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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 23, 2023 15:21:09 GMT -5
I have a tie.
I saw both Star Wars and Annie Hall back in 1977. I was 13 that year. I’m sure I liked Star Wars better back then. But probably not by much.
I’ve seen them both numerous times since then, but I haven’t watched Star Wars in twenty years. I still watch Annie Hall every two or three years. It’s a long-time favorite that remains a favorite.
And I saw House a few years ago and I’ve seen it a couple of times since then. It’s great. It’s so great.
So I have Annie Hall and House as my two 1977 favorites.
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Post by commond on Feb 23, 2023 17:47:59 GMT -5
Annie Hall is hands down my favorite film from 1977.
I also liked the Chekhov-inspired, An Unfinished Piece for a Player Piano, enough to put in my top 20. Stroszek is one of my favorite Herzog films, and The American Friend is a rare Wim Wenders film that I enjoy. That Obscure Object of Desire is a neat Bunuel film. I also liked a couple of documentaries -- 21 Up and Chris Marker's Grin Without a Cat.
There were a couple of Indian films on my list as well -- Ghatashraddha, widely considered to be one of the top 20 films in Indian film history, and Amar Akbar Anthony. which is more of a classic Bollywood film.
Soldier of Orange is another great pre-Hollywood Paul Verhoeven film, and Cross of Iron is a great Peckinpah film.
1977 is one of those years where there aren't a lot of major motion pictures, but I look at film lists and see all sorts of intriguing films I overlooked at the time.
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Post by MWGallaher on Feb 23, 2023 20:47:41 GMT -5
Considering I've seen Eraserhead more times than any other movie I can remember, it automatically goes to #1 on my 1977 list.
I don't much else from '77 that I'd be eager to see again, including Star Wars; I've probably sat through it in its entirety 3 or 4 times, and that's enough, although I sure loved it at the time. I could be talked into sitting through Close Encounters one more time, but it's not going to be my top choice if I have options for something interesting I haven't seen yet.
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Post by badwolf on Feb 23, 2023 21:13:47 GMT -5
1977 is easy for me: Annie Hall
Runners up:
Suspiria
House
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Post by berkley on Feb 24, 2023 1:39:30 GMT -5
Saw House/Hausu again a few weeks ago, and at the same movie theatre I saw it the first time, around 10 or 15 years back. Really indescribable and even if it wasn't I wouldn't try: better for viewers to discaver it on their own, with as few pre-conceived ideas as possible (I suppose I feel this way about most movies, now that I mention it).
I'll have to go through the list. Star Wars is definitely a possibility, though my enjoyment of the franchise in general is on a bit of a downslide. That shouldn't tarnish my feelings for the original, but human nature being what it is, it does so to some degree.
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Post by berkley on Feb 24, 2023 1:55:05 GMT -5
1976, I'm going with The Pink Panther Strikes Again, even though I'm not sure off the top of my head which one of the series this is. But I liked all the Sellers ones and I don't see anything else on the list that would top it in terms of pure fun and enjoyment.
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Post by coke & comics on Feb 25, 2023 2:44:35 GMT -5
1977. It's a tough call between the two big sci/fi films, but I have to go with Spielberg and Close Encounters. Then that space wizard movie.
Otherwise this is not a year I love for film. Winnie the Pooh can probably slide in at #3. My very first favorite film, which I watched on endless loop at the age of 3 or so, is The Hobbit.
And then I'm almost choosing a #5 at random. I just don't care about horror, but I appreciate the music and mood for most of Suspiria.
Otherwise... it's a TV series and probably ineligible and I anyways last saw it as a child, but there's Roots. And Ralph Bakshi's Wizards. A couple TV Incredible Hulk movies. Capricorn One is a story that interests me. I have some appreciation for the Ripley stories and The American Friend is one of the better ones. Haven't seen it since childhood, but I recall Oh, God! fondly.
