MC Decade Consensus - 1970s

[Spinal]

Submit your ten favorite eligible films from this decade and in a week Grouchy will give you a top twenty.

The point system is as follows

1st Place-10 points
2nd Place- 8 points
3rd Place- 7 points
4th Place- 6 points
5th Place- 5 points
6th Place - 4 points
7th Place - 3.5 points
8th Place - 3 points
9th Place - 2.5 points
10th Place - 2 points

As you can see, the scale is weighted to give your top film a little bonus and to make sure that the difference between a 6th place and a 10th place is not too drastic.

Ten eligible films must be listed. Please make any edits by making a new post and telling me what changes have been made.

PLEASE READ:
In order to be eligible for this vote, a film must have placed in the top 10 for the Yearly Consensus Poll for the year it was released. Honorable mention films are not eligible. Since you only have ten slots to fill, I want you to focus on films that have a realistic chance of making the final list, so that we may achieve the most accurate results possible. My goal is to increase the influence of your vote. Please feel free to post an additional list that reflects your "true" top films of the decade. However, only lists with ten eligible films will be counted towards the final poll.

In order to add some suspense to the final results, you may (if you choose) PM your ballot to Grouchy instead of posting it in the thread below. Either method of voting will be acceptable. (But please do not do both.) "Secret" ballots will be revealed after the final poll is posted.

You may begin now.

Eligible films
3 Women (Altman)
A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick)
A Woman Under the Influence (Cassavetes)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Herzog)
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Fassbinder)
Alien (Scott)
All That Jazz (Fosse)
All the President's Men (Pakula)
Amarcord (Fellini)
Animal House (Landis)
Annie Hall (Allen)
Apocalypse Now (Coppola)
Assault on Precinct 13 (Carpenter)
Autumn Sonata (Bergman)
Badlands (Malick)
Barry Lyndon (Kubrick)
Being There (Ashby)
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (Meyer)
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Peckinpah)
Cabaret (Fosse)
Carrie (De Palma)
Catch-22 (Nichols)
Chinatown (Polanski)
Claire's Knee (Rohmer)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Spielberg)
Cries and Whispers (Bergman)
Dawn of the Dead (Romero)
Days of Heaven (Malick)
Deep Red (Argento)
Deliverance (Boorman)
Dog Day Afternoon (Lumet)
El Topo (Jodorowsky)
Eraserhead (Lynch)
Even Dwarfs Started Small (Herzog)
F for Fake (Welles)
Fata Morgana (Herzog)
Five Easy Pieces (Rafelson)
Halloween (Carpenter)
Harold and Maude (Ashby)
High Plains Drifter (Eastwood)
In a Year of 13 Moons (Fassbinder)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Kaufman)
Jaws (Spielberg)
Killer of Sheep (Burnett)
Le Cercle rouge (Melville)
Life of Brian (Jones)
Love & Death (Allen)
Manhattan (Allen)
Martin (Romero)
MASH (Altman)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Altman)
Mean Streets (Scorsese)
Mikey and Nicky (May)
Monty Python & The Holy Grail (Jones/Gilliam)
Nashville (Altman)
Network (Lumet)
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (Herzog)
O Lucky Man! (Anderson)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Forman)
Patton (Schaffner)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (Weir)
Play it Again, Sam (Ross)
Punishment Park (Watkins)
Rocky (Avildson)
Roma (Fellini)
Scenes from a Marriage (Bergman)
Small Change (Truffaut)
Solaris (Tarkovsky)
Stalker (Tarkovsky)
Star Wars (Lucas)
Straw Dogs (Peckinpah)
Stroszek (Herzog)
Suspiria (Argento)
Taxi Driver (Scorsese)
That Obscure Object of Desire (Buñuel)
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (Liu)
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (Fassbinder)
The Conformist (Bertolucci)
The Conversation (Coppola)
The Deer Hunter (Cimino)
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Buñuel)
The Enigma of Kasper Hauser (Herzog)
The Exorcist (Friedkin)
The French Connection (Friedkin)
The Godfather (Coppola)
The Godfather Part II (Coppola)
The Holy Mountain (Jodorowsky)
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (Cassavetes)
The Last Picture Show (Bogdanovich)
The Last Waltz (Scorsese)
The Long Goodbye (Altman)
The Marriage of Maria Braun (Fassbinder)
The Mirror (Tarkovsky)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (Eastwood)
The Spirit of the Beehive (Erice)
The Tenant (Polanski)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hooper)
Vengeance is Mine (Imamura)
Walkabout (Roeg)
Watership Down (Rosen)
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Stuart)
Young Frankenstein (Brooks)

[Ezee E]

1. The Exorcist
2. Taxi Driver
3. All That Jazz
4. The Godfather Part II
5. Alien
6. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
7. The Deer Hunter
8. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
9. El Topo
10. Dog Day Afternoon

[Spinal]

1. Walkabout
2. Life of Brian
3. The Holy Mountain
4. Eraserhead
5. Aguirre, the Wrath of God
6. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
7. Punishment Park
8. A Clockwork Orange
9. All That Jazz
10. Dog Day Afternoon

Wish I could put: Grey Gardens, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders

Apologies to: O Lucky Man!, Scenes from a Marriage, Cries and Whispers

[Spinal]

I have a feeling this is a list where Match Cut and I will not see eye to eye.

[StanleyK]

1. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (Werner Herzog)
2. Badlands (Terrence Malick)
3. Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick)
4. Cries and Whispers (Ingmar Bergman)
5. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese)
6. Nashville (Robert Altman)
7. Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick)
8. Jaws (Steven Spielberg)
9. Stroszek (Werner Herzog)
10. Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky)

Been ages since I saw either Godfather film.

[Russ]

1. Stroszek (Herzog)
2. Taxi Driver (Scorsese)
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Forman)
4. A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick)
5. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Herzog)
6. Killer of Sheep (Burnett)
7. The Holy Mountain (Jodorowsky)
8. F for Fake (Welles)
9. The Spirit of the Beehive (Erice)
10. The Conversation (Coppola)

[Duncan]

1. The Spirit of the Beehive (Erice)
2. The Mirror (Tarkovsky)
3. Days of Heaven (Malick)
4. Fata Morgana (Herzog)
5. Manhattan (Allen)
6. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (Cassavetes)
7. F for Fake (Welles)
8. The Conversation (Coppola)
9. Killer of Sheep (Burnett)
10. The Long Goodbye (Altman)

But I think all of these are deserving films:

A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick)
A Woman Under the Influence (Cassavetes)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Herzog)
Alien (Scott)
Amarcord (Fellini)
Annie Hall (Allen)
Apocalypse Now (Coppola)
Badlands (Malick)
Barry Lyndon (Kubrick)
Chinatown (Polanski)
El Topo (Jodorowsky)
Five Easy Pieces (Rafelson)
Life of Brian (Jones)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Altman)
Nashville (Altman)
Solaris (Tarkovsky)
Stalker (Tarkovsky)
Stroszek (Herzog)
The Enigma of Kasper Hauser (Herzog)
The Godfather (Coppola)

[EyesWideOpen]

1. A Clockwork Orange
2. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
3. Annie Hall
4. The Exorcist
5. Jaws
6. Manhattan
7. Straw Dogs
8. Harold and Maude
9. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
10. Taxi Driver

[Melville]

1. Solaris (Tarkovsky)
2. The Mirror (Tarkovsky)
3. Cries and Whispers (Bergman)
4. Chinatown (Polanski)
5. Taxi Driver (Scorsese)
6. In a Year of 13 Moons (Fassbinder)
7. A Woman Under the Influence (Cassavetes)
8. Manhattan (Allen)
9. A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick)
10. Apocalypse Now (Coppola)

HMs: loads, including Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Badlands, Days of Heaven, Eraserhead, Fata Morgana, Love & Death, Mikey and Nicky, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Stroszek, The Conversation, The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, The Spirit of the Beehive, and Vengeance is Mine.

My true list would have Edvard Munch at number 1, and would also have Serene Velocity and The Devil.

[Raiders]

1. The Conversation (1974)
2. Days of Heaven (1978)
3. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
4. F for Fake (1974)
5. Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
6. The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
7. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
8. Stalker (1979)
9. Fata Morgana (1971)
10. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)

HM: Apocalypse Now, Deep Red, In a Year of 13 Moons, Killer of Sheep, O Lucky Man!, The Holy Mountain

[Pop Trash]

1. Taxi Driver
2. The Godfather: Part II
3. The Exorcist
4. Picnic at Hanging Rock
5. Days of Heaven
6. Stroszek
7. Manhattan
8. The Godfather
9. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
10. Young Frankenstein

[endingcredits]

1. The Mirror (Tarkovsky)
2. Solaris (Tarkovsky)
3. Eraserhead (Lynch)
4. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Herzog)
5. Chinatown (Polanski)
6. A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick)
7. Cries and Whispers (Bergman)
8. Taxi Driver (Scorsese)
9. Stalker (Tarkovsky)
10. Badlands (Malick)

[Adam]

1. Chinatown
2. Scenes from a Marriage
3. The Long Goodbye
4. The Marriage of Maria Braun
5. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
6. The Conversation
7. Love & Death
8. Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht
9. Dog Day Afternoon
0. That Obscure Object of Desire

[Milky Joe]

1. Barry Lyndon (Kubrick)
2. Eraserhead (Lynch)
3. Network (Lumet)
4. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Spielberg)
5. Nashville (Altman)
6. F For Fake (Welles)
7. A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick)
8. The Conversation (Coppola)
9. Life of Brian (Jones)
0. Annie Hall (Allen)

[Watashi]

1. Network
2. Nashville
3. Annie Hall
4. Jaws
5. The Godfather
6. Days of Heaven
7. Star Wars
8. All that Jazz
9. Stroszek
10. Dawn of the Dead

[Watashi]

I'm the first list to mention The Godfather.

What the hell is wrong with you, Match Cut?

[Ezee E]

I'm the first list to mention The Godfather.

What the hell is wrong with you, Match Cut?
He has a point.

[eternity]

1. F for Fake
2. Network
3. A Clockwork Orange
4. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
5. Annie Hall
6. Alien
7. Taxi Driver
8. Chinatown
9. The Godfather
10. All the President's Men

[Bosco B Thug]

The shakiest list to make because there's too many unseen/too long ago-seen films that I actually suspect might beat some of my top films now:

1. Chinatown
2. Barry Lyndon
3. Days of Heaven
4. Walkabout
5. Cries and Whispers
6. 3 Women
7. A Clockwork Orange
8. McCabe & Mrs. Miller
9. Nashville
10. All That Jazz

[Spinal]

I will take Fosse over Tarkovsky 365 days a year.

[endingcredits]

I will take Fosse over Tarkovsky 365 days a year.

:crazy:

[Ezee E]

:crazy:


If by :crazy:, you mean :pritch:, then I totally am like :D

[Grouchy]

Toughest list so far.

1. Chinatown
2. Taxi Driver
3. The Conversation
4. Eraserhead
5. Dog Day Afternoon
6. McCabe & Mrs. Miller
7. Amarcord
8. A Clockwork Orange
9. The Last Picture Show
10. The Tenant

[Grouchy]

I'm the first list to mention The Godfather.

What the hell is wrong with you, Match Cut?
I prefer The Conversation and Apocalypse Now.

[Bosco B Thug]

I will take Fosse over Tarkovsky 365 days a year. Tarkovsky = In the top 20 filmmakers. Fosse = Maybe in the top 20 filmmakers. Maybe when I see one more of his films.

But I changed my mind, All That Jazz is going in, I do like it better than Stalker.

[Weeping_Guitar]

01. Star Wars
02. Monty Python & The Holy Grail
03. The Godfather
04. Young Frankenstein
05. Network
06. Annie Hall
07. Apocalypse Now
08. The Conformist
09. Amarcord
10. The Last Picture Show

[Stay Puft]

1. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Herzog)
2. Stalker (Tarkovsky)
3. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (Liu)
4. Dawn of the Dead (Romero)
5. Stroszek (Herzog)
6. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hooper)
7. All That Jazz (Fosse)
8. The Holy Mountain (Jodorowsky)
9. F for Fake (Welles)
10. Eraserhead (Lynch)

I predict I'll be the only one voting for the Shaw Bros. film.

[Derek]

1) McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Altman)
2) The Conversation (Coppola)
3) The Conformist (Bertolucci)
4) Solaris (Tarkovsky)
5) Taxi Driver (Scorsese)
6) Apocalypse Now (Coppola)
7) The Mirror (Tarkovsky)
8) Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Herzog)
9) Life of Brian (Jones)
10) Punishment Park (Watkins)

[Mysterious Dude]

1. A Woman Under the Influence
2. Badlands
3. Taxi Driver
4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
5. Vengeance is Mine
6. Alien
7. Annie Hall
8. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
9. Straw Dogs
10. Mean Streets

[Boner M]

1. A Woman Under the Influence (Cassavetes)
2. The Conversation (Coppola)
3. Badlands (Malick)
4. Taxi Driver (Scorsese)
5. O Lucky Man! (Anderson)
6. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hooper)
7. Eraserhead (Lynch)
8. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (Cassavetes)
9. Stroszek (Herzog)
10.Vengeance is Mine (Imamura)

Ask me in a few minutes: 3 Women, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, Martin, Mikey & Nicky

Full list'd prolly have: The Mother and the Whore, Wanda, Charley Varrick

70's American cinema: Not overrated

[Raiders]

70's American cinema: Not overrated

Indeed. It's almost shockingly awesome.

[Lazlo]

1. Star Wars
2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
3. Annie Hall
4. Scenes From a Marriage
5. Alien
6. Apocalypse Now
7. Days of Heaven
8. The Godfather Part II
9. All the President's Men
10. All That Jazz

[Killed_by_Smalls]

01. The Conversation (Coppola)
02. Nashville (Altman)
03. Chinatown (Polanski)
04. Jaws (Spielberg)
05. The Godfather (Coppola)
06. The Conformist (Bertolucci)
07. Annie Hall (Allen)[/I]
08. Alien (Scott)[/I]
09. Picnic at Hanging Rock (Weir)
10. Dog Day Afternoon (Lumet)

This was an incredibly difficult list to cull down to only ten. My most difficult omissions were Aguirre, The Godfather, part II, and Walkabout.

[Yxklyx]

1. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (Werner Herzog)
2. Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir)
3. Walkabout (Nicolas Roeg)
4. Chinatown (Roman Polanski)
5. Eraserhead (David Lynch)
6. Badlands (Terrence Malick)
7. Jaws (Steven Spielberg)
8. Annie Hall (Woody Allen)
9. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola)
10. Alien (Ridley Scott)

[soitgoes...]

Stalker (Tarkovsky)
Barry Lyndon (Kubrick)
Chinatown (Polanski)
High Plains Drifter (Eastwood)
The Godfather (Coppola)
Taxi Driver (Scorsese)
McCabe and Mrs. Miller (Altman)
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (Herzog)
Annie Hall (Allen)
The Last Picture Show (Bogdanovich)

[MadMan]

This is the toughest decade to vote for. The 70s is hands down the best decade for film, ever, and thus I left many amazing movies off my list. I'm not even satisfied with this current list, and if I ever finally make one it might end up being full of ties and uncertain placements. That said, I've seen way too much from 1979 and 1974-1977 although I don't think one can fault me from trying to see awesome movies.

1. Apocalypse Now(1979)
2. The Godfather(1972)
3. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
4. All That Jazz (1979)
5. One Flew Over the Cockoo's Nest(1975)
6. F For Fake (1974)
7. Annie Hall (1977)
8. Halloween (1978)
9. Network (1976)
10. Chinatown (1974)

[balmakboor]

I'm the first list to mention The Godfather.

What the hell is wrong with you, Match Cut?

I was going to say the same thing. I just rewatched it two weeks ago and was blown away all over again. It was the first time I ever watched it on Blu-ray on my big screen tv (I've never seen it in a theater) and I was flooded with new details that made the experience far richer than ever before.

[B-side]

1. Barry Lyndon (Kubrick)
2. In a Year of 13 Moons (Fassbinder)
3. F for Fake (Welles)
4. The Mirror (Tarkovsky)
5. Autumn Sonata (Bergman)
6. The Holy Mountain (Jodorowsky)
7. Apocalypse Now (Coppola)
8. Annie Hall (Allen)
9. A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick)
10. A Woman Under the Influence (Cassavetes)

[Dillard]

1. Scenes from a Marriage (Bergman)
2. The Long Goodbye (Altman)
3. Stalker (Tarkovsky)
4. Manhattan (Allen)
5. Stroszek (Herzog)
6. Barry Lyndon (Kubrick)
7. The Spirit of the Beehive (Erice)
8. The Last Picture Show (Bogdanovich)
9. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Buñuel)
10. Picnic at Hanging Rock (Weir)

My number one would be Sleuth.

[ledfloyd]

1. Annie Hall (Allen)
2. The Long Goodbye (Altman)
3. Chinatown (Polanski)
4. All the President's Men (Pakula)
5. Scenes from a Marriage (Bergman)
6. Suspiria (Argento)
7. Stalker (Tarkovsky)
8. Barry Lyndon (Kubrick)
9. Days of Heaven (Malick)
10. The Godfather (Coppola)

[Yum-Yum]

1. The Holy Mountain
2. A Clockwork Orange
3. Taxi Driver
4. Dawn of the Dead
5. Eraserhead
6. Suspiria
7. Harold and Maude
8. Annie Hall
9. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
10. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

[balmakboor]

1. Barry Lyndon (Kubrick)
2. The Godfather (Coppola)
3. The Deer Hunter (Cimino)
4. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Fassbinder)
5. Deliverance (Boorman)
6. Harold and Maude (Ashby)
7. Apocalypse Now (Coppola)
8. Stroszek (Herzog)
9. The Long Goodbye (Altman)
10. Network (Lumet)

[Eleven]

1. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
2. The Conversation
3. Life of Brian
4. Annie Hall
5. McCabe & Mrs. Miller
6. Barry Lyndon
7. Mean Streets
8. Stroszek
9. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
10. The Tenant

HMs: Chinatown, The Conformist, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Eraserhead, Love and Death.

Ineligible: The Tree of Wooden Clogs, Night Moves, The Brood, Kings of the Road, Xala.

[jamaul]

1. Apocalypse Now (Coppola)
2. Barry Lyndon (Kubrick)
3. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Herzog)
4. F for Fake (Welles)
5. Stalker (Tarkovsky)
6. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Altman)
7. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Peckinpah)
8. Days of Heaven (Malick)
9. Chinatown (Polanski)
10. Taxi Driver (Scorsese)

Well, that was difficult. If I’d made this list a few weeks ago, Apocalypse Now would not have been number one. It took a trip back up the river for the recent BD release to explore both versions of the film (restored, finally, to their 2:35 ratio) and a re-watch of Hearts of Darkness to remind myself just how profoundly this film has affected the way I look at movies. As for everything else: Chinatown instead of The Tenant?! McCabe over Nashville?? Alfredo Garcia over Straw Dogs?! No Godfather or Conversation?! No room for Clockwork?! Or Manhattan?! All That Jazz?! O Lucky Man?! Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie?!

I’d forgotten just how great this decade was.

[Ivan Drago]

1. A Clockwork Orange
2. Jaws
3. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
4. The Godfather
5. Straw Dogs
6. El Topo
7. Manhattan
8. Eraserhead
9. F For Fake
10. The Exorcist

[jamaul]

8. Eraserhead

+


Eraserhead (Lynch, 1976) 8.5 :crazy:

= :confused:

[Irish]

1. The Godfather Part II (Coppola)
2. The Godfather (Coppola)
3. Network (Lumet)
4. That Obscure Object of Desire (Bunuel)
5. Chinatown (Polanski)
6. Annie Hall (Allen)
7. Jaws (Spielberg)
8. Patton (Schaffner)
9. Rocky (Avildson)
10. Five Easy Pieces (Rafelson)

Films that weren't eligible but should have been:
Chloe in the Afternoon, Serpico

[dreamdead]

1. Manhattan (Allen)
2. The Conformist (Bertolucci)
3. All That Jazz (Fosse)
4. The Conversation (Coppola)
5. Claire's Knee (Rohmer)
6. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (Liu)
7. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (Cassavetes)
8. Scenes from a Marriage (Bergman)
9. The Long Goodbye (Altman)
10. F for Fake (Welles)

Sad to neglect Love and Death (Allen), Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Peckinpah), and Killer of Sheep (Burnett).

[Russ]

I’d forgotten just how great this decade was
It's so good that I could easily make another legimate top ten from this decade comprised of titles that were not a part of this thread's nominating pool. As a matter of fact, I think I will.

1. The Scenic Route (Rappaport, 1978)
2. Little Big Man (Penn, 1970)
3. The Wanderers (Kaufman, 1979)
4. Remember My Name (Rudolph, 1978)
5. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Jires, 1970)
6. Who'll Stop the Rain (Reisz, 1978)
7. The Boys in the Band (Friedkin, 1970)
8. Lenny (Fosse, 1974)
9. Female Trouble (Waters, 1974)
10. Trafic (Tati, 1971)

[Stay Puft]

I predict I'll be the only one voting for the Shaw Bros. film.


6. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (Liu)

Ah, nice to be wrong!

[DavidSeven]

01. The Conformist (Bertolucci)
02. Apocalypse Now (Coppola)
03. Annie Hall (Allen)
04. That Obscure Object of Desire (Buñuel)
05. Mean Streets (Scorsese)
06. The Godfather Part II (Coppola)
07. A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick)
08. Chinatown (Polanski)
09. A Woman Under the Influence (Cassavetes)
10. Vengeance is Mine (Imamura)

[Chac Mool]

01. Apocalypse Now (Coppola)
02. The Godfather (Coppola)
03. The Godfather Part II (Coppola)
04. Cries and Whispers (Bergman)
05. Manhattan (Allen)
06. Stalker (Tarkovsky)
07. The Deer Hunter (Cimino)
08. Jaws (Spielberg)
09. Monty Python & The Holy Grail (Jones/Gilliam)
10. Solaris (Tarkovsky)

Coppola not only made the three top films of the decade, but three of my favorite films. Absolute classics.

"Cries and Whispers" is my favorite Bergman, and features some staggering performances. The opening shot (a close-up of a face, with more said through the eyes than an hour of expository dialogue) and the ending shot (iconic in more ways than one) are extraordinary.

"Manhattan" and "Stalker" are microcosms of their respective directors -- one witty and charmingly sad, the other magnificently stately and oblique -- and diametrical opposites. Both great though.

"The Deer Hunter" is not a movie I would have thought would make the top ten, but I can't seem to remove it. The performances haunt me.

"Jaws" and "Holy Grail" are, respectively, a example of absolute control and absolute anarchy. Both brilliantly fun.

"Solaris" is not perfect -- a little to slow in my opinion -- but so rich with meaning, and so personal/human a science-fiction epic, that it overcomes its flaws to reach greatness.

[Chac Mool]

Ah, nice to be wrong!

It almost made my list, though I don't find it as good as "8 Diagram Pole Fighter".

[Mr. Pink]

It's so good that I could easily make another legimate top ten from this decade comprised of titles that were not a part of this thread's nominating pool. As a matter of fact, I think I will.


3. The Wanderers (Kaufman, 1979)


Hell yeah.

Except, this post made me realize The Warriors isn't part of the nominating pool, either.

[Grouchy]

It's so good that I could easily make another legimate top ten from this decade comprised of titles that were not a part of this thread's nominating pool. As a matter of fact, I think I will.
I think I'll try this too.

1. The Ballad of Cable Hogue
2. The Abominable Dr. Phibes
3. Vanishing Point
4. Dersu Uzala
5. Who Can Kill A Child?
6. Horror Express
7. Phantom of the Paradise
8. The Wicker Man
9. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
10. Interiors

[Raiders]

If you're going to post a list other than an official top ten, I would suggest putting it in spoilers out of courtesy.

[soitgoes...]

An alternate list where documentaries reign supreme:


Harlan County U.S.A. (Kopple)
General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait (Schroeder)
The Ascent (Shepitko)
First Love (Kieslowski)
News From Home (Akerman)
Gimme Shelter (Maysles, Maysles, Zwerin)
Ucho (Kachyna)
House (Obayashi)
Fat City (Huston)
Hearts and Minds (Davis)

[MadMan]

I think I'll try this too.

2. The Abominable Dr. Phibes
6. Horror Express:pritch: I love both of those movies. Horror Express is one of my favorite horror movies.

[Ivan Drago]

+



= :confused:

It's a great movie, don't get me wrong. I only have the emoticon to show just how hard it fucked with my mind.

[Derek]

Alternate/Inelible list:

1. The Ceremony (Nagisa Oshima, 1971)
2. Dersu Uzala (Akira Kurosawa, 1975)
3. A Grin Without a Cat (Chris Marker, 1977)
4. Opening Night (John Cassavetes, 1977)
5. Lancelot of the Lake (Robert Bresson, 1974)
6. Martha (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974)
7. Ici et Ailleurs (Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin, Anne-Marie Mieville & Groupe Dziga Vertov, 1976)
8. Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1975)
9. The Ascent (Larisa Shepitko, 1977)
10. WR: Mysteries of the Organism (Dusan Makavejev, 1971)

[soitgoes...]

Alternate/Inelible list:

1. The Ceremony (Nagisa Oshima, 1971)
I need to watch this sometime this week.

[B-side]

Alternate:

1. Opening Night (Cassavetes, 1977)
2. Chinese Roulette (Fassbinder, 1976)
3. Husbands (Cassavetes, 1970)
4. The Driller Killer (Ferrara, 1979)
5. Nor'west (Rivette, 1976)
6. The Decameron (Pasolini, 1971)
7. Images (Altman, 1972)
8. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (Peckinpah, 1973)
9. The Man Who Fell to Earth (Roeg, 1976)
10. Days of '36 (Angelopoulos, 1972)

[Mr. Pink]

:pritch: I love both of those movies. Horror Express is one of my favorite horror movies.

You should check out Who Can Kill A Child?, if you haven't already. And Phantom of the Paradise is several different kinds of awesome, too.

[baby doll]

Eligible:

Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
Cet obscur objet du désir (Luis Buñuel, 1977)
Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978)
Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977)
F for Fake (Orson Welles, 1973)
Manhattan (Woody Allen, 1979)
The Marriage of Maria Braun (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1979)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1971)
The Mirror (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1975)
A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974)

Ineligible:

Avanti! (Billy Wilder, 1972)
Céline et Julie vont en bateau—Phantom Ladies Over Paris (Jacques Rivette, 1974)
Global Groove (John Godrey / Nam June Paik, 1973)
Ici et ailleurs (Jean-Luc Godard / Jean-Pierre Gorrin / Anne-Marie Miéville, 1976)
Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Chantal Akerman, 1975)
Perceval le Gallois (Eric Rohmer, 1978)
Providence (Alain Resnais, 1977)
Real Life (Albert Brooks, 1979)
Red Psalm (Miklós Jancsó, 1972)
Zorns Lemma (Hollis Frampton, 1970)

[dmk]

1. Picnic at Hanging Rock (Weir)
2. Mikey and Nicky (May)
3. Assault on Precinct 13 (Carpenter)
4. Watership Down (Rosen)
5. Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (Herzog)
6. A Woman Under the Influence (Cassavetes)
7. The Enigma of Kasper Hauser (Herzog)
8. The Last Picture Show (Bogdanovich)
9. The Conversation (Coppola)
10. Martin (Romero)

Ineligible (Oh man):
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Akerman)
L'Important c'est d'aimer (Zulawski)
Long Weekend (Eggleston)
Deep End (Skolimowski)
Trzecia czesc nocy (Zulawski)
Kings of the Road (Wenders)
Camera Buff (Kieslowski)
Wake in Fright (Kotchef)
Husbands (Cassavetes)
Welfare (Wiseman)
Panny z Wilka (Wajda)
Céline et Julie vont en bateau (Rivette)
Chloe in the Afternoon (Rohmer)
Iluminacja (Zanussi)
Barwy ochronne (Zanussi)
Cockfighter (Hellman)
Two-Lane Blacktop (Hellman)
La gueule ouverte (Pialat)
Mother and the Whore (Eustache)
Figures in a Landscape (Losey)
Last Chants for a Slow Dance (Jost)
Bad (Johnson)
A New Leaf (May)
La marge (Borowczyk)
Maskarada (Hladnik)

and so on.

[Raiders]

Ineligible top 10:


1. The Ascent (1977)
2. Martha (1974)
3. Citizen's Band (1977)
4. Perceval (1978)
5. Wanda (1971)
6. Trash (1970)
7. Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974)
8. Opening Night (1977)
9. The Fury (1978)
10. A Grin Without a Cat (1977)

[MadMan]

You should check out Who Can Kill A Child?, if you haven't already. And Phantom of the Paradise is several different kinds of awesome, too.Both will be added to the queue.

