Coolidge Defeats Davis And La Follette Combined

So it's happened, Jesse Walker has made it back to the silent era.  We're talking 1924.

https://jessewalker.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-year-la-follette-took-his-shot-our.html

Here are his top ten:

1. Sherlock Jr.

2. L'Inhumaine

3. Cartoon Factory

4. Ballet Mecanique

5. Au Secours!

6. He Who Gets Slapped

7. Girl Shy

8. The Last Laugh

9. The Crazy Ray

10. The Navigator

1924 was a pretty good year and this is a pretty good list (even with all the shorts listed).

Sherlock Jr. should be on top--a special film, even for Buster Keaton (though it wasn't appreciated at the time).  And I agree it's better than The Navigator, which should also be on the top ten list.  The Navigator for a long time was ranked second only to The General, but I think that's partly due to availability as well as its original popularity. On the other hand, Girl Shy is ranked too low--one of Harold Lloyd's best, it should be #2. (Just last week I recommended it to a friend who asked for a good Lloyd title that wasn't The Freshman or Safety Last.)

As for the shorts, Cartoon Factory shows you how special the Fleischer's were even back then. Ballet Mecanique is one of those neat French experiments of the time.  Au Secours! has Abel Gance working with Max Linder, a fascinating combination (even if Linder had done better work before while Gance would next do Napoleon!).

He Who Gets Slapped should be on the list--a Victor Sjostrom film starring Lon Chaney and featuring Norma Shearer and John Gilbert, the film helped establish the fledgling MGM studio.  The Last Laugh, a great Murnau film, should be even higher.  The Crazy Ray is a fine and weird start to Rene Clair's career.

I haven't seen the experimental film L'Inhumaine.

Jesse has no honorable mentions list.  For that matter, he hasn't seen enough from 1914 or 1904 much less 1894 to do more top ten lists (though he does mention Les Vampires, The Impossible Voyage and Autour D'une Cabine). So this is the end of the line.

Films that might have made my top ten:

Entr'acte

Hot Water

Greed

The Marriage Circle

Monsieur Beaucaire

Other Films Of Note

Alice's Spooky Adventure, Beau Brummel, Captain Blood, Captain January, Dante's Inferno, Dorothy Vernon Of Haddon Hall, The Extraordinary Adventures Of Mr. West In The Land Of The Bolsheviks, Felix Finds Out, Forbidden Paradise, Her Night Of Romance, Icebound, The Iron Horse, Kid Speed, The Last Man On Earth, Manhandled, Manhattan, Monsieur Don't Care, Die Nibelungen, Peter Pan, Pleasures Of The Rich, Quo Vadis, Romola, Rupert Of Hee Haw, Scaramouche, The Sea Hawk, The Snob, So Big, Symphonie Diagonale, Tess Of The D'Urbevilles, The Thief Of Bagdad, Thy Name Is Woman, Triumph, Waxworks, What Every Woman Knows, Why Men Leave Home, Wide Open Spaces, The Wolf Man, Yolanda

Hitler Becomes Fuhrer

Jesse Walker has reached back to 1934.

https://jessewalker.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-year-of-laval-decree-ive-picked.html

Here are his top ten films of the year:

1. The Black Cat

2. It Happened One Night

3. L'Atalante

4. The Thin Man

5. Dames

6. The Scarlet Empress

7. Granton Trawler

8. The Mascot

9. Lieutenant Kije

10. Soldier's Story

I like a lot of the low-budget Universal horror of the era, and The Black Cat is among the best. Just not #1 best.

It Happened One Night is maybe Capra's best and screwball's best.  My #1.

L'Atalante would probably be #2.

I like The Thin Man a lot, though, as first of the series, they're still working things out. (Of course, they didn't know it was a series yet.)

The plot of Dames is forgettable, but who could remember anything but the Busby Berkeley numbers?  "I Only Have Eyes For You" and "Dames" may be his best ever one-two punch.

I like The Scarlet Empress, even if I find the Josef von Sternberg's Dietrich films a bit overrated.

The top six I enjoy.  The next four I haven't seen (and I think three of them are shorts).

