Top Ten 1970s
Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 10:10PM for discussion & Oscar-break fun
The Tuesday Top Ten will get more article-like soon once we're clear of Oscar-Night Mania but since it was so fun to discuss the 1930s in brief recently, let's talk about the other greatest American cinematic decade for a minute, the 1970s. Like all of you I know I have holes in my viewing but off the top of my head here are my 10 favorites from that much obsessed-over decade.The order is semi random beyond the top three which are always my top three from that decade though the order has occasionally varied.
- Manhattan (Woody Allen)
- Cabaret (Bob Fosse)
- Nashville (Robert Altman)
- Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola)
- Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese)
- Network (Sidney Lumet)
- Annie Hall (Woody Allen)
- All That Jazz (Bob Fosse)
- Carrie (Brian de Palma)
- Cries and Whispers (Ingmar Bergman)
- The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola)
oops i cheated... I forgot Carrie when I was typing it up.
With apologies to: Klute, Three Women, Jaws, McCabe and Mrs Miller, and The Godfather (I know it's supposed to be everyone's favorite... but I'm allowed to think it's brilliant without personally loving it) and whatever else I forgot. I'm sure I did! And with a warm hug/shout out to four sentimental childhood favorites: Star Wars, Grease, Breaking Away and Superman.
Your Turn! I'd love to hear your list... especially if you want to champion something you think is criminally underseen or underdiscussed. Maybe it'll give others rental ideas. Hell, maybe it'll spur me on to finally see it.
Reader Comments (91)
Love these lists! I was a kid in the seventies, so my list is less what I think represents the era and more what I loved watching as I grew up. These are the movies that made me love movies.
1) Jaws
2) Barry Lyndon
3) Godfather 1 and 2
4) Network
5) Five Easy Pieces
6) The Last Detail
7) The Last Waltz
8) The Last Picture Show
9) Deer Hunter
10) Taxi Driver
11) All the Presidents Men
12) Serpico
13) The Exorcist
14) All That Jazz
15) Annie Hall
16) Shampoo
17) Manhattan
18) Nashville
19) The King of Marvin Gardens
20) Save the Tiger
21) Dog Day Afternoon
22) Saturday Night Fever
23) The Sting
24) Harry and Tonto
25) Sounder
Check out my list over the The Reel Charlie:
http://thereelcharlie.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/top-ten-1970s-the-film-experience/
screw it - lets make it 100. it's the goddam 70s!
Godfather 1& 2
Chinatown
Apocalypse Now
Sorceror
Days of Heaven
Jaws
Taxi Driver
Anni Hall
All that Jazz
Being There
One Flew over Cuckoo's Nest
Cabaret
All the President's Men
Harold and Maude
Network
The Exorcist
Carrie
The Conversation
Alien
The Deer Hunter
Badlands
Dog Day Afternoon
Don't Look Now
Last Picture Show
Swept Away
Seven Beauties
A Clockwork Orange
Lenny
Bound for Glory
The French Connection
The Long Goodbye
Close Encounters
Manhattan
Pat Garret and Billy the Kid
Tree of Wooden Clogs
Spirit of the Beehive
Barry Lyndon
The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Parallax View
McCabe and Mrs Miller
Klute
Five Easy Pieces
Deliverance
Walkabout
Little Big Man
Cries and Whispers
Nashville
Le Cercle Rouge
The Wicker Man
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Shampoo
The Last Detail
Young Frankenstein
The Beguiled
Between the Lines
Dirty Harry
Serpico
Blue Collar
The Sting
Watership Down
Kramer vs Kramer
Life of Brian
Blazing Saddles
Un Flic
The Tenant
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Halloween
Jeremiah Johnson
Soldier of Orange
The Great Waldo Pepper
Les Valseuses (aka Going Places)
The Candidate
Papillon
The Way we Were
The Conformist
Midnight Express
American Graffiti
Saturday Night Fever
Grease
Animal House
Big Wednesday
Rocky
Taking of Pelham 123
The Warriors
Mean Streets
Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Day for Night
Small Change
In the Realm of the Senses
Love and Death
Love and Anarchy
Bugsy Malone
Solaris
Straight Time
Hair
Paper Moon
Alice Doesnt Live Here Anymore
Play Misty for Me
Sleeper
phew....
best. movie. decade. ever.
