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Movies We Agree Don't Suck: 1970's Edition

Posted on 1/14/13 at 10:29 am
Posted by Freauxzen
Utah
Member since Feb 2006
37240 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 10:29 am
No frills this time. Just movies.

Ok, Ok I need a small intro. It's the 70's, there were some post-protest love and drugs. Some hippies. Peace, briefly. Led Zepplin. The birth of the other half of you here. Gerald Ford, and other quizzical things.

That's about it.

But really, there was the explosion of the true auteur. Film was forever changed. Thank you 1970's.

** This List was ALREADY compiled by a voting of TD.COM users. The votes were then aggregated into a more formal ratings index, which determines order. Thank you to all that voted.


Sincere thanks to the writers: Baloo, iwyLSUiwy and H-Town Tiger


This post was edited on 1/14/13 at 4:32 pm
Posted by Freauxzen
Utah
Member since Feb 2006
37240 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 10:30 am to
1. Godfather II
Dir. Francis Ford Coppola

(1972)
by Baloo



“It ain't the way I wanted it! I can handle things! I'm smart! Not like everybody says... like dumb... I'm smart and I want respect!”

The Godfather Part II exists not just to cash in on the tremendous financial and artistic success of the first film, but to clarify a simple character point. Michael is not a tragic figure, Fredo is. Michael is a sociopath and a monster, who brings almost all of the terrible things that happen to he and his family on himself. Fredo is a gentle, kind soul born into a family built on crime and murder.


And for that, Fredo must be destroyed.

There is a lot of talk about the greatness of the performances of Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino in this film, and it is praise well earned. The parallel structure of the film allows us to directly compare the life of Vito to his son Michael. Where we see ambition in both, there is always love of family and a desire to make right for Vito. With Michael, it is just the further acquisition of more power, until he pushes every family member away. Both give stellar performances, but the heart and soul of the Godfather, Part II is poor, doomed John Cazale. Cazale only made five movies in his brief life, and all five were nominated for Best Picture. The Godfather, Part II came out in 1974, and four years later, he would be dead from cancer.

There is probably no better actor to play doomed, sad sack characters than John Cazale. Fredo carries the anger and bitterness of a man passed over by his younger brother, the boy he should have protected, but there is an undercurrent of understanding. He knows, in his heart of hearts, he is not cut out for this world. In the end, he just wants to go fishing with the children, and maybe protect them from the harsh realities of the world, and the family they were born into. He is doomed to fail.


Fredo may be the single most tragic character in American film, and he carries this movie to extraordinary heights. When deciding which of the Godfathers is the greatest, I side with Part II, just for the soulful performance of John Cazale.
This post was edited on 1/14/13 at 4:23 pm
Posted by Freauxzen
Utah
Member since Feb 2006
37240 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 10:30 am to
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Posted by Freauxzen
Utah
Member since Feb 2006
37240 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 10:30 am to
Reserved
Posted by Freauxzen
Utah
Member since Feb 2006
37240 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 10:30 am to
2. The Godfather" Part I
Dir. Francis Ford Coppola

(1970)
by Baloo



“I believe in America.”

The story of The Godfather is no less than the story of the American dream. Don Vito Corleone is a brutal criminal, but he is also a family man. He does what he does so he can build a better life for the next generation, for his children and grandchildren who, as we see throughout, he genuinely loves.

Of course, since this is a movie that is an indictment of capitalism, the Family Business must destroy each in every person in the family. For all of the money and power that the Don accumulates, it cannot save his family and in fact, it is that money and power which ultimately dooms them. As the Don dies, his children all pay the price for the family’s sins. Some are in exile, some are murdered, but no one person suffers a fate as horrible as that of Michael.