[origami_mustache]

1.The Mirror (Tarkovsky)
2. Stalker (Tarkovsky)
3. Stroszek (Herzog)
4. O Lucky Man! (Anderson)
5. Amarcord (Fellini)
6. Badlands (Malick)
7. The Holy Mountain (Jodorowsky)
8. Apocalypse Now (Coppola)
9. Solaris (Tarkovsky)
10. The Spirit of the Beehive (Erice)

[Mr. Pink]

1) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
2) The Godfather
3) Aguirre: The Wrath of God
4) Star Wars
5) Suspiria
6) Monty Python and The Holy Grail
7) Taxi Driver
8) Straw Dogs
9) Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
10) The Last Picture Show

[balmakboor]

1. Barry Lyndon (Kubrick)
2. The Godfather (Coppola)
3. The Deer Hunter (Cimino)
4. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Fassbinder)
5. Deliverance (Boorman)
6. Harold and Maude (Ashby)
7. Apocalypse Now (Coppola)
8. Stroszek (Herzog)
9. The Long Goodbye (Altman)
10. Network (Lumet)

You know, looking at my list again, I wouldn't lose any sleep if I claimed this as my top ten of all time. That's how great the '70s are/were for me.

[Dillard]

Let's tally this one up.

[Grouchy]

Let's tally this one up.
Ok. Gimme an hour.

[Grouchy]

#20

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/20-Jaws.jpg?t=1290388523

Jaws
1975
Steven Spielberg

The great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, also known as great white, white pointer, white shark, or white death, is a large lamniform shark found in coastal surface waters in all major oceans. The great white shark is very well known for its size, with the largest individuals known to have approached or exceeded 6 metres (20 ft) in length and 2,268 kilograms (5,000 lb) in weight. It reaches maturity at around 15 years of age and can have a life span of over 30 years. The great white shark is arguably the world's largest known extant macropredatory fish and is one of the primary predators of marine mammals. It is also known to prey upon a variety of other marine animals including fish, pinnipeds, and seabirds. It is the only surviving species of its genus, Carcharodon.

In reality, humans are not the preferred prey of the great white shark.

Movie Trivia - The novel's author Peter Benchley, playwright Howard Sackler, Carl Gottlieb, Steven Spielberg and John Milius all wrote drafts of the script. The authorship of Quint's famous WWII speech is thus the subject of controversy. Spielberg described it as a collaboration between Sackler, Milius and the actor Robert Shaw. Gottlieb gives most of the credit to Shaw alone.

Jaws in 60 Seconds (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZgMJ-WFzPg)

[Grouchy]

#19

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/19-McCabeandMrsMiller.jpg?t=12903 89129

McCabe and Mrs. Miller
1971
Robert Altman

The Western is a genre of art that may be found in film, television, radio, literature, painting and other visual arts. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of the Alamo in 1836 but most are set between the end of the American Civil War (1865) and the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. There are also a number of films about Western-type characters in contemporary settings, such as Junior Bonner set in the 1970s and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada in the 21st century.

Westerns often portray how primitive and obsolete ways of life confronted modern technological or social changes. This may be depicted by showing conflict between natives and settlers or U.S. Cavalry or between cattle ranchers and farmers ("sodbusters"), or by showing ranchers being threatened by the onset of the Industrial Revolution. American Westerns of the 1940s and 1950s emphasize the values of honor and sacrifice. Westerns from the 1960s and 1970s often have a more pessimistic view, glorifying a rebellious anti-hero and highlighting the cynicism, brutality and inequality of the American West. Despite being tightly associated with a specific time and place in American history, these themes have allowed Westerns to be produced and enjoyed across the world.

Movie Trivia - Altman began using Leonard Cohen's songs as temp tracks during editing, but had little hope of having them on the released film because it was a Warner production and all of Cohen's LPs were from Columbia. Despite this, he eventually called Cohen hoping to trade off on his recent hit with M.A.S.H. It turned out Cohen had never heard of that but loved the little seen Brewster McCloud and was eager for Altman to use his music. However, and although he honored his decision, he ended up disliking the film.

Opening set to "The Stranger" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iYxrsd59-E)

[Grouchy]

#18

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/18Network.jpg?t=1290389549

Network
1976
Sidney Lumet

A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small number of broadcast networks. Many early television networks (e.g. the BBC, NBC or CBS) evolved from earlier radio networks.

In countries where most networks broadcast identical, centrally originated content to all their stations and where most individual TV transmitters therefore operate only as large "repeater stations", the terms "television network", "television channel" (a numeric identifier or radio frequency), and "television station" have become mostly interchangeable in everyday language, with professionals in TV-related occupations continuing to make a difference between them. Within the industry, a tiering is sometimes created among groups of networks based on whether their programming is simultaneously originated from a central point, and whether the network master control has the technical and administrative capability to take-over the programming of their affiliates in real-time when it deems this necessary — the most common example being breaking national news events.

In North America in particular, many television networks available via cable and satellite television are branded as "channels" because they are somewhat different than traditional networks in the sense defined above, as they are singular operations – they have no affiliates or component stations, but instead are distributed to the public via cable headends or direct-broadcast satellite companies. Such networks are commonly referred to by terms such as "specialty channels" in Canada or "cable networks" in the U.S.

CNN: How Stupid Are Americans? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0efLWdJWk4)
Picture of Faye Dunaway the morning after the Oscars (http://incontention.com/2010/03/13/the-weary-kind/)

[Grouchy]

#17

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/17-Manhattan.jpg?t=1290391804

Manhattan
1979
Woody Allen

Manhattan is the oldest, smallest and most densely-populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York. The borough and county consist of Manhattan Island and several small adjacent islands: Roosevelt Island, Randall's Island, Wards Island, Governors Island, Liberty Island, part of Ellis Island, and U Thant Island; as well as Marble Hill, a small section on the mainland adjacent to the Bronx. The original city of New York began at the southern end of Manhattan, expanded northwards and then, between 1874 and 1898, incorporated land from surrounding counties.

The County of New York is the most densely populated county in the United States, and one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with a 2008 population of 1,634,795 living in a land area of 22.96 square miles (59.47 km²), or 71,201 residents per square mile (27,485/km²). It is also one of the wealthiest counties in the United States, with a 2005 personal income per capita above $100,000. Manhattan is the third-largest of New York's five boroughs in population.

Manhattan is a major commercial, financial, and cultural center of both the United States and the world. Anchored by Wall Street, in Lower Manhattan, New York City vies with the City of London as the financial capital of the world and is home of both the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. Many major radio, television, and telecommunications companies in the United States are based here, as well as many news, magazine, book, and other media publishers.

Movie Trivia - The iconic bridge shot was done at 5 AM. The bridge had two sets of necklace lights on a timer controlled by the city. When the sun comes up, the bridge lights go off. Willis made arrangements with the city to leave the lights on and he would let them know when they got the shot. Afterwards, they could be turned off. As they started to shoot the scene, one string of bridge lights went out and Allen was forced to use that take.

After finishing the film, Allen was very unhappy with it and offered to make something else for free if United Artists abstained from releasing it. In later interviews, Allen has never said why he disliked Manhattan so much which has puzzled most of his fans who consider it one of his best.

George Gershwin - Raphsody in Blue (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U40xBSz6Dc)

[Grouchy]

#16

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/16-TheGodfatherPartII.jpg?t=12903 93508

The Godfather Part II
1974
Francis Ford Coppola

Sicilia is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, comprising an autonomous region of Italy. Minor islands around it, such as the Aeolian Islands, are part of Sicily. Its official name is Regione Autonoma Siciliana The greatest proportion of the wave of Italian immigration to the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century came from the "Mezzogiorno", with by far the largest numbers from Sicily. Thus, in many cases the speech, customs, and culinary delights considered by Americans to be "Italian" were actually Sicilian.

Sicily, like all regions of Italy when viewed separately, has its own rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine, architecture and language, having given birth to some of the greatest and most influential people in history. The Sicilian economy is largely based on agriculture (mainly orange and lemon orchards); this same rural countryside has attracted significant tourism in the modern age as its natural beauty is highly regarded. Sicily also holds importance for archeological and ancient sites such as the Necropolis of Pantalica and the Valley of the Temples. There are continuous excavations that occur in Sicily due to its extensive history.

Sicily has been known since ancient times for its roughly triangular shape, which earned it the name Trinacria. It is separated to the east from the Italian region of Calabria through the Strait of Messina. The distance between the island and mainland Italy by the Strait of Messina is about 2 miles [3 km] wide in the north, and about 10 miles [16 km] in the south of the Strait. The island is characterized by a densely mountainous landscape. The main mountain ranges are Madonie and Nebrodi in the north and Peloritani in the north-east, whereas the south-eastern Hyblaean are considered geologically as a continuation of the Italian Appennines. The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta district were a leading sulfur-producing area throughout the 19th century, but have declined since the 1950s.

Movie Trivia - James Caan agreed to reprise the role of Sonny if he was paid the same amount for his single flashback as for his feature-lenght role in The Godfather. Marlon Brando initially also agreed, but failed to show up the day of the shooting and Coppola re-wrote the scene so as to keep him off camera. Richard Castellano, who played Peter Clemenza in the first film, refused to come back because Coppola wouldn't allow him to write his own lines.

"You broke my heart, Fredo" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcFlp6kl508)
A tribute to John Cazale (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTAK0P2MeyE)

[Grouchy]

#15

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/15-Stroszek.jpg?t=1290396278

Stroszek
1977
Werner Herzog

Bruno S. (Schleinstein) [June 2, 1932 - August 11, 2010]was a German film actor, artist and musician. Schleinstein was often beaten as a child, and spent much of his youth in mental institutions. He was a largely self-taught musician, who, over the years developed considerable skill on the piano, accordion, glockenspiel and handbells. He would play in back gardens performing 18th and 19th century style ballads at the weekends, while sustaining himself financially working as a forklift driver at a car plant. Schleinstein said he transmits (German: durchgeben) his songs, rather than singing them.

Schleinstein was spotted by director Werner Herzog in the documentary Bruno der Schwarze – Es bleibt ein Jäger wohl in sein Horn (1970). Herzog promptly cast Schleinstein (under the name Bruno S.) as his lead actor in The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974), though he had no acting experience. Schleinstein also starred in Stroszek (1977), which Herzog wrote especially for him in four days. Stroszek has a number of biographical details from Schleinstein's life, including the use of his own flat as the home of Bruno Stroszek. He also played his own instruments.

Herzog has claimed that Schleinstein was deeply suspicious of the director, and nervous of performing in front of the cameras — so had to be "listened to" for several hours on set in order to build his self-esteem. Schleinstein enjoyed fame in Berlin following the release of these films, but said later that "Everybody threw him away." Instead, he took up painting and music. Some of his artwork was shown at the 2004 Outsider Art Fair in New York City. He appeared in film again in Jan Ralske's Vergangen, vergessen, vorüber (Long-lost and Lay Me Down) in 1993. Ralske also made a short documentary video about Schleinstein and his art, called Seeing Things. He was the subject of a 2003 documentary "Bruno S. – Estrangement is death", directed by Miron Zownir. Schleinstein also released a CD of his music and songs.

Schleinstein died August 11, 2010 after suffering heart problems. Shortly after his death, Werner Herzog remarked “in all my films, and with all the great actors with whom I have worked, he was the best. There is no one who comes close to him. I mean in his humanity, and the depth of his performance, there is no one like him.”

The Dancing Chicken (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUcTvhyof8I)

[Grouchy]

#14

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/14-Zerkalo.jpg?t=1290397001

The Mirror
1975
Andrei Tarkovsky

1

I don't believe in omens or fear
Forebodings. I flee from neither slander
Nor from poison. Death does not exist.
Everyone's immortal. Everything is too.
No point in fearing death at seventeen,
Or seventy. There's only here and now, and light;
Neither death, nor darkness, exists.
We're all already on the seashore;
I'm one of those who'll be hauling in the nets
When a shoal of immortality swims by.


2

If you live in a house - the house will not fall.
I'll summon any of the centuries,
Then enter one and build a house in it.
That's why your children and your wives
Sit with me at one table, -
The same for ancestor and grandson:
The future is being accomplished now,
If I raise my hand a little,
All five beams of light will stay with you.
Each day I used my collar bones
For shoring up the past, as though with timber,
I measured time with geodetic chains
And marched across it, as though it were the Urals.


3

I tailored the age to fit me.
We walked to the south, raising dust above the steppe;
The tall weeds fumed; the grasshopper danced,
Touching its antenna to the horse-shoes - and it prophesied,
Threatening me with destruction, like a monk.
I strapped my fate to the saddle;
And even now, in these coming times,
I stand up in the stirrups like a child.

I'm satisfied with deathlessness,
For my blood to flow from age to age.
Yet for a corner whose warmth I could rely on
I'd willingly have given all my life,
Whenever her flying needle
Tugged me, like a thread, around the globe.

-- "Life, Life" by Arseny Tarkovsky

Sequence shot (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBZsj8FPSbo)

[baby doll]

After finishing the film, Allen was very unhappy with it and offered to make something else for free if United Artists abstained from releasing it. In later interviews, Allen has never said why he disliked Manhattan so much which has puzzled most of his fans who consider it one of his best.How bizarre. This, and maybe Stardust Memories, are the only Woody Allen films I can watch over and over. Annie Hall and Broadway Danny Rose, on the other hand, are great on first viewing but aren't as good the second time around.

[balmakboor]

How bizarre. This, and maybe Stardust Memories, are the only Woody Allen films I can watch over and over. Annie Hall and Broadway Danny Rose, on the other hand, are great on first viewing but aren't as good the second time around.

I've watched Annie Hall about 15 times.

[Grouchy]

#13

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/13-Eraserhead.jpg?t=1290398461

Eraserhead
1977
David Lynch

Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania, sixth-most-populous city in the United States and the fifty-first most populous city in the world.

In 2008, the population of the city proper was estimated to be more than 1.54 million, while the Greater Philadelphia metropolitan area's population of 5.8 million made it the country's fifth largest. The city, which lies about 90 miles (140 km) southwest of New York City, is the nation's fourth-largest urban area by population and its fourth-largest consumer media market, as ranked by the Nielsen Media Research.

It is the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. Popular nicknames for Philadelphia include Philly and The City of Brotherly Love, from the literal meaning of the city's name in Greek (Greek: Φιλαδέλφεια ([pʰilaˈdelpʰeːa], Modern Greek: [filaˈðɛlfia]) "brotherly love", compounded from philos (φίλος) "love", and adelphos (ἀδελφός) "brother").

A commercial, educational, and cultural center, Philadelphia was once the second-largest city in the British Empire (after London), and the social and geographical center of the original 13 American colonies. It was a centerpiece of early American history, host to many of the ideas and actions that gave birth to the American Revolution and independence. It was the most populous city of the young United States, although by the first census in 1790, New York City had overtaken it. Philadelphia served as one of the nation's many capitals during the Revolutionary War and after. After the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, the city served as the temporary national capital from 1790 to 1800 while Washington, D.C., was under construction.

Lynch has said that the protagonist of his film Eraserhead is "living under the influence of things that existed in Philadelphia. There was a sense of dread pretty much everywhere I went. I didn't live in any good parts of Philadelphia, and so dread was my general feeling. I hated it. And, also, I loved it".

Movie Trivia - Many film directors and personalities have praised Eraserhead. Stanley Kubrick said on an interview to Michael Ciment that he would have liked to direct it. Mel Brooks hired Lynch to work on The Elephant Man after seeing it, and George Lucas tried to do the same with Return of the Jedi. But perhaps the best, as usual, has been said by Charles Bukowski: "We got cable TV here, and the first thing we switched on happened to be Eraserhead. I said, 'What’s this?' I didn’t know what it was. It was so great. I said, 'Oh, this cable TV has opened up a whole new world. We’re gonna be sitting in front of this thing for centuries. What next? So starting with Eraserhead we sit here, click, click, click — nothing!".

"In Heaven" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrl3n2ZtK2E)
Eating chicken (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBpd5xy-vCY)

[Mysterious Dude]

I don't think Woody Allen liked Annie Hall, either. But he loved Hollywood Ending.

[Bosco B Thug]

It turned out Cohen had never heard of that but loved the little seen Brewster McCloud and was eager for Altman to use his music. However, and although he honored his decision, he ended up disliking the film. Did he call up Altman and tell him that? Jerk. Haha.

[Grouchy]

#12

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/12-Stalker.jpg?t=1290459190

Stalker
1979
Andrei Tarkovsky

We celebrated every moment
Of our meetings as epiphanies,
Just we two in all the world.
Bolder, lighter than a bird's wing,
You hurtled like vertigo
Down the stairs, leading
Through moist lilac to your realm
Beyond the mirror.

When night fell, grace was given me,
The sanctuary gates were opened,
Shining in the darkness
Nakedness bowed slowly;
Waking up, I said:
'God bless you!', knowing it
To be daring: you slept,
The lilac leaned towards you from the table
To touch your eyelids with its universal blue,
Those eyelids brushed with blue
Were peaceful, and your hand was warm.

And in the crystal I saw pulsing rivers,
Smoke-wreathed hills, and glimmering seas;
Holding in your palm that crystal sphere,
You slumbered on the throne,
And - God be praised! - you belonged to me.
Awaking, you transformed
The humdrum dictionary of humans
Till speech was full and running over
With resounding strength, and the word you
Revealed its new meaning: it meant king.
Everything in the world was different,
Even the simplest things - the jug, the basin -
When stratified and solid water
Stood between us, like a guard.

We were led to who knows where.
Before us opened up, in mirage,
Towns constructed out of wonder,
Mint leaves spread themselves beneath our feet,
Birds came on the journey with us,
Fish leapt in greeting from the river,
And the sky unfurled above…

While behind us all the time went fate,
A madman brandishing a razor.

-- "First Meetings" by Arseny Tarkovsky

Movie Trivia - The documentary film Rerberg and Tarkovsky: The Reverse Side of "Stalker" by Igor Mayboroda sheds new light on the production of Stalker. The relation between Rerberg and Tarkovsky suffered tremendously during the production of Stalker. Rerberg felt that Tarkovsky was not ready for this script. He told Tarkovsky to rewrite the script in order to achieve a good result. Tarkovsky ignored him and continued shooting. After several arguments, Tarkovsky sent Rerberg home. Ultimately, Tarkovsky shot this movie three times, consuming over 5,000 meters of film. People who have seen both the first version shot by Rerberg (as Director of Photography) and the final theatrical release say that they are almost identical. Tarkovsky sent home other crew members in addition to Rerbergand excluded them from the ending credits as well. Many people involved in the film production had untimely deaths, which were attributed to the long, arduous shooting schedule of the film as well as to toxins present at the shooting locations.

Vladimir Sharun recalls: "We were shooting near Tallinn in the area around the small river Jägala with a half-functioning hydroelectric station. Up the river was a chemical plant and it poured out poisonous liquids downstream. There is even this shot in Stalker: snow falling in the summer and white foam floating down the river. In fact it was some horrible poison. Many women in our crew got allergic reactions on their faces. Tarkovsky died from cancer of the right bronchial tube. And Tolya Solonitsyn too. That it was all connected to the location shooting for Stalker became clear to me when Larisa Tarkovskaya died from the same illness in Paris".

Trailer for videogame S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWt3tOt3Nmg)

[Grouchy]

#11

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/11-DaysofHeaven.jpg?t=1290460887

Days of Heaven
1978
Terrence Malick

The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. The Handbook of Texas defines the the southern border of Swisher County to be the southern boundary of the Texas Panhandle region.

Its land area is 66,883.58 km² (25,823.9 sq mi), or nearly 10 percent of the state's total. There is an additional 162.53 km² (62.75 sq mi) of water area. Its population as of the 2000 census was 402,862 residents, or 1.932 percent of the state's population. As of the 2000 census, this would put the average population density for the region at 16 persons/sq mi. The Panhandle is distinct from North Texas, which is more to the southeast.

West of the Caprock Escarpment and north and south of the Canadian River breaks, the surface of the Llano Estacado is rather flat. South of the city of Amarillo, the level terrain gives way to Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the United States. This colorful canyon was carved by the Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River. North of Amarillo lies Lake Meredith, a reservoir created by Sanford Dam on the Canadian River. The lake, along with the Ogallala Aquifer, provide drinking water and irrigation for this moderately dry area of the high plains.

Movie Trivia - Malick hired Néstor Almendros as cinematographer for the film after watching Truffaut's The Wild Child. However, production ran for so long that Almendros had to leave to work on Truffaut's new film The Man Who Loved Women. Haskell Wexler was hired as a replacement and, although more than half of the footage in the final film was his, he's only credited for "additional photography". In retaliation, Wexler wrote a letter to Roger Ebert for publication in which he describes sitting in the theater with a stopwatch in order to prove that he deserved a bigger credit.

Ennio Morricone (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxuvJU0MVaU)
Ennio Morricone 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFyeLJ0AXmk&feature=related)

[MadMan]

I'm starting to wonder what genre Morricone hasn't scored movies for, heh.

[Pop Trash]

Coppola and Kubrick in 5-4-3-2...

[Grouchy]

Hah! Wrong!

#10

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/10-FforFake.jpg?t=1290480340

F for Fake
1974
Orson Welles

Clifford Michael Irving (born November 5, 1930) is an American author of novels and works of nonfiction, but best known for using forged handwritten letters to convince his publisher into accepting a fake "autobiography" of reclusive businessman Howard Hughes in the early 1970s.

In 1970, in Spain, Irving met with an author and old friend, Richard Suskind, and spontaneously created the scheme to write Hughes's "autobiography." Irving and Suskind believed that because Hughes had completely withdrawn from public life, he would never want to draw attention to himself by denouncing the book or filing a lawsuit for slander. Suskind would do most of the necessary research in news archives. Irving started by forging letters in Hughes's own hand, imitating authentic letters he had seen displayed in Newsweek magazine.

Irving contacted his publisher, McGraw-Hill, and claimed that he had corresponded with Hughes because of his book about de Hory and that Hughes had expressed interest in letting him write his autobiography. The McGraw-Hill editors invited him to New York, where he showed them three forged letters, one of which claimed that Hughes wished to have his biography written but that he wanted the project to remain secret for the time being. The autobiography would be based on interviews Hughes was willing to do with Irving.

McGraw-Hill agreed to the terms and wrote up contracts between Hughes, Irving and the company; Irving forged Hughes's signatures. McGraw-Hill paid an advance of $100,000, with an additional $400,000 that would go to Hughes. Irving later bargained the sum up to $765,000, with $100,000 going to Irving and the rest to Hughes. McGraw-Hill paid by check, which Irving had his wife deposit to a Swiss bank account.

Irving and Suskind researched all the available information about Hughes. To reinforce the public perception of Hughes as an eccentric recluse, Irving also created fake interviews that he claimed were conducted in remote locations all over the world, including one on a Mexican pyramid. In reality, Irving was meeting his mistress, Danish Baroness Nina van Pallandt, at these destinations.

Irving and Suskind also gained access to the private files of Time-Life, as well as a manuscript by James Phelan, who was ghostwriting memoirs of Noah Dietrich, former business manager to Hughes. Mutual acquaintance and Hollywood producer Stanley Meyer showed Irving a copy of the manuscript—without Phelan's consent—in the hope that he would be willing to rewrite it in a more publishable format. Irving hurriedly made a copy of it for his own purposes.

In the early winter of 1971, Irving delivered the manuscript to McGraw-Hill. He also included notes in Hughes's forged handwriting that an expert forensic document analyst declared genuine. Hughes experts at Time-Life were also convinced. McGraw-Hill announced its intention to publish the book in March, 1972.

Several representatives of Hughes's companies and other people who had known the businessman expressed their doubts about the forthcoming work's authenticity. Irving countered that Hughes had simply not told them about the book. Meanwhile, Frank McCulloch, known for years as the last journalist to interview Hughes, received an angry call from someone claiming to be Hughes himself. But when McCulloch read the Irving manuscript, he declared that it was indeed accurate. Mike Wallace interviewed Irving for a news broadcast. Wallace later said his camera crew told him Irving was not telling the truth. "They understood. I didn't. He got me."

Movie Trivia - In his 20s, Welles directed Citizen Kane. In his 60s, he was in a relationship with young Croatian beauty Oja Kodar. What have you done for yourself lately?

Scene from the unfinished Welles film "The Other Side of the Wind" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K1cZse0K6k)

[Grouchy]

#9

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/9-AguirreTheWrathofGod.jpg?t=129 0481825

Aguirre: The Wrath of God
1972
Werner Herzog

Lope de Aguirre (c. 1510 – 27 October 1561) was a Basque Spanish conquistador in South America. Nicknamed El Loco, 'the Madman', Aguirre is best known for his final expedition, down the Amazon river, in search of the mythical El Dorado. At the beginning he was a minor official of the expedition, but he mutinied and gained control of it, and then rebelled against and defied the Spanish monarch Philip II. Aguirre was defeated and slain. From then on, he was considered a paradigm of cruelty and treachery in colonial Spanish America, and has become an antihero in literature, cinema and other arts.

Together with his daughter he joined the 1560 expedition of Pedro de Ursúa down the Marañón and Amazon Rivers with 300 men and hundreds of natives. A year later, he participated in the overthrow and killing of Ursúa and his successor, Fernando de Guzmán, whom he ultimately succeeded. He and his men reached the Atlantic (probably by the Orinoco River), destroying native villages on the way. On March 23, 1561, Aguirre urged 186 captains and soldiers to sign an act which would proclaim him as prince of Peru, Tierra Firma and Chile.

He is reputed to have said in 1561: "I am the Wrath of God, the Prince of Freedom, Lord of Tierra Firme and the Provinces of Chile".

In 1561, he seized Isla Margarita and brutally suppressed any opposition to his reign, killing many innocent people. When he crossed to the mainland in an attempt to take Panama, his open rebellion against the Spanish crown came to an end. He was surrounded at Barquisimeto, Venezuela, where he murdered his own daughter Elvira "because someone that I loved so much should not come to be bedded by uncouth people".

He also killed several followers who intended to capture him. He was eventually captured and killed. Aguirre's body was cut into quarters and sent to various cities across Venezuela.

Movie Trivia - As we all know, Herzog held Kinski at gunpoint to keep him from walking off the shoot. Two lesser known facts. 1) Kinski, irritated by the laughter of a group playing cards inside a hut, shot three times blindly at the window and blew off one crew member's finger. 2) Kinski had a Vietnamese girlfriend on set whom he regularly beat the living shit out of.

English translation of the famous Lope de Aguirre letter to Felipe II (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1561aguirre.html)
My Best Fiend (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4sg459P8m4)

[MadMan]

Movie Trivia - As we all know, Herzog held Kinski at gunpoint to keep him from walking off the shoot. Two lesser known facts. 1) Kinski, irritated by the laughter of a group playing cards inside a hut, shot three times blindly at the window and blew off one crew member's finger. 2) Kinski had a Vietnamese girlfriend on set whom he regularly beat the living shit out of.Goddamn, man. That was one batshit insane way to make a movie.

[Grouchy]

#8

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/8-ApocalypseNow.jpg?t=1290604132

Apocalypse Now
1979
Francis Ford Coppola

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
Remember us -- if at all -- not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.

-- T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men, 1st Stanza

Movie Trivia - Too many to mention. Marlon Brando arriving late in a helicopter fat as a fucking whale, Martin Sheen having a heart attack, etc. Some footage was shot with Harvey Keitel playing Willard. Aguirre, out #9, was a huge influence on Coppola.

Ride of the Valkyries (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AlEvy0fJto)
"I love the smell of Napalm in the morning". (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALi78xSaP0Y)

[Grouchy]

#7

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/7-TheGodfather.jpg?t=1290604983

The Godfather
1972
Francis Ford Coppola

"I believe in America. America has made my fortune. And I raised my daughter in the American fashion. I gave her freedom but I taught her never to dishonor her family. She found a "boy friend," not an Italian. She went to the movies with him. She stayed out late. I didn't protest. Two months ago he took her for a drive, with another boy friend. They made her drink whiskey and then they tried to take advantage of her. She resisted. She kept her honor. So they beat her. Like an animal. When I went to the hospital her nose was broken. Her jaw was shattered, held together by wire. She couldn't even weep because of the pain. But I wept. Why did I weep? She was the light of my life. A beautiful girl. Now she will never be beautiful again.

I went to the police, like a good American. These two boys were brought to trial. The judge sentenced them to three years in prison, and suspended the sentence. Suspended sentence! They went free that very day! I stood in the courtroom like a fool, and those two bastards, they smiled at me. Then I said to my wife, "For justice, we must go to Don Corleone.""

-- Bonasera the Undertaker

Movie Trivia - Paramount was suffering from financial hardship at the time and, wanting this movie to be a hit, didn't have enough trust in Coppola. They threatened to assign him a "violence coach" to make the film more action-oriented and constantly attempted to have him replaced. When Coppola approached Laurence Olivier to play the role of Vito Corleone, his agent send him a letter saying: "Lord Olivier is not taking any jobs. He's very sick. He's going to die soon and he's not interested". Lord Olivier died 18 years later.