Eraserhead isn't a movie I can make sense out of, but I appreciate the ambition and passion behind it. I just don't care at all about Annie Hall. The Rescuers is a weaker Disney offering, and I don't care about any of the Roger Moore 007 movies.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 9, 2023 15:07:53 GMT -5
Finally getting to the 1978. Work has been absolute hell. The Deer Hunter - It's actually been long enough since I've seen this that I maybe should put it down below, but I'm not going to. This is a very good film, with great performances by DeNiro, Christopher Walken and the late great John Cazale, who was very sick and dying while filming the movie. It probably helps the film that it came out at roughly the same time as the saccharine and over-hyped "Coming Home." Animal House - I love this movie so damn much. It's anarchic and loud and raunchy and is just so damn much better than it really has any right to be. John Belushi is absolutely brilliant. Mark Metcalf is, I think, overlooked as Nedermeyer. Just one of the great film villains. So damn much fun. And so incredibly quotable. Invasion of the Body Snatchers - It's somewhat rare for a re-make to meet or surpass the original, particularly when the original is a very good film. While I'm not sure this is better than Don Siegel's classic, it's damn good and is kind of its own thing. Yeah, it's a little overlong. And probably self-indulgent as to the special effects. It's not anywhere near as subtle as the original. But it's a fine remake and Donald Sutherland is certainly meme-worthy. Up in Smoke - Cheech and Chong's first feature film really isn't very good. But I don't care. It brings back great memories and that's good enough. I will always sit down and watch it. "Does Howdy Doody got wooden Balls man?" The Great Train Robbery - Fun action comedy that has a tendency to drag a bit, but is great when the action comes. And how can you not love Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland (big year for Sutherland). And Lesley-Anne Down is just adorably alluring. 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; Days of Heaven; Halloween (I generally don't like horror films); Dawn of the Dead; Drunken Master; So what's my favorite film of 1978? It's Animal House. It's one of those movies I've seen a zillion times and that I can recite huge swathes of. It's got a hell of a soundtrack too. And 1978 in film for those as need a look. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 9, 2023 19:39:10 GMT -5
Yeah. Animal House.
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 9, 2023 19:54:10 GMT -5
Scrolling down the list, I see that my only major blind spot for 1978 is Drunken Master.
I’ll put it on the list.
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Post by arfetto on Mar 10, 2023 3:31:46 GMT -5
I think my favorite from this year is probably The Driver, but I like Days of Heaven too. I've watched and enjoyed a good amount of Shaw Brothers movies from '78: Crippled Avengers, The Five Venoms/Five Deadly Venoms, Swordsman and Enchantress, Legend of the Bat, Clan of Amazons, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, The Avenging Eagle, etc.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Mar 10, 2023 5:37:06 GMT -5
Animal House is a movie I still like, but nowhere near as much as I did when I watched it the first time as a teen in the early '80s. It lost some of its luster for me when I reached college age and came into contact with actual frat boys, who were often an obnoxious combination of the Delta guys and the stick-up-their-butt Omega creeps; also, when I watch it now I cringe a bit at some of the humor. Up in Smoke is a movie I only watched all the way through rather recently, although I had been familiar with and a fan of Cheech & Chong's humor since I was a little kid. I'd agree that it certainly has its funny parts, but it's really uneven, given that it's basically a bunch of their humor sketches strung together into a story. The Great Train Robbery is just a well-made, extremely fun caper movie with a stellar cast. The novel that it's based on, by Michael Crichton (back when he still wrote good books), is similarly enjoyable. |
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Post by commond on Mar 12, 2023 18:24:57 GMT -5
1978 isn't a particularly memorable year for me, though I did have two films quite high -- The Tree of Wooden Clogs and The Place Without Limits. I also threw a shoutout to Five Venoms, as I enjoy a Shaw Brothers flick as much as the next dude. I appreciate films like Days of Heaven and Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep and wouldn't mind watching Halloween, Animal House or Blue Collar on a whim, but not a year I hold in high regard. Errol Morris' Gates of Heaven is worth watching if you want to see a real life Christopher Guest film, and Watership Down used to make me bawl like a baby when I was young.
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Post by badwolf on Mar 14, 2023 1:09:45 GMT -5
1978:
Watership Down
Magic
Empire of Passion
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Post by commond on Mar 14, 2023 17:25:15 GMT -5
I finally got around to watching The Shootist. What a great little film. Extremely well directed considering there wasn't much action. I tend to think of John Wayne as being good at playing John Wayne, but I thought he delivered an outstanding performance. It was hard to ignore the fact that it was art imitating life, but it was still an excellent, nuanced performance. Bacall and Stewart were good too, and I thought the director did an excellent job of getting natural performances from them to the point where they were believable as their characters and not just Bacall and Stewart doing Bacall and Stewart. Jimmy, in particular, did none of his usual mannerisms. Really good film. Enjoyed it a lot.
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