Direct Current #10/Box Office 1980

ITEM!  Comics Reader - Reading Comics #77 "Dinosaurs vs. Aliens"
The title of this entry might sound like another of those crazy Hollywood mashups.  That's because it is.  But it comes from the minds of Barry Sonnenfeld and Grant Morrison, and hopefully you have some more favorable associations coming to mind now...

Read more here.

ITEM!  Star Trek Fan Companion - Enterprise 2x10 "Vanishing Point"
Two aspects of the first season reappear in the second: fear of transporters and Hoshi Sato's unease.  Is that enough to pique your interest?

Read more here.

ITEM!  Sigild V - "Darkness in the Knight"
This is another of my periodic forays into the creations of others.  As the title may suggest, this time the subject is Batman.  Like a classic Elseworlds tale, however, one crucial aspect of the character has been changed, and it makes a pretty big difference...

Read more here.

THE BEST OF WHAT'S AROUND

Mock! had a busy weekend.

Jarm Del Boccio explores long sentences (which this is not).

Kertrats looks at Janeway's return in The Eternal Tide.

Sylvia Ney with advertising ideas.

SOAP BOX

Here begins a look at the box office hits of years past and how their reputation has grown or diminished in the meantime...

This is 1980's Top Ten:

1. The Empire Strikes Back ($209 mil)
As the second installment of the original Star Wars trilogy, its legacy is assured.  From the introduction of Yoda to the revelation of Darth Vader being Luke Skywalker's father, a lot of what we know about the franchise comes from this film.

2. 9 to 5 ($103 mil)
Perhaps the original Brides Maids?  Starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton, this one's impact was huge at the time but has slipped in social relevance since, though it still proves that Hollywood is the only one convincing itself that women can't star in blockbusters.

3. Stir Crazy ($101 mil)
Another obvious relic, starring Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, two huge stars at the time who were already on a downward slope.  Would you believe it was directed by Sidney Poitier?

4. Airplane! ($83 mil)
A movie that continues to entertain, made the spoof genre popular, and launched Leslie Nielsen into the greatest success of his career.  Just don't call him Shirley!

5. Any Which Way You Can ($70 mil)
If you're still wondering how we got Clint Eastwood talking to a chair as one of the biggest talking points of this election year, just remember that he's long been one of Hollywood's biggest stars.  This was an action comedy in one of his many franchises.

6. Private Benjamin ($69 mil)
Before there was Kate Hudson there was her mother, Goldie Hawn, whose box office success is the reason her daughter became an instant star.  This is one of her more notable hits.

7. Cole Miner's Daughter ($67 mil)
One of the most famous Hollywood biopics of the modern era, it concerns country star Loretta Lynn and features Sissy Spacek in one of her signature roles.

8. Smokey and the Bandit II ($66)
Yes, the third sequel in 1980's top grossing films, perhaps proving to skeptics that this was not a fad that just happened over the course of the last decade.  Features Burt Reynolds and Sally Field, who survived the decade in considerably better shape than Wilder and Pryor.

9. The Blue Lagoon ($58)
It helped launch the career of Brooke Shields and made it popular to exploit the sexuality of teenagers.  Think of it as the Twilight Saga of its day.

10. The Blues Brothers ($57)
A lot of great music and a notable film in the careers of Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi, the latter of whom would be dead in two years.  Still one of the best movies to be created from an act that originally appeared on Saturday Night Live.

Some other notable films from the year: The Shining ($44 mil), Friday the 13th ($39 mil), Raging Bull ($23 mil), Mad Max ($8 mil).

Source: Box Office Mojo.