Top 10 of the Decade: The 1970's

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From one of the decade threads where Lance realized he did not know YLB's favorite film....which YLB revealed.....which you commented on, cos his list sort of contradicted his 80's list......etc.

That #1 is Apocalypse Now.
 
We have the same favorite movie?


suicide_hanging_by_captainbonedaddy.jpg
 
Well. Maybe that's bad timing with what's going on in the random music thread.

If it makes you feel any better, it's only been my favorite for a few years now....was The Godfather, cliche'd as that is, for the longest time.....then I rewatched Apocalypse Now and it jumped from #2 to #1, not sure why, exactly. I was just mesmerized like never before.
 
No spoken words said:
Well. Maybe that's bad timing with what's going on in the random music thread.
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Wow.

If it makes you feel any better, it's only been my favorite for a few years now....was The Godfather, cliche'd as that is, for the longest time.....then I rewatched Apocalypse Now and it jumped from #2 to #1, not sure why, exactly. I was just mesmerized like never before.
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Yeah, my first viewing was from a VHS tape on a 27" television, and I was just stunned afterwards. Used to watch it like once a week while working at a video store for several years.
 
Also saw 2001 there, if I remember correctly; pretty cool with the "stars" on the ceiling.

Good theatre. I have a good friend that lives in that same building on Southport, been there for over 10 years.
 
I went to too many fucking Cub/White Sox games my last year and a half out there, and didn't do enough other shit. My first year there was about us living in the office.

At least I saw a few concerts.

Fuck you both, still.
 
I also liked going to University of Chicago's Film Center, which really showed a lot of great stuff for only $3 a pop. When I was back in town working a couple years ago we were living in Hyde Park so I was just a few blocks away.

And of course there's Brew & View at the Vic Theatre. I lost count of how many times I went for Dazed & Confused, which played every Thursday for a LONG time. People were getting high, management didn't care.

Good times.
 
Ten movies that have aged pretty well and Disco still sucks !!

Woodstock (70) Wadleigh
Le Cercle Rouge (70) Jean-Pierre Melville
Deliverance (72) John Boorman
The Exorcist (73) William Friedkin
Jaws (75) Steven Spielberg
Dirty Harry (71) Don Siegel
Looking For Mr Goodbar (77) Richard Brooks
Alien (79) Ridley Scott
The Getaway (72) Sam Peckinpah
Get Carter (71) Mike Hodges
 
Monty Python's Life of Brian - Jones 79 Love religion bashing :)
Manhattan - Allen 79 One of my faves from Woody
Star Wars - Lucas 77 Changed sci-fi forever. One of the great theater experiences.
Network - Lumet 76 Worth mentioning just for Ned Beatty's blasting Peter Finch
The Longest Yard - Aldrich 74 Another huge party in the theater for this one. Great fun
The Omen - Donner 76 I'd mention Exorcist, but this is really the better film
Papillon - Schaffner 73 Another reason to mention Steve McQueen. The final scene of him trying to persuade Dustin Hoffman to try just one more escape is heartwrenching. Terrific score from Jerry Goldsmith
Hard Times - Hill 75 A guilty pleasure. Charles Bronson as a street fighter in the depression. James Coburn, Strother Martin are stellar as usual
Taking of Pelham 123 - Sargent 74 Great nonstop action with a first rate cast
Chinatown - Polanski 74 Too good not to mention

I'm getting tired of looking up directors and years :wink:
 
Lancemc said:
Then again, many would also say it isn't even sci-fi.
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I've heard people talk about that.

I'm ignorant when it comes to genre labeling and what not. I guess just growing up with the films, I always thought of them as sci-fi and nothing else. Never even considered them not being sci-fi.

What would they be? Just "fantasy"?

A quick explanation would ease my mind a good deal.
 
I'd classify it as more of an action/adventure or fantasy film than science fiction, mostly because of the lack of emphasis on technology or glaring sociological critiques on modern society.
 
