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Post by idioticbunny on Aug 26, 2020 4:52:19 GMT
(Last I'll post here in the Classic Film section, I'll post the next ones under line-ups in Oscars/Awards from here on out). Another pretty decent year in the '70s, though probably my least favorite since '73. It is surprising how much of the year is genre stuff that really seemed to take the cake for me. Stuff like Halloween, Dawn of the Dead, Drunken Master, and The Driver - all films that feel so wildly different from even the more mainstream stuff from the year before. But once again, like the more commercial stuff in last year, there's still a lot of passion and artistry to them that sort of dissipates with commercial filmmaking in the coming decades. Anyway, biggest surprise for me has easily got to be Days of Heaven. Having seen Thin Red Line, Tree of Life, A Hidden Life, and Badlands and been overall disappointed with all four (though strangely liked A Hidden Life the best of those four), I expected no Malick to ever truly work for me. But alas, one finally has! It's amazing how much I seem to enjoy a film of his when he actually follows a plot. That's easily been my biggest issue with his works thus far is that even in something like Badlands that seems to be very much scripted, it tends to just sort of trod along without a real plot. Funnily enough, I've constantly read about how people find Days of Heaven to continue that trend of plotlessness, but I definitely disagree. Yeah, it just follows a love triangle on a farm, but at least we can gather that and he allows the plot to grow organically out of that instead of having a set plot and then straying away from it too much by focusing on the "visuals" and "poetry". So yeah, at last I've finally found a Malick I really enjoy and yes, the cinematography was definitely beautiful (though as you can see I still chose another winner, equally gorgeous IMO - easily the most stacked cinematography line-up of the decade for me as I could have extended to my #8 spot for a worthy winner). Biggest disappointment, however, is probably Killer of Sheep. I still enjoyed it quite a bit, but coincidentally it was here that I found that Malickian level of plotlessness that I find a bit of a chore. Granted, I think that was the point with Sheep to try and show the mundanity of these characters' lives and their situations and obviously I admire quite a lot the similarities to Italian neorealism of the '40s/'50s as an artistic expression of societal and systemic issues faced by real people, in this case Black people in LA following the Watts riots of the '60s. As a film, however, I really wanted more depth to the characters beyond using them as plot devices to just show their situations. Like Bicycle Thieves was able to show these disenfranchised people make their way in the world but in the end you didn't realize how much you had begun to care for them and their situations. Here, I felt like aside from a couple of beautiful moments (the use of "This Bitter Earth" as the protagonist dances with his wife, for instance) I didn't get that emotional payoff from the characters like I wanted. Overall, though, I enjoyed a decent chunk of this year. Deer Hunter is yet another 10/10 for me, though I'd say it's sort of on the cusp. Only thing that keeps it from really getting that perfect 10 is that I find the wedding party goes on a bit too long without much of anything pushing the plot or characters forward (though I also understand why it's there and an important part of the film). Managed to fall in love with Halloween this time around after having seen it probably ten times before and finding it decent but not understanding the love everyone else has for it - but now I get it. Same goes with Dawn of the Dead, though it may have helped having watched the "Extended Hours Cut" which includes all available footage like Romero wanted and also more of the fantastic Goblin score. And of course I enjoyed the one-two punch of Watership Down and Lord of the Rings as we veer more into adult-oriented animation as both were beautiful in different and unique ways. On the whole, a really solid year with quite a lot to love, but can definitely see the style veering more into commercial and genre here which makes for breezier viewings of each year, but also losing a bit of uniqueness to them. Still, quite a lot of good stuff to come. Also, Jackie Chan. At last, getting to his work. What a fucking genius. Anyway, here are my line-ups: Best Picture: 01. The Deer Hunter. 02. Halloween. 03. The Driver. 04. Dawn of the Dead. 05. Watership Down. 06. Autumn Sonata. 07. Drunken Master. 08. Superman. 09. Days of Heaven. 10. Invasion of the Body Snatchers. ----------------- 11. La Cage aux Folles. 12. Death on the Nile. 13. The Lord of the Rings. 14. Interiors. 15. Straight Time. 16. Heaven Can Wait. 17. Italianamerican. 18. Killer of Sheep. 19. The Cheap Detective. 20. The Last Waltz. 21. The Tree of Wooden Clogs. 22. Grease. 23. Up in Smoke. 24. The Boys from Brazil. 25. Midnight Express. 26. The Duellists. 27. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. 28. Animal House. 29. Game of Death. 30. Half a Loaf of Kung Fu.