Rémi Gaillard (The Godfather) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3nDVZiywnU)
Sacheen Littlefeather refuses to accept Brando's Oscar (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QUacU0I4yU)
Deaths from The Godfather (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPLvu-Zg-mE)

[Grouchy]

And the Coppola trilogy comes to an end...

#6

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/6-TheConversation.jpg?t=12906066 42

The Conversation
1974
Francis Ford Coppola

Walter Scott Murch (born July 12, 1943) is a film editor and sound designer, the son of painter Walter Tandy Murch (1907-1967).

Murch started editing and mixing sound with Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People (1969). Subsequently, he worked on George Lucas's THX 1138, American Graffiti and Coppola's The Godfather before editing picture and mixing sound on Coppola's The Conversation, for which he received an Academy Award nomination in sound in 1974. Murch also mixed the sound for Coppola's The Godfather Part II which was released in 1974, the same year as The Conversation. He is most famous for his sound designing work on Apocalypse Now, for which he won his first Academy Award in 1979. In 1985 he directed his one film, Return to Oz, which he co-wrote with Gill Dennis. Twenty-two years later, the documentary Return To Oz: The Joy That Got Away would be dedicated to him.

Unlike most film editors today, Murch works standing up, comparing the process of film editing to "conducting, brain surgery and short-order cooking", since all conductors, cooks and surgeons stand when they work. In contrast, when writing, he does so lying down. His reason for this is that where editing film is an editorial process, the creation process of writing is opposite that, and so he lies down rather than sit or stand up, to separate his editing mind from his creating mind.

Murch has written one book on film editing, In the Blink of an Eye (2001). He was also the subject of Michael Ondaatje's book The Conversations (2002), which consists of several conversations between Ondaatje and Murch; the book emerged from Murch's editing of The English Patient, which was based on Ondaatje's novel of the same name.

In 2007 the documentary Murch premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival, which centered on Walter Murch and his thoughts on film making.

"The Conversation" by George Carlin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ3SrMchf_Y)

[Irish]

Good lord. The Conversation? Really? Ahead of both Godfathers and Apocolypse Now? You people can't be serious!

This is worse than voting The-Film-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named as best of the 80s.

[StanleyK]

I'm baffled by some of these low placings. Days of Heaven not in the top 10? Aguirre barely in it? Heresy. Badlands better be in the top 5.

[Eleven]

Everything's gone according to plan.

[Spinal]

Good lord. The Conversation? Really? Ahead of both Godfathers and Apocolypse Now? You people can't be serious!


Wait until you see where they put High and Low.

[Eleven]

Wait until you see where they put High and Low.

Probably right in the middle. We're so contrarian.

[Pop Trash]

I'm baffled by some of these low placings. Days of Heaven not in the top 10? Aguirre barely in it? Heresy. Badlands better be in the top 5.

Don't cry StanleyK. Your namesake is about to get repped big time.

[StanleyK]

Don't cry StanleyK. Your namesake is about to get repped big time.

I have to say, if Barry Lyndon makes the top 5, I'll be pretty damn pleased.

[Raiders]

Good lord. The Conversation? Really? Ahead of both Godfathers and Apocolypse Now? You people can't be serious!

Um, I am. Easily. It's the greatest American film ever made.

[Mysterious Dude]

When Coppola approached Laurence Olivier to play the role of Vito Corleone, his agent send him a letter saying: "Lord Olivier is not taking any jobs. He's very sick. He's going to die soon and he's not interested". Lord Olivier died 18 years later.
Okay, this made me laugh out loud.

It's kind of amazing thinking of the people who were considered for the role of Don Corleone: Laurence Olivier, Edward G. Robinson, Orson Welles, George C. Scott... Frank Sinatra? Ernest Borgnine?! And I can't imagine anyone but Marlon Brando in the role.

[Irish]

Um, I am. Easily. It's the greatest American film ever made.

Don't get me wrong, it's a damn good movie. A top notch thriller and one of the best pictures of the 1970s.

Best best American picture? Better than the three other amazing films Coppola shot in this decade? Not by a long shot. Gimme a break.

[Raiders]

Don't get me wrong, it's a damn good movie. A top notch thriller and one of the best pictures of the 1970s.

Best best American picture? Better than the three other amazing films Coppola shot in this decade? Not by a long shot. Gimme a break.

Sorry, no matter how many times you scoff and berate, I will not conform to your opinions.

[Irish]

Sorry, no matter how many times you scoff and berate, I will not conform to your opinions.

Tbh, I should have known better than to take the bait. You're a master at saying a lot without saying anything at all.

[baby doll]

Good lord. The Conversation? Really? Ahead of both Godfathers and Apocolypse Now? You people can't be serious!While I didn't vote for any of them, I do prefer The Conversation to The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, in part because it isn't dripping in prestige and a bloated sense of self-importance. The Godfather is obviously masterful as storytelling, but that's in spite of the Visconti-derived production design and arty Rembrandt lighting (not to mention Brando's pompous performance) which has the effect of making a bunch of gangsters seem like the Magnificent Ambersons. I think Goodfellas did a better job of capturing the gaudiness of the mob lifestyle.

[Irish]

While I didn't vote for any of them, I do prefer The Conversation to The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, in part because it isn't dripping in prestige and a bloated sense of self-importance.

Valid point. Copolla at his worst lurches towards the self-important.

Like I said, The Conversation is a great movie. But it's also a mystery, thriller, and police procedural and it's limited by genre constraints. I haven't seen it in awhile, but it's not as if this movie is dripping with themes, subplots, meaningful dialogue, beautiful photography or music.

It was also made just-after-Watergate and its social commentary ends up being painfully obvious and pretty shallow, especially in this day and age when the executive branch and AT&T conspire to surveil American citizens in massive numbers.

To an extent, I feel this is comparing apples and oranges, but still ...


The Godfather is obviously masterful as storytelling, but that's in spite of the Visconti-derived production design and arty Rembrandt lighting (not to mention Brando's pompous performance) which has the effect of making a bunch of gangsters seem like the Magnificent Ambersons.
Again, valid points. The lighting and production design I find to be an artifact of the 1970s, most excessive in something like The Sting.


I think Goodfellas did a better job of capturing the gaudiness of the mob lifestyle.
Yeah, but that was the subtext of Goodfellas. Scorcese and Coppolla used the same subject to say entirely different things about American life.

Goodfellas was a counterpoint and commentary on the 1980s, excessive greed, lure of easy money, and selling your soul for the American dream and illusory, passing status. The Godfather movies weren't so much about the mob as they were about family and, especially in the second part, the entire concept of loyalty.

[Raiders]

Tbh, I should have known better than to take the bait. You're a master at saying a lot without saying anything at all.

What is it you were looking for me to say? Both of your statements are nothing more than incredulous scoffs at everyone else for choosing differently than you would have. I responded with what I truly believe, The Conversation is the greatest American film I have ever seen. I absolutely adore every aspect of it and consider it Coppola's most visually astute creation (in a career full of them), from the camera angles and editing rhythm of the opening park wire tap to the wonderful use of space in the warehouse scene to the profound way he changes perspectives, not only in the obvious emphasis change in the recording but in perception of Harry, how he alternates between wiretapping grandmaster to being easily duped and ultimately nothing but a pawn. It is a film from a paranoid era that both gives into the paranoia (corporate-leaning scandal and cover-up) and uses Harry's own paranoia against him; it leaves him alone, overly cautious and yet in critical moments unguarded as he looks for his own answers, and in its pinnacle moment in the hotel bathroom, Coppola brilliantly makes the pivotal moment ambiguous and from Harry's perspective, questioning its validity. The whole thing is about perspective and interpretation. It's messier than either Godfather film for sure; both of them are airtight creations, so utterly perfect in their storytelling. But for all their power, and I do respect them both (and particularly still love the first one), I come away far more affected by The Conversation. The final pans of the room, so symbolic of Harry's own fragile and destroyed state, cued to his own sullen jazz sounds, are overwhelmingly emotional to me.

[baby doll]

Valid point. Copolla at his worst lurches towards the self-important.

Like I said, The Conversation is a great movie. But it's also a mystery, thriller, and police procedural and it's limited by genre constraints. I haven't seen it in awhile, but it's not as if this movie is dripping with themes, subplots, meaningful dialogue, beautiful photography or music.

It was also made just-after-Watergate and its social commentary ends up being painfully obvious and pretty shallow, especially in this day and age when the executive branch and AT&T conspire to surveil American citizens in massive numbers.

To an extent, I feel this is comparing apples and oranges, but still ...

Again, valid points. The lighting and production design I find to be an artifact of the 1970s, most excessive in something like The Sting.

Yeah, but that was the subtext of Goodfellas. Scorcese and Coppolla used the same subject to say entirely different things about American life.

Goodfellas was a counterpoint and commentary on the 1980s, excessive greed, lure of easy money, and selling your soul for the American dream and illusory, passing status. The Godfather movies weren't so much about the mob as they were about family and, especially in the second part, the entire concept of loyalty.Yeah, it's definitely comparing apples and oranges, yet I feel that for what The Conversation is attempting to do (I'm not some one who really needs a lot of theme and subplot; I'm perfectly happy with a straightforward character study), it's a much more successful film. Whereas with The Godfather, whether or not it's about America or loyalty or whatever, gangsters in real life don't dress and act like 19th century Italian aristocrats. Unlike Scorsese, who based his portrayal partly on his own observation of the mob growing up in Little Italy, here it's like Coppola wanted to do something in the vein of The Leopard without taking into consideration the vast differences between old world aristocracy and thugs and murderers in the US.

[baby doll]

This is all moot anyway, since The Godfather Part II will probably be somewhere in the top three.

[Russ]

Raiders, you're a Ms 45* fan, correct? I urge you to track down Remember My Name. It is quintessential 70's goodness.


* btw, the two films are nothing alike, apart from the revenge angle


http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/3285/remembermynameposter.jpg

[Irish]

This is all moot anyway, since The Godfather Part II will probably be somewhere in the top three.

It clocked in at 16. Now see my outrage? :frustrated:

http://match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=302420&postcount=77

[baby doll]

It clocked in at 16. Now see my outrage? :frustrated:

http://match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=302420&postcount=77Man, either my memory's starting to go or this thread is taking way too long.

[endingcredits]

Tbh, I should have known better than to take the bait. You're a master at saying a lot without saying anything at all.

I find this strange coming from someone who deals primarily in circumlocution. Also, what is this baiting you're talking about? The guy just said he loved a film despite your dislike of it.

[DavidSeven]

Not a fan of The Conversation personally, but this result is unsurprising if you've spent enough time around these folks. I would definitely prefer something with the massive scope of The Godfather, The Godfather II, or Apocalypse Now get higher placement over what many consider his "technical masterpiece" since he was owning 70s American cinema in the craftsmanship department with any one of those four films. But you know, the list is a collection of individual preferences, and though I think a better argument can be made to place his other films higher on a consensus list, I can see why several individual people prefer his smaller picture and thus the result. Edit: for example, I put Boorman's Point Blank, a technical masterpiece if there ever was one, on top of my personal 60s list, but I wouldn't mind seeing something more ambitious like 2001 or Strangelove top the final list.

[DavidSeven]

The Godfather, whether or not it's about America or loyalty or whatever, gangsters in real life don't dress and act like 19th century Italian aristocrats.

Why does this matter?

[Irish]

What is it you were looking for me to say?
Exactly what you said! What a great post, intelligent & insightful. Your post made me want to watch the movie again. This is why I come to film discussion boards.


Both of your statements are nothing more than incredulous scoffs at everyone else for choosing differently than you would have.
You're right. But I feel if you're going to make statements that such-and-such is the greatest American movie made, then the burden of "proof" is on you, not me.

My opinion on The Conversation differs from yours in a few significant ways:

Mostly, I don't see anything emotional about it. It's plot driven, based around something of a Rubik's Cube kind of story, it's linear, a-to-b. This works for the most part, but it's also a throws up some flaws ---

If Harry is as masterful, careful, and paranoid as the film presents him to be, then I have a hard time believing he fell for that pen trick. But the story needs him to be suckered in order to advance at all.

I agree with your points about perspective and interpretation. Those are good insights and something I'll remember the next time I see this movie.

Back to emotion, Harry's motivations are a pale imitations of Jake Gittes' from Chinatown (ie, my actions or lack of thereof caused someone to be hurt in the past, and I refuse to let that happen again). I always felt this was perfunctory to his character, and existing solely to get the guy moving across the screen. It's fine, it works in the context of the film, but it also lacks any kind of depth. Which is also fine, because most people don't come to mystery/thrillers looking for depth.

The final shot is more reminiscent of a security camera panning back and forth across a space. That's clever the first time you see it and the idea clicks, but it becomes increasingly trite on subsequent viewings. Which is more or less my issue with the movie, especially when you try to stand it up against either Godfather picture or Apocalypse Now.

[Winston*]

Harry's motivations are a pale imitations of Jake Gittes' from Chinatown

Don't think you're giving Copolla enough credit here. It's pretty impressive to be able to imitate something prior to that something existing.

[Irish]

Yeah, it's definitely comparing apples and oranges, yet I feel that for what The Conversation is attempting to do (I'm not some one who really needs a lot of theme and subplot; I'm perfectly happy with a straightforward character study), it's a much more successful film.
What The Conversation attempts to do, it does very well and I'm not saying it's unsuccessful. It is.

But if you take all these Coppolla pictures as genre pictures, some of them do more and go father than the others. Putting The Conversation next to The Godather movies and Apocolypse Now, Coppolla was much less ambitious with The Conversation. Which again, totally fine but makes it a "lesser" effort.


Whereas with The Godfather, whether or not it's about America or loyalty or whatever, gangsters in real life don't dress and act like 19th century Italian aristocrats.
That misses the point. These films actually transcend and overcome the limitations their genre. That's what makes them successful. It's not so much about the accuracy of production details or what happens in "real life."

I'm less interested in the details of the trappings and tropes used than what's said with them. To me, this is the difference between gangster/mob movies like Donnie Brasco, King of New York or Carlito's Way versus The Godfather and Goodfellas. It's difference between making a solid genre movie, staying in the bounds, and taking those exact same conventions and saying something important and worth remembering.

[Qrazy]

Don't think you're giving Copolla enough credit here. It's pretty impressive to be able to imitate something prior to that something existing.

If there's one thing Irish loves it's an anachronistic comparison.

