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Post by berkley on Feb 1, 2023 17:41:31 GMT -5
It's a tough call between Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. I think Blazing Saddles might be objectively the better comedy in that it's more jam-packed with jokes and original bits, but Young Frankenstein might be my favourite of the two because I like the Universal horrors that it's parodying more than I do the westerns that Blazing Saddles is spoofing. Also I just watched a bunch of those old horror movies in October, including Son of Frankenstein, with Basil Rathbone as Frankenstein, Karloff as the creature, and Bela Lugosi as Igor, one of his best rôles apart from Dracula, and which wikipedia says was one of the specific movies YF was referencing.
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Post by commond on Feb 1, 2023 17:47:49 GMT -5
Four of my top 10 films of the 70s were from 1974:
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Sam Peckinpah)
The Enigma of Kasper Hauser (Werner Herzog)
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
Hearts and Minds (Peter Davis)
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is one of my favorite films of all-time, so it wins 1974 for me, but aside from the obvious US films such as Chinatown and Godfather II, there's also The Conversation and John Cassavetes' A Woman Under the Influence. I also love The Longest Yard, for what it's worth.
I've never seen The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which I should probably rectify.
Sandakan No. 8 is one of the best Japanese films of the 70s, but largely ignored by critics.
Lacombe Lucien is one of Louis Malle's best films and a totally accessible foreign film.
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Post by arfetto on Feb 1, 2023 17:54:01 GMT -5
Carburetors man, that's what life is all about
There are a lot of great movies from 1974, but my favorite to re-watch is probably Phantom of the Paradise.
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Post by berkley on Feb 1, 2023 18:41:56 GMT -5
Four of my top 10 films of the 70s were from 1974: Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Sam Peckinpah) The Enigma of Kasper Hauser (Werner Herzog) Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder) Hearts and Minds (Peter Davis) Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is one of my favorite films of all-time, so it wins 1974 for me, but aside from the obvious US films such as Chinatown and Godfather II, there's also The Conversation and John Cassavetes' A Woman Under the Influence. I also love The Longest Yard, for what it's worth. I've never seen The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which I should probably rectify. Sandakan No. 8 is one of the best Japanese films of the 70s, but largely ignored by critics. Lacombe Lucien is one of Louis Malle's best films and a totally accessible foreign film.
I just saw The Conversation for the first time a few months ago at the local cinema here. I thought it was really interesting stylistically - kind of low-key, in spite of the story being built around intrigue and violence, both potential and realised. I hadn't realised that Harrison Ford was in it in a fairly important supporting rôle. He was really good playing a different sort of character to his standard screen persona that became set later on with the success of his Han Solo.
It left me wishing Coppola made more movies. Looking up his filmography, there are such huge gaps: 1974-1979, 1997-2007, and 2011 to now. But I also noticed that there are a few relatively recent ones I haven't seen, some of which I will certainly want to have a look at - Twixt (2011), Tetro (2009), and maybe Youth Without Youth (2007), though I might want to read the book of that one first. I wonder if his forthcoming science fiction epic, Megalopolis, with be completed anytime soon. But that's a topic for the other movie thread.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 2, 2023 5:04:10 GMT -5
I just saw The Conversation for the first time a few months ago at the local cinema here. I thought it was really interesting stylistically - kind of low-key, in spite of the story being built around intrigue and violence, both potential and realised. I hadn't realised that Harrison Ford was in it in a fairly important supporting rôle. He was really good playing a different sort of character to his standard screen persona that became set later on with the success of his Han Solo.
It left me wishing Coppola made more movies. Looking up his filmography, there are such huge gaps: 1974-1979, 1997-2007, and 2011 to now. But I also noticed that there are a few relatively recent ones I haven't seen, some of which I will certainly want to have a look at - Twixt (2011), Tetro (2009), and maybe Youth Without Youth (2007), though I might want to read the book of that one first. I wonder if his forthcoming science fiction epic, Megalopolis, with be completed anytime soon. But that's a topic for the other movie thread.
Interesting, The Conversation came up in another forum I frequent recently; I first saw it in the 1990s and then once again later. I really like it - yes, it's low-key, but I found it pretty gripping nonetheless. Hackman in particular put in a great performance. And yes, it's interesting seeing a number of well-known (either then or later) actors appear in supporting roles: not just Harrison Ford, but also Robert Duvall, Ciny Williams, Teri Garr and John Cazale. |
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Post by commond on Feb 7, 2023 9:16:35 GMT -5
Man, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one messed up movie.
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 7, 2023 10:05:00 GMT -5
Man, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one messed up movie. My mom’s favorite movie. For real. |
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Post by commond on Feb 7, 2023 17:24:40 GMT -5
It was exceptionally well made for such a low budget film.
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Post by berkley on Feb 8, 2023 2:12:19 GMT -5
I just saw The Conversation for the first time a few months ago at the local cinema here. I thought it was really interesting stylistically - kind of low-key, in spite of the story being built around intrigue and violence, both potential and realised. I hadn't realised that Harrison Ford was in it in a fairly important supporting rôle. He was really good playing a different sort of character to his standard screen persona that became set later on with the success of his Han Solo.
It left me wishing Coppola made more movies. Looking up his filmography, there are such huge gaps: 1974-1979, 1997-2007, and 2011 to now. But I also noticed that there are a few relatively recent ones I haven't seen, some of which I will certainly want to have a look at - Twixt (2011), Tetro (2009), and maybe Youth Without Youth (2007), though I might want to read the book of that one first. I wonder if his forthcoming science fiction epic, Megalopolis, with be completed anytime soon. But that's a topic for the other movie thread.
Interesting, The Conversation came up in another forum I frequent recently; I first saw it in the 1990s and then once again later. I really like it - yes, it's low-key, but I found it pretty gripping nonetheless. Hackman in particular put in a great performance. And yes, it's interesting seeing a number of well-known (either then or later) actors appear in supporting roles: not just Harrison Ford, but also Robert Duvall, Ciny Williams, Teri Garr and John Cazale.
Yes, I didn't mean to imply it was a negative thing: the juxtaposition of dark, dangerous doings with the mundanity of the protagonist's personal life (e.g. the trade show, the after-hours party, the petty inter-professional politics and rivalries, his mistress, etc) was one of the main strengths of the movie for me, something that elevated it a few levels above just a very well-made crime drama.
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Post by berkley on Feb 8, 2023 2:14:11 GMT -5
Man, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one messed up movie.
Another famous one I haven't seen. It seems to have been such a seminal movie for that genre that I'll have to give it a look one of these days, even though it's a genre I'm not generally into that much.
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 8, 2023 12:07:03 GMT -5
My mom also loves Motel Hell.
But she doesn’t watch it near as often as she watches Predator.
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 8, 2023 12:08:56 GMT -5
Sometimes when I call to talk to my mom, my stepdad will say something like, “She’s watching Predator. I’ll try to get her to pause it so she’ll talk to you.”
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Feb 8, 2023 13:16:29 GMT -5
Moving to 1975. Trial for today went away because my client didn't show up. So I have some time. Jaws - I really don't think we can start off without the original summer blockbuster. Its importance almost can't be overstated, though it sometimes seems it gets forgotten a bit, given what will come in a couple of short years. But Jaws was, quite simply a phenomenon. It was the first film to gross over $100 million dollars in the U.S. alone. It earned over twice what any other film did in 1975. It was...HUGE! I saw this in a theater during the 2022 re-release and it's still a damn fun film. The screenplay is great. The music is amazing. And while Bruce may not have quite the effect he did almost 50 years ago, he still beats the hell out of most CGI effects. Simply a great movie. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - It's actually been quite a while since I've seen this one. I do remember liking it quite a bit. Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher were both excellent. I think if I have a problem with the film it's that the overall comedic tone doesn't quite lead you to the tragic conclusion. But again it's been quite some time. Monty Python and the Holy Grail - I'll admit that I didn't like this movie the first couple of times I saw it. My Uncle had introduced me to Flying Circus, so I'd watched a bit of Monty Python, but it had been years before I first saw Holy Grail. And it just didn't work for me. But my wife, my brother-in-law and some of my best friends loved it. And it came to grow on me. Ultimately I now find it to be a very funny film that is almost endlessly quotable. And well, there are those who call me...Tim! The Man Who Would Be King - This is just simply one of the great adventure films. Yes, it probably seemed a bit old-fashioned in 1975, but who cares? This is easily John Huston's best film in decades. The dialogue is razor sharp. And Connery and Caine are at their very best. Allegedly both found it to be one of their favorite films in which they performed. There is a deeper level here where Huston explores some of the same themes as Treasure of the Sierra Madre. But even just it's surface makes it an absolute joy to watch. The Eiger Sanction - This is not a great film. But it's definitely enjoyable. And it's an interesting step in the growth of Eastwood as a director. If nothing else, the Alps are gorgeous and the climbing scenes are absolutely spell-binding. Breakheart Pass - Another action film that I probably like more than it deserves. Based on an Alistair MacLean novel, I think that Charles Bronson is pretty effective here and I'm always going to be happy with any film that gives a decent role to Ben Johnson. It probably helps that the train scenes were filmed in Central Idaho, in country I know, and they're beautiful. It's a fun action film and sometimes that's enough. Cooley High - I'm not sure why this film doesn't get more love than it does. I think it's unfairly considered a blaxploitation film (and I love blaxploitation) but it's really not. To me, this is a better version of American Graffiti. Less steeped in nostalgia and far more honest. It's a deceptively lovely film. A big influence on Spike Lee, this is one not to miss. As usual there are many films I've either not seen or not seen in far too long. Including; most of the big foreign language films; Dog Day Afternoon (been eons since I've seen it); Barry Lyndon (ditto); Nashville; Night Moves; So what's my favorite film of 1975? It's probably The Man Who Would Be King. No, it's not the best film of the year. But it's damn sure the most fun. And I'm just a sucker for this kind of adventure movie. And 1975 in film for those as need a look. |
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Post by tartanphantom on Feb 8, 2023 13:32:37 GMT -5
1975... we're gonna need a bigger boat for this one.
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Post by arfetto on Feb 8, 2023 13:35:17 GMT -5
I will probably just pick Barry Lyndon, but...
1975 also has these Italian movies I like a lot: Le orme/Footprints/Footprints on the Moon (dir. Luigi Bazzoni) and Profondo rosso/Deep Red (dir. Dario Argento).
One of my all-time favorite Tora-san movies was released in '75 too: Tora-san's Rise and Fall/Tora-san meets the Songstress Again (dir. Yoji Yamada). This was the 15th Tora-san movie and the first one to bring back a previous "Madonna", so it shook things up a bit. I could watch Tora-san movies forever haha.
Oh, I also liked Hard Times (dir. Walter Hill), but have only seen it once.
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