Added by The Mighty Celestial on 3 Dec 2009 11:08

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100 & 99 Of My Favorite Films From The 1970's

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Decade: Rating: List Type:

154

6.4

5.4

Vampyros Lesbos

To be quite honest, this movie may not really be good enough to recommend to anyone or even to include on this list.
But I do have it on this list simply because I think it's a great way to start off a list, whether it be about favorite films of the 70's or just about any other subject matter.
Plus, any film that can take a tried and true horror genre like vampirism and imbue it with the sexual allure of girl-on-girl action, particularly during the cinematically stiff period of the early 70's, deserves some kind of credit.
So, strap-on a wooden stake or a massive black donkey-sized dong, and let's get going on a super-long journey through many of my preferred choices when it comes to seventies celluloid escapism.
Or, if the mention of Vampyros Lesbos makes you feel the inclination, go watch some internet porn. Either way is a good way to "kill off" some time.

BTW, if you think that putting this movie in the last spot is kind of cheating and not true to the nature of a list that's supposed to be about my "favorite movies of 1970's" then just pretend that VL is not on this list and replace it with Murmur of the Heart. It's a French coming-of-age story that also "came out" in 1971, about a boy who's dad is a gynocologist and who has a habit of engaging in some of the more innocent taboos of the day. Like masturbation. Which means he probably would mind that Vampy Lez is on this list.

1838

7.5

7.4

Eraserhead (1977)

The King of WTF films starts off with a surrealistic bang.
Though I had heard of this movie for quite a while, despite being a David Lynch fan, it took a long time before I got around to watching it. After I finally did, even though I did feel like there is no other film that succeeds in capturing the a dark wandering atmosphere of a nightmare,
I must say, in the end I was still a bit disappointed. I guess it was b'cuz, as a comicbook nerd, I was kinda hoping that the story was going to be more along the lines of a masked crusader who gets his powers after being bitten by a radioactive eraser....

1230

7.8

7.3

Suspiria

A young woman travels from the States to Germany so that she can enroll into a prestigious academy of dance. And soon finds that, instead of the graceful gallop of ballet, her instructors are more focused on the mystic moves that come from dancing with the devil.

No matter what decade of cinema it is, past or present, most movies that have a dark themed story-line about dark magic try to convey their dark feeling of darkness by monochromatically limiting the color schemes to one or two dark colors. However, Suspiria jumps to the other side of the spectrum and emphasizes vibrant colors in order to convey the blackness of the dark magics brewing in it's plot.

105

7.5

Swept Away (1974) (1974)

No, no, this isn't that one film that starred Madonna and became infamous as one of the worst in cinema history.
This is the original movie, an Italian produced rough-edged romantic romp on a deserted island that is considered by a film connoisseur or two as one of the best foreign releases of 1974.
Which, when you think about it, only helps to drive the later ravaged Ritchie english version deeper into the pit of pitifully pulverized remakes.

250

6.7

Silent Movie (1976)

120

6.2

6.1

Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)

The Earth's populace must come to grips with it tendency of abundantly accumulating and disposing it's garbage as The King of All Monsters takes on a giant shambling mountain of red-eyed sludge that terrorizes the island of Japan by transforming itself into a flying smog-billowing force of pollution incarnate.
Kinda makes you want to start recycling, huh?

337

6.9

7.2

The Pink Panther Strikes Again

As a kid, my first experience with the Pink Panther was through the Saturday morning cartoon series.
So, even though the films were conceived before the television series, I was pretty disappointed when I saw that these movies were based more on live-action, adult orientated humor than they were on the animated antics of an anthropomorhic flower colored leopard (panthers are actually leopards without the spots....).
Of course, as I got older, I began to appreciate the big screen releases more, with this fifth installment into the franchise being, IMO, the best one of the bunch and therefore, my favorite.