I haven't given it a terrible amount of thought myself, as I find genre to be a dangerously fluid concept to begin with. But I think the basic idea is that it's closer to a fantasy, yes, because of the magical/spiritual component which is so heavy, and it's a very archetypical Campbell's "Hero's Journey" story, like many classic myths and legends. I can almost get behind this, as the sci-fi elements are almost periphery to the story, mainly a cosmic setting and some nifty technology. Though the droids and artificial intelligence play a big part in it, so I can only give that argument so much value too. But yeah, a lot of it doesn't really mesh with traditionally science fiction themes and motifs, more in line with "fantasy" as a story. I've also seen it frequently described as a Western, which is slightly less strong a case, but certainly has its fair points. I guess I'd call it simply a "space opera" myself. It's actually a fairly brilliant piece of filmmaking in terms of colliding different genres and classic narrative identities, but I wouldn't want to pin it down to any one thing personally.
 
Well said. I wouldn't want to pin it solely on any arbitrary genre conceit either, though I feel that the overlap mostly occurs within the fantasy and action/adventure realms and their conventions.

Shit, I need to read me some Joseph Campbell in the near future.
 
I can't even discuss the film at that level. Too much of a dum-dum. But I probably meant the special effects more than anything.

Anyways, I don't think we had seen anything like it when it came out. It was obvious right from the start with the great & loud theme music and the opening storyline that was fading off into space as you read it.
 
Ah, well it certainly changed/helped create "blockbuster" filmmaking in a big way, true enough. Especially in terms of visual effects.

This is probably starting to become more suited for the Star Wars thread, but I was thinking the other day, what's sure to be an unpopular opinion (maybe we should have one of those threads in ZS as well as B&C :hmm: ), that I'm actually not a big fan of the opening text crawl in all the star wars films. It almost feels blasphemous to say so given how iconic it's become, but the opening shot, with the small rebel ship and the reveal of the pursuing massive imperial cruiser, is such an incredible cold open that I wish it were really the very first thing you see in the film.
 
I think that shot is powerful just smoothly coming out of the text crawl, but that's an interesting thought. It would be pretty epic for the film to begin in such a manner.


(I'd like a review thread in B&C and a Unpopular opinion and list thread in ZS)
 
bono_212 said:
I think that shot is powerful just smoothly coming out of the text crawl, but that's an interesting thought. It would be pretty epic for the film to begin in such a manner.
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It certainly does have it's appeal as it is, I'm not denying that. In fact I quite like how all the films transition out of the text crawl in a similar way. Sith's is particularly great. But yeah, i'm not over-the-moon about the text openings themselves still, and I just feel the first film has such a fantastic cold open built in that doesn't quite get to take advantage of it. I could be wrong though.
 
I think that a lot of films would be better suited to cold opens. The Exorcist being a prime example. How chilling would it be to start with that sequence of Father Merrin in Iraq, culminating in that insane shot of him staring down the Pazuzu statue, then flashing the title card as the music crescendos. Holy shit. How does that not make an already fantastic film a little bit better?

I see exactly what Lance is saying. The Star Wars crawls are an aesthetic throwback to the serials its paying tribute to and I feel that they're essential to the experience and tone of the film; they don't diminish the power of the following shot. I do wonder how it would be with the shot first, then the credits as 3PO and R2 land on Tattooine, but the choice that's made is perfect on a couple of different levels that it doesn't feel too necessary for me to dwell on it.
 
hardyharhar said:
The Omen - Donner 76 I'd mention Exorcist, but this is really the better film
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In what way? It's not better shot, written, or acted. And it's not scarier, either? This is more of a guilty pleasure to me than an actual great work.

Digging the love for Papillon, though.

LMP said:
I'd classify it as more of an action/adventure or fantasy film than science fiction, mostly because of the lack of emphasis on technology or glaring sociological critiques on modern society.
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Hey, we can't hold everything to the BSG gold standard.
 
It was tongue-in-cheek to some extent, but you see what I was getting at, right?
 
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