[Irish]

Don't think you're giving Copolla enough credit here. It's pretty impressive to be able to imitate something prior to that something existing.

Wow, good catch. For some reason I've always had it in my head that The Conversation was a late 70s release.

Let's put it this way then: The basis of Gittes' character operates at an operatic, greek-tragedy kind of level. The basis of Harry is perfunctory and slight.

[Irish]

I find this strange coming from someone who deals primarily in circumlocution.

Ha! You nailed me on that one. Admittedly I don't have the gift of intelligent brevity like DavidSeven or babydoll.

[baby doll]

Why does this matter?The movie is almost embalmed in its own sense of self-importance. I'm no big fan of The Leopard, which I find stately to a fault, but at least there that stateliness is somewhat justified by the subject. In this case, as opposed to something like Goodfellas that's hard and fast and dirty, Coppola wants to make Art with a capital A, so he beefs up the classy trimmings and pipes in some Nino Rota music to lend the film this phony sense of grandeur.

[baby doll]

What The Conversation attempts to do, it does very well and I'm not saying it's unsuccessful. It is.

But if you take all these Coppolla pictures as genre pictures, some of them do more and go father than the others. Putting The Conversation next to The Godather movies and Apocolypse Now, Coppolla was much less ambitious with The Conversation. Which again, totally fine but makes it a "lesser" effort.

That misses the point. These films actually transcend and overcome the limitations their genre. That's what makes them successful. It's not so much about the accuracy of production details or what happens in "real life."

I'm less interested in the details of the trappings and tropes used than what's said with them. To me, this is the difference between gangster/mob movies like Donnie Brasco, King of New York or Carlito's Way versus The Godfather and Goodfellas. It's difference between making a solid genre movie, staying in the bounds, and taking those exact same conventions and saying something important and worth remembering.Well, for me the main thing that differentiates a more ambitious gangster picture like The Godfather, Goodfellas, and Un prophète from a less ambitious one is simply the scope and complexity of the narrative. I don't think any of these movies are saying anything especially profound or insightful (the country is run by gangsters, being a gangster is better than being a movie star, kids going into prisons come out better criminals), so it's really the execution I'm interested in.

[Ivan Drago]

Movie Trivia - As we all know, Herzog held Kinski at gunpoint to keep him from walking off the shoot. Two lesser known facts. 1) Kinski, irritated by the laughter of a group playing cards inside a hut, shot three times blindly at the window and blew off one crew member's finger. 2) Kinski had a Vietnamese girlfriend on set whom he regularly beat the living shit out of.

What the hell was wrong with that guy?

[Irish]

Well, for me the main thing that differentiates a more ambitious gangster picture like The Godfather, Goodfellas, and Un prophète from a less ambitious one is simply the scope and complexity of the narrative.
You strike me as a kind of thoughtful viewer. You wrote in one of the concensus threads that you couldn't vote for a movie unless you watched it three times. You recently wrote some pretty interesting, off-the-cuff stuff about I am Love and Apocolypse Now.

This will sound strange, but I don't buy that your big takaway from these movies is solely an appreciation of their structure.


I don't think any of these movies are saying anything especially profound or insightful (the country is run by gangsters, being a gangster is better than being a movie star, kids going into prisons come out better criminals), so it's really the execution I'm interested in.
Differ on this point, as I said elsewhere there's much more going on in Goodfellas and Godfather and that's the primary reason they're great.

But again I'm not sure you really believe that, or it's just a matter of your not thinking about these films in the same way you have some others.

[Grouchy]

The Conversation is my favorite Coppola film. Then comes Apocalypse Now, then The Godfather.


Whereas with The Godfather, whether or not it's about America or loyalty or whatever, gangsters in real life don't dress and act like 19th century Italian aristocrats. Unlike Scorsese, who based his portrayal partly on his own observation of the mob growing up in Little Italy, here it's like Coppola wanted to do something in the vein of The Leopard without taking into consideration the vast differences between old world aristocracy and thugs and murderers in the US.
Well... you do realize what you're saying now is wrong, right? I mean, Goodfellas concerns lower echelon gangsters, the kind that Scorsese saw in his day to day life in Little Italy. They steal cigarette trucks and plan armed robberies. The people portrayed in The Godfather orchestrate murders in the Vatican.


this thread is taking way too long.
Yeah, this is true. Sorry.

[Qrazy]

The movie is almost embalmed in its own sense of self-importance. I'm no big fan of The Leopard, which I find stately to a fault, but at least there that stateliness is somewhat justified by the subject. In this case, as opposed to something like Goodfellas that's hard and fast and dirty, Coppola wants to make Art with a capital A, so he beefs up the classy trimmings and pipes in some Nino Rota music to lend the film this phony sense of grandeur.

I just watched The Leopard and it's in no way shape or form similar to The Godafther so you can put that bit of nonsense to bed.

[Qrazy]

You strike me as a kind of thoughtful viewer.

Your mistake.

[soitgoes...]

I just watched The Leopard and it's in no way shape or form similar to The Godafther so you can put that bit of nonsense to bed.They really aren't similar at all, except for the Italians, and both have Italian characters played by non-Italians.

[Qrazy]

They really aren't similar at all, except for the Italians, and both have Italian characters played by non-Italians.

Lancaster was all about filming Italian movies in English and being dubbed... what's up with that?

[soitgoes...]

Lancaster was all about filming Italian movies in English and being dubbed... what's up with that?Both of the ones I've seen fail because they are bloated, The Leopard has more going for it though to keep it a good movie. I'm not sure Lancaster speaking in Italian could've made either better. An Italian in Lancaster's role would have been dubbed anyways. Stupid Italian filmmakers and their dubbing.

[Qrazy]

Both of the ones I've seen fail because they are bloated, The Leopard has more going for it though to keep it a good movie. I'm not sure Lancaster speaking in Italian could've made either better. An Italian in Lancaster's role would have been dubbed anyways. Stupid Italian filmmakers and their dubbing.

Speaking of bloated Italian films I'm pretty much right there with you in regards to your score for The Night of the Shooting Stars. Your thoughts?

Also disappointed you didn't like Chimes at Midnight a little more than you did but I suppose I can understand. It definitely demonstrates it's budget restrictions in a number of places.

[soitgoes...]

Speaking of bloated Italian films I'm pretty much right there with you in regards to your score for The Night of the Shooting Stars. Your thoughts?

Also disappointed you didn't like Chimes at Midnight a little more than you did but I suppose I can understand. It definitely demonstrates it's budget restrictions in a number of places.Yeah, Night of the Shooting Stars was a weird one. The horrors of WWII filtered through the mind of a 6 year old being retold by a now grown lady to her toddler? WTF? Pretty to look at, but that distracts from what's going on.

Chimes had some stunning sweeping camera work, but I never connected with the film. I don't know if my unfamiliarity with the various Shakespeare plays it incorporates had anything to do with it. It was entertaining enough, and it's always a treat to see Welles.

[Qrazy]

Yeah, Night of the Shooting Stars was a weird one. The horrors of WWII filtered through the mind of a 6 year old being retold by a now grown lady to her toddler? WTF? Pretty to look at, but that distracts from what's going on.

Chimes had some stunning sweeping camera work, but I never connected with the film. I don't know if my unfamiliarity with the various Shakespeare plays it incorporates had anything to do with it. It was entertaining enough, and it's always a treat to see Welles.

Could be, I'd recommend a few read throughs as soon as possible. They're quality.

[soitgoes...]

Could be, I'd recommend a few read throughs as soon as possible. They're quality.Shakespeare. Quality? Pff! I gotta get caught up on Twilight first, yo.

[baby doll]

I just watched The Leopard and it's in no way shape or form similar to The Godafther so you can put that bit of nonsense to bed.They're similar in that they're both stately epics about the transition of power from one generation to the next (Lancaster to Delon, Brando to Pacino), and I think Coppola's measured, almost reverent approach to organized crime owes a great deal to Visconti's view of the Italian aristocracy.

[baby doll]

Well... you do realize what you're saying now is wrong, right? I mean, Goodfellas concerns lower echelon gangsters, the kind that Scorsese saw in his day to day life in Little Italy. They steal cigarette trucks and plan armed robberies. The people portrayed in The Godfather orchestrate murders in the Vatican.In other words, it's a fantasy in which the mob is run by wise, deliberative patriarchs who dress in smart clothes and live by a moral code. If memory serves, the only instance of collateral damage in the first two films (I haven't seen part three) is during the climatic sequence when a gangster's mistress gets gunned down as well--and that's of course long after sweet old Don Corleone has kicked the bucket. I have no problem with fantasy; I just think this one takes itself way too seriously.

[Qrazy]

They're similar in that they're both stately epics about the transition of power from one generation to the next (Lancaster to Delon, Brando to Pacino), and I think Coppola's measured, almost reverent approach to organized crime owes a great deal to Visconti's view of the Italian aristocracy.

So basically The Godfather has about as much in common with The Leopard as it does with any film dealing with the glamorization of crime (probably 90%+ of the films which feature crime) and the generational element of crime. White Heat?

Was Visconti an influence for Coppola? Almost certainly. Is The Godfather really all that similar or remotely derivative of The Leopard? No, not really. And I think you're kind of missing the point of The Leopard to speak of it primarily in terms of a reverent approach to the aristocracy.

You're right that The Godfather takes a semi-operatic approach to it's subject matter. It is not a film driven by realism. But it also does not revere the actions of it's characters, and by the end of Part II it's clear that Michael has lost everything he cares about. If this approach to the subject matter doesn't work for you okay, but you're going to also have to write off the vast majority of crime films (especially prior to the 70s) that don't fit into your narrow spectrum of realistic representation. Not all crime films are about representing criminals as the thugs they are, although I would argue that The Godfather Part I and II actually do acknowledge this more frequently than many earlier genre pictures.

[baby doll]

So basically The Godfather has about as much in common with The Leopard as it does with any film dealing with the glamorization of crime (probably 90%+ of the films which feature crime) and the generational element of crime. White Heat?

Was Visconti an influence for Coppola? Almost certainly. Is The Godfather really all that similar or remotely derivative of The Leopard? No, not really. And I think you're kind of missing the point of The Leopard to speak of it primarily in terms of a reverent approach to the aristocracy.

You're right that The Godfather takes a semi-operatic approach to it's subject matter. It is not a film driven by realism. But it also does not revere the actions of it's characters, and by the end of Part II it's clear that Michael has lost everything he cares about. If this approach to the subject matter doesn't work for you okay, but you're going to also have to write off the vast majority of crime films (especially prior to the 70s) that don't fit into your narrow spectrum of realistic representation. Not all crime films are about representing criminals as the thugs they are, although I would argue that The Godfather Part I and II actually do acknowledge this more frequently than many earlier genre pictures.One difference between White Heat and The Godfather is that the earlier film isn't so stately and portentous, and even if neither The Leopard nor Coppola's film is exactly reverent about its subject, what they share (and what White Heat lacks) is a certain solemnity in their approach.

[MadMan]

I think I figured out why these threads drag on as long as they do....

And The Conversation is messy? I don't agree. Apocalypse Now, yes that's a messy film. The Conversation is tightly and carefully paced just like the first two Godfather films. I would say out of the four Coppola 70s film its the most intelligent, although I think its merely the third best out of the four. I'd rank it above The Godfather Part II, barely.

[Spinal]

What has happened here?

[MadMan]

What has happened here?Well, I'm still trying to decide if the discussion here is more crazier than the one that took place in the 80s thread over David Lynch. Not really sure.

[Spinal]

Well, I'm still trying to decide if the discussion here is more crazier than the one that took place in the 80s thread over David Lynch. Not really sure.

The conversation is fine. I was referring to the fact that we're stuck on #6.

[balmakboor]

Hopefully, he didn't realize that Barry Lyndon and The Deer Hunter were missing and there was going to be hell to pay.

[balmakboor]

Raiders, you're a Ms 45* fan, correct? I urge you to track down Remember My Name. It is quintessential 70's goodness.


* btw, the two films are nothing alike, apart from the revenge angle


http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/3285/remembermynameposter.jpg

Man I haven't watched an Alan Rudolph film in a long time. I wonder if my fave from long ago, Trouble in Mind, is available.

[Russ]

Man I haven't watched an Alan Rudolph film in a long time. I wonder if my fave from long ago, Trouble in Mind, is available.
December 14 (http://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Mind-Special-Kris-Kristofferson/dp/B0041SI7D4/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1291055985&sr=1-1).

Trouble in Mind is an awesome film, one of my favorites too.

[balmakboor]

December 14 (http://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Mind-Special-Kris-Kristofferson/dp/B0041SI7D4/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1291055985&sr=1-1).

Trouble in Mind is an awesome film, one of my favorites too.

Awesome.

[MadMan]

The conversation is fine. I was referring to the fact that we're stuck on #6.Oh yeah, that too. Heh.

[Mysterious Dude]

I think Grouchy might be dead.

[Eleven]

I think Grouchy might be dead.

Either he's dead or my watch has stopped.

[B-side]

Either he's dead or my watch has stopped.

http://knowyourmeme.com/i/681/original/what-you-did-there-i-see-it.thumbnail.jpg

[MadMan]

Hey if he's only "Mostly Dead," then all we have to do is get him to Miracle Max.

[Yxklyx]

Coppola overloaded the thread.

[MadMan]

Coppola overloaded the thread.Well when you have a director who's made four masterpieces in one decade, that's what happens, I guess.

[Irish]

Well when you have a director who's made three masterpieces and one very good movie in one decade, that's what happens, I guess.

You just needed a quick copyedit there. S'all good.

[MadMan]

Which one isn't a masterpiece? ;)

[baby doll]

I would say that one of Coppola's '70s films is a masterpiece (namely, The Conversation), and three are ambitious but flawed (the two Godfather films, and Apocalypse Now).

[StanleyK]

We might as well try to guess the top 5:

1. A Clockwork Orange
2. Taxi Driver
3. Chinatown
4. Annie Hall
5. Barry Lyndon


Also, I noticed this:


The conversation is fine. I was referring to the fact that we're stuck on #6.

Pun intended?

[soitgoes...]

We might as well try to guess the top 5:

1. A Clockwork Orange
2. Taxi Driver
3. Chinatown
4. Annie Hall
5. Barry Lyndon
I hope not. I'll take any of the other four though.

[StanleyK]

I hope not. I'll take any of the other four though.

Yeah, it's the least of those 4, but from glancing at the lists it looks like it was the most mentioned.

[balmakboor]

I would say that one of Coppola's '70s films is a masterpiece (namely, The Conversation), and three are ambitious but flawed (the two Godfather films, and Apocalypse Now).