179

7.4

7.3

Fat City (1972)

After a career that pretty much went nowhere, an aging boxer finds himself inspired to get back in shape and back in the game. But this ain't no Rocky sequel (or maybe that should be prequel since this came out several years before Sly ever put on the gloves). In the "reel" world, dreams rarely come true. Especially when the fight is outside of the ring and the opponents take on the form of personal demons.
Responsible for reigniting legendary director John Huston's career, Fat City is a film that is inspiring not so much in it's storyline as it is in it's honesty and uncompromised performances of it's entire cast of secondary type of characters.

769

7.5

7.2

Don't Look Now (1973)

After the accidental death of their daughter, a grieving American couple move to Venice for professional reasons.
However, after they arrive, they begin to experience a few strange occurrences that hint that maybe, their little girl is trying to "message" them from beyond.
Sophisticated drama meets art-house spookiness meets innovative storytelling with a little bit of graphic-for-its-time lovemaking thrown in for good measure.
Don't look now, but I think that all may add up to a modern classic in the thriller genre.

172

6.9

Silver Streak (1976)

Throughout the seventies, Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor were two comedians whose individuals stars were rising at skyrocketing speed. Then someone came along and decided to pair Wilder's ivory Brook-farce antics with Pryor's ebony-edged street-savvy. And as a result, 1976 saw the first of four Wilder/Pryor movie collaborations.
This Murder on the Mid-Western Express missive is usually considered by many as the best of the Gene & Richard comedy vehicles, and for me, it's definitely my favorite of the batch.

312

7.4

7.2

Vanishing Point

Kowalski is a singled named road rebel who is a on trip to defy the law, to defy societal convention and to make it to San Francisco before 3:00 the next day.
Vanishing Point is road action film that demonstrates that the car flicks that became notorious during the 70's had begun gaining top speed early in the decade.
Fast, gritty and with liberal amounts of cinematic symbolism, this was a mach-moving motor movie that provided many fans of the genre with full tanks of anti-establishment fixes while at the same time satiating their needs for speed with lots chase scenes and featuring the coolest muscle cars of the day.

301

6.8

6.9

The Big Boss

In this massive missive of martial arts mayhem, Bruce Lee stars as Cheng, a common workingman who earns his living as a foreman in an ice factory. He and his fellow laborers soon discovered that manufacturing ice is just a cover for distributing "snow". After the Big Boss learns that his secret is out, he orders Cheng's family to be disposed of. And thus are the conditions set for fists to fly with the kind of fury that only a true Dragon can dish out.

7.1

The Sunshine Boys

While I don't dislike them, I'm usually pretty indifferent to many of the Neil Simon plays that have been adapted into film. Alot of times, I think that the humor works better within the confined story structure of the theatre than to the more expansive universe that is created inside a movie.
That said, I think that the Sunshine Boys is one of the better screen adaptations of his works. Maybe it's because the whole story's premise is based on the idea of transferring entertainment from the old skool stage of vaudeville, onto the new skool screen of a television (via a TV special on the history of comedy). Whatever the reason, there is no denying George Burn's presence on this film. TSB was integral in kickstarting a resurgence of his career after a really long absence. Not only was George gone from the silver screen for 36 years, but once he started up again, this old geezer became the guy responsible for making God into a very successful film franchise.
And let's be honest here, any flick that can set up a biblical chain reaction of that variety has gotta get some kind of due props.

259

7.3

Scarecrow (1973)

Gene Hackman and Al Pacino, in the height of both of their careers, star as two wandering souls who agree to strike up a partnership, and after hitting the road with it's fair share of bumps and curves, end up forming a friendship.
Scarecrow comes off as bit formulaic in it's plot and doesn't really reach the level of quality of either lead actor's best films (which they were both cranking out at the time),
but the combined quality of their thespian talents along with the chemistry that they fill up the screen with in this movie is enough to give Scarecrow the label of "a forgotten minor gem".