Jesse's honorable mentions:

11. The Merry Widow

12. Ship Of The Ether

13. The Man Who Knew Too Much

14. Crime Without Passion

15. We Live In Prague

16. Ha! Ha! Ha!

17. The Song Of Ceylon

18. The Old Fashioned Way

19. A Dream Walking

20. Babes In Toyland

11 is a fun film where Lubitsch gets to spend a bunch of MGM's money. 13 is one of Hitchcock's better British films. 14 I'd like to see.

18 is pretty good W. C. Fields, though not his best of the year. Laurel and Hardy were best in shorts, but even in 20, where they're in supporting roles (though they're officially the leads), they can still be quite enjoyable.

Speaking of shorts, I don't deny the 30s was a great decade for them, but I don't think they should be listed alongside features.  So that takes out 12, 15, 16, 17 (a long short) and 19.

Other films that would make my top ten:

The Gay Divorcee

It's A Gift (the best W. C. Fields film of the year)

Twentieth Century

Other films I like:

Belle Of The Nineties, The Captain Hates The Sea, The Cat's-Paw, College Rhythm, Imitation Of Life, Little Miss Marker, Man Of Aran, Manhattan Melodrama, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Six Of A Kind, Tarzan And His Mate, Wonder Bar, You're Telling Me!

Other films of note:

The Affairs Of Cellini, Allez Oop, Anne Of Green Gables, Bright Eyes, Broadway Bill, Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back, Charlie Chan In London, Cleopatra, Cockeyed Cavaliers, Come On Marines!, The Count Of Monte Cristo, Death Takes A Holiday, Easy To Love, Evelyn Prentice, Evergreen, Fashions Of 1934, Flirtation Walk, Forsaking All Others, Gambling Lady, Here Comes The Navy, Hips, Hips, Hooray!, Hollywood Party, The House Of Rothschild, Jimmy The Gent, Jew Suss, Judge Priest, Kentucky Kernels, Kid Millions, Lady By Choice, The Last Round-Up, Liliom, Little Man, What Now?, The Little Minister, Lorna Doone, The Lost Patrol, Madame Bovary, The Man From Utah, Mauvaise Graine, Les Miserables, Murder At The Vanities, Nana, Of Human Bondage, One Night Of Love, Our Daily Bread, The Painted Veil, The President Vanishes, The Return Of Chandu, Le Roi Des Champs-Elysees, Sadie McKee, Servants' Entrance, Spitfire, Stand Up And Cheer!, A Story Of Floating Weeds, Treasure Island, Twenty Million Sweethearts, Viva Villa!, What Every Woman Knows

FDR Wins Unprecedented Fourth Term

Jesse Walker is now back to 1944.  Funny, it doesn't seem like eighty years.

https://jessewalker.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-year-they-took-beach-i-have-listed.html

Here are his top ten films of the year:

1. Double Indemnity

2. To Have And Have Not

3. Laura

4. The Curse Of The Cat People

5. Hail The Conquering Hero

6. The Chronicle History Of King Henry The Fift With His Battell Fought At Agincourt In France [Jesse swears this is how it's spelled onscreen]

7. The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek

8. A Canterbury Tale

9. It Happened Tomorrow

10. Arsenic And Old Lace

A fine list, and mostly Hollywood--they were pretty busy overseas at the time.

Double Indemnity is a Billy Wilder classic. Working with Raymond Chandler (his regular partner Charles Brackett wasn't interested and James M. Cain was busy), the script has some of the greatest noir dialogue ever.  Maybe not #1, but certainly top ten.

Hawks could do no wrong from the late 30s to the late 40s.  In To Have And Have Not he adapted Hemingway's worst novel (mostly by ignoring it) and came up with something special.  The amazing thing is very little seems to happen (as opposed to the film he's reacting against, Casablanca) yet it's mesmerizing. He also created a sexy new star in the process, Lauren Bacall (and instead of getting her--certainly his plan--threw her into the arms of her leading man).

Laura looks good and has some nice performances, but I'm less than enchanted with its story.

The Curse Of The Cat People is quite something, especially for a B picture.

Hail The Conquering Hero is my favorite Preston Sturges film and would be my #1 for the year.

Henry V is Olivier's best Shakespeare movie.

I agree that Morgan's Creek is Sturges second-best film of the year, and also that it's top ten.