The only flaw in The Godfather is that one punch Sonny throws that clearly misses.

[MadMan]

I would say that one of Coppola's '70s films is a masterpiece (namely, The Conversation), and three are ambitious but flawed (the two Godfather films, and Apocalypse Now).I think I can understand your line of thinking here, even if I don't agree with it.

[balmakboor]

I think I can understand your line of thinking here, even if I don't agree with it.

Actually, most masterpieces I can think of are also seriously flawed.

[MadMan]

Actually, most masterpieces I can think of are also seriously flawed.Yep. I actually find Apocalypse Now to be heavily flawed (and I don't believe there is a perfect movie, although several come really damn close) but also a masterpiece. Although I guess I forgot that I hate to throw that word around, but I believe it strongly applies to all of Coppola's 70s films.

Having A Clockwork Orange end up being the #1 for the consensus may be cliche, and its not my #1 for the decade, but it is a classic and a truly brilliant film, so I would have no problem with it taking the top spot.

[Grouchy]

I think Grouchy might be dead.
This is, in fact, the correct answer.

No, sorry, the truth is I've been overloaded by work, which is a very good thing, and whenever I wasted some time on the internet this seemed, frankly, like too much work. I'll go ahead and finish this right now. My sincere apologies to all those who couldn't bear the frantic suspense.

[Grouchy]

#5

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/5-AClockworkOrange.jpg?t=1291488 388

A Clockwork Orange
1971
Stanley Kubrick

The Title:

Burgess gave three explanations for the origins of the title. In a prefatory note to A Clockwork Orange: A Play with Music, Burgess wrote that the title was a metaphor for "...an organic entity, full of juice and sweetness and agreeable odour, being turned into an automaton In his essay, "Clockwork Oranges", Burgess asserts that "this title would be appropriate for a story about the application of Pavlovian or mechanical laws to an organism which, like a fruit, was capable of colour and sweetness". This title alludes to the protagonist's positively conditioned responses to feelings of evil which prevent the exercise of his free will. To reverse this conditioning, the protagonist is subjected to a technique in which his emotional responses to violence are systematically paired with a negative stimulation in the form of nausea caused by an emetic medicine administered just before the presentation of films depicting violent, and "ultra-violent" situations.

The Missing Chapter:

The book has three parts of seven chapters each. Burgess has stated that the total of 21 chapters was an intentional nod to the age of 21 being recognised as a milestone in human maturation. The 21st chapter was omitted from the editions published in the United States prior to 1986.

In the introduction to the updated American text (these newer editions include the missing 21st chapter), Burgess explains that when he first brought the book to an American publisher, he was told that U.S. audiences would never go for the final chapter, in which Alex sees the error of his ways, decides he has lost all energy for and thrill from violence and resolves to turn his life around (a slow-ripening but classic moment of metanoia—the moment at which one's protagonist realises that everything he thought he knew was wrong).

At the American publisher's insistence, Burgess allowed their editors to cut the redeeming final chapter from the U.S. version, so that the tale would end on a note of bleak despair, with young Alex succumbing to his darker nature—an ending which the publisher insisted would be 'more realistic' and appealing to a U.S. audience. The film adaptation, directed by Stanley Kubrick, is based on this "badly flawed" (Burgess' words, ibid.) American edition of the book. Kubrick called Chapter 21 "an extra chapter" and claimed that he had not read the original version until he had virtually finished the screenplay, and that he had never given serious consideration to using it. To Kubrick, the final chapter was unconvincing and inconsistent with the book.

South Park: A Clockwork Orange (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWiqMk6cGzw)
Fan-Made Intro Titles (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFoIzJw_SdU) (made by a friend, his spelling sucks)

[Grouchy]

#4

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/4-AnnieHall.jpg?t=1291489730

Annie Hall
1977
Woody Allen

In psychology and psychiatry, anhedonia (< Greek ἀν- an-, "without" + ἡδονή hēdonē, "pleasure") is an inability to experience pleasurable emotions from normally pleasurable life events such as eating, exercise, social interaction or sexual activities.

Anhedonia is seen in the mood disorders, schizophrenia, schizoactive disorder, schizoid personality disorder and other mental disorders.

Researchers theorize that anhedonia may result from the breakdown in the brain's reward system, involving dopamine pathways. Two 2005 studies by Paul Keedwell MD of King's College found that certain sections of the brain in depressed subjects had to work harder to process happy thoughts.

Anhedonia is often experienced by drug addicts following withdrawal; in particular, stimulants like cocaine and amphetamines cause anhedonia and depression by depleting dopamine and other important neurotransmitters. Very long-term addicts are sometimes said to suffer a permanent physical breakdown of their pleasure pathways, leading to anhedonia on a permanent or semi-permanent basis due to the extended overworking of the neural pleasure pathways during active addiction, particularly as regards to cocaine and methamphetamine. In this circumstance, activities still may be pleasurable, but can never be as pleasurable to people who have experienced the comparatively extreme pleasure of the drug experience. The result is apathy towards healthy routines by the addict.

Anhedonia may also be an effect of prolonged fatigue.

Movie Trivia - The film was originally intended to be a drama centered on a murder mystery with a comic and romantic subplot. However, during script revisions, Allen decided to drop the murder plot. According to Allen, the murder occurred after a scene that remains in the film, the sequence in which Annie and Alvy miss the Ingmar Bergman film Face to Face. Allen and co-writer Marshall Brickman would make a murder mystery film many years later, with 1993's Manhattan Murder Mystery, also starring Diane Keaton.

The Universe Is Expanding (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U1-OmAICpU)
Never Do Cocaine with Woody Allen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHTcjZzSlAM)
Diane Keaton - "It Seems Like Old Times" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FAV3zr1PMk)

[Grouchy]

#3

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/3-BarryLyndon.jpg?t=1291490114

Barry Lyndon
1975
Stanley Kubrick

The film—as with "almost every Kubrick film"—is a "showcase for [a] major innovation in technique." While 2001: A Space Odyssey had featured "revolutionary effects," and The Shining would later feature heavy use of the Steadicam, Barry Lyndon saw a considerable number of sequences shot "without recourse to electric light." Cinematography was overseen by director of photography John Alcott (who won an Oscar for his work), and is particularly noted for the technical innovations that made some of its most spectacular images possible. To achieve photography without electric lighting "[f]or the many densely furnished interior scenes... meant shooting by candlelight," which is known to be difficult in still photography, "let alone with moving images."

Kubrick was "determined not to reproduce the set-bound, artificially lit look of other costume dramas from that time." After "tinker[ing] with different combinations of lenses and film stock," the production got hold of three "super-fast 50mm" F/0.70 lenses "developed by Zeiss for use by NASA in the Apollo moon landings," which Kubrick had discovered in his search for low-light solutions. These super-fast lenses "[w]ith their huge aperture [the film actually features the largest lens aperture in film history] and fixed focal lenght" were problematic to mount but allowed Kubrick and Alcott to shoot scenes lit with actual candles to an average lighting volume of only three candlepower, "recreating the huddle and glow of a pre-electrical age."

Although Kubrick's express desire was to avoid electric lighting where possible, most shots were achieved with conventional lenses and lighting, but were lit to deliberately mimic natural light rather than for compositional reasons. In addition to potentially seeming more realistic, these methods also gave a particular period look to the film which has often been likened to 18th century paintings (which were, of course, depicting a world devoid of electric lighting), in particular owing "a lot to William Hogharth, with whom Thackeray had always been fascinated."In the words of critic Tim Robey, the film has a "stately, painterly, often determinedly static quality."For example, to help light some interior scenes, lights were placed outside and aimed through the windows, which were covered in a diffuse material to scatter the light evenly through the room rather than being placed inside for maximum use as most conventional films do. One telltale sign of this method occurs in the scene where Barry duels Lord Bullingdon. Though it appears to be lit entirely with natural light, one can see that the light coming in through the cross-shaped windows in the barn appears blue in color, while the main lighting of the scene coming in from the side is not. This is because the light through the cross-shaped windows is daylight from the sun, which when recorded on the film stock used by Kubrick showed up as blue-tinted compared to the incandescent electric light coming in from the side.

Despite such slight tinting effects, this method of lighting not only gave the look of natural daylight coming in through the windows, but it also protected the historic locations from the damage caused by mounting the lights on walls or ceilings and the heat from the lights.

Theme Sarabande by Handel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erKsIJyfB_Q)

[Grouchy]

#2

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/The%20Seventies/2-Chinatown.jpg?t=1291490671

Chinatown
1974
Roman Polanski

The term Film Noir (French for "black film") was coined by critic Nino Frank in 1946, but was rarely used by film makers, critics or fans until several decades later. The classic era of film noir is usually dated to a period between the early 1940s and the late 1950s. Typically American crime dramas or psychological thrillers, films noir had a number of common themes and plot devices, and many distinctive visual elements. Characters were often conflicted antiheroes, trapped in a difficult situation and making choices out of desperation or nihilistic moral systems. Visual elements included low-key lighting, striking use of light and shadow, and unusual camera placement.

Although there have been few new major films in the classic film noir genre since the early 1960s, it has nonetheless had significant impact on other genres. These films usually incorporate both thematic and visual elements reminiscent of film noir. Both classic and neo-noir films are often independent features.

It wasn't until after 1970 that film critics began to consider "neo-noir" as a separate genre by its own definition. However, noir and post-noir terminology (such as "neo-classic," "hard-boiled", etc.) in modern application are often disclaimed by both critics and practitioners alike due to the obscurity of such an unrefined genre. For example, James M. Cain, author of The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity, is considered to be one of the defining authors of hard-boiled fiction. Yet, Cain is quoted as saying, "I belong to no school, hard-boiled or otherwise, and I believe these so-called schools exist mainly in the imagination of critics, and have little correspondence in reality anywhere else."

Unlike classic noirs, neo-noir films are aware of modern circumstances and technology—details that were typically absent or unimportant to the plot of classic film noir. In the films of the early 1940s and '50s, audiences are led to understand and build a relationship with the protagonist or anti-hero. Neo-noir films of post-1970 often reverse this role. Unconventional camera movements and plot progression remind them that they are merely watching the film and not partaking in the story.

Movie Trivia - Robert Towne wrote the script as the first in a trilogy about the power struggles related to L.A.'s natural resources - the first movie is about water, the second about oil and the third would've been about land. However, the sequel wouldn't be made until 1990 when Jack Nicholson himself agreed to direct it, and its commercial and critical failure made it imposible for Towne to finance the third part.

Weird Shit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zELRKDwY1M4)
Infamous Nose Scene (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SPakQ7hH6I)
"Who is She?" (Big Spoilers) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH2Oq9j54fo&feature=related)

[Grouchy]

#1

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/1-TaxiDriver.jpg?t=1291494302

Taxi Driver
1976
Martin Scorsese

History of A Classic

Paul Schrader, following a tough divorce, spent a few weeks living in his car and then in a girlfriend's apartment. During that time he wrote this script in a little under a month, using documentation from the diaries of nutcase Arthur Bremer, who shot presidential candidate George Wallace in 1972. At the time he was introduced to Scorsese by Brian De Palma, Marty was looking to make a movie that featured a character constantly in a dream-like, half-awake state, likening it to drug use. Interested by Schrader's script, he says the camerawork was inspired by Hitchcock's The Wrong Man and Kazan's A Bigger Splash.

When Marty cast De Niro as Travis Bickle, he was about to start production on Bertolucci's 1900. De Niro would film in Italy, grab a plane on the weekends and go to New York to drive a taxi to prepare for the role. Jodie Foster was far from the first choice for Iris. Melanie Griffith, Linda Blair, Bo Derek and Carrie Fisher were all considered. Mariel Hemingway was already cast when she gave it up due to pressure from her parents.

The script was originally set in Los Angeles but was changed to New York because taxis were much more prevalent there in the '70s. Other changes include Harvey Keitel's pimp character being originally black. This was done because while Travis is a racist in the film, Scorsese thought that too many negative black stereotypes would make the film itself come off as racist. The idea of the Mohawk came from actor Victor Magnotta, who plays the Secret Service agent. A Vietnam veteran, he remembered that for certain Commando missions, soldiers would cut their hair like that.

Perhaps the most famous bit of trivia is the MPAA's rejection of the final cut of Taxi Driver due to the violence of the final shoot-out. Since Scorsese didn't want to cut the sequence any further he desaturated the colors to make the blood less prominent. This is quite notable in all prints of the film, since the color scheme changes a lot from shot to shot when Travis arrives at the bordello. Later, when the film was restored for DVD, no prints featuring the original colors could be found.

[Grouchy]

I think 1974 might be the finest year in all of cinema. Here's the Top10 for that particular year as shown by your votes:

1. Chinatown
2. The Conversation
3. F for Fake
4. The Godfather Part II
5. A Woman Under the Influence
6. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
7. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
8. Young Frankenstein
9. The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
10. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

[DavidSeven]

Never would have expected this forum to be that high on Chinatown and Barry Lyndon. Taxi Driver at #1 is even a little surprising.

[MadMan]

Aye, I approve of this list. Also I'm not at all surprise that it would be too 1974 heavy. That year is just all around brilliance. 1975 matches it pretty well, though, as does 1976.

[Grouchy]

Never would have expected this forum to be that high on Chinatown and Barry Lyndon. Taxi Driver at #1 is even a little surprising.
I expected either Chinatown or Taxi Driver at #1 from early on the counting and, I gotta say, either one would've been fine by me.

The biggest surprise was Barry Lyndon ahead of A Clockwork Orange. But I actually agree with that!