Of the ones I have seen (which is not nearly enough):
Star Wars (there may be better films, but for pure movie-movie-ness, nothing beats it. NOTHING.)
Cabaret
All That Jazz
Young Frankenstein
Monty Python & the Holy Grail
Fiddler on the Roof
The Muppet Movie
The Exorcist
Halloween
L'important c'est d'aimer (thank you, Cal Roth, for mentioning this. Any actressexual needs to see this for Romy Schneider's beautiful performance. That opening shot just slays me. And, of course, the hunky Fabio Testi doesn't hurt, either.)
Other favorites: Murder on the Orient Express, Being There, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Carrie, the Disney Robin Hood, Rocky Horror, Saturday Night Fever, Sleuth, Duel, Frenzy, and Alien
1, Nashville
2. Network
3. A Woman Under the Influence
4. Chinatown
5. Cabaret
6. Dog Day Afternoon
7. Taxi Driver
8. The Last Picture Show
9. Klute
10. 3 Women
Chinatown
Cabaret
What's Up Doc?
Three Women
Cries and Whispers
The Passenger
The Exorcist
Pink Flamingos
Alien
Opening Night
Salo
(what a weird list!)
In no particular order:
Amarcord
The Tree of Wooden Clogs
Cabaret
The Godfather Part II
Young Frankenstein
The Conformist
Days of Heaven
Seven Beauties
Solaris
Monty Python's Life of Brian
Its impossible for any decade, let alone the 70s. Here's my shot...
Days of Heaven
Cabaret
Manhattan
Annie Hall
Dog Day Afternoon
The French Connection
Aguirre the Wrath of God
The Godfather
Taxi Driver
A Woman Under the Influence
1 Annie Hall (1977) / Alien (1979)
2 Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
3 The Exorcist (1973)
4 Cabaret (1972) / Manhatten (1979)
5 The Godfather (1972)
6 Death on the Nile (1978)
7 Harold And Maude (1971)
8 A Clockwork Orange (1971)
9 Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
10 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
(Kramer vs. Kramer, Norma Rae, The Rose)
It's so hard not to get stuck in the trap of picking the 10 most obvious choices.
Let's see. Have to have:
Stalker (1979) &
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
representing foreign cinema, not to mention
Network (1976) &
The Godfather part II (1974)
from the US. Those four could be top 10 all time material, not just the 70's. Then we'll include
Love and Death (1975) &
3 Women (1977)
since Allen and Altman must be represented. Then again, so must Scorsese, so
Taxi Driver (1976) as well.
Still need 3 more eh? Let's go with 1 classic
Apocalypse Now (1979)
and two wild cards that deserve more exposure
Edvard Munch (1974) &
House (1977)
That's my contribution. Also, I must say, the readership of this blog has exceedingly good taste.
Another mention each of Ali: Fear Eats the Soul and New York, New York, and two more mentions of Seven Beauties. Cool.
But how embarrassing: I left out Outrageous, which I thought about as soon as I started compiling my list...
'3 Women' is not only my favorite film of the 1970s, it's my favorite of all-time (and who has ever been better than Shelley Duvall as Millie Lammoreaux?)
2. 'A Woman Under the Influence'
3. 'Chinatown'
4. 'Network'
5. 'Manhattan'
6. 'Opening Night'
7. 'Nashville'
8. 'Cabaret'
9. 'Annie Hall'
10. 'An Unmarried Woman'
I don't dare to say a "best", but on favorites... 1971-80, for the matter, those are my "70s"
1. Airplane!
2. The Rocky Horror Picture Show
3. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
4. Apocalypse Now
5. Cabaret
6. Jaws
7. The Poseidon Adventure
8. Cruising
9. Day for Night
10. The Shinning
I probably should rethink the order, and Alien,Hair, among others, barely missed the top 10.
Big high-fives to those who mentioned The Towering Inferno and Murder On the Orient Express. These two films, released around the same time, are responsible for transforming a nerdy kid into a devout film disciple. They remain two of my favorites. TTI, though nommed for BP, was not well-regarded upon its release. But film historians have re-evaluated TTI, and found it to be pretty damn great.
1. Nashville
2. Annie Hall
3. Taxi Driver
4. The Last Picture Show
5. Chinatown
6. Network
7. Cabaret
8. Manhattan
9. Jaws
10. The Conformist
11. Alien
12. A Woman Under the Influence
13. The Devils
14. Don't Look Now
15. All That Jazz
16. Interiors
17. Opening Night
18. Cries and Whispers
19. Dog Day Afternoon
20. A Clockwork Orange
Top 20. 10 wasn't enough, haha.
My favorite list ever!!! And SOOO hard!
1. Barry Lyndon
2. Klute
3. The Godfather
4. Blazing Saddles
5. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
6. Picnic at Hanging Rock
7. Apocalypse Now
8. Eraserhead
9. Dog Day Afternoon
10. (guilty pleasure pick) The Black Hole
CHINATOWN?!?!
Lordy, how to whittle this list down to a Top Ten or is eleven? I guess I'll go with the movies I would watch this very minute, even if I'd seen the movie the day before for the 20th time. Here they are for me personally:
The Last Picture Show
Amarcord
Annie Hall
Nashville
Cabaret
All That Jazz
What's Up Doc?
Claire's Knee
Manhattan
The Deerhunter
Chinatown
And a few special mentions - probably my favorite movie of all time is Ingmar Bergman's The Magic Flute, but I realize that's at least as much because of Mozart as Bergman (what a combo!).
Bernice Bobs Her Hair might be in my Top Ten but I think it's just a 45 minute TV special for PBS. Shelley Duvall, Veronica Cartwright, Bud Cort, etc.
The early 70s Robert Redford nostalgia trifecta of The Sting, The Great Gatsby and The Way We Were is a least as much as how things look as the movies themselves. Also rans for me.
Aguirre The Wrath of God was overwhelming and great but I don't know if I could see it any day of the week. ;-)
Guilty pleasures (I know they're kinda junky) would be Fiddler On The Roof, Monty Python & The Holy Grail, Midnight Express, Breaking Away, ad infinitum
This is more difficult that the 1930s -- the Seventies is my favorite decade for film. In no particular order:
The Godfather, Part I & II
Annie Hall
Scenes from a Marriage
3 Women
The Last Picture Show
Apocalypse Now
Cabaret
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Marriage of Maria Braun
MASH
If the Thirties was best known for sparkling, sophisticated comedy, then the Seventies exemplifies cinema's exploration of the darker side of human drama.
Hardly any mentions of Badlands?! Interesting that Spacek was in this, Carrie & 3 Women, before hitting the big time in 1980 with Coal Miner's Daughter.
Someone up thread mentioned what good taste this group has and I must agree. I narrowed my list down to 16 before looking at the thread and every movie I thought of has been mentioned at least once and usually much more than that.
I chose, in no particular order except for my #1:
Dog Day Afternoon
Nashville
Last Picture Show
Three Women
Young Frankenstein
Harold and Maude
Amarcord
Star Wars
What's Up Doc
Five Easy Pieces
Shout-outs to Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Chinatown, Godfather/2, Jaws, Grey Gardens.
I don't know how I missed the post on top tens of the '30s. That would have been impossible! For any NYCers who need a reminder: Film Forum is doing a terrific retrospective of movies of 1933. Tonight and Friday night are Mae West (She Done Him Wrong and I'm No Angel) and if you've never seen one of her movies or never seen one of her movies with an audience, be sure to treat yourself!
- Celine & Julie Go Boating
- Eraserhead
- Spirit Of The Beehive
- Cries & Whispers
- Aguirre, The Wrath Of God
- La Maman Et La Putain
- Stalker
- Nashville
- Manhattan
- Grey Gardens
oops - forgot Picnic At Hanging Rock.
@billabong: It's funny you mentioned Badlands -- I forgot to add that to my list, but then I would have been in a quandary as to what to eliminate.
I'm going to nominate Claudia Weill's Girlfriends for criminally underseen film. Not sure if I'd put it in my top 10, but definitely worth watching.
Here's my list:
1. The Godfather
2. The Godfather part II
3. Nashville
4. Shampoo
5. The Conversation
6. The Way We Were
7.All That Jazz
8. Amarcord
9. Cabaret
10. Five Easy Pieces
A great decade for films - possibly my favourite:
Painful to have to whittle it down to 10, but if I don't do that, I'll never stop listing them!
