My Best Pictures of the 1970's

If I had the opportunity to be alive and have a vote at these times.....

MASH
Dirty Harry
The Godfather
Enter the Dragon
Chinatown
Barry Lyndon
Taxi Driver
Suspiria
Superman
Alien

1970 Tora! Tora! Tora!

1971 McCabe & Mrs. Miller (re-watching The French Connection soon)

1972 The Godfather

1973 Enter the Dragon

1974 The Godfather: Part II

1975 Jaws

1976 All the President’s Men (coin flip with Rocky)

1977 Star Wars

1978 Superman (best looking; Days of Heaven)

1979 Alien

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Again, due to sloth and expediency, I'll choose among the official nominees.


1970: Five Easy Pieces (Altman gets director; I want to give Jack actor, but we'd miss out on Scott's ultra-classy snub)


1971: A Clockwork Orange (tempted to give Kube the director and split the BP with Last Picture Show)


1972: The Godfather


1973: Last Tango in Paris (+Ellen Burstyn who was robbed for actress)


1974: Chinatown (Pacino and Rowlands for actors)


1975: Nashville


1976: Network (Scorsese, who wasn't nominated, for director; De Niro and Dunaway for actors)


1977: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (a coup! Along with Spielberg for director, and Diane Keaton.....for Looking For Mr. Goodbar!!!)


1978: The Deer Hunter (also add De Niro and Streep wins to Walken, Ingrid Bergman for actress, Malick for director)


1979: Apocalypse Now (Roy Scheider for actor, can't decide between AN and Jazz for director, but both films win their respective screenplay awards)

Ellen Burstyn was absolutely robbed in '73.

And then she likewise robbed Gena Rowlands the year after. The Academy is predictably wonky like this.

The '70s are still the best era for film, hands down. I mean, how do you start?

(winner in bold)

1970 - Patton, Love Story, Dods'Ka'Den, Mash, Confession
Dir Robert Altman
Actor - Y'ves Montand (The Confession)
Actress - Ali Macgraw (Love Story)
S. Actor - John Cassavettes (Husbands)
S. Actress - Sally Kellerman (Mash)




1971 - A Clockwork Orange, The Last Picture Show, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Nicholas and Alexandria, Harold and Maude
dir - Stanley Kubrick
Actor - Gene Wilder (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)
Actress - Ruth Gordon (Harold and Maude)
S. Actor - Tom Baker (Nicholas and Alexandria)
S. Actress - Ellen Burstyn (Last Picture Show)


1972 - The Godfather, Cabaret, Aguirre:Wrath of God, Sisters, Silent Running
dir - Frances Ford Coppola
Actor - Marlon Brando (Godfather)
Actress - Diane Keaton (Godfather)
S. Actor - Al Pacino (Godfather)
S. Actress - Talia Shire (Godfather)


1973 - The Exorcist, Cries and Whispers, Badlands, The Long Goodbye, High Plains Drifter
dir - William Friedkin
Actor - Al Pacino (Serpico)
Actress - Ellen Burstyn (Exorcist)
S. Actor - Max Von Sydow (Exorcist)
S. Actress - Harriet Andersson (Cries and Whispers)






1974 - The Godfather Part II, Chinatown, A Woman Under the Influence, Taking of Pelham 123, Murder on the Orient Express
dir - Frances Ford Coppola
Actor - Art Carney (Harry and Tonto)
Actress - Gena Rowland (A Woman Under the Influence)
S. Actor - John Cazale (Godfather II)
S. Actress - Madeline Kahn (Blazing Saddles)


1975 - Jaws, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Barry Lyndon, Dog Day Afternoon, Rocky Horror Picture Show
dir - Steven Spielberg
Actor - Jack Nicholson (One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest)
Actress - Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest)
S. Actor - Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show)
S. Actress - Susan Sarandon (Rocky Horror Picture Show)


1976 - The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Taxi Driver, Network, Rocky, Carrie
dir - John Cassavettes
Actor - Sylvester Stallone (Rocky)
Actress - Sissy Spacek (Carrie)
S. Actor - Burgess Meredith (Rocky)
S. Actress - Cybill Shepherd (Taxi Driver)


