1978 Movies
OSCARS Won/Nominated
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
Dir: John De Bello Watching Bad Taste recently, the micro-budget Peter Jackson movie, it angered me to no end for providing NOTHING valuable to the audience. This movie is stupid...but some of the spoof jokes land so well that it makes the micro-budget amateur nonsense worthwhile. Tomatoes are either actual tomatoes or absurdly huge foam balls...but the attacks are all of screen or just talked about. The height of ridiculousness, but a bunch of belly laughs really save it. C+ |
Dawn of the Dead
Dir: George A. Romero 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die My bar is set pretty high when it comes to the zombie movie. I have a good scare movie (28 Days Later), a good action movie (2004's Dawn of the Dead), and a good comedy (Shaun of the Dead). 1978's Dawn of the Dead has no idea what genre to fit in. Is it a comedy? I mean...people are hitting zombies in the face with pies. Is it action? If it is, the action gets incredibly repetitive. Is it social satire? That is where it is most successful with the zombies wandering through a mall image. Overall, it is just a mish-mash of every genre possible stuffed into a zombie movie. It is fun to watch, but modern zombies are so much more entertaining. C+ |
OSCARS
|
Days of Heaven
Dir: Terrence Malick Stars: Richard Gere 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Terrance Malick has such somber, slow-moving, hypnotic movies. This film was slow, but short, and wholly melancholic and tragic. People have complained that the love triangle and the emotions that come from it aren't quite fleshed out. I got why Malick kept it all reserved. The point of view is from the young girl and how she observes it all...and the desolation of the vast wheat fields adds to the somber mood and sloth-like advances of the day. I found it intriguing and whimsical. B+ |
OSCARS
|
The Deer Hunter
Dir: Michael Cimino Stars: Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale, Meryl Streep 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die IMDB #164 Is it wrong to rank a movie based solely on one scene? That's how I feel about The Deer Hunter. The opening act at the wedding is too long and inconsequential. The final act is a bit boring and rambling. However, that famous "Russian Roullette" scene is so incredibly powerful that it single-handedly legitimized the Best Picture Oscar for me. It was also nice to see Christopher Walken doing something other than making fun of himself and his caricature. B+ DVD |
OSCARS
Best Original Song
|
Grease
Dir: Randal Kleiser Stars: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die One of the most infinitely watchable and enjoyable movies, not just musicals, of all time. The enthusiasm and fun exhibiting on the screen is infectious in a way few movies are able to pull off. Even people who hate musicals (i.e. my wife) find themselves singing the songs and repeating the jokes and sharing the journey of Danny and Sandy. Even the supporting roles are iconic and fun. Such a great time and has become timeless in a way even the epic musicals fail to achieve. A- DVD |
Halloween
Dir: John Carpenter Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die I can't believe I had never seen this film before. As a rule, I usually hate slasher movies because they only exist to find newer and more graphic ways to kill stupid people. The original Halloween is positively Hitchcockian, full of suspense and foreshadowing and with deaths that can hardly be called graphic. I felt like I was watching Jaws while sitting through this film. You know there is a powerful, deadly force out there...you get glimpses of it...and you are scared out of your mind in anticipation. GREAT stuff. There is a scare in this film where something breaks a window...it took me almost 15 minutes to calm down after that one. I love being scared!!! A- |
OSCARS
Best Director
Best Actress Best Supporting Actress Best Original Screenplay Best Art Direction |
Interiors
Dir: Woody Allen Stars: Diane Keaton, Geraldine Page, Mary Beth Hurt, Kristin Griffith Interiors was Woody Allen's first attempt into full fledged drama...and it is reasonably successful...but these people are insufferable. If it weren't for how entertaining Geraldine Page is, I'd give this movie a much worse review. Everyone else is stagey and a bit inauthentic...but she is superb. But I have to say...What the hell is wrong with these people? They are a bunch of rich, whining snobs...and the film has a hard time elevating itself beyond that and made it almost impossible to have any sympathy or empathy. B- |
Jaws 2
Dir: Jeannot Szwarc Voices: Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gray Jaws was such a huge success...a sequel was almost inevitable. It was a fools errand because it was never going to be as good...because Spielberg did everything you could do with a shark thriller perfectly. That being said...there is a lot here, while being repetitive, that really works. Sharks will always be a primal fear, and Jaws 2 doesn't go off the deep end with absurdity like 3 & 4 did. There are a bunch of scared teens afloat in the ocean and Chief Brody's sons are aboard...and the fear of a mother and father for their sons is palpable. I even like the shark's death...it's pretty badass. B- |
The Lord of the Rings
Dir: Ralph Bakshi Voices: John Hurt Forget about the Jackson Trilogy...this is just not a good animated movie. Animation that wasn't Disney in the 70s and 80s were often terrible, and this isn't really any kind of exception. It is a good idea for building Tolkien's world...but its bland and boring. C- DVD |
National Lampoon's Animal House
Dir: John Landis Stars: John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Karen Allen, Donald Sutherland, Tom Hulce, Kevin Bacon The brilliance of this film is that it captures college and the Fraternity experience, albeit in a hyperbolic way. Belushi always gets the spotlight in this movie, but each and every character gets their big laugh...and sometimes several. Otter, Hoover, DDay, Boon, Pinto, Flounder, Neidermeyer, Marmalard...they are all iconic and hysterical. Any time, any day...I can watch this movie and reminisce about my own hi-jinx in college, in between trying to catch my breath from laughing. A- DVD |
OSCARS
|
Superman
Dir: Richard Donner Stars: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder I don't like the character of Superman at all. Anyone who is invincible with essentially unlimited strength just isn't intertesting to me, and never has been. However, Donner's direction, John Williams' rousing score, and Gene Hackman's fantastic performance as Lex Luthor makes this a pretty decent outing. It broke the mold with some great green screen effects to really make us think that Reeve is flying. B |
Up in Smoke
Dir: Lou Adler Stars: Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die This movie is so not for me. Someone thought putting two potheads in a van made out of weed was enough for comedy. I often hate stoner humor and this is a perfect example why. The movie seems content to have two idiots just talk slow and laugh because they are high...and other people come into contact with their pot smoke and get the munchies. That's it. There is no plot, hardly a screenplay, and no real memorable scenes. A few chuckles here and there...but almost infuriatingly stupid. C- |
OSCARS
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction Best Costume Design Best Original Score |
The Wiz
Dir: Sidney Lumet Stars: Diana Ross, Michael Jackson This is such a strange experience, and it may be a bit of white privelage going on that I feel something like this was almost unnecessary, but The Wiz never clicked with me. It is made with a lot of talent, with Lumet directing and the undeniable stardom of Ross and Jackson. It was always dubbed as The Wizard of Oz with the POV of the African-American experience, but why was Lumet the chosen director then? Just was never my thing. C+ |
Wu Du (Five Deadly Venoms)
Dir: Cheh Chang 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Yeah, sure...this movie is a bit amateur, the sound effects are monotonous, the makeup effects are ridiculous, and the acting is wooden...but I couldn't help but enjoy this romp. You can see where Tarantino got his Kill Bill-style inspirations and where Stephen Chow took his Kung-Fu Hustle to the logical, hilarious extreme. I was impressed by the action, found myself intrigued by how the story progressed, and enjoyed it MUCH more than the Bruce Lee style of gritty kung-fu. This was like a comic-book...with some sudden R-rated occurrences that kept me interested. This was FUN stuff. B+ |