The Review: My Top 10 Favourite 60's & 70's Movies
1. One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest (1975) (Trailer)
Atmosphere. This movie has plenty of it. What it also has is plenty of charm. given the subject matter and some of the grittier scenes in the movie, it's supringly uplifting. one of few movies that when i finish, i feel both depressed and extremely uplifted at same time. The finish is powerful without being loud, it allows itself to end slowly, fades with a sense of pride and you feel instantly "man, i've just seen a classic". could a review go without mentioning Nicholson? no, he is FANTASTIC, IMO his best performance. He was great in Easy rider, he was fantastic in Five easy pieces, stole Batman, but this performance blows all those out of the water. As do the supporting cast, they all perform career highlights, its so rich in good acting. there's a reason this is so famous and well liked, but don't take my word for it, watch it.
2. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Pacino Gives in my opinon his best performance of his career in this film about a confused young man, who robs a bank, in what seems a desperate act. This aswell as being a very good thriller , is also a very good character study. He we see a confused man, not sure of his place in life, looking for a quick bit of cash to start over. They make subtle refernces to issues such as his sexuality, which adds to depth of the character and Pacino Plays this brilliantly. Also, as his co-star we have John Cazale, one of most talented actors to sadly have his career cut short. However, in his short career, he starred in 5 movies, all considered some of greatest of all time, Dog Day Afternoon, The conversation, Deer Hunter, Godfather 1 & 2. This movie is also quite funny, and overall a very good watch indeed
3. The Deer Hunter (1978)
REVIEW COMMING SOON!
4. The Graduate (1967)
REVIEW COMMING SOON!
5. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
this film tackles with serious and disturbing content with style and raw realism. this movie as well as being a overall dark and gritty film has its light moments. this is mostly brought by the interaction between Joe (Jon Voight) and Salvatore 'Ratso' Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman) Dustin hot off the heels of his amazing performance in "The Graduate (1967)" (#4) is here a very different character. though the same insecurities apply i see it like this. In the graduate, he was this character who had everything going for him and had it easy but had these insecurities that stopped him but here you have a guy who in no means has an easy life, he has many problems but dosen't have the insecurity to the extent that ben did, but has all reason to have them, but doesn't.. Dustin steals the show here, he mixes dark and insecure comedy with bone chilling sadness. Another aspect i liked about the movie was the locations. you had the great city scapes with in contrast with the mood fitting gritty reas of the city. This movie is as gripping and interesting as they come, though at times difficult to watch, it is well worth it. It also can take the title of most unfair Injustice, becuase it for some reason is NOT on the IMDB250, this the 1969 oscar winner is not on the top250, now something has to be wrong? See this movie now.
6. The Godfather (1972)
REVIEW COMMING SOON!
7. Marathon Man (1976)
REVIEW COMMING SOON!
8. Alien(1979)
REVIEW COMMING SOON!
9.The Innocents (1961)
REVIEW COMMING SOON!
10. Easy Rider(1969)
REVIEW COMMING SOON!
So close its not even funny :)
Badlands (1973)
Five Easy Pieces (1971)
great choices! midnight cowboy is an amazing movie... if you like annie hall you should see manhattan(1979), it's a much better movie, although both are great.
the only one i don't love is cassidy and sundance... it really is a disgrace to all westerns and an embarrassment to most western fans(i don't actually know that last part, but i would hope i'm not the only one)... i mean c'mon there are BJ thomas songs in a so-called western.
thankyou. yeah Midnight cowboy is a masterpiece. Thanks for the woody allen tip
Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid: yeah this was actually a tough pick. i remember enjoying it alot when i first saw it mainly because it challenged my sterotypical view on western conventions. i usually see them as quite boring and tiring movies but personally this one really attacked and challenged that for me. so thats why its in there, but out of all of them that is probably the only one that is on thin ice in terms of staying in this list.
well if you don't like your normal western than i guess butch and sundance is something you might like... but thats why i dislike it.
as far as woody allen, i'd also recomend Stardust memories, which is the other allen film i believe to be better than annie hall... but it's not anything like annie hall and isn't from the 60's or 70's, so i didn't mention it b4.
Cool, thx again for the tip. i'll check it out! its amazing really how many he has made, i think its one every year.
Have you seen Once Upon a Time in the West or The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (actually, I'm surprised grandpa_chum didn't recommend these Leone films to you)? If not, I think you might like them. They're westerns, but they're certainly not boring.
If you have seen them, and were perhaps referring to them with your statement about westerns, then ah, well...
Some other good candidates that you might enjoy include Dr. Strangelove, Cool Hand Luke, Chinatown, Harold and Maude, or Apocalypse Now.