A Canterbury Tale is a pretty solid Powell and Pressburger film.  I should note that John Sweet, a real US Army sergeant, is not a professional actor, and you can tell.  It's hard to say if this is bad, or adds a note of realism to the film. (I watched this movie on TV with the CC on.  One of the characters says tea must be good "for the wind." I guess the CC typist hadn't heard of this phrase, so we read that tea is good "for the win." FTW,  baby!)

I like It Happened Tomorrow, though Clair's English films aren't quite a magical as his French ones.

Arsenic And Old Lace is Capra trying to make something quickly so he can get some quick cash before he devotes his time to the war effort. (The film was held back for years, ruining Capra's plan, because contractually it couldn't open until the play stopped running on Broadway.) Thus, unlike You Can't Take It With You, Capra pretty much leaves the original alone.  Which is fine with me.

Here are Jesse's honorable mentions:

11. The Old Grey Hare

12. Murder, My Sweet

13. At Land

14. Lifeboat

15. Ministry Of Fear

16. The Suspect

17. Jammin' The Blues

18. Little Red Riding Rabbit

19. The Woman In The Window

20. The Tower Of The Seven Hunchbacks.

I doubt anything on this list would make my top ten.

A lot of shorts.  As such, 11, 17 and 18 are excellent.  Haven't seen 13.

12 is a good but not great film noir.  14 is another intriguing but not great Hitchcock experiment.  15 is decent Lang.

I like, but don't love, 16 and 19.  20 I haven't seen.

Other films that might make my top ten:

Cover Girl

Meet Me In St. Louis (Jesse likes parts of it, but I see it as a unified work of art)

Other films I like:

Higher And Higher

Meet The People

Phantom Lady

Other films of note:

El Abanico De Lady Windermere, The Adventures Of Mark Twain, Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves, Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble, The Battle Of China, Belle Of The Yukon, Blonde Fever, Bowery To Broadway, The Bridge Of San Luis Rey, Broadway Rhythm, Buffalo Bill, The Canterville Ghost, Casanova Brown, Dragon Seed, The Falcon In Hollywood, The Fighting Seabees, The Fighting Sullivans, Four Jills In A Jeep, Gaslight, Gildersleeve's Ghost, Going My Way, The Great Moment, Greenwich Village, The Hairy Ape, Here Come The Co-Eds, Hollywood Canteen, House Of Frankenstein, I'll Be Seeing You, Ivan The Terrible, Jungle Woman, Kismet, Lady In The Dark, Louisiana Hayride, The Mask Of Dimitrios, Memphis Belle, Million Dollar Kid, Mr. Skeffington, Mrs. Parkington, The Mummy's Curse, The Mummy's Ghost, Music For Millions, National Velvet, The Negro Soldier, Nevada, None But The Lonely Heart, Nothing But Trouble, Once Upon A Time, Pardon My Rhythm, Pin Up Girl, The Return Of The Vampire, Rosie The Riveter, Shine On Harvest Moon, Since You Went Away, Something For The Boys, Song Of Russia, Step Lively, The Story Of Dr. Wassell, Swing In The Saddle, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Two Girls And A Sailor, The Uninvited, The Very Thought Of You, The Whistler, The White Cliffs Of Dover, Wilson, Winged Victory

Top Ten Films Of 2024

I stopped posting on this blog in 2020, except for annual discussions--around this time of year--of my friend Jesse Walker's top ten movie lists.

But I saw quite a few movies in 2024, including a fair number of good ones.  And I noticed that most of those I liked best were lesser-known titles.  So I thought I'd post my own list for the first time in years.  Not many may read it, but it's a chance to spread the word.

When I was regularly posting, the annual film wrap-up was my most popular feature, but also the most labor-intensive. So I'm not going to discuss all the movies I saw, or last year's cinema in general.  I'm just going to list my top ten, selected from films I saw in theatres and were released in Los Angeles in 2024.

But first, I'll note in passing I saw some spectacularly awful films as well.  Some were big-budget studio projects--it's hard to explain how Madame Web could be so bad.  And some were smaller, personal projects--Chris Pine's bizarre Poolman is an excellent example.  Then there is that rare hybrid--personal and big-budget. I'm referring, of course, to Megalopolis.  Francis Ford Coppola spent well over $100 million of his own money on this complete misfire. I'll give him credit, though (he probably needs credit now)--at least he swung for the fences.