[Grouchy]

Full counting:

TAXI DRIVER 88,0
CHINATOWN 83,5
BARRY LYNDON 78,5
ANNIE HALL 77,5
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE 73,5
THE CONVERSATION 71,5
THE GODFATHER 67,5
APOCALYPSE NOW 64,5
AGUIRRE: THE WRATH OF GOD 62,0
F FOR FAKE 55,5
DAYS OF HEAVEN 54,0
STALKER 53,0
ERASERHEAD 51,5
THE MIRROR 48,0
STROSZEK 46,5
THE GODFATHER PART II 46,0
MANHATTAN 44,0
NETWORK 41,5
MC CABE AND MISS MILLER 39,5
JAWS 37,5
A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE 34,0
MONTY PYTHON & THE HOLY GRAIL 33,5
ALL THAT JAZZ 33,0
BADLANDS 33,0
SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE 32,0
THE CONFORMIST 32,0
PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK 31,5
THE HOLY MOUNTAIN 31,0
STAR WARS 29,5
THE LONG GOODBYE 29,5
SOLARIS 28,5
CRIES AND WHISPERS 27,5
NASHVILLE 27,5
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 27,5
THE EXORCIST 25,0
ALIEN 23,0
WALKABOUT 23,0
THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE 22,0
THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE 22,0
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUKOO'S NEST 20,0
LIFE OF BRIAN 19,5
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND 16,0
THE LAST PICTURE SHOW 14,5
DAWN OF THE DEAD 14,0
STRAW DOGS 14,0
THE DEER HUNTER 14,0
DOG DAY AFTERNOON 13,5
THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE 13,5
BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA 13,0
SUSPIRIA 13,0
ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 12,0
IN A YEAR OF 13 MOONS 12,0
AMARCORD 11,0 O LUCKY MAN! 11,0
THE 36 CHAMBERS OF SHAOLIN 11,0
ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN 10,5
HAROLD AND MAUDE 10,5
MEAN STREETS 10,5
THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN 9,5
VENGEANCE IS MINE 9,0
FATA MORGANA 8,5
MICKEY AND NICKY 8,0
NOSFERATU: PHANTOM DER NACHT 8,0
WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY 8,0
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN 8,0
EL TOPO 6,5
KILLER OF SHEEP 6,5
THE ENIGMA OF KASPAR HAUSER 6,5
ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL 6,0
BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS 6,0
HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER 6,0
WATERSHIP DOWN 6,0
PUNISHMENT PARK 5,5
AUTUMN SONATA 5,0
CLAIRE'S KNEE 5,0
DELIVERANCE 5,0
THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BURGUOISIE 5,0
3 WOMEN 4,0
THE TENANT 4,0
LOVE & DEATH 3,5
HALLOWEEN 3,0
PATTON 3,0
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS 2,5
ROCKY 2,5
FIVE EASY PIECES 2,0
MARTIN 2,0
ANIMAL HOUSE
BEING THERE
CABARET
CARRIE
CATCH-22
DEEP RED
EVEN DWARVES STARTED SMALL
LE CERCLE ROUGE
M.A.S.H.
PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM
ROMA
SMALL CHANGE
THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT
THE FRENCH CONNECTION
THE LAST WALTZ
THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES

[Irish]

Thanks for finishing this out, Grouchy. Great reads!

[Ezee E]

Yeah, I don't know if I've ever read much discussion about Chinatown.

[DavidSeven]

Perhaps the most famous bit of trivia is the MPAA's rejection of the final cut of Taxi Driver due to the violence of the final shoot-out. Since Scorsese didn't want to cut the sequence any further he desaturated the colors to make the blood less prominent.

7CI8b1X413c

[Stay Puft]

2. Chinatown (***½)
5. A Clockwork Orange (***)
9. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (****)
10. F for Fake (***½)
12. Stalker (****)
13. Eraserhead (****)
15. Stroszek (****)

Been too long for either The Mirror or Jaws.

Some great films from what I've seen, but wow, I sure am missing a lot of the favorites from this decade.

[Grouchy]

Some great films from what I've seen, but wow, I sure am missing a lot of the favorites from this decade.
What the fuck? You've never seen Taxi Driver?

[DavidSeven]

What the fuck? You've never seen Taxi Driver?

Omission of all 70s Coppola is more astonishing. I mean, how does that even happen to someone as well-versed in cinema as Stay Puft?

[Mysterious Dude]

7CI8b1X413c

I wonder why Tarantino doesn't just call Scorsese and ask him if it's true. Surely he's got the connections to do that.

[Irish]

That's the most ridiculous "legend" story I've ever heard.

[Grouchy]

Well, maybe if he hasn't developed a relationship with him it's not the polite thing to do. Scorsese spent the '70s coked out of his fucked mind and maybe he doesn't like to be reminded of some of his low points.

[soitgoes...]

Taxi Driver ****
Chinatown ****
Barry Lyndon ****
Annie Hall ****
A Clockwork Orange **½
The Conversation ***½
The Godfather ****
Apocalypse Now ***
Aguirre: The Wrath of God ***
F for Fake n/s
Days of Heaven ***
Stalker ****
Eraserhead ****
The Mirror ***½
Stroszek ***½
The Godfather Part II ***½
Manhattan ***½
Network ***½
McCabe and Mrs. Miller ****
Jaws ***½


Only complaint would be with A Clockwork Orange being on here. It was expected, but I was hoping for the 10-20 range. All in all a solid list.

[Melville]

1. Taxi Driver - 10
2. Chinatown - 10
3. Barry Lyndon - 8
4. Annie Hall - 7
5. A Clockwork Orange - 9.5
6. The Conversation - 9
7. The Godfather - 9
8. Apocalypse Now - 9.5
9. Aguirre: The Wrath of God - 9.5
10. F for Fake - 7.5
11. Days of Heaven - 9.5
12. Stalker - 6.5
13. Eraserhead - 9
14. The Mirror - 10
15. Stroszek - 9
16. The Godfather Part II - 9
17. Manhattan - 10
18. Network - 3.5
19. McCabe and Mrs. Miller - 7.5
20. Jaws - 7.5

[Spaceman Spiff]

18. Network - 3.5

You thought you could just slip that in there and nobody would notice, didn't you?

[Milky Joe]

Howard Beale is just lame iconoclasm.

[Melville]

You thought you could just slip that in there and nobody would notice, didn't you?
I haven't seen it in 12 years, so I'm just going off my 15-year-old self's reaction, which could differ drastically from my current self's reaction. I vaguely remember being disappointed by the rants, finding the style and character stuff dull, and thinking the satire awkwardly straddled absurdity and realism.

[Winston*]

I haven't seen it in 12 years, so I'm just going off my 15-year-old self's reaction, which could differ drastically from my current self's reaction. I vaguely remember being disappointed by the rants, finding the style and character stuff dull, and thinking the satire awkwardly straddled absurdity and realism.
I think if you only saw a film when you were 15, you may as well just say you haven't seen it.

[Melville]

I think if you only saw a film when you were 15, you may as well just say you haven't seen it.
Quiet, you.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I think if you only saw a film when you were 15, you may as well just say you haven't seen it.

Pretty much.

I dunno Melville. I found the rants to be excellently written and passionately delivered, the style to not be too flashy but typical Lumet-formal competence and the satire to awesomely straddle absurdity and realism. Watch it again.

William Holden giving his best performance is pretty neat, too.

[Melville]

I dunno Melville. I found the rants to be excellently written and passionately delivered, the style to not be too flashy but typical Lumet-formal competence and the satire to awesomely straddle absurdity and realism. Watch it again.
I also disliked 12 Angry Men and Dog Day Afternoon, which I saw more recently, and I wasn't keen on The Verdict, which I saw last year. And I just watched the most famous ranting scene from Network and found it as I remembered it. So I'm not really inclined to give it another viewing.

[endingcredits]

14. The Mirror - 10

:pritch:

[Raiders]

I think if you only saw a film when you were 15, you may as well just say you haven't seen it.

I agree with this in theory, but Melville isn't too far off here, so that may not be the case here.

[Qrazy]

I also disliked 12 Angry Men and Dog Day Afternoon, which I saw more recently, and I wasn't keen on The Verdict, which I saw last year. And I just watched the most famous ranting scene from Network and found it as I remembered it. So I'm not really inclined to give it another viewing.

Weak. You could give Long Day's Journey into Night a shot I suppose. That's prob. the only one you'll view favorably, but I wouldn't bet on it.

[B-side]

:pritch:

The few. The proud. The Zerkalo lovers.:D

[Mr. Pink]

That's the most ridiculous "legend" story I've ever heard.

Unless the producer was lying in her book (You'll Never Work in This Town Again), it's actually true.

[StanleyK]

I think if you only saw a film when you were 15, you may as well just say you haven't seen it.

I agree with this. Hell, I don't even rate movies that I've seen more than a year ago.

[StanleyK]

1. Taxi Driver - ****
2. Chinatown - N2R
3. Barry Lyndon - ****
4. Annie Hall - **** (But, need to rewatch)
5. A Clockwork Orange - ***½
7. The Godfather - **** (B, N2R)
8. Apocalypse Now - N2R
9. Aguirre: The Wrath of God - ****
10. F for Fake - N2R
11. Days of Heaven - ****
12. Stalker - ****
13. Eraserhead - ****
14. The Mirror - ****
15. Stroszek - ****
16. The Godfather Part II - **** (But N2R)
17. Manhattan - **** (B, N2R)
20. Jaws - **** (B, N2R)



Wow. A Clockwork Orange is actually the weakest film on the whole list. Glad I was wrong.

[MadMan]

Screw rating out of 100 like I normally do, as I'm getting tired of that rating system.

1. Taxi Driver -9.5
2. Chinatown -10
4. Annie Hall -10
5. A Clockwork Orange -10
6. The Conversation -10
7. The Godfather -10
8. Apocalypse Now - 10
9. Aguirre: The Wrath of God -10
10. F for Fake -10
13. Eraserhead -Good
16. The Godfather Part II -10
18. Network -10
20. Jaws -10

[balmakboor]

Great decade. I love everything in the top 20. But, after a recent rewatch, I can say that The Deer Hunter being so low is a complete travesty. That movie is brilliant. Probably my favorite of the decade now.

[baby doll]

Instead of rating them, since most of them are fantastic, I'll just rank them in order of preference:

1. Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
2. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1971)
3. Manhattan (Woody Allen, 1979)
4. Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978)
5. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972)
6. F for Fake (Orson Welles, 1973)
7. Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977)
8. The Mirror (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1975)
9. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
10. Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)

11. Stroszek (Werner Herzog, 1977)
12. The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
13. Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
14. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
15. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
16. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
17. A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)
18. The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
19. Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976)

[baby doll]

I can say that The Deer Hunter being so low is a complete travesty.How about no Fassbinder? I guess that's the problem with making too many masterpieces in one decade:

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)
The Merchant of Four Seasons (1972)
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
Fox and His Friends (1975)
In a Year of 13 Moons (1978)
The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)
The Third Generation (1979)

[MacGuffin]

Barry Lyndon falls in my "Movies That I Know I Will Probably Love, But am Too Lazy to Sit for Three Plus Hours and Watch" pile.

[balmakboor]

Just watched Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore for the first time a many years and was surprised by how much better it is than I remembered. And so many little overlaps with Taxi Driver. Too bad it wasn't part of this Concensus.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Barry Lyndon falls in my "Movies That I Know I Will Probably Love, But am Too Lazy to Sit for Three Plus Hours and Watch" pile.

See it anyways. Best movie ever, maybe.

I'm very confused by the lack of Network love. I don't see what's not to like about it. Even if it's not your favorite movie, the acting and dialogue are so strong and it has one of my favorite narrations ever. Plus delicious Robert Duvall and Peter Finch over-acting and William Holden with one of the best "emotionally shattered man" scenes ever. Even the politics and critique on the media seems more relevant today than back in '76.

[balmakboor]

See it anyways. Best movie ever, maybe.

I'm very confused by the lack of Network love. I don't see what's not to like about it. Even if it's not your favorite movie, the acting and dialogue are so strong and it has one of my favorite narrations ever. Plus delicious Robert Duvall and Peter Finch over-acting and William Holden with one of the best "emotionally shattered man" scenes ever. Even the politics and critique on the media seems more relevant today than back in '76.

Yes, BL is great. Didn't feel like 3+ hours to me any of the 8 or 9 times I've seen it. It was my number 1 for this poll, although a certain Cimino film may have since moved ahead of it.

Network is simply brilliant. I'm more impressed by its achievement and growing relevance every time I see it, which is about once a year.

I just realized another masterpiece that is missing from the top 20 and is probably better than Taxi Driver and a few others in my mind -- Nashville.

[balmakboor]

I think if you only saw a film when you were 15, you may as well just say you haven't seen it.

That's especially the case with me. Two brand spanking new movies I stood in line for and saw in the theater when I was 15 were Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Of course I've seen both quite a few more times since then.

[baby doll]

Even the politics and critique on the media seems more relevant today than back in '76.Yeah, if you're an old white guy who feels threatened by career women, the black power movement, and Arabs. Just change "I'm mad as hell" to "I want my country back," and you have Tea Party: The Movie.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Yeah, if you're an old white guy who feels threatened by career women, the black power movement, and Arabs. Just change "I'm mad as hell" to "I want my country back," and you have Tea Party: The Movie.

You're being willfully dense, again. The movie is clearly making fun of people who are threatened by the black power movement and Arabs, plus Faye Dunaway was a monstrous person who one should feel threatened by.

[Qrazy]

See it anyways. Best movie ever, maybe.

I'm very confused by the lack of Network love. I don't see what's not to like about it. Even if it's not your favorite movie, the acting and dialogue are so strong and it has one of my favorite narrations ever. Plus delicious Robert Duvall and Peter Finch over-acting and William Holden with one of the best "emotionally shattered man" scenes ever. Even the politics and critique on the media seems more relevant today than back in '76.

I'm with you. I love it.

[Qrazy]

Yeah, if you're an old white guy who feels threatened by career women, the black power movement, and Arabs. Just change "I'm mad as hell" to "I want my country back," and you have Tea Party: The Movie.

This is why the film is brilliant. The film does not embrace the Howard Beale character or his mentality. It seems so at first but he rapidly becomes just another pawn in the system, co-opted by the establishment. In retrospect Fight Club owes a great deal to Network. Both films pretend to embrace directionless anger but they do so only to comment more deeply upon the root of that anger and how rhetoric and rage are ultimately not the answer. Of course Network accomplishes this much more successfully than Fight Club imo, but still, not sure why I never noticed the similarities before.

[balmakboor]

Sandy and Todd Talk Taxi Driver (http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7983381/)

Btw, I'm gradually figuring out how to get these things to speak the words understandably. It's all about creative phonetic spellings. I didn't take the time to figure out how to get "Bronx" to come out right though.

[Pop Trash]

You know who was awesome? John Cazale.

[balmakboor]

You know who was awesome? John Cazale.

Absolutely. Five movies. Five best picture nominees. Three winners. Four unforgettable characters (two movies had the same character).

[Pop Trash]

Absolutely. Five movies. Five best picture nominees. Three winners. Four unforgettable characters (two movies had the same character).

Plus engaged to Meryl Streep and refused to drop out of The Deer Hunter even though he was dying of cancer. Hell of an actor.

[balmakboor]

Plus engaged to Meryl Streep and refused to drop out of The Deer Hunter even though he was dying of cancer. Hell of an actor.

Wow. I actually didn't know those bits of trivia.