Michael’s fate is to become his father, only without any of that pesky family emotion to get in the way of his ruthlessness. The old Captains of Industry at the turn of the century were ruthless, but they were also marked by a certain paternalism. They took care of their workers like one might take care of your children. Michael has no such soft spot, and like the new capitalists of the post-WWII era, he will ruthlessly crush anyone who stands in his way, for he is the embodiment of the Family. It is an open question on whether Michael is the corrupted or whether he was always corrupt, just waiting for the moment to unleash his true monstrous self on the world. But when he settles all family business, he leaves no doubt by what he means by the word “Family”. It means the Business.
This post was edited on 1/14/13 at 4:09 pm
Posted by Freauxzen
Utah
Member since Feb 2006
37240 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 10:30 am to
3. Star Wars
Dir. George Lucas

(1977)
by H-Town Tiger



“A long time ago, in a galaxy, far, far away”


It’s hard to overstate the importance of Star Wars and please note its STAR WARS, not Episode IV, especially for a 70’s list. It’s amazing to me how many friends of mine now have kids that are big Star Wars fanatics. This is mostly due to the toys and extended universe, which is really the enduring legacy of Star Wars, merchandising. Before Star Wars, that didn’t exist. Christmas 1977 the one right after Star Wars was released; the toys weren’t ready by Christmas. We got basically a coming soon package, with stickers, but it didn’t matter. Now the movie tie-ins are ready well before the movie is released, and sometimes drive the movie rather than the other way around.

It’s great that Star Wars has lasted and continues to grow in popularity through the extended universe, toys, books, video games and now the promise of more movies. But lost in there is that it all started with a really good movie. Return of the Jedi and the prequels were more kids movies, but Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back weren’t. I think that’s why those 2 are usually ranked as the top movies in the series. Star Wars is a little grittier. Sure the characters are basically archetypes, blonde, blue eyed good guy. bad guy in black, bit it works. It’s a western in space, but shows the grittier, dirtier side with places like Mos Eisley and the famous Cantina.

Most of you probably saw it for the first time on home video or TV. That’s too bad. Some of the wonder is lost, especially from the opening scene, with the giant Imperial Ship sprawling across the screen. It was jaw dropping, especially for an 8 year old. We first see Vader, the archetypical villain in his heavy breathing splendor, decked out in black robes, just so we know this is he bad guy, while he chokes an rebel officer to death with his bear hands. Later we met the best character in the series, Han Solo a smuggler with no real allegiance at first, in a dark, dangerous bar. (Oh and HAN SHOT FIRST!) The Star Wars legacy will continue for a long, long time. Hopefully we remember where it started a long time ago in the era of disco.
This post was edited on 1/14/13 at 3:56 pm
Posted by Freauxzen
Utah
Member since Feb 2006
37240 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 10:30 am to
4. Chinatown
Dir. Roman Polanski
(1974)
by iwyLSUiwy



One of the greatest movies of all time, Chinatown, directed by Roman Polanski, was released nationally in 1974. Three years later in 1977, Roman Polanski was arrested for raping a 13-year-old girl. Rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious act upon a child under 14, and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor. And instead of being locked up for 20 years, the day before his sentencing he fled to France and has lived a rich and free life.

I ask you to NEVER support Roman Polanski by way of purchasing one of his flicks. I, Chase S******n, would never support this man financially in any way. But do whatever you have to to watch Chinatown. Rent Chinatown on iTunes! Watch it on Netflix! Find a torrent of it! If you haven't already, you're missing out.

I good writer doesn't let things like this cloud his judgement so I'm clicking the soap box button off and getting back to work.

***Official review begins here...
J.J. Gettis, played by Jack Nicholson, is a former detective turned private-eye. At one point he earns the nickname "kitty cat", not because he wanted to earn it, but rather because he was snooping around where gangsters didn't want him. But this is what J.J. Gettis does for a living, he snoops around. Gettis is a private-eye who makes a good living being hired by individuals who want to find out if their mate is cheating on them. Not exactly the most well respected job in town, but he makes a good living off of it; and he's good at his job. Real good. Something gained by years of experience in detective work, working in the worst part of town... Chinatown.

The movie is driven around the mystery of two things: who killed Hollice Mulwray, and where is the water going? Those two things entail murder, incest, greed, corruption and lies. You can tell early on that when Mr. Gettis Starts something, he is going to finish it. Who killed Hollice Mulwray, and where is the water going? I think that's part of the reason him and Faye Donaway's character, Evelyn Mulwray get along so well. They both are dead set on getting what they want. Who killed Hollice Mulwray, and where is the water going?

