How do you whittle down the greatest-ever movie decade into a list of 15 films?
World of Reel‘s Jordan Ruimy is asking critics and other film neurotics to submit their lists of the 15 finest films of the ’70s, “ranked or unranked.” Fine, but with minor tweaks they’re all going to name the same films.
Let’s imagine for a second that the following are my top picks: (1) William Friedkin‘s The French Connection; (2) Peter Bogdanovich‘s The Last Picture Show; (3) Stanley Kubrick‘s A Clockwork Orange (4) Arthur Hiller and Paddy Chayefsky‘s The Hospital, (5) Robert Altman‘s McCabe & Mrs. Miller, (6) John Schlesinger’s Sunday Bloody Sunday, (7) Mike Hodges‘ Get Carter, (8) Sam Peckinpah‘s Straw Dogs, (9) Louis Malle‘s Murmur of the Heart, (10) Alan Pakula‘s Klute, (11) Luchino Visconti‘s Death in Venice, (12) Mike Nichols‘ Carnal Knowledge, (13) Hal Ashby‘s Harold and Maude, (14) Roman Polanski’s Macbeth and (15) Ken Russell‘s The Devils.
Well, guess what — they were all released in 1971! What about the other nine years?
Here’s my actual 15 (ranked): 1. The Godfather (’72), 2. The Godfather, Part II (’74). 3. The French Connection (’71), 4. All The Presidents Men (’76), 5. Assault on Precinct 13 (’76), 6. Network (’76), 7. Serpico (’73), 8. The Last Detail (’73), 9. Chinatown (’74), 10. The Hospital (’71), 11. McCabe and Mrs. Miller (’71), 12. The Friends of Eddie Coyle (’73), 13. Mean Streets (’73), 14. Days of Heaven (’78), 15. Annie Hall (’77).
Just missed the mark…
16. A first-rate, handsomely produced war film driven entirely by character and fate, and with one of the greatest endings ever written (“All glory is fleeting”) — Patton (’70).
17. 75% of a great movie that’s mainly about itself (Coppola, grandiosity, Vittorio Storaro, tracking shots, cinematic opera, Wagner and Valkyries)…pretending to be a Vietnam War film — Apocalypse Now (’79).
18. Not a “great” film but a very good one that contains one of the greatest extended long-take, single-shot finales — The Passenger (’75).
19. A celebration of the rough and tumble that comes with blue-collar, Boston-area hockey + a dose of middle-aged what-the-hell — Slap Shot (’77).
20. Not a great film but a delicious, Damon Rynyon-esque crime fable that I’ve watched at least 10 or 12 times — The Sting (’73).
21. The greatest God’s Lonely Man movie ever made, Paul Schrader incarnate, etc. But the “dating Betsy” portion is ridiculous (Cybill Shepherd would go out with a psycho? He takes her to a 42nd Street porno film?) and the ending, which has always been quite clear to me, has confused too many for too long — Taxi Driver (’75).
22. Arguably the greatest Parisian mood flick ever, containing the most nakedly vulnerable Marlon Brando performance ever, and certainly the strangest, kinkiest and most compelling sexually-driven film-for-the-swells ever made — Last Tango in Paris (’72).
Top-Tier ’70s Films With Nagging Problems: 1. Barry Lyndon (dead-zone third act), 2. A Clockwork Orange (repetitive, overly coincidental plot turns, Alex is going to croon “Singing In The Rain” a second time in the victim’s bathroom?), 3. Halloween (best of the slashers, but a fairly ridiculous conceit), 4. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (dozens of bothersome elements), 5. The Deer Hunter (tedious, overlong opening concerning a Pennsylvania blue-collar wedding, ridiculous Russian roulette playing in Vietnam), 6. Frenzy (lacks tension, believability in some sections), 7. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (decent social parable but way over-praised, McMurphy could have left at any time but he stuck around for a lobotomy?), 8. Nashville (snide attitude towards country-music yahoos), 9. Jaws (crafty popcorn excitement but don’t call it a great film), 10. Dirty Harry (smug, unbelievable in some respects), 11. Star Wars (huge hit, iconic franchise launch, nowhere near as good as The Empire Strikes Back), 12. Harold and Maude (too precious); 13. Dog Day Afternoon (absorbing heist dramedy with fascinating lead chgracter, but I didn’t believe Al Pacino‘s bank robber was gay…he didn’t quite convince me).