End Of The Seventies

Jesse it back to 1979.  I think that was a great year for movies, and he agrees. But are we talking about the same movies?

Here's his top ten:

1.  Being There
2.  Life Of Brian
3.  Manhattan
4.  Apocalypse Now
5.  Wise Blood
6.  The Third Generation
7.  Winter Kills
8.  Escape From Alcatraz
9.  Murder By Decree
10.  All That Jazz

Being There is a rarity--a slow-paced classic comedy.  Would make my top ten list.  So would Life Of Brian.

Manhattan is the beginning of Woody moving away from comedy--not a good trend (and why the pretentious black and white?)--but it's still good enough to be top twenty.

Apocalypse Now is another 70s classic from Coppola (has he made one since?).

I'm not much of a fan of Wise Blood.  I haven't seen The Third Generation--Fassbinder made a lot of films in his short time on earth--still, I'm surprised to see it and not The Marriage Of Maria Braun.

Winter Kills is fun, though a little too silly.  Jesse knows I'm not a big fan of Clint Eastwood but Escape From Alcatraz is one of his best.

Murder By Decree--from the director of Porky's!--is fun but minor.  All That Jazz is Fosse's best film and a classic.

Here are Jesse's honorable mentions:

11.  The Great Santini
12.  Me Vang Nha
13.  Noseferatu The Vampyre
14.  The Tin Drum
15.  Alien
16.  The Brood
17.  The Muppet Movie
18.  Scum
19.  A Perfect Couple
20.  The Castle Of Cagliostro

11, 14 and maybe 20 would make my top ten.

Haven't seen 12 or 18. I like 13, 17 and 19.

I don't think much of 16 and have always thought 15, though it has fine design work, is dopey.


Other films that would make my top ten or twenty:

Breaking Away

The In-Laws

Rock 'n' Roll High School

Kramer vs. Kramer

Hair (even with some weak musical arrangements)

The Kids Are Alright

Real Life

Richard Pryor: Live In Concert

Other films of 1979 I liked:

Meatballs, Over The Edge, The Onion Field, Quadrophenia, The Electric Horseman, Soldier Of Orange, The Warriors, Hot Stuff, Time After Time, Fast Break, ffolkes, Stalker, The Rose, The Wanderers, 1941, The Frisco Kid


Other notable films of the year:

The Black Stallion, Caligula, The China Syndrome, Dragon Fist, Gal Young 'Un, Heartland, Mad Max, Meetings With Remarkable Men, Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears, Norma Rae, Starting Over, Tess, Woyzeck, Americathon (nice to see Elvis Costello video back then), ...And Justice For All, 10, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century, Hardcore, The Jerk, Love At First Bite, Mr. Mike's Mondo Video (originally a shelved TV project), The Amityville Horror, Rocky II, Moonraker, Agatha, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, Ashanti, Baby Snakes, Bear Island, The Bell Jar, Best Boy,

Beyond The Poseidon Adventure, The Black Hole, Boulevard Nights, Butch And Sundance: The Early Years, C.H.O.M.P.S., The Cat And The Canary, Champ, Cuba, Chapter Two, The Concorde...Airport '79, Dracula, Dreamer, The Europeans, A Force Of One, The First Great Train Robbery, French Postcards, Goldengirl, Going In Style, Hanover Street, Hurricane, Just You And Me Kid, The Lady Vanishes, A Little Romance, Love And Bullets, Love On The Run, La Luna, The Magician Of Lublin, The Main Event, A Man A Woman And A Bank, More American Graffiti, My Brilliant Career, Night Wing, The North Avenue Irregulars, The Passage, Phantasm, The Prisoner Of Zenda, The Prize Fighter, Prophecy, Running, Saint Jack, Scavenger Hunt, The Seduction Of Joe Tynan, Siberiade, Skatetown U.S.A., Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Tim, The Villain, The Visitor, Wanda Nevada, When A Stranger Calls, Yanks, Zulu Dawn