The Change

1969.  If it wasn't clear already, everyone could now see Hollywood was changing.  Censorship was gone and a film like Easy Rider could be a hit (and Hollywood could go broke trying to duplicate it). An X-rated film, Midnight Cowboy, won the Best Picture Oscar.

What does Jesse Walker think of 1969?  Here's his top ten list:

1.  The Wild Bunch
2.  The Passion Of Anna
3.  Goyokin
4.  The Milky Way
5.  Take The Money And Run
6.  Army Of Shadows
7.  The Sorrow And The Pity
8.  The Rain People
9.  Burn!
10. Z

The Wild Bunch is considered a classic, though I've never understood why.  It certainly was a new sort of Western, but that doesn't mean it's good.

I haven't seen 2 and 3.

The Milky Way doesn't get as much attention as films Bunuel was making before (Belle De Jour) and after (The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie), but this surreal contemplation on religion holds up with his best.

Take The Money And Run is the start of a decade's worth of classic Woody Allen comedies.

Army Of Shadows stands up with Melville's gangster films.

It's kind of hard to compare documentaries to fictional films, but certainly The Sorrow And The Pity is a classic of its type.

I wouldn't call The Rain People a classic, but it is a fascinating early low-budget road picture from Coppola.

I've never quite gotten into Burn! or Z (and it's not because of the politics). I haven't seen them in years, so maybe I should check them out again.

Here are Jesse's honorable mentions:

11.  La Femme Infidele
12.  Downhill Racer
13.  My Night At Maud's
14.  Easy Rider
15.  Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid
16.  The Sun's Gonna Shine
17.  Salesman
18.  The Adding Machine
19.  Invocation Of My Demon Brother
20.  Bambi Meets Godzilla

I haven't seen 11 or 18 (though I've had plenty of chances to see the Chabrol, and would be fascinated to see an adaptation of the Elmer Rice play--I don't see how it could work as a film). 16, 19 and 20 are shorts (the first two are obscure but everyone's seen the last one) which I don't think should be compared to features.

12 is one of those anti-hero downer films that New Hollywood loved, and isn't bad.  13 should be top ten.  14 is a very significant title in film history, and is the kind of thing that reminds you how bad so much hippie art was.  15 is fun if a little glib.  17 is a classic doc--maybe should be top ten.

Other films that would make my top ten or twenty:

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

Alice's Restaurant

Goodbye, Columbus

The Bed-Sitting Room

The Italian Job


Other films I like:

Midnight Cowboy, Last Summer, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Hello Dolly! (parts of it), Popi, The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, Return Of The One-Armed Swordsman, Sweet Charity (mostly dull but amazing choreography), Support Your Local Sheriff!, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, If It's Tuesday It Must Be Belgium


Other films of the year:

Medium Cool, The Magic Christian, The Guru, John And Mary, Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe And Find True Happiness, The Comic, Anne of the Thousand Days, Cactus Flower, Marooned, Oh! What a Lovely War, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, Putney Swope, The Reivers, Satyricon, The Sterile Cuckoo, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, True Grit, Winning, Women in Love, Goodbye Mr. Chips, The Wrecking Crew,

The Assassination Bureau, Where Eagles Dare, Charro!, The Illustrated Man, Sam Whiskey, Hook Line And Sinker, Where It's At, Mackenna's Gold, The Gold Of The Magnificent Seven, Che!, The Chairman, Hello Down There, How To Commit Marriage, Castle Keep, The Learning Tree, Whatever Happened To Aunt Alice?,  Number One, The Gypsy Moths, The Trouble With Girls, The Madwoman Of Chaillot, Paint Your Wagon, Marlowe, Change Of Habit, The Arrangement, The Undefeated, A Boy Named Charlie Brown, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, Topaz, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes