On to the bicentennial year 1976.  I find that there are a lot of these that I've seen once a long time ago.  So...yeah.  

Taxi Driver - Let's just get this out of the way.  This is, by my estimation, the best movie of 1976.  The film is just a triumph by Scorsese.  Robert De Niro gives what may be his best performance (though maybe not, damn he was good at this point in his career).  Jodie Foster is simply amazing for a 12 year old actress.  The ending is utterly brilliant.  This is a movie that's stature has only grown with time.  It really hits that sweet spot between "New Hollywood" and the vigilante and exploitation films of the 70s.  Just amazing.  



Rocky - Another great movie.  Easily the best thing Stallone has ever done or is likely to do.  And you can convincingly argue it's the best pure sports movie ever (I'm not sure I'd agree, but it's not a bad argument).  Just a huge hit.  And it's a solid and endearing movie even if it is pretty much 100% schmaltz.  It's really quite fitting that it came out in 1976 since it's such a quintessentially American myth.  And damn, that music.  



Assault on Precinct 13 - This is just one of the best action movies of the 70s.  It's a tad slow in the first half, but it's really a bravura performance by a director, John Carpenter, making only his second feature film.  A great take on the Rio Bravo style, Carpenter show that he could be on par with Don Siegel as an action director.  



The Shootist - This film gives me all the feels.  As I've said I'm a huge fan of "end of the west" films.  This was John Wayne's last movie.  He knew he was not long for the world.  Add in, the still beautiful, Lauren Bacall, Jimmy Stewart, Richard Boone, John Carradine, Hugh O'Brien, and Harry Morgan and there's no way I'm not going to love this movie.  Beyond that, it's just a good solid movie directed by the great Don Siegel.  And...well it's the end of the Duke.  



Logan's Run - I like this movie, when I want to love it.  There's a lot here to like.  It's solid SF.  Jenny Agutter is breath-takingly lovely.  It's a good movie.  But man does it scream 70s.  And not in a good way.  And it has the misfortune, at least as SF, to have to stand in the shadow of the juggernaut that would come out a year later.  But for all that, I still really like Logan's Run.  And at the time, for SF fans, it was a hell of a big deal. 



Silver Streak - This is just a fun solid comedy.  The first film to team up Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor and definitely the most successful of those movies.  The plot is convoluted and at times a bit silly.  But Wilder and Pryor are great and they are magic together.  And Wilder...I forget how incredible he was as the everyman.  



Silent Movie - After the one-two punch of Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein almost anything would seem like a let-down.  And Silent Movie isn't as good as either of those films.  But it's still a very good and very funny movie.  And good for Mel Brooks for expanding his boundaries and trying something different and audacious.  



Robin and Marian - I mean, C'mon, Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn as an aging Robin Hood and Marian.  No way I'm not going to love that.  And they are both delightful in the film.  The movie itself is good.  It's a solid film with a pretty stellar supporting cast.  But this is all about the stars.  And man do they shine.  



Car Wash - Again, just a fun solid comedy.  Nothing ground-breaking.  But that's okay.  It's fun to see George Carlin and Richard Pryor together.  And we have Ivan Dixon, Antonio Fargus, Garrett Morris and Danny DeVito.  Workin' at the car wash, yeah! 





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; Network; All the President's Men; Carrie; The Outlaw Josie Wales (I need to re-watch this and re-evaluate it based on my knowledge of the source material and with an eye toward how it treats the Confederacy); Marathon Man; The Omen; Harlan County, USA; The Front (a rare Woody Allen movie that I like...I really want to see it again); 


So what's my favorite film of 1976? As I said, I'm firmly convinced that Taxi Driver is the best film of 1976.  But my favorite?  The one I'll always want to sit down and watch.  That's The Shootist.  


And 1976 in film for those as need a look.

My favorite film from 1976 is Ugly, Dirty and Bad by Ettore Scola, which is a comedy about four generations of a family living in a shantytown in Rome.

I'm also a big fan of Barbara Kopple's documentary, Harlan County, USA, about a Kentucky coalminers' strike. The "best" foreign film of the year is probably Carlos Saura's Cría Cuervos, which stars the young girl from The Spirit of the Beehive. I had two other odds and ends on my 70s list, Lino Brocka's Insiang and Bertrand Tavernier's The Judge and the Assassin, but overall, this isn't a year that does a lot for me and has a few films I strongly dislike such as In the Realm of the Senses. 

I've never seen The Shootist. I average a bout a film per week these days, so I think I'll make that my pick for this weekend. 

Cria Cuervos is really good! Highly recommended!

I have a tie for favorite movie of 1976 ...

Taxi Driver

The Tenant

Logan’s Run may not be a sci-fi classic for the ages but I’ve always found it fun and much better than merely watchable. I’ve seen it a few times over the years.

Tora-San and the melon kind of reminded me of Queeg and the strawberries.

Lilly is great. But I guess if he married her, it would be the end of the series.

I love the end where he’s riding down the beach on a bus with a bunch of cabaret workers going to a spa.

I have a bunch of 7s from 1976 but I'm going to say my favorite was Cría cuervos...

On to the 1977.  Work is kicking my butt...but here we are. 

Star Wars:  So this is the elephant in the room for this year.  Let me start by saying I like Star Wars...but I don't love it and I'm not a "Star Wars fan."  I've liked some of the films, but not as many as I've disliked.  I've like some of the streaming shows...and disliked some.  I've never read an Extended Universe book and have only read maybe dozen funnybooks.  

Of course this movie is HUGE.  It's a cultural phenomenon.  You can make a strong argument it's the biggest movie ever.  And I like it.  It's a fun movie.  It's a movie with flaws.  And you can pick them apart with ease with repeat viewings.  But it's a damn fun movie.  Oh and it is Star Wars.  That was its name.  That is what I will always call it.  Get out of here with your A New Hope crap.  



Close Encounters of the Third Kind - This was also a pretty big film.  And it's also a pretty good film.  This is Spielberg at his "benign intervention" best.  We don't need to be afraid of the unknown.  Richard Dreyfuss  is very good as the obsessed everyman.  The film is kind of slow.  And it definitely bogs down in the middle.  But it has great special effects and great music.  It's very good SF film.  



Slap Shot - Just a great cult film.  A great guy film.  A great sports film.  Violent, raunchy and very funny.  Paul Newman gives an excellent performance.  Probably the best movie ever about hockey.  And an underrated meditation on violence in our society.  



Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - Yeah...I know that this is a mash-up of the three Winnie the Pooh shorts with some bridging material.  But I don't care.  This is pure joy.  Sebatian Cabot is incredible as the Narrator.  In fact the voices are all amazing.  




That's it.  That's what I've got.  Part of it is that I haven't seen some of the bigger movies of the year either at all or in eons.  Part is that I think that 1977 was a particularly bad year in American movies.  


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; Annie Hall; Sorceror; The Duelists (I remember liking this, but I need to see it again); Eraserhead;  



So what's my favorite film of 1977?  It's a bleh year.  And there's not a film here that would have a chance of coming out on top in most years.  It's a marginally close call between Star Wars and Slap Shot.  Most days I'd probably give the nod to Star Wars but that's not a hearty endorsement.  I just like it okay.  I actually think Slap Shot is a more interesting movie.  


And 1977 in film for those as need a look.