Best Director: 01. Michael Cimino - The Deer Hunter. 02. John Carpenter - Halloween. 03. Martin Rosen - Watership Down. 04. Philip Kaufman - Invasion of the Body Snatchers. 05. George A. Romero - Dawn of the Dead. 06. Ingmar Bergman - Autumn Sonata. 07. Walter Hill - The Driver.
Best Actor: 01. Robert De Niro - The Deer Hunter. 02. Peter Ustinov - Death on the Nile. 03. Dustin Hoffman - Straight Time. 04. Christopher Reeve - Superman. 05. Cheech Marin - Up in Smoke. 06. Peter Falk - The Cheap Detective. 07. Ryan O'Neal - The Driver.
Best Actress: 01. Ingrid Bergman - Autumn Sonata. 02. Liv Ullmann - Autumn Sonata. 03. Brooke Adams - Days of Heaven. 04. Jamie Lee Curtis - Halloween. 05. Olivia Newton-John - Grease.
Best Supporting Actor: 01. Christopher Walken - The Deer Hunter. 02. John Savage - The Deer Hunter. 03. Michel Serrault - La Cage aux Folles. 04. Harry Andrews - Watership Down. 05. John Hurt - Midnight Express. 06. John Belushi - Animal House. 07. M. Emmet Walsh - Straight Time.
Best Supporting Actress: 01. Mary Beth Hurt - Interiors. 02. Geraldine Page - Interiors. 03. Diane Keaton - Interiors. 04. Meryl Streep - The Deer Hunter. 05. Mia Farrow - Death on the Nile. 06. Diana Quick - The Duellists. 07. Angela Lansbury - Death on the Nile.
Best Original Screenplay: 01. The Deer Hunter. 02. Autumn Sonata. 03. Interiors. 04. Halloween. 05. The Driver. 06. The Cheap Detective. 07. Up in Smoke.
Best Adapted Screenplay: 01. La Cage aux Folles. 02. Dawn of the Dead. 03. Death on the Nile. 04. Watership Down. 05. Invasion of the Body Snatchers. 06. Heaven Can Wait. 07. Straight Time.
Best Ensemble: 01. The Deer Hunter. 02. Interiors. 03. Death on the Nile. 04. Watership Down. 05. Heaven Can Wait. 06. La Cage aux Folles. 07. Straight Time.
Best Editing: 01. Halloween. 02. The Driver. 03. Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Best Cinematography: 01. The Duellists. 02. Days of Heaven. 03. The Deer Hunter.
Best Art Direction: 01. Invasion of the Body Snatchers. 02. Superman. 03. Death on the Nile.
Best Costume Design: 01. Death on the Nile. 02. The Duellists. 03. Grease.
Best Makeup: 01. Invasion of the Body Snatchers. 02. Dawn of the Dead. 03. Grease.
Best Visual Effects: 01. Invasion of the Body Snatchers. 02. Superman. 03. The Driver.
Best Sound Design: 01. Invasion of the Body Snatchers. 02. Superman. 03. Dawn of the Dead.
Best Original Score: 01. John Carpenter - Halloween. 02. Angela Morley - Watership Down. 03. John Williams - Superman.
Best Original Song: 01. "Bright Eyes" - Watership Down. 02. "Hopelessly Devoted to You" - Grease. 03. "You're the One That I Want" - Grease.
Best Choreography: 01. Drunken Master. 02. Half a Loaf of Kung Fu. 03. The Driver.A strangely weak year for the acting categories although I really love all of my winners. Honestly a really tough call between Bergman and Ullmann, I'm a bit surprised that Bergman has always been through-and-through the winner for everyone of that film because Ullmann was totally neck-and-neck with her and I just gave Bergman the edge for having the more complex character. Loved both though. As for '79, already quite a few to re-watch ( Alien, Apocalypse Now, Life of Brian, Manhattan, Kramer vs Kramer, Norma Rae, Mad Max), including two of my all-time favorites so will be interesting to re-watch them and see if they remain in my all-time top 20 (top 10 for one of them), but looks to be a pretty solid finish to the decade. Either way, feel free to send over your favorites of the year to help me narrow down my list
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Post by themoviesinner on Aug 26, 2020 5:25:33 GMT
I absolutely loathe The Deer Hunter. I think it is a plodding, pointless, badly written bore that has absolutely nothing interesting to say about anything. Other than that it's always nice to see some love for Autumn Sonata and Peter Ustinov in Death On The Nile, who, for me, is, by far, the best cinematic Poirot.