Not many people get along with Jack Nicholsons character very much. He is as cocky as they come. So while Gettis is snooping around and the gangsters come up on him "you're a very nosy fella kitty cat. You know what happens to nosy fellas? Huh, wanna guess? Huh, no. They lose their noses." the man proceeds to cut his nose wide open. So Gettis walks around almost the rest of the entire movie with a giant bandage covering his nose. I love that. In most movies if a guy gets punched in the face and gets a black eye, the next day it's completely gone. But that cut is a constant reminder of who Gettis is. "What happened to your nose, Gittes? Somebody slammed a bedroom window on it?"
Jake Gittes: "Nope. Your wife got excited. She crossed her legs a little too quick. You understand what I mean, pal?" I mentioned he was cocky right? Cocky and badass. Some people say that this was Jack Nicholsons best role, I tend to agree.

I love the M/TV board, but I know i'm already at the to;dr portion of this write up, so I'll make it quick...

The movie is set in the 1930's, made in 1974 as mention. To this day, you watch the movie and you feel like you're in 1937. It's hard to explain how well done this movie is. If you were to just read the plot, you would think this was an episode from Days of Our Lives. But i've only seen a few movies that have done the "I'm living this movie right now" feeling quite like this. Nothing in this film is hard to imagine. I don't like saying it, but well done Mr. Polanski. Well done.

If J.J. Gettis had his way he would have never gone back to Chinatown. But he didn't blink when he had to. I've never ended one of my write ups with a quote from a movie. I like them to be a story that maybe one or two people read. I might not be good at writing but I enjoy it. So limiting quotes has been something I've always done. But...

"Forget it, Chase. It's Chinatown."

ALTERNATE REVIEW

CHINATOWN
by Baloo

“You know what happens to nosey people? They lose their noses.”

Let me first say that I hate Roman Polanski. I think he should be in jail, and the fact we have campaigns to let him back in this country makes me ill. Just because you made great movies, it doesn’t make the rape of a child okay. But man, Chinatown really is a great f’n movie. I understand why people want to give him a pass.

Film noir is a tough genre to pull off, as it usually just seems like schtick. The only reason it works is because it is selling nostalgia of an era we never even lived through. It’s selling the stylistic and glamorous sleaze of an era gone by, and probably never even existed. Polanski goes past the thin veneer of glamour and exposes the decaying foundation upon which the City of Angles is built. The old days were just as bad as the new days, they just wore better hats.

Jake Giddes thinks he is on the tail of a simple domestic dispute, but as he investigates, the story eventually goes up to the very highest levels of power. And in perhaps the greatest final scene in movie history, the disgusting perversion of our leaders is finally revealed… and no one cares. Our anti-hero with a heart of gold sees his last bit of idealism crushed, and he sees the world for what it truly is.

But forget it Jake. It’s Chinatown.



5. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Dir. Milos Forman

(1975)



This post was edited on 1/14/13 at 3:58 pm
Posted by Freauxzen
Utah
Member since Feb 2006
37240 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 10:30 am to
6. Blazing Saddles
Dir. Mel Brooks

(1974)
by H-Town Tiger



“Where the white women at?”



Blazing Saddles is a movie I’m not sure would be made today. It’s full of typical Mel Brooks, rude, crude and politically incorrect humor that pushes well past any boundaries. It’s both a spoof of the classic Hollywood western and a satire about race. Sadly, many would mistake the liberal use of the “N” word as racist, but its really used to belittle the white characters using it as racists. Richard Pryor is one of the co writers.



Unlike typical westerns, the star of Blazing Saddles, Bart (Cleavon Little) is black. In the opening scene, a group of white railroad workers badger the black workers to sing a work song. Little and the black workers sing a Cole Porter song. (Brooks does like to use anachronisms). Not impressed the white workers ask for a more typical 19th century tune and wind up singing The Camptown Races, dancing and sounding like a minstrel show. When singing it, the white workers sing in the dialect as the original lyrics, signing “Gwine to work all day”, but when Bart and another black worker sing the song they pronounce it correctly as “Going to work all day”. The black workers are like 20th century sophisticated urbanites, vs. the redneck white workers.



