Our Staff Picks column is a new addition that takes you back to a time when video stores reigned supreme and the "Staff Picks" section was the place to find out what films were worthy of one's time. Of course, our version has a decidedly nude angle, as we suss out which films from a certain genre with great nudity. This week: 80s New Wave!
When people talk about "New Wave" in film, they typically mean the French New Wave. The American New Wave was in the '60s during the burgeoning indie film movement, but 80s New Wave was something entirely different.
80s New Wave was not just about movies - it was about everything. Music, fashion, art, hair, makeup, and movies had a defining look and sound during the 80s New Wave movement. While fashion and music might come to mind first, there are films that incorporate those elements and have been labeled as New Wave. Here are our Staff Picks for the best 80s New Wave films with nudity:
Videodrome
David Cronenberg's Videodrome is an early 80s classic whose synth-heavy music can firmly be classified as New Wave influenced. It helps that punk frontwoman Debbie Harry (of Blondie fame) stars as the seductive love interest who bares her breasts. All hail Debbie Harry's flesh!
Liquid Sky
This artsy indie film is a wild ride. It is gorgeously shot with bright, colorful sequences. The plot is crazy. Aliens seeking heroin come to Earth, but get distracted by sex. Sex, drugs, aliens, and New Wave propel this odd cult classic. Anne Carlisle plays multiple roles, namely a gruff young man and a sex-crazed model.
Desperately Seeking Susan
Speaking of Anne Carlisle, she plays a small role in Susan Seidelman's classic comedy Desperately Seeking Susan. I have to readily admit that Desperately Seeking Susan is more "mainstream" than Seidelman's film Smithereens which is a very good New Wave film. Smithereens, however, does not have any nudity. Thus I want to highlight DSS which has some similar elements.
Seidelman was in the New York New Wave scene - as was Madonna. Madonna performed all over New York's Lower East Side in the early 80s which is how she met Seidelman and why the young popstar acted in the director's sophomore feature.
Madonna and Roxanne Arquette star with Madonna being an interesting punk chick and Rosanna playing a bored housewife who is looking for her. You won't be bored of Roxanne's rack when she takes a bubble bath!
Blade Runner
Perhaps the most famous film in this era is Blade Runner. This 1982 classic by director Ridley Scott stars Harrison Ford as he hunts escaped androids in a punky dystopian LA future. He needs breaks from his hard work, so he takes them by getting hard while enjoying Joanna Cassidy in the flesh. She plays a stripper and she plays her very realistically!
She was an android, too. The androids are SO realistic that they even look sexy when they get naked. Some of them get naked, too, like actress Sean Young.