1979 is another great year for what is probably the best decade for cinema. Here is my top 10:
1. Stalker 2. Apocalypse Now 3. Vlad Tepes 4. Operation Ogre 5. Norma Rae 6. Life Of Brian 7. Christ Stopped At Eboli 8. Hungarian Rhapsody 9. The Brood 10. Tess
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Aug 26, 2020 14:46:33 GMT
very cool to see Mary Beth Hurt in your lineup. It's a crime how that perf's been so overlooked. And "Bright Eyes!" But the love for Halloween, The Deer Hunter and The Driver is just more evidence of our divergent tastes '79 is a really solid year for me. Some of my favs not mentioned in your post: Nosferatu the Vampyre - on Tubi for free w/ ads and on Prime Video. Breaking AwayBeing There Stalker The Black Stallion - a childhood fav that holds up. Beautiful cinematography and music with a first half containing virtually no dialogue or story. Unlike any "boy and his animal" I've seen. Quite serene and poetic. Buffet Froid - on kanopy My Brilliant Career The Onion Field Hardcore A Little Romance The China Syndrome
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Post by TerryMontana on Aug 26, 2020 16:06:05 GMT
Not yet mentioned:
All That Jazz And Justice for All The Jerk Escape from Alkatraz
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Post by jimmalone on Aug 26, 2020 16:25:18 GMT
I love that you single out Drunken Master. I agree it's one of the first good Jackie films and so hilarious. Also good to see you liked The Driver. On contrary on Malick we have pretty opposite views I see, as Days of Heaven is his only film I didn't like at all (except the beautiful cinematography of course). I love 1979 waaay more than 1978. I wouldn't exactly call 1979 one of my favourite years (only my top 2 and I'm not even 100 percent sure about my #2 are in my Top 100 of all time and after the top 10 it goes downhill pretty fast), but still my #1 of 1978 would probably be only #6 here). My Top list of 1979: 1. Stalker 2. Apocalypse Now 3. Life of Brian 4. Escape from Alcatraz 5. Manhattan 6. Alien 7. I comme Icare
8. The China Syndrome 9. Being There 10. And Justice for All 11. Breaking Away
12. All that Jazz 13. Moonraker (the first half is great, the second one terrible, but well I'm a Bond fan, so it's still up there) 14. A Nous Deux 15. Buffet Froid Not sure if I'd recommend any other films that year.
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speeders
Based
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Post by speeders on Aug 26, 2020 17:59:51 GMT
I'm currently going through the 70s like a fiend (seen about 50 films since starting the challenge but have like 130 to go...)
My favorite of 1979 so far...
1. Apocalypse Now 2. Being There 3. Kramer vs. Kramer 4. Norma Rae 5. Breaking Away
HM: The China Syndrome, Alien
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Post by thomasjerome on Aug 26, 2020 22:13:03 GMT
some recommendations - not yet mentioned: Saint Jack (one of the reasons why I'm always annoyed whenever people act like Peter Bogdanovich stopped making good films after early 70s) Murder by Decree Great Santini The Warriors The Seduction of Joe Tynan Woyzeck The Wanderers
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Post by idioticbunny on Aug 26, 2020 22:38:25 GMT
themoviesinner I get the sense that you don't like The Deer Hunter, but I could be wrong Anyway, as you can see I very much disagree, but I do think a lot of what I like about it is how it just spends time with the characters to get a sense of how important their home and their friendship is before you see it all torn apart in the Vietnam sequence of the film that is some of the best filmmaking I've ever seen IMO (and it's really there that a lot of my love for the film stems - I consider the Russian roulette sequence in Vietnam to be the greatest scene ever filmed/acted). Regardless, I'm glad we can at least agree on Autumn Sonata and Death on the Nile, in particular Ustinov. Granted I feel my Lead Actor line-up is maybe the weakest of the decade, but I did really love Ustinov's Poirot far, far better than Finney's and thus far Branagh's lame attempt. Thanks for the list per usual. A couple here that I hadn't heard before and will add to my watchlist, though I will say I'm surprised to see Norma Rae in your top 5! It's been many years since I've watched it last, but I always remembered it being your typical Oscar bait. Perhaps I'll have to watch it with a closer eye this time around! Also very excited to re-watch Life of Brian and check out The Brood (and Rabid) once I get to Halloween time. Thanks again!
