1977 Movies
OSCARS Won/Nominated
IMDB Top 250
IMDB Top 250
OSCARS
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Annie Hall
Dir: Woody Allen Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die If you do not recognize Annie Hall as a masterpiece, then you can't really be a Woody Allen fan. This is what every other one of his movies is compared against, and they all pale in comparison. Allen so masterfully directs, writes, and acts this exceedingly rich romantic comedy that uses so many different storytelling techniques, he comes across as a mad genius. Breaking the 4th wall, animation, flashbacks, slapstick, subtitles of thoughts, exaggerated childhoods...every single thing that Allen throws at the wall sticks. Not to mention the pitch perfect performance by Keaton. Every red-blooded male will fall in love with her. A+ DVD |
OSCARS
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Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Dir: Steven Spielberg Stars: Richard Dreyfuss 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Spielberg was riding high after Jaws, this sci-fi followup not only shows an incredible amount of creativity and directorial vision...but it shows the same restraint he showed in Jaws. A lesser filmmaker would be too anxious to show us UFOs and Aliens...but Spielberg has patience and it makes the unveiling all the more poignant. This is superb sci-fi fantasy. A- DVD |
Eraserhead
Dir: David Lynch 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die The films of David Lynch are infuriating. If you took 10 film experts and asked them to summarize any of his films, you'd most likely get 10 different explanations. If Mulholland Drive was an odd bad dream...Eraserhead is a surrealistic nightmare. What do you say about a movie where a man carves miniature chickens that dance on the plate and bleed and the same man fathers a premature child that looks like a calf fetus and lives on top of a dresser and squeals all the time. After all this is done, he daydreams about a plaster-cheeked woman who tapdances atop wormlike creatures inside his radiator. THEN things start to get weird. If David Lynch is ever anywhere near me...I will run away screaming. C+ |
High Anxiety
Dir: Mel Brooks Stars: Mel Brooks, Madeline Khan, Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman This is mostly considered a lesser Brooks film and is usually forgotten. Parodies of Hitchcock seems like fish-in-a-barrel in retrospect, but it is still vintage Brooks. The S&M stuff with Korman and Leachman is hilarious and that The Birds parody is so obvious but so thrillingly funny to see on screen. Brooks fans will certainly enjoy him and his usual troupe. B- Bluray |
The Hills Have Eyes
Dir: Wes Craven Stars: Michael Berryman 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die I HATED the modern remakes of this Wes Craven classic. They were horribly graphic movies that seemed to relish and enjoy their violence and depravity...and it was so incredibly off-putting. The original is much better, because Wes Craven seems as disgusted and horrified by the situation and how it is unfolding so the audience can feel sympathy, be scared, and not solely be grossed out. Being a 70s horror film...the acting is pretty bad, but when the shit hits the fan...there is actually some poignant, harrowing stuff here. B |
The Kentucky Fried Movie
Dir: John Landis What a disastrous mess this movie is. It is obvious that John Landis and Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker were trying to make Monty Python's "And Now For Something Completely Different" and just smash a bunch of unconnected skits together...and they are not nearly up to the task. None of the skits are really FUNNY, just a few are amusing, and too many go for way too obvious, low-hanging fruit. You see hints that Landis is ready to move on to Animal House and ZAZ is ready for Airplane!, but this movie is pretty much a waste. D |
Orca
Dir: Michael Anderson Stars: Richard Harris, Charlotte Rampling Killer whales are terrifying, even more so than sharks to some people. After the massive success of Jaws...why not make Jaws with a killer whale? Well...they did...and that is all it is, but inferior in every way. There really isn't much more to say about it. Whale kills mate, captain heads out for revenge. Jaws 2 is even much better than this. Even maybe Jaws 3. C |
OSCARS
Best Adapted Score
Best Original Song |
Pete's Dragon
Dir: Pete Chaffey Stars: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider Disney just had a knack, back in the day, of these live-action, animation mashups. The story of Pete and Elliot was just so charming and fun that it became a classic. It must be doing something right since Elliot was immortalized in the Main Street Electrical Parade. It takes a lot of Disney to invest to much in one of their characters. They have to be loved. B |
OSCARS
Best Original Song
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The Rescuers
Dir: John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman, & Art Stevens Voices: Bob Newhart, Eva Gabor A mouse organization living in the basement of the UN finds a message in a bottle from a kidnapped girl? Sure, why not. There are dozens and dozens of Disney animated classics and almost every one of them are serviceable. Just not all of them reach the heights of Pinocchio or Beauty and the Beast. B |
OSCARS
Best Actor
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Saturday Night Fever
Dir: John Bedham Stars: John Travolta, The IMDB description of the plot is "A Brooklyn teenager feels his only chance to succeed is as the king of the disco floor." That is so dumb...but this movie rises above it with a great soundtrack and a great performance by Travolta. When you can take said premise and make something this memorable, which is homaged and parodied as much as any other movie, there is a special little something going on. B |
OSCARS
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Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Dir: George Lucas Stars: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die IMDB #21 In my opinion...this is the quintessential film. The most popular film of all time. The movie that changed filmmaking forever. It changed film marketing forever. And it changed my love for movies forever. But...I REALLY have to get historical significance and nostalgia out of my brain...and it isn't the best Star Wars film ever...that title belongs to Empire Strikes Back. Still...the is undeniably one of the greatest sci-fi adventures ever...and even though Lucas is not much of a director, and Hamill was not yet much of an actor...the effects, the ideas, the mythos, and the whimsy have never been equalled. A- Bluray |
Suspiria
Dir: Dario Argento Stars: Jessica Harper 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Dario Argento is a very talented filmmaker, as he can frame a scene and shock us with violence that is so stylized as to be surreal. None of my complains about this movie have to do with craftsmanship. My problems are the story and the ability to scare. When a young ballerina arrives at a new school and everyone starts dying...it is pretty run of the mill. When things begin to come to light...it is either stupid or confusing. When horror films are stupid and/or confusing...they cease being scary...and they cease being good. C |