7.4

7.2

An Unmarried Woman (1978)

Every once in a while, for some actors, there comes a role that defines their career, their talent or both. For Jill Clayburgh, it was that of an unmarried woman.
Erica Benton(Clayburgh) is a successful modern-day woman who seems to have it togther. Until she suddenly finds herseff no longer married. And thus begins the emotional roller coaster that will show her that she was never as together as she initially thought. A realization that she eventually finds makes her feel more liberated than any 70's national movement could.

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970)

7.7

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970)... (1970)

When it comes to it's social identity, was there ever a decade that was as turbulent for the U.S. than the 1960's?
One it's most defining moments was the assassination of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr..
Shown only once in actual movie theaters, it's chock full of speech footage and interviews that are sequentially strung together in an order that follows the non-violence leader in the last period of his life, from his participation in the bus boycott in Montgomery Alabama to his final days before he was gunned down on a motel balcony in Memphis Tennessee. It is a documentation that is presented in a manner that is narration-free and with plenty of it's footage in gritty black and white, it all adds up to some pretty powerful stuff in the telling of a man who truly believed that no-violence was the answer and who had a dream that all men are created equal.

109

6.7

7.1

Farewell, My Lovely (1975)

By the mid-70's, the classic film noir had pretty much seen it's last case. The few that were still clinging to the big screen were now being updated with the modern flair of grittier, foul-mouthed dialogue and updated time periods (Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye, featuring the same gumshoe as in this film, is a good example).
However, directer Dick Richards and actor Robert Mitchum take a final stab at the genre with Farewell, My Lovely.
With Richards' serious and nostalgic approach to the script and Mitchum's comfortability with the role, ace detective Philip Marlowe wearily takes on a case with all the kind of standard ingredients (seedy underbelly locals, fedora wearing cronies, corrupt policemen and of course, a gorgeous femme Fatale) that make the mouths of hardcore connoiseurs of crime novels water.

140

6.2

6.4

Shampoo

Who woulda ever thought that there would be an entire movie centered around the idea of lather, rinse, and repeat.
But then again, this film came out back during a time before bottles of hair cleaning products required those types of simple how-to instructions.

Actually Shampoo is a story that tries to go deeper than just the scalp surface by taking the subject of the election of Richard M. Nixon into the White House, with the infamous ramifications of his term still on the horizon, and use it as a backdrop against the story of a south California hip hairstylist and his free-loving lifestyle of late 60's ultra-promiscuity. It's an allegorical theme that sometimes tends to comes off a bit heavy-handed (Robert Altman's "Nashville", another film from this year, does a better job of integrating a political metaphor with it's plot's premise), but considering how most other romantic comedies are usually so frizzled and overly blown dry, Shampoo's sharp script and satirical conditioning is just enough to keep it flowing, shiny and manageable.
And besides, how many other movies do you know of that allow for the use of so many bad hair salon puns?

513

7.9

7.6

The Long Goodbye (1973)

While most people today remember Elliot Gould as Ross and Monica's dad on the uber-popular TV show Friends, the truth is, back during the early half of the 70's decade, he had developed a pretty heavy reputation as an incredibly intelligent and sharp performer.
With the Robert Altman directed neo-noir The Long Goodbye, the laid back Mr. Gould attempts a foray into the arena of cinema "badassery", but with a subtlety in his portrayal of P.I. Phillip Marlowe that doesn't compromise the smart half of his repertoire.

Besides an edgy role for Gould, The Long Goodbye also stars Henry Gibson from TV's Laugh-In and features a very early and very small role for a balloon-muscled Arnold Schwarzenegger as a gangster's henchman.

217

7.8

Gimme Shelter

During the late 60's, concerts based on the counter-culture movement were becoming the all the rage. Culminating into the famous Woodstock festival, organizers were hoping that the Altamont Free Concert would be the successful follow-up event.
This original intention of music documentry was for the film to follow the band of living legend, the Rolling Stones as they embarked on the 1969 tour, eventually stopping at Altamont. However, after the violence that broke out between members of the audience with members of Hell's Angels (who were hired to provide security) that forever tagged the word infamous to the event, Gimme Shelter ended up being a "documented" recording of the swan song of the 60's era and it's "peace and love" movement.