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Post by idioticbunny on Aug 26, 2020 22:46:08 GMT
Tommen_Saperstein I absolutely agree on Hurt! I was absolutely shocked to see that everywhere I looked everyone gave notices to Page, Keaton, Marshall, and Stapleton (which was the most baffling to me) over Hurt when I felt she easily ran away with the film. And yeah, I'd be shocked if "Bright Eyes" doesn't take my Song win for the entire decade. Not just a gorgeous song, but gorgeously used in the film as well. Nearly brings me to tears every time I listen to it now. Aww, well I will say that I can totally see The Driver just working for me specifically being an action and crime thriller fanatic, and Deer Hunter certainly has some issues with its politics and as mentioned above an overly-long wedding sequence. So I totally get those. As for Halloween, I also mentioned it took me about ten different viewings to fully appreciate. I really do think it makes a huge difference going year-by-year like this to really put a lot of films into perspective because Halloween certainly wasn't original for the time, but it utilized the low-budget and commercial angles so effectively that I'm almost inspired to give Carpenter my Director win. He and his music truly were the saving grace of that project. Regardless, thanks again for the lists! Oh I actually forgot to mention that I had seen prior (and already re-watched) Nosferatu! I liked it a lot more a second time around, even if I still give Murnau's version the edge. Definitely a few others in your list I'll be sure to check out. Would love some further opinions on some I'm on the fence on though! My Brilliant Career, The Onion Field, The China Syndrome, and Breaking Away.
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Post by idioticbunny on Aug 26, 2020 22:46:59 GMT
TerryMontana Thoughts on Escape from Alcatraz? That's one I'm on the fence on.
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Post by idioticbunny on Aug 26, 2020 22:52:10 GMT
jimmalone Might as well ask the question I just asked above to you as well: thoughts on Escape from Alcatraz? I'm on the fence with it, but you seem to praise it pretty highly among your top 6 here for this year! Also yeah, I'm a MASSIVE Jackie Chan fan so I'm very excited to have finally gotten to his work and I'll be watching The Fearless Hyena (his directorial debut) for '79 as well just out of my own curiosity for his work, and that'll probably extend into the '80s as well. But for a breakout film, you could do a hell of a lot worse than Drunken Master. Also funny that it seems that's a popular opinion among die-hard Malick fans is that they find Days of Heaven to be the weakest of the bunch but I found it to be the only one (so far) to really respect the plot/story and let that take the forefront (as you can see, plot is important to me as a viewer, though there are obviously many exceptions). Anyway, thanks again for your lists/recommendations!
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Post by idioticbunny on Aug 26, 2020 22:54:30 GMT
speeders Best of luck to you on your journey through the '70s! I had already seen quite a lot of classics coming into the decade and yet it's still difficult to narrow down my list each and every year. There are just so many great and/or influential films to check out that I feel like I'm always gonna miss something. Thanks for your list! All but Breaking Away and China Syndrome are ones I'm for-sure going to be watching, though not counting those two out either (maybe if you wanna give me your best sales pitch on those ones, I might check them out haha)!
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Post by idioticbunny on Aug 26, 2020 22:57:55 GMT
some recommendations - not yet mentioned: Saint Jack (one of the reasons why I'm always annoyed whenever people act like Peter Bogdanovich stopped making good films after early 70s) Murder by Decree Great Santini The Warriors The Seduction of Joe Tynan Woyzeck The Wanderers Thanks for this list! As you might have noticed in the first half of the '70s for me, Bogdanovich was my golden boy. My favorite film three years in a row so I even gave Daisy Miller a chance (which wasn't bad, but still a pretty significant drop in quality of the other three). So glad to hear about Saint Jack. I think I might hold off on other Bogdanovich films as I continue on, but we shall see. I'm obviously very curious about his work and at some point in my life I want to check out his entire filmography top to bottom. Anyway, how's Murder by Decree? I'm a huge sucker for Sherlock Holmes films, and having the match-up of Christopher Plummer, James Mason, and Bob Clark sounds fantastic IMO, but I also never hear it talked about at all.
