Summer of '89: An Introduction

A week-by-week examination of one of the best movie summers.

Welcome to our latest series for our paid subscribers: Summer of '89.

Each week all summer, from now until the kids head back to school, we'll be diving into the pop culture landscape that was 1989. We'll look at the marquees every week and follow all major releases, from blockbuster hits to flopping thuds. We'll also check in with the television of the time, turning on the tube to see what premiered that summer.

Why 1989? That summer saw enduring classics, beloved and reviled entries in our favorite franchises, cult hits, video rental go-tos, and forgotten gems. We'll see Batman, Indiana Jones, Star Trek, Ghostbusters, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Lethal Weapon, and James Bond entries. The movies saw Spike Lee make his best movie and Steven Soderbergh make his first movie. Television saw the premiere of the most famous sitcom of all time and an NBA Finals we still talk about. 

Some weeks will feature an essay on just one film, while others (like this week) will see us check the listings for all that’s new at the multiplex. 

Only paid subscribers will get it all. Sign up for a discounted subscription so you don't miss anything: 

See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)

A murder takes place in the shop of David Lyons, a deaf man who fails to hear the gunshot being fired. Outside, blind man Wally Karue hears the shot but cannot see the perpetrator. Both are arrested, but escape to form an unlikely partnership. Being chased by both the law AND the original killers, can the pair work together to outwit them all?

May 12, 1989

Richard Pryor, Gene Wilder, Joan Severance, Kevin Spacey, Alan North, Anthony Zerbe
cinematography by Victor J. Kemper
music by Stewart Copeland
screenplay by Earl Barret, Arne Sultan, Eliot Wald, Andrew Kurtzman, Gene Wilder
produced by Marvin Worth
directed by Arthur Hiller