Not to say the movie is some deep message movie. It is still a Mel Brooks movie after all, full or crude humor like a full minute of cowboys farting while eating beans. Beans, get it? The grand finale has the town folk building a fake town and eventually spills off the screen into a gay version of a Top Hat and onto the Warner Bros lot complete with a pie fight. It eventually winds up Grumman’s Chinese Theater for the premier of Blazing Saddles. It ends with Bart and sidekick the Waco Kid (Gene Wilder) riding off into the sunset, in a limo. While Blazing Saddles may confront the serious issue if race, it never takes it self too seriously. Brooks at his zany best.


7. Jaws
Steven Spielberg

(1975)
by H-Town Tiger



“You’re gonna need a bigger boat”


One of the beauties of Jaws is that we don’t see the shark until the 3rd act and even then it’s brief. Not seeing the shark builds the suspense and gives Steven Spielberg the chance to build the characters that make Jaws such a great movie. When Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) and audience finally get a brief look at the shark that has been terrorizing the sleepy summer town of Amity around the 4th of July, our jaws dropped and wow or “you’re gonna need a bigger boat” is about all we can say.

Jaws not only launched Spielberg from promising young director to superstar, it also ushered in the era of the summer blockbuster. Hard as it is to imagine now, but studio’s used to view summer as a bad time to release movies. What separates Jaws from the summer blockbusters that followed is it doesn’t rely on special effects and was character and story driven, but still left you on the edge of your seat. The mechanical shark is so much better than the CGI versions we have now. It looks more real to me, but maybe that is because we only see it briefly and at the end. Of course we may only see it briefly so it doesn’t look too cheesy, either way it builds suspense and makes the payoff better, with the amazing score by John Williams adding to the tension.

It is the three main characters than really make Jaws a great movie. Police Chief Brody (Scheider) a former NYC Cop that’s afraid of the water, but takes a job as Chief on an island. “its only an island if you look at it from the water”. Matt Hooper (Richard Dryefuss) the shark expert and Captain Quint (Robert Shaw) the grizzled local fisherman with a Capt Ahab like need to hunt the shark.

The movie’s best scene and one of my all time favorites is on Quint’s boat, after the 3 head out to kill the shark. At the end of the first day, sitting around getting drunk, Hooper and Quint start swapping stories about how they got various scars. After a couple of rounds Brody innocently asks Quint about one on his arm. He says it was a tattoo. A drunken Hooper says jokingly says “ let me guess, Mother?” and laughs. But he turns somber when Quint says it was the USS Indianapolis. Quint tells the chilling story of the ship that delivered the Hiroshima bomb but was sunk by a Japanese torpedo, leaving the crew in shark-infested waters for days. “1100 men went into the water, 316 men came out, the sharks took the rest June 29, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.” And Spielberg delivers one of his and the decades best.
This post was edited on 1/14/13 at 3:33 pm
Posted by Freauxzen
Utah
Member since Feb 2006
37240 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 10:30 am to
8. A Clockwork Orange
Dir. Stanley Kubrick

(1971)



9. Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail
Dir. Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones

(1975)
by Freauxzen



Great Britain, the land that has brought us Stanley Kubrick, David Lean, and Alfred Hitchcock. These directors have pioneered many of modern film's techniques and they have influenced countless filmmakers even to this day. But while they were masters of cinema, Britain itself was also a world leader in two other subjects: dentistry and comedy. Who would have thought that a movie about dentists would be so entertaining? C.M. Pennington-Richards 1961 opus to dental advertising, Dentist on the Job, is often hailed as one of the most accurate represen...........

Edit: Sorry, the writer in charge of this review has been sacked. As were the people in charge of making that awful film about dentists. I mean, who really wants to a movie about dentists? Do they do anything except look in people's mouths? Actually, my uncle was a dentist. He wasn't a real dentist, he only thought he was. He did often operate on moose and llamas. Actually come to think of it, a moose once bit my sister. No really! She was carving her initials on the moose with the sharpened end of an interspace toothbrush given her by Svenge-her brother-in-law- an Oslo dentist and star of many Norwegian movies....

Edit #2: We apologize for the fault in the review. Those responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked, have been sacked. The review has been completed in an entirely different style at great expense and at the last minute.