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Post by thomasjerome on Aug 26, 2020 23:35:51 GMT
some recommendations - not yet mentioned: Saint Jack (one of the reasons why I'm always annoyed whenever people act like Peter Bogdanovich stopped making good films after early 70s) Murder by Decree Great Santini The Warriors The Seduction of Joe Tynan Woyzeck The Wanderers Thanks for this list! As you might have noticed in the first half of the '70s for me, Bogdanovich was my golden boy. My favorite film three years in a row so I even gave Daisy Miller a chance (which wasn't bad, but still a pretty significant drop in quality of the other three). So glad to hear about Saint Jack. I think I might hold off on other Bogdanovich films as I continue on, but we shall see. I'm obviously very curious about his work and at some point in my life I want to check out his entire filmography top to bottom. Anyway, how's Murder by Decree? I'm a huge sucker for Sherlock Holmes films, and having the match-up of Christopher Plummer, James Mason, and Bob Clark sounds fantastic IMO, but I also never hear it talked about at all. I love Bogdanovich and I'm excited to hear on recent TCM podcast that he still wants to direct films. "She's Funny That Way" was not a "great" movie but still enjoyed it a lot because it had a lot of elements of what made him special in the first place. "Daisy Miller" is a fine film. Nothing too special, I can understand how it disappointed people after four terrific films but certainly not something that deserved harsh reviews that it got. "At Long Last Love" and "Nickelodeon" were certainly failures but ambitious and even, to some degree, charming failures, I have to say. "Saint Jack" is where he gets back to form, then he suddenly loses in "They All Laughed" (but it's his personal favorite, and also Tarantino's and Wes Anderson's favorite, so what do I know). I'd definitely suggest to check out his entire filmography; "Mask", "Noises Off" are truly great, "Texasville" is underrated, "Thing Called Love" and especially "Cat's Meow" are good stuff. He didn't reach the peaks of his early glories again maybe but these are all lovely movies. He also made some terrific documentaries; the one with Tom Petty and more recently, "Great Buster". The guy is a true treasure of cinema, as his books are also something else. You can see he's my golden boy as well. As for Murder by Decree, that's exactly why I put it down here because I feel like it's one of the most underrated Holmes films. Plummer and Mason are on top forms, the concept of putting Sherlock against Jack the Ripper is interesting and it works surprisingly well. My only issue was this being little over-long but I've still enjoyed it great deal.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Aug 27, 2020 0:38:06 GMT
As for Halloween, I also mentioned it took me about ten different viewings to fully appreciate. I really do think it makes a huge difference going year-by-year like this to really put a lot of films into perspective because Halloween certainly wasn't original for the time, but it utilized the low-budget and commercial angles so effectively that I'm almost inspired to give Carpenter my Director win. He and his music truly were the saving grace of that project. It's hard to objectively measure a film like Halloween because it inspired so many knockoffs and in comparison to later films its barebones thrills don't hold up for me. It's a quandry, because on one hand you have to respect how hugely influential it was but the formula (not just the thrills themselves but also the story) has been so oft-repeated that the film is retroactively undermined through no fault of its own. The same can be said of The Exorcist with its over-memeification. I'll admit I've only seen Halloween once but I was pretty bored. Now The Thing... that's a different story My Brilliant Career is a pretty wonderful feminist biopic with one of Judy Davis's best performances (and solid work from the supporting cast too, esp. Sam Neill). The Onion Field is a special and disturbing film. Kind of a murky neo-noir / truecrime tragedy about a kidnapping of two LAPD officers that spiraled into violence. James Woods IMO has never been better as the psychopathic gay petty criminal, while the film explores the psychological aftermath of the crime through the John Savage character. Savage turns in really solid work himself as one of the victims whose decisionmaking during the crime is relentlessly picked apart and questioned. China Syndrome is a tight social thriller about safety coverups at a nuclear power plant. Fonda and Lemmon are both excellent--she as a liberal reporter and he as a shift supervisor at the plant who becomes suspicious of his employers. Like Erin Brockavich but as a disaster movie. Oscar-worthy editing. Breaking Away is a fantastic coming of age film about four working class friends with dreams of escaping midwest Bloomington. Warm direction from Peter Yates (I know you liked Bullitt ), sweet and funny screenplay, with some wonderful racing sequences to boot. Class is always on the periphery of these boys' struggles but I remember it most for its genuine sweetness and good humor. if you want my honest opinion, I think the ones you're most likely to enjoy are China Syndrome and Breaking Away, but you should make time for the others if you can!
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Aug 27, 2020 0:44:09 GMT
some recommendations - not yet mentioned: Saint Jack Murder by Decree Great SantiniThe Seduction of Joe Tynan
Woyzeck in bold are ones I reeeeallly wanna see, but I can second Woyzeck, idioticbunny. Don't remember how you feel about Herzog's stuff during this period or if you've seen much of it yet (I only watched some of this stuff last year) but this is worth seeing for Kinski's monumental performance alone (and Eva Mattes is wonderful too as the Kinski character's longsuffering, put-upon wife), and it's on Tubi for free
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Post by idioticbunny on Aug 27, 2020 0:47:40 GMT
I love Bogdanovich and I'm excited to hear on recent TCM podcast that he still wants to direct films. "She's Funny That Way" was not a "great" movie but still enjoyed it a lot because it had a lot of elements of what made him special in the first place. "Daisy Miller" is a fine film. Nothing too special, I can understand how it disappointed people after four terrific films but certainly not something that deserved harsh reviews that it got. "At Long Last Love" and "Nickelodeon" were certainly failures but ambitious and even, to some degree, charming failures, I have to say. "Saint Jack" is where he gets back to form, then he suddenly loses in "They All Laughed" (but it's his personal favorite, and also Tarantino's and Wes Anderson's favorite, so what do I know). I'd definitely suggest to check out his entire filmography; "Mask", "Noises Off" are truly great, "Texasville" is underrated, "Thing Called Love" and especially "Cat's Meow" are good stuff. He didn't reach the peaks of his early glories again maybe but these are all lovely movies. He also made some terrific documentaries; the one with Tom Petty and more recently, "Great Buster". The guy is a true treasure of cinema, as his books are also something else. You can see he's my golden boy as well. As for Murder by Decree, that's exactly why I put it down here because I feel like it's one of the most underrated Holmes films. Plummer and Mason are on top forms, the concept of putting Sherlock against Jack the Ripper is interesting and it works surprisingly well. My only issue was this being little over-long but I've still enjoyed it great deal. Thanks for the breakdown of his work! I mean, The Last Picture Show is in my top 5 of all-time (and will likely top this decade for me too, depending on how well Alien plays for me again, or of course unless there's some brilliant film that completely blindsides me for '79) and he directed my favorite films of '72 and '73 as well, so I'm clearly a fan. I'm glad to hear Saint Jack is more a return to form, so that actually inspires me to give it a look. Though I might also wait and just check out his entire filmography from top to bottom at some point instead. I guess that's just a personal conversation I'll have with myself haha. Either way, I'm glad to hear you're a fan as well! He's supremely underrated as a director, though considering I'd not heard of much else besides Mask from his filmography, I've been curious to see if there's a reason why he's not talked about as highly. I had no idea They All Laughed was so well-loved too so I'm pretty curious to watch that now as well. A true treasure of cinema is putting it perfectly, he clearly has a lot of love for it and for the most part it translates really well into his work. Oh, had no idea it had to do with Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper, that definitely sounds up Bob Clark's alley. I think my girlfriend and I would enjoy that one quite a bit actually. Thanks for the insight into both here!
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Post by idioticbunny on Aug 27, 2020 0:57:22 GMT
It's hard to objectively measure a film like Halloween because it inspired so many knockoffs and in comparison to later films its barebones thrills don't hold up for me. It's a quandry, because on one hand you have to respect how hugely influential it was but the formula (not just the thrills themselves but also the story) has been so oft-repeated that the film is retroactively undermined through no fault of its own. The same can be said of The Exorcist with its over-memeification. I'll admit I've only seen Halloween once but I was pretty bored. Now The Thing... that's a different story I absolutely get that with Halloween and that's actually what kept me from enjoying it more all those times I watched it as well. Even just last Halloween I watched the entire Halloween series from beginning to end and found it to be a bit of a chore. But watching Halloween as I've gone through the '70s, it really hit the sweet spot for me and I can totally see why it was such a big hit in '78 and spawned so many sequels, as lackluster as they are. So yeah, definitely helps to view it in terms of the time period and being as absorbed in that time period as I've been lately, that helps! Haha. Oh yeah, The Thing is a straight-up masterpiece and I'm so excited to watch that one in '82. One of my all-time favorites for sure. Glad you're a fan as well As for the other four films, boy you make convincing arguments for all four and I don't think you made narrowing down my choices any easier I did enjoy Bullitt and also Friends of Eddie Coyle, so I mean so far Yates has gone 2 for 2 with me and I've heard Breaking Away is a really good film, just whether I'm in the mood for a straight drama or not especially as those types of boyhood films don't always work for me, but I'm always open to be surprised (and as I mentioned Yates has a solid record so far). I do think I'll give The China Syndrome the edge as well since I love thrillers like that and it sounds very Pakula and I also love Lemmon, but all of the other three sound great as well. Oh and as for Herzog, he's been hit-and-miss for me so far. I think strangely enough my favorite of his I've seen so far is Nosferatu, but it's still only about a 7.5/10 so I'm still waiting for that one that I'll really love. I will be watching Woyzeck though as that's a Herzog I hear a lot about, so no worries there! Maybe that will be the one!
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Post by therealcomicman117 on Aug 27, 2020 2:35:55 GMT
Some others films in 1979 that I recommend not yet mentioned...
North Dallas Forty - One of the great if not greatest football movies I've ever seen. It really gets into the competitive nature of the sport, and how it affects the players personally and physically. In the lead role as a wide-receiver Nick Nolte is giving some of his greatest all-time acting work from a "down and dirty" perspective, too.
Meatballs - Bill Murray's breakout film performance. The movie holds up perfectly fine, and is a nice if not especially ambitious (for the better) summertime comedy, featuring all the usual hi-jinks you'd expect from a slobs vs. the snobs comedy of that era.