But enough about poor films.  What are the good ones (that is, the ones I like)?

Before I get to the top ten, here's a list of films that almost made it:

Bookworm

The Coffee Table

Evil Does Not Exist

I Like Movies

Look Back

My Old Ass

Perfect Days

Red Rooms

Robot Dreams

Here are films that weren't in the running (usually due to significant flaws or because they're too slight) but I still found intriguing or funny:

Art Talent Show

The Beast

Didi

Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World

Flow

Hippo

His Three Daughters

Lake George

Problemista

Scream Therapy

Sleep

The Substance

The Sweet East

Thelma

THE TOP TEN (in alphabetical order)

Anora

A sex worker gets swept off her feet by a rich man.  It's the plot of Pretty Woman, but Anora does it on a more realistic level.  Yet another Sean Baker film about people you don't usually see on screen--and I recommend all of them.

Daaaaaali!

I look forward to Quentin Dupieux films, which tend to be short (usually under 80 minutes) and absurdist.  Has there ever been a better subject for him than Salvador Dali? I bet Dali would have loved it.  Or maybe he would have sued--he always liked publicity.

A Different Man

The famous line from The Elephant Man is "I am not an animal!" But hey, everyone's got problems.  And if life gives you neurofibromatosis, that's no excuse. (That's not really what this film is about, but it's part of it.)

Ghostlight

A man going through a tough time starts working with a community theatre.  A simple premise. A small film.  No names.  It once again shows a simple drama about real people is more interesting than millions in special effects.

Hundreds Of Beavers

A silent, black and white, partly animated comedy about a 19th century trapper dealing with wildlife while trying to get the girl.  No one was waiting for this film, but it was exactly what we needed.

I Saw The TV Glow

Two teens bond over a weird television show.  I Saw The TV Glow is spooky, but not a horror film.  It's about how important connections are, and how difficult it can be when you don't feel you fit in. But what makes this film special is the way it manages to communicate these feelings.

Late Night With The Devil

A new twist on a horror film--done as a 70s late night talk show.  The re-creation is fun, but there's a sense of foreboding as you're waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Let's Start A Cult

What happens when your cult kills themselves and you miss out?  Why, you start a new one, of course.  Some of my favorite comedies are about decent but intensely stupid people trying their hardest to accomplish something.

Memoir Of A Snail

There were a lot of animated features last year, but this was my favorite.  It's done in stop-motion and is about a woman telling us the story of her life. It may be a sad story, but in the telling is quite funny, as well as touching.

Strange Darling

The strangest thing about this film is why it didn't catch on.  It's a well done (and well shot--by Giovanni Ribisi) thriller about a psycho killer.  I know the genre is tired, but the way the story is unveiled keeps you guessing.  Featuring two fine leads and one amazing breakfast.

Army v. McCarthy; Brown v. Board

Jesse Walker is now back to 1954.

https://jessewalker.blogspot.com/2024/12/the-year-we-found-elvis-ive-reeled-off.html

Here's his top ten movies for the year:

1. Rear Window

2. Seven Samurai

3. Johnny Guitar

4. Wuthering Heights

5. The Age Of Swordfish

6. Sansho The Bailiff

7. On The Waterfront

8. Inauguration Of The Pleasure Dome

9. Journey To Italy

10. Track Of The Cat

Rear Window is an experimental Hitchcock film that actually works.  I've grown to appreciate it more over the years though I still don't think it would be my #1.

Seven Samurai is one of Kurosawa's greatest.

Johnny Guitar is an unusual Western for the era.  It's okay.

Wuthering Heights is the Bunuel version--good, but not his best film of the year (see below).

The Age Of Swordfish is a short I've never seen.

Sansho The Bailiff is one of Mizoguchi's greatest. (Whenever I see that title during holiday season I can't help but sing it to "Frosty The Snowman.")

On The Waterfront was the year's Oscar winner.  I consider it a decent melodrama with excellent acting.

Inauguration Of The Pleasure Dome is a Kenneth Anger short I've never seen.

Journey To Italy is a well-done film from Rossellini.

I've never seen Track Of The Cat.