1977 - The Goodbye Girl, Annie Hall, Star Wars, Saturday Night Fever, Close Encounters of the Third Kind
dir - George Lucas (Star Wars)
Actor - Woody Allen (Annie Hall)
Actress - Marsha Mason (The Goodbye Girl)
S. Actor - Alec Guiness (Star Wars)
S. Actress - Carrie Fisher (Star Wars)


1978 - Halloween, Grease, Coming Home, Superman, The Deer Hunter
dir - John Carpentner
Actor - John Travolta (Grease)
Actress - Jane Fonda (Coming Home)
S. Actor - Donald Pleasence (Halloween)
S. Actress - Veronica Cartwright (Invasion of the Body Snatchers)


1979 - Being There, Alien, Kramer vs Kramer, Apocalypse Now, All That Jazz
dir - Hal Ashby
Actor - Peter Sellers (Being There)
Actress - Shirly McClaine (Being There)
S. Actor - Melvyn Douglas (Being There)
S. Actress - Sigourney Weaver (Alien)

I totally agree with you...I have a friend whom I'm constantly arguing with because he thinks the 80's were the best decade for film but I think the 70's were.

The Godfather

70s is where American movies were better than foreign pictures (as opposed to the decade before, when foreign movies were much better)


So, the best movie for each year?



1970 - Sunflower
1971 - Harold And Maude
1972 - The Godfather
1973 - A Brief Vacation
1974 - Harry And Tonto
1975 - Nashville
1976 - Network
1977 - Annie Hall
1978 - An Enemy Of The People
1979 - Serie Noire

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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly with Clint Eastwood

...is not a 70's movie.

The 70's is my favorite decade, of many i choose one per year here

1970 - Fruit of Paradise - this is in my top 3 of all time

1971 - A Touch of Zen

1972 - Cries and Whispers - my #1 Bergman

1973 - La grande bouffe

1974 - A Woman Under the Influence

1975 - Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

1976 - Insiang

1977 - That Obscure Object of Desire

1978 - In a Year With 13 Moons

1979 - Stalker

Yeah, this only really makes sense if you limit your picks to what was nominated, in which case...

Five Easy Pieces
The Last Picture Show
The Godfather
The Exorcist
The Godfather Part II
Barry Lyndon
Taxi Driver
Star Wars
Midnight Express
Apocalypse Now

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I loved Being There but there was nothing special about Shirley MacLaine's performance, I think the actors around her made her look better than she really was in that one.

[quote=Siddon;2242367](winner in bold)

1970 - Patton, Love Story, Dods'Ka'Den, Mash, Confession
Dir Robert Altman
Actor - Y'ves Montand (The Confession)
Actress - Ali Macgraw (Love Story)
S. Actor - John Cassavettes (Husbands)
S. Actress - Sally Kellerman (Mash)

Ali MacGraw's wooden performance in Love Story didn't even merit a nomination.




1971 - A Clockwork Orange, The Last Picture Show, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Nicholas and Alexandria, Harold and Maude
dir - Stanley Kubrick
Actor - Gene Wilder (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)
Actress - Ruth Gordon (Harold and Maude)
S. Actor - Tom Baker (Nicholas and Alexandria)
S. Actress - Ellen Burstyn (Last Picture Show)

Nice to see some love for Ellen Burstyn

Hmm, my favorites from each year...

1970: Five Easy Pieces

1971: Tough year. A Clockwork Orange would be an easy choice, but I would also have Walkabout, Carnal Knowledge, maybe even Harold and Maude up there.

1972: The Godfather is the obvious choice, so I would say Images, Fat City, Deliverance, and Cries and Whispers. So hard to choose one.

1973: Stuff like The Sting and The Exorcist are great choices, but my heart goes for The Wicker Man.

1974: Other than The Godfather, Part II, I love The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Chinatown.

1975: Jaws or Picnic at Hanging Rock

1976: Taxi Driver or All the President's Men

1977: Eraserhead or Star Wars. Soft spot for That Obscure Object of Desire also.

1978: Superman or Blue Collar

1979: Alien or Apocalypse Now

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