So, 10 (in alphabetical order):
Annie Hall
Chinatown
Death in Venice
The French Connection
The Gauntlet
The Godfather
Jaws
The Spy Who Loved Me
Star Wars
The Sting
Seeing these answers and making this list depressed me a bit because there's so much I still haven't seen from what I consider to be the greatest decade in film history, but I think my list would be (in no particular order):
1. Taxi Driver
2. Days of Heaven
3. Cabaret
4. All That Jazz
5. Killer of Sheep
6. Dog Day Afternoon
7. Annie Hall
8. Manhattan
9. Network
10. Chinatown
Alternate: 3 Women
...I think.
But, seriously, how do you choose from an era that also gave us Sunday Bloody Sunday, Nashville, Straw Dogs, Claudine, Sounder, Kramer vs. Kramer, The Conversation and so many more?
ok so for me "Cries & Whispers" is THE ultimate work of Art ALL categories included so the 70's are very dear to me. Also I think "Opening Night" feature one of the BEST performance by an Actress EVER (Oscarless Gena Rowland (Shame again on you Academy))...
01. The Godfather I + II
02: Alien
03. Superman
04. Star Wars
05. Grease
06. Halloween
07. Scenes from a marriage
08. Mad Max
09. Enter the Dragon
10. The Exorcist
+ Murder on the Orient Express
This is so cool. My fav list is most def different from the best list.
Drew: Im in LOVE with the Cries and Whispers remake idea of ours: Swinton, Kidman and Blanchett
i recently watched the notable films of 1973, and these were my top 10 from that particular year...
1) Mean Streets
2) American Graffiti
3) Cries and Whispers
4) Day for Night
5) The Day of the Jackal
6) The Long Goodbye
7) Badlands
8) The Sting
9) The Last Detail
10) Save the Tiger
Please, NEVER, I mean NEVER let anyone remake Cries and Whispers
01. Jaws
02. Taxi Driver
03. A Clockwork Orange
04. The Exorcist
05. The Godfather
06. Cabaret
07. Star Wars
08. Annie Hall
09. Alien
10. Cries & Whispers
In no real order:
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Chinatown
Annie Hall
Alien
Suspiria
The Exorcist
Five Easy Pieces
Nashville
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (probably to this day the movie I've seen more x than any other)
Carrie
Shouts out to Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Murder By Death, all the great B horror flix like Like Scare Jessica To Death and Halloween. Plus: Coppola! Allen! Scorcese! Saturday Night Fever! Greatest decade for movies ever, I think.
Cal Roth - agreed! The idea of a Cries & Whispers remake fills my soul with horror. Just no.
I thought I was the only person who had such a difficult time tracking down "The Emigrants."
It was well worth the 20 years it took to find a library that had a VHS copy of it.
this is'nt in any particular order Last Tango in Paris, Nosferatu-The Vampyre,Nashville,Annie Hall,Klute,Ryan's Daughter( i know i am in the minority on this pick but there is something truly excellent about this film),Carrie,Suspiria,Cabaret,Alice Doesnt Live Here Anymore. I am sure i will think of some more.
Jaws
Chinatown
Cabaret
Network
Manhattan
All That Jazz
Star Wars
The Last Picture Show
All the President's Men
Halloween
robert A -- agreed on the taste level of TFE readers :)
-Taxi Driver
-Annie Hall
-Mean Streets
-The Conversation
-Manhattan
-Badlands
-Barry Lyndon
-Dog Day Afternoon
-The French Connection
-The Long Goodbye
The HM's:
-Days of Heaven
-The Mirror
-Apocalypse Now
-Serpico
-The Godfather Part II
-Network
-A Clockwork Orange
-Interiors
-The Deer Hunter
-Chinatown
-McCabe & Mrs. Miller
My top ten favorites and what I consider the ten best films of the decade would vary, so I'll go with the favorites.
1. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
2. Bad Company (1972)
3. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
4. Payday (1973)
5. Short Eyes (1977)
6. Lenny (1974)
7. Paper Moon (1973)
8. The Wanderers (1979)
9. Emperor of the North Pole (1973)
10. Murmur of the Heart (1971)