7.9

6.9

Fingers (1978)

Aspiring to become an accomplished virtuoso piano player while making a living as a loan shark collector, Jimmy Fingers is aptly named.
Lost in the shadow of films like Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Harvey Keitel "shines" in this forgotten little gem about a dysfunctional thug being pulled in two completely opposite directions.

Letting his fingers fly on the keyboard by day and breaking fingers by night, Jimmy leads a schizophrenic existence between the high class road to Carnegie Hall and the low class street of grit level organized crime.

1117

7.6

7.5

The Wicker Man (1973)

English police sergeant Neil Howie travels to a small Scottish village to investigate the disappearance of a little girl.
There, he finds clues of strange happenings,
strange even by normal Scottish standards.
Which eventually lead Howie unto some pretty morbid pagan rituals.
I mean, y'know....
Morbid even by normal Scottish standards.

148

7.2

6.9

Rolling Thunder

What do you get when you put a returning Vietnam war-torn soldier into a situation where he must exact revenge for his slain family from the local town thugs?
Two words:
"rolling thunder".
Or "the punisher*".
But that's another movie altogether.
So we'll just stick to "rolling thunder".

*(For those of you who might not get the Punisher reference.... Marvel Comics' The Punisher is a character who is a Vietnam vet who became a vigilante after his family was murdered....which is basically the same plotline of this movie....)

213

5.9

6.2

Meatballs (1979)

Boy, I gotta tell ya,
whether they're on appetizer sticks, in a sandwich, on top of spaghetti or in the form of a movie, I really do like me some Meatballs.
Back during the late 70's and early 80's, summer camp was a very popular theme with teenage-targeted flicks.
And while I was never really a big fan of the overall theme, I did enjoy this particular movie. Not just because it's considered one of the classics of the genre, but also, because it featured then SNL staple Bill Murray in his first feature film appearance. I thought that he had (and still has actually) a laid-back approach to both his humor and his acting that often managed to make me smile that same kind of smirky smile that he always had on his face.

6.5

The Brink's Job (1978)

Columbo's Peter Falk comes out to the other side of the trenchcoat to play the role of that of a low-level criminal mastermind instead of a low-level criminal catcher.
Instead of solving crimes, he's now solving problems to will allow him to commit crimes. Particularly, a crime known as The Brinks Job.
Now being that this is a movie that came out in the seventies, TBJ is a heist flick whose plot may not be at the level of creativity that the more over-the-top details that make today's outstretched cinematic bank jobs,
but considering that is based on a true story, it's still a pretty creative, if ill-fated, criminal endeavor for it's time. And still a pretty entertaining watch no matter what context you may put the movie's time frame.

206

6.7

French Connection II

The first French Connection is one of those movies that is often mentioned whenever the subject of classic cop movies of the 70's is bought up.
But you almost never hear about it's sequel, aptly named French Connection II (No "The" in this movie title), whether it be in discussion of cop flicks, or just in any kind of conversation whatsoever.
Maybe that's because, unlike it's predecessor, it's not a movie that helped to move or define the genre it belongs to.
Now, this isn't a criticism of the FC2. Because, on it's own, it stands as a pretty decent police thriller, as it follows Popeye Doyle across the ocean in pursuit of the drug-dealing frenchman who puts the "french" in the connection that this story is centered on.
It's just that, at it's best, what the film succeeds in is, for an hour and a half, the viewer is taken away on a ride-along of a cop caper that transcends international borders.
And compared to other films in this category, not that's not too bad.

1070

7.1

Last Tango in Paris (1972)

If you're like Paula Dean and have a passionate love for butter, this might be the flick for you.
Okay,let's get this part out of the way now...
Sex.
This movies has alot of sex in it. And it's abrasive.
I mean, y'know, maybe not as much or as hardcore as other such controversial films of today, but for it's time, it had enough to raise more than just an eyebrow or two. Hell, it had enough to probably raise a few erections too.
But, whatever. The truth is, this is a movie directed by Bernado Bertolucci and starring the best actor living at the time. Two individuals who, between the two of 'em, bring a quality level of artistic workmanship and highest caliber acting to give such an emotionally raw picture such as this one it's reason for being. There's enough richness it's production and spacious room in it's storytelling that the viewer can make his or her decision on whether this Parisian tango is an erotic dance or just plain filth.

178

7.4

7.3

Coming Home

Sally is involved with two military men.
Her husband, who is out in Vietnam fighting,
and a returned soldier whose war inflicted injuries has left him confined to a wheel chair. Married to the first, in love with the second, she must confront her her ambling life direction and decide which principles she will stand for. The hawk-like dedications of her betrothed or the dove-like protests of her beloved.
Coming Home is an emotionally intelligent movie for grown-ups that is full Academy Award winning performances, triangulated drama, and statements of after effects of conflict that can result both from the battlefield and from the home front.

246

6.5

Foxy Brown (1974)

For the year of 1974, we have two female "badasses" of color who return in sequels that, even though they aren't as good as the first installments of their stories, they have a certain cinematic lavishness that each of their films define in their own distinctive way. And both were entertaining enough (at least they were for me anyway) that the inclusion of the two movies was able to help me fill out this list to an even twenty-five (which, considering the films I had to choose from that were made in the first half of the 70s decade, was not an easy feat).
The first of these butt kicking femmes is Foxy Brown. In her first movie, she was named Coffy, but for whatever reason, the producers wanted to separate this film from that one, despite that the only differences between the two is the name and the fact that Coffy/Foxy dresses a little more "stylish" in this one.
But whatever you wanna call her, she's still played by Pam Grier, she's still hotter than hell and she still got her gun pointed where it counts.

379

7.7

7.2

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid is an early 70's western noted more for it behind the scenes conflict between director Sam Peckinpah and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the company responsible for producing the film.
MGM thought it had the last laugh by taking the project away from Peckinpah after it was finished and re-editing it substantially.
The end result was a film that was largely unsuccessful and criticized by the actors involved.
However, time has avenged the director's vision by the release of Peckinpah's original version, thus creating a re-evaluated critique of the film in which it is now generally regarded as one the director's last great films.

Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance (1974)

6.6

6.4

Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance (1974)... (1974)

The second of the butt-kicking femmes that I mentioned from the previous entry is Lady Snowblood, a character with whom I fell in love with after her first foray in film the year previous.
Here she returns, but with her primary goal of vengeance already satiated from the original movie, she then sets her mind and her katana (although through circumstances not of her choosing) towards the political realm of espionage.
And as we all know, there's more than enough blood in that arena to quench the thirst of any modern-day warrior's (male or female) sword.

128

7.6

7.5

Blue Collar

Three blue collar friends work at the same factory are continually frustrated by their jobs, their unions and by their respective home lives. After reaching a mutual breaking point, the trio plan a caper in which they break into their union's offices and rob the company safe.
An "outside" job that proves to have benefits that are neither rewarding or beneficial to their pockets, status or friendship.

864

7.5

The Warriors

*tlink*
*tlink*
*tlink*
*tlink*
*tlink*
*tlink*
*tlink*
*tlink*

"Warriors.....

come out to plaay-aayyy......."

7.4

7.2

The Clockmaker of St. Paul (1974)

A quiet and single clockmaker is visited by the local police and is reported that his son has committed a murder.
Now, as he contemplates the why's of his son's actions, he begins to delve into the nature of their relationship and into the nature of the crime.
A road of reflection that eventually leads the clockmaker into an internal confrontation with his own deceptions as a parent and now, must find a way to come to terms with his past.
L'horloger de Saint-Paul is a film that, while it may not live up to the levels of the New French Wave movement that preceded it, still makes a worthy effort into the introspective type of storytelling that put this kind of cinema on the map.

Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue)

159

7.5

6.8

Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue)... (1974)

To be honest,
I completely agree with the title of this film.
We truly need to simply just let sleeping corpses lie.
Cuz if we did,
we wouldn't have to worry about all this zombie apocalypse craziness.
And there would be no need to have to publish any handbooks depicting how to handle the situation.
Not to mention that our delectable edible brains (a cornerstone of any zombie's nutritious breakfast) would be able to sleep alot easier at night.

6.2

Darker Than Amber (1970) (1970)

Popular pulp fiction investigator Travis McGee gets his only appearance on the big screen with this 1970 crime thriller, Darker Than Amber (based on the character's seventh book of the same name).
Not a very big picture, it starred Rod Taylor (who I remember mostly from The Birds, The Time Machine and from his last film appearance in Inglourious Basterds as Winston Churchill) and was surprisingly lauded by many critics, then and now. It's a film that's not remembered much these days because of it's in-print rarity, but it does feature a very memorable fight scene that, up to that point in time, was rated as one of the most violent ever depicted in cinema (one of the main reasons for that was because, reportedly, the two actors engaged in the scene actually ended up fighting each other for real as the camera kept on rolling).

337

6.8

Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

This is a perfect example of how selling out with a buncha crumby sequels can ruin a franchise.
Within the fast car genre, Smokey And The Bandit was a real quality film that was pretty cool (I mean, y'know, for it's time) and just packed a tank full of pure dust-eating, escapist fun.
It was only after a multitude of sub-quality follow-ups and sequels, that this type of movie became the joke that it is usually considered now.

6.5

Trilogy of Terror

Trilogy Of Terror is a made-for-TV anthology movie that has become a bit of a cult favorite among horror fans.
This entry focuses mostly the most famous tale of the trio, titled "Amelia".
And, to be honest, now as an adult, whenever I watch this segment in which a possesed Zuni voodoo doll chases the wide-mouthed Karen Black around the apartment, I can't help but giggle at the the low-budget cheesiness of it all.
But as a kid, that plastic doll, with it tiny beady white eyes, lil' spear and endless row of saw-like teeth, scared the living sh#t out of me.
And frankly speaking, the ending shot of a demon-possessed Ms. Black crouched down and stabbing the floor with the large kitchen machete still has the ability to raise a hair or two off the back of my neck.

357

7.7

7.6

Lady Snowblood (1973)

Before there was Beatrice Kiddo, the Bride, waking up after her supposed death and staining the snow with blood in Kill Bill vol. 1*,
there was Yuki Kashima, aka Lady Snowblood, doing the exact same thing. But unlike the Bride, who did it as a homage to the Pinky Violence genre, Lady S did it as the originator of these kinds of story themes and was an early entry into the field of female film bad-assery.

*(For any fans of the Kill Bill films, the battle scene where Kiddo goes Hanzo sword to Hanzo sword with O-Ren Isgii was inspired by this movie.)

243

6.9

Performance (1970)

A vicious and volatile collector for an east London criminal organization finds himself on the run from his own outfit. Hiding out at a former rock star's humble abode, he undergoes an identity crisis of sorts, stepping out and questioning the psychological boundaries that had, so far, ruled his life up to that point.

After blasting onto the music charts throughout the 60's as the front man for the Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger enters the 70's by trying his hand as an actor on the big screen. And just as with his music in the Stones, he participates in a project that, at the time, caused a wildstorm of controversy centered around drugs, sex and morality (so much so, that it took two years worth of cutting and editing to finally this movie into theaters).
I guess that when it comes to towing the line, Mick is the type of bloke who just can't get no satisfaction.