British People? Check.
Coconuts substituting for Horses? Check.
An old woman? Check.
MAN!
Man, sorry. The repression of 37 year-old men named Dennis? Check.
Bring out yer dead!
A random guy with shaving cream during the Black Plague? Check.
A faulty attempt at logic in the Dark Ages including mentions of gravy, very small rocks and......A DUCK!? Check.
A black knight who refuses to succumb to what he deems flesh wounds and calls it a draw? Check.
An insulting Frenchman who compares your mother to a hamster and your father to the smell of elderberries? Check.
Camelot? It's only a model, but Check.
Scene 24? Check. (It really is smashing)
A woman with huge.....tracks of land? Check.
A search for a shrubbery? Check.
An enchanter? Check.
What's his name? There are some who call him Tim.
A carnivorous rabbit? LOOK AT THE BONES! Check.
And the Lord did grin and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats and large chu...
GET ON WITH IT!!
What...is your name?

What...is your quest?

What....is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
.
.
.
.
.
African or European?




The End. LINK

10. Aguirre: Wrath of God
Dir. Wener Herzog

(1974)

This post was edited on 1/14/13 at 3:24 pm
Posted by Freauxzen
Utah
Member since Feb 2006
37240 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 10:31 am to
11. Rocky 1976
12. Sting, The 1973
13. Apocalypse Now 1979
14. Serpico
15. Taxi Driver 1972
16. Monty Python's Life of Brian
17. Animal House 1978
18. Young Frankenstein 1974
19. Outlaw Josey Wales, The 1976
20. Patton 1970

----------------------------------
21. MASH
22. Man Who Would Be King, The
23. Manhattan
24. Stalker
25. Kelly's Heroes
26. Papillion
27. Pat Garret and Billy the Kid
28. Alien 1979
29. Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
30. American Graffiti 1973
----------------------------------
31. Barry Lyndon
32. High Plains Drifter 1973
33. Muppet Movie, The
34. Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977
35. Le Cercle Rouge
36. Saturday Night Fever
37. Solaris
38. Jerk, The 1979
39. Dog Day Afternoon 1975
40. Breaking Away

----------------------------------
41. Smoky and the Bandit
42. Last Picture Show, The
43. Annie Hall 1977
44. Enter the Dragon
45. French Connection, The 1971
46. Getaway, The
47. Straw Dogs
48. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1974
49. All the President's Men 1976
50. Network 1976
This post was edited on 1/14/13 at 10:33 am
Posted by DelU249
Austria
Member since Dec 2010
77625 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 10:33 am to
Jaws
Star Wars
The Godfather
The Godfather Part 2
Posted by Freauxzen
Utah
Member since Feb 2006
37240 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 10:34 am to
Patience. Top 10 to come.
Posted by dallastiger55
Jennings, LA
Member since Jan 2010
27655 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 10:39 am to
Star Wars
Taxi Driver
Godfather 1 and 2
Halloween
Clockwork Orange
Alien
Willy Wonka
Patton

Posted by Freauxzen
Utah
Member since Feb 2006
37240 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 10:42 am to
Please read the OP. This list has already been compiled.
Posted by etm512
Mandeville, LA
Member since Aug 2005
20740 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 10:45 am to
Never fails
Posted by iwyLSUiwy
I'm your huckleberry
Member since Apr 2008
34172 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 11:10 am to
Banana dance

quote:

Please read the OP. This list has already been compiled.


I think you should start releasing the results then as you're releasing them adjust them as the new votes come in.
Posted by iwyLSUiwy
I'm your huckleberry
Member since Apr 2008
34172 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 11:12 am to
quote:

33. Muppet Movie, The


You've got to be kidding me.

People on the Internet suck.
Posted by H-Town Tiger
Member since Nov 2003
59053 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 11:20 am to
Posted by alajones
Huntsvegas
Member since Oct 2005
34451 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 11:29 am to
I never gave a list because I have a limited repertoire once you leave the 80's. I kind of wish I would have just sucked it up though.
Posted by iwyLSUiwy
I'm your huckleberry
Member since Apr 2008
34172 posts
Posted on 1/14/13 at 11:29 am to
They are the only ones happy about this.


quote:

43. Annie Hall 1977



Muhahaha
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