Our Long National Nightmare Is Over

Jesse Walker brings us back to 1974:

https://jessewalker.blogspot.com/2024/12/the-year-valis-overthrew-nixon-weve.html

The first half of the 70s were pretty special years for Hollywood.  Let's see if Jesse's picks reflect that.  Here's his top ten:

1. Chinatown

2. The Conversation

3. Lenny

4. California Split

5. The Godfather Part II

6. Primate

7. Swept Away

8. Phantom Of The Paradise

9. Young Frankenstein

10. Thieves Like Us

A pretty good list, and one that makes you realize how things have changed.  Eight of these films are Hollywood productions and they're generally adult drama--no superhero films and only one (well-deserved, unconventional) sequel.

I like Chinatown, but don't quite consider it a classic, much less #1 for the year.

The Conversation should be somewhere on the list--and somewhere under Coppola's other film from 1974.

Lenny looks great and features a memorable performance, but is less than the sum of its parts.

I love California Split, and it's hard to believe it was a major production back then, since it's the kind of thing that a major studio would run from today (not that it was a big hit back then).

The Godfather Part II is one of the great sequels (even if I don't rate it as highly as the first)--maybe because it was made so soon after the original, and Puzo and Coppola still had something to say.  Most years the Oscar-winner doesn't make the top ten list.

Swept Away--not ever to be confused with the Madonna remake--I haven't seen since college, but I remember it as being okay. (This is only tangentially related, but The Admirable Crichton is one of my favorite plays and it's time for a major revival on Broadway.)

I'm a big fan of Wiseman but have never seen Primate.

I just read a new book on De Palma's films from the early 70s to the early 80s and it made me want to watch them all over again.  I've seen Phantom Of The Paradise numerous times, yet I can't say I like it.  There are so many cool things about it, but I just can't get over that I don't like the score.  If someone could just dub in new music I might put it on my top ten list.  Sorry, Paul.

I like Young Frankenstein, one of Mel Brooks' best (even if I far prefer Woody Allen comedies from this period).

Altman, like Coppola, gets a second film in the top ten, Thieves Like Us.  It's pretty good, but it's no California Split.

Here are Jesse's honorable mentions:

11. A Woman Under The Influence

12.  Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia

13. The Taking Of The Pelham One Two Three

14. Blazing Saddles

15. TV Buddha

16. The Parallax View

17. Celine And Julie Go Boating

18. Every Man For Himself And God Against All

19. Ali: Fear East The Soul

20. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

11 is another Cassavetes film that's hard to get through.  12 is a Peckinpah film with a great title that flopped in its day but has aged okay. 13 would make my top ten.

14 I might rate more highly than Brooks' film in the top ten--it's aged well (in that it's gotten less and less acceptable). 15 is, I believe, an art installation--not sure what it's doing here.

16 is the 70s paranoia film, even more than The Conversation. 17 is a fine film, if a little too long (an occupational hazard with Rivette).

18 and 19 are two decent films from two very different German filmmakers (didn't Jesse used to have a Wenders film in his top 20?--would have been nice to have a trio).  20 is a classic of a genre--but I'm not much of a fan of the genre.

Other film that would make my top ten

The Phantom Of Liberty (maybe it could replace Phantom Of The Paradise)

Other films I like:

The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz, Bread And Chocolate, The Cars That Ate Paris, Female Trouble, Five Shaolin Masters, Going Places, Juggernaut, Lacombe, Lucien, The Longest Yard, That's Entertainment!, We All Loved Each Other So Much

Other films of note:

11 Harrowhouse, 99 and 44/100% Dead, Adventures Of Sinbad The Sailor, Airport 1975, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, And Then There Were None, Andy Warhol's Frankenstein, Arabian Nights, Benji, Big Bad Mama, Black Christmas, Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story, Buster And Billie, Butley, Caged Heat, Claudine, The Clockmaker, Conrack, Crazy Joe, Daisy Miller, Dark Star, Death Wish, Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, Emmanuelle, Flesh Gordon, For Pete's Sake, The Four Musketeers, Foxy Brown, Freebie And The Bean, The Front Page, The Gambler, Ghost Story, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad, Gone In 60 Seconds, The Great Gatsby, The Groove Tube, The Harrad Experiment, Harry And Tonto, Hearts And Minds, Herbie Rides Again, Huckleberry Finn, I Dismember Mama, I Spit On Your Corpse, If You Don't Stop It...You'll Go Blind, It's Alive, Killer Bees, The Korean Connection, Ladies And Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones, Lancelot du Lac, The Life And Times Of Grizzly Adams, The Little Prince, The Lords Of Flatbush, Macon County Line, The Man With The Golden Gun, McQ, Mr. Majestyk, Murder On The Orient Express, The Nine Lives Of Fritz The Cat, The Odessa File, The Return Of The Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe, Rhinoceros, Son Of Dracula, S*P*Y*S, Stardust, Stavisky, Sugar Hill, The Sugarland Express, The Super Cops, Sweet Movie, T.N.T. Jackson, The Tamarind Seed, The Terminal Man, Three The Hard Way, Thunderbolt And Lightfoot, The Towering Inferno, The Trial Of Billy Jack, Truck Turner, Uptown Saturday Night, Vampira, Willie Dynamite, Winnie The Pooh And Tigger Too, The Yakuza, Zardoz