400

7.8

7.7

McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)

Warren Beatty and Julie Christie team-up in their first of three movies in which they will co-star with each other. In this one, they play John McCabe and Constance Miller respectively, a highstakes hustler and a high class hooker who decide to double up their talents and go into business together.
Excellently directed by the always reliable Robert Altman, McC & Mrs. M follows the trend of the anti-Western that had begun the year earlier with works like Little Big Man and Monte Walsh. shows the changing attitude toward the typical big screen shoot-em ups.

103

7.4

6.6

Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974)

What many of today's young movie-goers don't know is that back in the 70's, there were a slew of films that were released strictly to fill the screens of the now practically extinct cinema venue known as the drive-in. While most were just something to pass the time away as adolecsent hormone-driven teens made out in the car, some of these movies were actually pretty entertaining.
Dirty Mary Crazy Larry was just one on the long list of sub-genre B-list flicks of crazy car movies who's main driving thrust was to let out a clarion call to all those in positions of authority to simply and unabashingly "eat my dust".
A sentiment that when shared by the loved-crazed couple in this flick, made him crazy, and her dirty.
Or is it the other way around.....?

346

7.7

8.1

Woodstock (1970)

For any of you kids out there who don't know what Woodstock is, it's a little yellow bird that was a secondary character in popular comicstrip called The Peanuts. He was the sidekick that used to follow around Snoopy, an ahtropormic pet dog of the primary character, Charlie Brown (shown below).
I know some of you reading this may be thinking "that's not the Woodstock this film is about. Why are you trying to mislead the youth of this site?". Well, the truth is, if there is any kid who doesn't know by now what this iconic festival of music is, then they need to stop listening to all the Beiberesque pop sludge oozing outta their i-Pods and turn off all the Miley-like twerking trash that passes off as music videos these days, and watch this film.
I don't care if it's because of the current public school system or just lazy parenting, back when I was kid, I knew what Woodstock was. When the heck happened to the sense of history with the youth today?
Okay. That's it.
Crusty curmudgeon rant over.

234

7.1

6.8

Coffy (1973)

Now here's a flick for those of you who like your movies like you like your coffee and your women;
black and bitter.
Or better yet, with an extra couple of lumps of brown sugar.
See, that's the thing about blaxploitation films,
the more bad puns, the better.

Pam Greer stars in this one as a foxy lady who carries around a small caffeine-themed name and a big ass ghetto-blastin' gun... aimed right straight at your percolator.
Stickin' it to the man with a hefty load of camp and a medieval shot to the groin.

7.3

7.7

I Never Sang for My Father (1970)

Just like this movie, I never sang for my father either. Basically for two main reasons....
One, because my voice sounds horrible when I sing, except of course, when I'm in the shower. And I'm lucky enough to be one of those individuals who's never have had to suffer through some kind of pathological event where I ended up in the shower with my dad. Thank God.
And two, because my father, being one of those old skool man's man, would have probably thought of any kid who sang to his dad as being a Nancy-boy. Therefore, if I ever did tried to sing to him, he most likely would've responded by locking me down in the basement with a box full of cigars and wouldn't have let me out until I smoked every single one.

216

7.3

7.7

Breaking Away

It's the status quo vs the status I-don't-know as a bicycle race becomes the coming-of-age vehicle for a group of local boys (known as Cutters) in a match-up against the more future-assured college kids.
Can the working class sons of Bloomington Indiana, stuck in a "quarry" of adolescence, take advantage of this opportunity to finally break away?

Breaking Away was a movie that had gained some fame at the time of its release for the wit and smarts with which it was writ. It took me several years before I finally got around to actually see it based on it's reputation. Now I think that the passage of time and the advent of popular script-writers like David Mamet has diluted the sharpness of this movie's dialogue. That's not to say that Breaking Away isn't worthy of a viewing today. It has a combination of a well-drawn cast and a quick narrative that allows the film to shine with enough of an intelligence and of a down-to-earth homey feeling that's makes it an above satisfactory watch for the even the more discernible modern-day viewer.