Here are Jesse's honorable mentions:

11. Illusion Travels By Streetcar

12. Corral

13. The Far Country

14. Closed Vision

15. Islands Of Fire

16. Late Chrysanthemums

17. Father Brown

18. Jazz Dance

19. La Strada

20. Senso

I like 11, should be on the list--but still not the best Bunuel of the year (see below). 13 is a pretty good Anthony Mann/Jimmy Stewart Western.  16 is a fine Japanese drama. 19 is one of Fellini's best.

I'm embarrassed to admit I haven't seen 12 (a short), 14, 15 (a short), 17 (an Alec Guinness film I've been planning to see for years), 18 (a short) and worst of all, 20.

Other films that might make my top 20:

Robinson Crusoe (the best Bunuel film of the year, though I haven't seen The River And Death)

Seven Brides For Seven Brothers

Touchez Pas Au Grisbi

Top Banana (partly for historical value)

Other films I like:

Casanova's Big Night, Creature From The Black Lagoon, Dial M For Murder, Doctor In The House, Godzilla (the Japanese film Jesse left out), Hobson's Choice, Living It Up, The Million Pound Note, White Christmas

Other films of note:

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, 3 Ring Circus, Alibaba And 40 Thieves, Apache, April In Portugal, The Atomic Kid, Bang! You're Dead, The Barefoot Contessa, The Beachcomber, Beau Brummell, Betrayed, The Black Knight, Black Widow, The Bob Mathias Story, The Bowery Boys Meet The Monsters, The Bridges At Toko-Ri, Brigadoon, The Caine Mutiny, Carmen Jones, The Count Of Monte Cristo, Dangerous Cargo, Demetrius And The Gladiators, Desiree, Destry, Dragnet, Drums Across The River, The Egyptian, Executive Suite, Fear, Forbidden Cargo, French Cancan, The Glenn Miller Story, Go Man Go!, Gorilla At Large, Hell And High Water, Hell's Half Acre, The High And The Mighty, Impulse, It Should Happen To You, Jail Bait, King Richard And The Crusaders, Knave Of Hearts, Knock On Wood, The Last Time I Saw Paris, Lost Continent, Ma And Pa Kettle At Home, Magnificent Obsession, The Men Of Sherwood Forest, Night People, Phffft, Prince Valiant, The Raid, Riot In Cell Block 11, River Of No Return, The Rocket Man, Sabrina, Salt Of The Earth, The Silver Chalice, A Star Is Born, Star Of India, The Student Prince, Susan Slept Here, Them!, There's No Business Like Show Business, Three Coins In A Fountain, Twist Of Fate, Valley Of The Kings, Young At Heart

LBJ Landslide

We're now back to 1964 in Jesse Walker's movie lists.

https://jessewalker.blogspot.com/2024/12/the-year-extremism-defended-liberty-we.html

Here's his top ten:

1. Dr. Strangelove

2. Woman In The Dunes

3. Diary Of A Chambermaid

4. The Killers

5. Kwaidan

6. The World Of Henry Orient

7. Onibaba

8. A Shot In The Dark

9. The Americanization Of Emily

10. A Fistful Of Dollars

I heartily endorse Dr. Strangelove--may be my top film of the decade.

I'm embarrassed to admit in previous posts I have confused Woman In The Dunes with another film.  I'm afraid I have to downgrade it out of my top twenty.

Diary Of A Chambermaid may not be top tier Bunuel, but it's good enough for the top ten.

The Killers is fun.  Even if the memory of Reagan as president is receding into the past, his performance here is still quite a kick.

Kwaidan is a good, if overlong, anthology movie.

The World Of Henry Orient is a fun oddity--unlike anything else people such as Peter Sellers and director George Roy Hill ever did.

Still haven't seen Onibaba.

I like A Shot In The Dark.  It's the second of the Pink Panther series and the last that is almost a European crime film intruded upon by Inspector Clouseau--the later ones are just straight Clouseau films.  Jesse dutifully notes it's based on "plays by Marcel Achard and Harry Kurnitz," but really this is Blake Edwards tossing out the play and turning it into a Pink Panther movie.

I'm not a fan of The Americanization Of Emily--yet another one of Chayefsky's overwritten scripts.  And I must take exception to Jesse's claim that unlike Stalag 17, this has the courage of its convictions (though I think Stalag 17 is a superior film regardless of any convictions either has).  First, the movie version of Stalag 17 is tougher than the play--in fact, William Holden unsuccessfully begged Wilder to soften his character.  And he doesn't sell out at the end, he takes advantage of the situation as he always does.  Meanwhile (spoiler alert), Emily seems to kill James Garner, but he ends up alive.  He then pretends to be a hero so he can be with Emily (which may be true to the character but lets the audience off the hook).

A Fistful Of Dollars is okay.

Here are Jesse's honorable mentions:

11. Kiss Me, Stupid

12. I Am Cuba

13. Seance On A Wet Afternoon

14. Nothing But A Man

15. Mermaid

16. The Train

17. Culloden

18. Becket

19. Evil Of Frankenstein

20. My Fair Lady

I've seen 11 several times.  It just doesn't work--casting and plotting are flawed--but the look and the mechanics fascinate me.

12 is certainly great to look at. 13 is pretty good. So is 14.

15 is a short I've never seen. 16 is okay.  17 is a TV-movie I've never seen.

18 is a little too stiff for me taste.  19 is decent Hammer horror. 20, the year's Oscar winner, is a respectable adaptation of something that worked better on stage.

Films that would make my top ten or twenty:

7 Faces Of Dr. Lao

A Hard Day's Night (#2 after Strangelove)

Mary Poppins

The Naked Kiss

The Patsy

Other films I like:

Adventures Of Zatoichi, Gertrud, Goldfinger, The Incredible Mr. Limpet, Mothra Vs. Godzilla, Muscle Beach Party, Pajama Party, The T.A.M.I. Show, Topkapi, The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg


Other films of note:

Bedtime Story, Before The Revolution, Behold A Pale Horse, The Best Man, Black Like Me, The Carpetbaggers, Carry On Spying, The Castle, The Creeping Terror, The Disorderly Orderly, Emil And The Detectives, Ensign Pulver, Fail-Safe, The Fall Of The Roman Empire, Fanny Hill, Father Goose, For Those Who Think Young, Get Yourself A College Girl, Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster, Good Neighbor Sam, Goodbye Charlie, The Gospel According To St. Matthew, Hag In A Black Leather Jacket, Hercules Against The Barbarians, Hercules Against The Moon Men, Hide And Seek, The Horror Of Party Beach, Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies, Kisses For My President, Kissin' Cousins, Kitten With A Whip, The Last Man On Earth, Lilith, The Luch Of Ginger Coffey, Mail Order Bride, Man's Favorite Sport?, Marnie, Marriage Italian Style, The Mask Of Red Death, McHale's Navy, The Misadventures Of Merlin Jones, The New Interns, Night Must Fall, The Night Of The Iguana, Of Human Bondage, One Potato, Two Potato, Paris When It Sizzles, The Pawnbroker, The Pleasure Seekers, The Pumpkin Eater, The Red Desert, Robin And The 7 Hoods, Robinson Crusoe On Mars, Roustabout, Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, Send Me No Flowers, Seven Days In May, The Seven From Texas, Sex And The Single Girl, Shock Treatment, The Soft Skin, Spartacus And The Ten Gladiators, Surf Party, Two Thousand Maniacs!, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, The Visit, Viva Las Vegas, What A Way To Go!, The Yellow Rolls-Royce, Your Cheatin' Heart, Zorba The Greek, Zulu

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

Reagan Landslide

Jesse Walker brings us back to 1984.  It was a fine year for movies.

https://jessewalker.blogspot.com/2024/12/the-year-of-delayed-dystopia-ive-told.html

Here is his top ten list for the year:

1. Repo Man

2. Love Streams

3. This Is Spinal Tap

4. Once Upon A Time In America

5. Nothing Last Forever

6. Antonio Gaudi

7. Amadeus

8. Ghostbusters

9. Secret Honor

10. Blood Simple

I have no problem with Repo Man at #1--the film came out of nowhere and is one of the best of the decade.

Regarding Love Streams, I keep thinking I should give Cassavetes another chance, and I keep being disappointed.

Rob Reiner pulled off something great with his first feature, This Is Spinal Tap. (In fact, he made a number of good films in his first decade as a director but hasn't been the same since.)

