron Howard | imdb.com | trailer | Prostitution

They All Laughed (1981)

Three detectives (Ben Gazzara, John Ritter, Blaine Novak) follow two women (Audrey Hepburn, Dorothy Stratten) in a throwback to the double-talk, screwball comedies of the 1930s. There’s sweetness to the love stories, and the country soundtrack informs them.

d: Peter Bogdanovich | imdb.com | soundtrack | interview

Stripes (1981)

Bill Murray and straight man Harold Ramis join the Army in a Marx Brothers-style farce, outlasting Sgt. Hulka, seducing beautiful MPOs, surviving basic training and making a rescue mission to Czechoslovakia. One more thing: John Candy mud-wrestles strippers.

d: Ivan Reitman | imdb.com | trailer | Introductions | Graduation
Interview: Bill Murray | Interview: Ivan Reitman | deleted scene