704

7.8

Days of Heaven (1978)

I've never been a big fan of Terrence Malick's films. While most critics and connoisseurs like to defend his films as being works of "artistic expressionism", I find then to be aimlessly vague.
That said, I do like two of earliest movies, Badlands an this one, Days Of Heaven.
In it, Malick manages to use the expansive scenery as thick brushstrokes of storytelling. Combined with the narration that is told by the POV of a young girl, the end result is a simple story with multidimensional layers, the kind that can keep true fans of cinema seated at their roundtables for hours.

7.2

The Buddy Holly Story (1978)

A trio of Crickets decide to band together and end up creating more noise than expected, quickly rising through the early hierarchy of the Billboard charts. Led by the strong performance of Gary Busey, The Buddy Holly Story is an old skool ditty that is told with the kind of gosh-darn-honest sentiment and musical joyfulness that can make anyone believe that even a gawky, lanky nerd with thick-rimmed glasses can be a rock 'n' roll star.
That is, if he's got the soul.

115

7.1

Brewster McCloud (1971)

Most of us dream to fly. In our careers, in our relationships, heck even just in our extra-curricular activities. But there are a rare few dreamers who aspire to fly in a much more literal fashion. The modern day's answer to Prometheus, Brewster McCloud is on a mission to spread his wings take flight. And no matter how "domed" his "arena" may be, he will not stop until he's soaring high.
Really high.
Which, BTW, considering director Robert Altman's whimsical approach to this bit of surreality, is a good way to watch this film.

1145

7.4

7.7

Blazing Saddles (1974)

After the primary law enforcer of a small frontiers town is killed, the locals must come to grips with the fact that's there's a new sheriff in town. His name is Black Bart, and the black part of his name is not because of his rep. It's up to him to win over the confidence of the frighten citizens of Rock Ridge and stop the new railroad from putting the town full of Johnsons off of the map.

This is one of those movies that I have fond memories of watching and immensely enjoying when I was a little kid. Mel Brooks' penchant for getting a laugh from his audiences by throwing everything but the kitchen sink was exactly the type of humor that appealed to the sensibilities of my age back then. These days, while the laughs aren't as hardy whenever I watch a Brook farce, there's still enough in the satirical content and racial undertones of Blazing Saddles to make my now grown-up ass crack a chuckle or two.

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To be honest, when I first decided to start making lists of my favorite movies by decade, I only intended to make 'em as my Top Ten. But as I began compiling the movie entries, I found that making a list based on the ten best of the seventies turned out to be much more difficult than I anticipated. IMO, the seventies was the last era of the pioneering film spirit (I mean, y'know... a spirit defined more by my personal tastes that any thing else). A spirit which, by my observations, had taken a backseat to the formulaic blockbuster craze, by the time it reached the 80's. And even though this blockbuster binge technically started in the late 70's, it was a trend that truly began to overwhelm theatre screens throughout the 80's decade & forward on (which really isn't as much of a criticism as it sounds... I recognize that this was the natural route that it was going to take based on the progression of film as a popular artform for the masses).
Anyways, even after extended to list to 20, then forty, then 50, it still wasn't as easy a task as I thought when I first initiated it, because there were certain films that made it feel almost painful for me to omit. I mean, how can anyone make a list of the best from this time period & not include titles like The French Connection, Five Easy Pieces or Nashville?
In other words, this is a list that I can do again next week and have a whole set of different films included in the first top ten (well...with the exception of the Godfather).
So I finally settled for making a list as long as possible (199 to be exact), to include as many of the films as possible from this ten year period, quite possibly the last decade IMO where the bad films didn't outnumber the good by so much.
Now, keep in my mind that with this many entries, the individual ranking could shift on a weekly basis. But for now, the current arrangement is the best that I can do with at the moment of this posting. Heck, even as I reflect on what I have undertaken, I can already feel the need to start re-arranging what I have up to this point.
So hurry up & read what I got so far before I change my mind.