I've told Jesse before I'm not a fan of Once Upon A Time In America but also admit I haven't seen the uncut version.

Nothing Lasts Forever is an enjoyable, absurdist oddity.

Haven't seen Antonio Gaudi. I don't recall it showing anywhere, but in this age of streaming that's no excuse.

Amadeus is a conventionally done Oscar-winning adaptation of a respected play.  As such I enjoy it, though I'm not sure it would make my top ten or twenty.

Ghostbusters is a rare case of a big film that's also a great comedy.

Secret Honor is a fascinating solo performance shot by Altman at the alma mater of both Jesse and me.

Blood Simple is the Coen Brothers first feature.  It's stylish (for the budget) but doesn't do much for me.

Here are his honorable mentions:

11. King Lear

12. Before Stonewall

13. Favorites Of The Moon

14. There Will Come Soft Rains

15. After The Rehearsal

16. Paris, Texas

17. Comfort And Joy

18. Return To Waterloo

19. A Nightmare On Elm Street

20.  Stranger Than Paradise

11 is a TV-movie I haven't seen (that the IMDb says is from 1983).  12 is a solid documentary.  Haven't seen 13, 14 or 18.  15 is a Bergman TV-movie that's okay.  16 would maybe make my top 20.  17 would definitely make my top 20.  20 would definitely make my top ten.  19 started a highly popular horror series--it's okay, I guess.

Other films that would make my top ten or twenty:

The Brother From Another Planet

Choose Me

Gremlins

Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind

Splash

Stop Making Sense

Terminator

What Have I Done To Deserve This

Wheels On Meals

Other films I liked:

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, Bachelor Party, Broadway Danny Rose, Finders Keepers, Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, The Last Starfighter, Night Of The Comet, Revenge Of The Nerds, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Streetwise, A Sunday In The Country, The Times Of Harvey Milk, Top Secret!

Other films of note:

Against All Odds, All of Me, Alphabet City, American Dreamer, Angel, Another Country, Bad Manners,  Beat Street, Best Defense, Beverly Hills Cop, Birdy, Blame It on Rio, Blind Date, Body Double, Bolero, The Bostonians, The Bounty, Breakin', The Buddy System, C.H.U.D., Cal, Cannonball Run II, Carmen, Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers, Children of the Corn, City Heat, Cloak & Dagger, The Company of Wolves, Conan the Destroyer, The Cotton Club, Crackers, The Dollmaker, Double Trouble, Dreamscape, Dune, The Dungeonmaster, Electric Dreams, Falling in Love, Finders Keepers, Firestarter, Firstborn, The Flamingo Kid, Footloose, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Garbo Talks, Give My Regards to Broad Street, The Glitter Dome, The Goodbye People, Grandview, U.S.A., Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, Hardbodies, Harry & Son, Heartsounds, The Hit, Hot Dog…The Movie, The Hotel New Hampshire, The Ice Pirates, Iceman, In Heaven There Is No Beer?, Irreconcilable  Differences, Johnny Dangerously, National Lampoon's Joy of Sex, The Karate Kid, The Killing Fields, Lassiter, Le Bon Plaisir, The Little Drummer Girl, The Lonely Guy, Love Letters, Maria's Lovers, Marlene, Mass Appeal, Meatballs Part II, Micki & Maude, Mike's Murder, Missing in Action, Moscow on the Hudson, Mrs. Soffel, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Nadia, The Natural, The NeverEnding Story, Nineteen Eighty-Four, No Small Affair, Oh, God! You Devil, Oxford Blues, A Passage to India, The Philadelphia Experiment, Places in the Heart, Police Academy, The Pope of Greenwich Village, Protocol, Purple Rain, Racing with the Moon, The Razor's Edge, Red Dawn, Rhinestone, The River, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Sixteen Candles, Slapstick of Another Kind, A Soldier's Story, Songwriter, Starman, The Stone Boy, Streets Of  Fire, Supergirl, Swann in Love, Swing Shift, Talk to Me, Tank, Terror in the Aisles, Thief of Hearts, Tightrope, The Toxic Avenger, Toy Soldiers, Twist and Shout, Under the Volcano, Unfaithfully Yours, Until September, Up the Creek, Where the Boys Are '84, The Wild Life, The Woman in Red