Going in Style - The original 1979 flick, not the remake featuring Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Alan Arkin. The movie was the featuring length directorial debut of one Martin Brest, and is a really enjoyable, but also really depressing flick that tackles themes of elderly abuse, and old-age. George Burns gives a terrific performance, and manages to subvert expectations of his usual persona, and it's worth seeing alone for his performance.
Time After Time - One of the more ambitious time-travels I've ever seen, and an absolute delight at that. It follows H.G. Welles as he chases Jack Ripper into modern times, and all of the eccentricities that occur because of it. Malcolm McDowell is great as H.G. Welles (one of his best post Clockwork Orange roles), but it's really Mary Steenburgen as the modern day woman he befriends and falls for in present day. Fun fact, McDowell and Steenburgen had such good chemistry together, that they fell in-love and got married after.
A Little Romance - Delightful romantic comedy set in France, featuring one of Laurence Olivier's last real committed performance. Also notable for being Diane Lane's film debut too, and she's great as a young teenager who finds love in Paris.
Hair - Milos Forman's follow-up to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Next was a semi-flop in 1979, being released way too soon after the musical its based off had peaked, which is a shame, as it's a really enjoyable dark take on hippie culture, and the sexual revolution of the 1960s.
Phantasm - One of the best Independent horror movies of the 1970s, alongside Carpenter's Halloween. It has a lot of typical bad internal logic and low-budget issues, but if you can past that, I think you might be able to find a lot to enjoy about it. If anything it has atmosphere and smokey mirror scenes to spare.
Wise Blood - Underrated John Huston flick, that's basically his satirical take on religion, and believing in a higher-power. Brad Douriff in one of his few non-leading horror roles, kills it as the naive young protagonist who gets in over his head more then he expects.
Richard Pryor: Live in Concert - One of the best comedy concert films ever. Of course there's a lot of outdated material as you might expect, but a lot of the main subjects that Pryor talks about are just as relevant and hilarious 40 years+ from the films original release.
10 - Blake Edwards farcical comedy about sex that was originally a semi-phenomenon in 1979, but has probably been lost to the ashes of history, which is a shame because it's actually a pretty good flick about gender roles, and getting older. Dudley Moore really makes for a compelling lead too, and the movie is so much of its time, that I actually found it really charming.
Tourist Trap - Fun little twisty B horror movie. Nothing more nothing less. Features a really effective score by Pino Donaggio too.
The Amityville Horror - Not a great movie, but as far as a psychological "family falling apart" horror movie, you could do a lot more. Really effective score and house work too.
The Black Hole - Disney's flawed but ambitious bigger budgeted sci-fi "failure" is less of a Star Wars rip-off, and more of an interesting mix of 2001 and 20000 Leagues Under The Sea. It looks incredible and has wonderful atmosphere not to mention a fantastic score from John Barry, but it's also really confusing, and get quite slow at points, that I really could only moderately recommend, as I'm not sure you'd like it.
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Post by Mattsby on Aug 27, 2020 3:23:30 GMT
I find Killer of Sheep to be a bit overrated too, and I'm a Charles Burnett fan! but Bless Their Little Hearts is I think an improvement on it (Burnett wrote and shot Bless). Love seeing Hoffman and Falk in your Actor list, and the Jackie Chan love, be sure to see The Young Master for 1980!
'79.... Tess which is very nearly a masterpiece. Being There a must! Uniquely satiric with a deeply wonderful Sellers perf. I agree with the mentions of Breaking Away and A Little Romance, two very charming uplifting pics, as well as My Brilliant Career a marvelous, important Aussie pic. Two not yet mentioned: Kieslowski's Camera Buff and Peter Weir's The Plumber ....
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Post by TerryMontana on Aug 27, 2020 5:46:34 GMT
TerryMontana Thoughts on Escape from Alcatraz? That's one I'm on the fence on. I definitely recommend it. Atmospheric and dark, exactly as it should be, with a great performance from Clint (of ehom I'm a fan). The action is not all over the place and the escape plan is not presented with full detail but these things are actually fine with me as Siegel cares more for his characters. Of course the suspense is there! I'd say it's a 7.5/10 for me. To be fair, many compare it with Papillon or Midnight Express. I like these two better.
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Post by jimmalone on Aug 27, 2020 9:38:39 GMT
jimmalone Might as well ask the question I just asked above to you as well: thoughts on Escape from Alcatraz? I'm on the fence with it, but you seem to praise it pretty highly among your top 6 here for this year! Also yeah, I'm a MASSIVE Jackie Chan fan so I'm very excited to have finally gotten to his work and I'll be watching The Fearless Hyena (his directorial debut) for '79 as well just out of my own curiosity for his work, and that'll probably extend into the '80s as well. But for a breakout film, you could do a hell of a lot worse than Drunken Master. Also funny that it seems that's a popular opinion among die-hard Malick fans is that they find Days of Heaven to be the weakest of the bunch but I found it to be the only one (so far) to really respect the plot/story and let that take the forefront (as you can see, plot is important to me as a viewer, though there are obviously many exceptions). Anyway, thanks again for your lists/recommendations! For me it is in some way the ultimative (though not best) prison movie, in that regard that it depicts in the first half perfectly the harsh treatment and monotone life of prisoners and in the second half has probably the most detailed escape of a prison, where it builds up the tension bit by bit in an excellent way. The last thirty or forty minutes are as tense as it gets.
I'm a huge Jackie fan myself. Didn't like the "Fearless Hyena", but hope you will enjoy it more than me. I know you are already past 1977, but you might try "Snake in Eagles Shadow" at some point, if you haven't seen it already, which has some funny fights and moments and in 1980 you should try "The Young Master", which has a wonderful slapstick scene.
Oh, I'm definitely not a die-hard Malick fan. I only love "The Thin Red Line" (this very much though, it's in my top 40 of all time) and "A Hidden Life" (my #3 of 2019), but "Days of Heaven" is just my least favourite. "The New World" is very good as well I think, but for example "Tree of Life" has some beautiful moments, but is pretty messy overall.
As I saw it mentioned in others posts and I remember you loved Bogdanovich's early films so much I'd now also add "Saint Jack" to my list of recommendations. It would probably be next in line anyways on my list and it's quite good, especially in terms of atmosphere and you can definitely give it a try. But don't expect the magic of his 1971-73 run.
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Post by idioticbunny on Aug 28, 2020 3:33:33 GMT
I definitely recommend it. Atmospheric and dark, exactly as it should be, with a great performance from Clint (of ehom I'm a fan). The action is not all over the place and the escape plan is not presented with full detail but these things are actually fine with me as Siegel cares more for his characters. Of course the suspense is there! I'd say it's a 7.5/10 for me. To be fair, many compare it with Papillon or Midnight Express. I like these two better. Ahh, well I did enjoy Papillon and Midnight Express was kind of hit-and-miss for me, but I'll see about giving Escape a chance. I did really like Siegel's other works with Clint ( Dirty Harry and Two Mules for Sister Sara) that I've seen, so there's a strong chance I'll at least enjoy this too. Thanks for the insight!
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Post by idioticbunny on Aug 28, 2020 3:38:25 GMT
For me it is in some way the ultimative (though not best) prison movie, in that regard that it depicts in the first half perfectly the harsh treatment and monotone life of prisoners and in the second half has probably the most detailed escape of a prison, where it builds up the tension bit by bit in an excellent way. The last thirty or forty minutes are as tense as it gets. I'm a huge Jackie fan myself. Didn't like the "Fearless Hyena", but hope you will enjoy it more than me. I know you are already past 1977, but you might try "Snake in Eagles Shadow" at some point, if you haven't seen it already, which has some funny fights and moments and in 1980 you should try "The Young Master", which has a wonderful slapstick scene. Oh, I'm definitely not a die-hard Malick fan. I only love "The Thin Red Line" (this very much though, it's in my top 40 of all time) and "A Hidden Life" (my #3 of 2019), but "Days of Heaven" is just my least favourite. "The New World" is very good as well I think, but for example "Tree of Life" has some beautiful moments, but is pretty messy overall. As I saw it mentioned in others posts and I remember you loved Bogdanovich's early films so much I'd now also add "Saint Jack" to my list of recommendations. It would probably be next in line anyways on my list and it's quite good, especially in terms of atmosphere and you can definitely give it a try. But don't expect the magic of his 1971-73 run.
That's some high praise for Escape! I think I might give it a watch, especially since it seems to be a pretty well-known film, though it'll just depend on how much I make room for this year. I actually just watched Fearless Hyena last night and didn't enjoy it as much as Drunken Master, but I thought it was a solid debut for Jackie and I loved the choreography (as I always do). I do have Snake in Eagle's Shadow on my watchlist so I'll for sure watch it at some point down the road. Thanks for the recommendation on Young Master though! I wasn't sure how much Jackie I'd try to squeeze in, but I think I'll give that one a go then too. Well hey, to each their own it seems! I'm definitely curious to re-watch The Thin Red Line when I get to '98 as to date it's the only film I had fallen asleep during on a first viewing, but that was also well over a decade ago and my tastes have drastically changed since. Also New World is another Malick I still haven't seen, but glad to hear you enjoy it. Thanks for the tip on Saint Jack! I'm definitely not expecting much magic from Bogdanovich in any of his other works, but I do hope to be pleasantly surprised when I do check them out.
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