No, i haven't seen any of those westerns you mentioned, so i'll be sure to check them out. i think i have seen about 10mins of Good,bad and ugly. most of the westerns i was referring to were quite early ones, ones made in the 50's. i don't really know the name of many of them, its just the type of movie that was on in the background, always kind of dull.
Chinatown is one thats on my too see mental list, i'll add the others!
First of all, excellent article.
I second what AJ told you about Leone's westerns (and I would even extend this selection of great italos to A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More, but better ask grandpa_chum for that). If you mention westerns of the 50s, you surely refer to Ford-Wayne productions. Ok, some of them are quite tedious (e.g. Rio Grande), but you should (re)watch The Searchers, My Darling Clementine (starring Henry Fonda, not John Wayne), The Man who Shot Liberty Valance and above all Stagecoach (made in 1939!). I'd also recommend High Noon (a classic and a great western too). I just watched it a few days ago, and i was astonished by Gary Cooper's powerful performance.
Then one western (yeah, still westerns) that you might really enjoy is Little Big Man (that means, if you haven't yet seen it), starring Dustin Hoffman (in one of his best performances) and Faye Dunaway. I also liked Dances with Wolves by and with Kevin Costner, which, however, you may consider as boring, sometimes.
Now about your list: Well, I miss films like Star Wars and Taxi Driver, but I know you didn't like them very much. So, I come to Lawrence of Arabia (what a surprise!) and Don't Look Now. First one needs no (more) any comments (nearly 4 hours long, but never, I repeat and insist, NEVER, boring) and the second movie is an intense horror film starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie: often underrated and "underwatched", but excellent nevertheless.
But now I'll shut up, and try to get somehow somewhere Midnight Cowboy (after your interesting review, I want to see it even more!) and The Deer Hunter (oh, and Annie Hall)!
thanks mate! i love making these lists. i have many in this series (Fave movie, F.Animated movies) and i love to make them because it gives me a chance to spread the word of many movies and i really like picking and trying ot find interesting pictures to use.
thanks for the western movies recommendations. i'll check out the names, do some research and see if i can remember if i have seen some of these before i watch them. The Searchers i'm pretty sure was one of them i saw. it's weird i just find it hard to get into westerns. Little big man also rings a bell, think i've seen that one. but i'm always open to trying things, so i'll watch thme again and the other ones you mentioned and try to sway my view on them. i mean for example, when i rewatched Taxi Driver recently, though it's not one of my favourites, i did enjoy it more than the first time, so i'm willing ot try these.
When i think about watching Lawrence of Arabia .. Ben Hur always somes to mind. because it's about the same length and when i sat down to watch Ben hur, it was so boring i stopped watching after about half an hour. but i know from one of your previous lists that you also don't like Ben hur, so you wouldn't like Lawrence of Arabia if it was like ben hur, so if i get a chance i'll take a look! As for Star Wars, well it is good but in contrast with Empire, *for me* it just can't compare.
Yeah if you do get a chance to see Midnight cowboy, please take hte time ot see it, you wont be let down. Also thanks ofr recommending Marathon Man, it was great and as you cna see mad it firmly on this list
i felt the same way about ben-hur... but that was after loving every second of lawrence of arabia... so i guess it's a reoccuring theme...
the other guys are right about Leone's movies, if westerns fromt he 50's aren't your thing, by all means see a leone western... about as far from 50's westerns you can get while still being great westerns... i'd recomend a fistful of dollars to see if you like his style, cause otherwise you're basically gonna get a 3-hour introduction, in which his movies do get a bit slow, but if you end up being a fan you won't care... fistful of dollars is still one of his best(i love em all), under 2 hours, and imo the most exciting(not as slow as the rest) of his westerns
Fishful of dollars sounds cool, i'll be sure to rent a few of his movies.
lol that last line was meant ot say:
"Yeah if you do get a chance to see Midnight cowboy, please take the time to see it, you wont be let down. Also thanks for recommending Marathon Man, it was great and as you can see made it firmly on this list"
lol laot of spelling mistakes - thats what i get for being a quick typer!
I'd like to add one thing here. That is, if you look sth. up about Don't Look Now, be careful about spoilers. You will enjoy the movie only if you don't know about its... no, no spoiling here...
:-) ok , no spoiling. i must ask compared to films like Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, is it just as gritty?
In fact, Don't Look Now is very different from Taxi Driver or Raging Bull, but it also digs into your mind with poignant scenes and impressive actors. Its atmosphere is unique.
cool, sounds interesting!
I must warn you, Rushmore, that if you thought Raging Bull was slow, I couldn't see how you could find Don't Look Now interesting. Especially because it makes much less sense than Raging Bull. Feel free to still watch it, but don't say I didn't warn you.
thx. i'm always interested in different views on movies (or anything for that matter) I think most of the time with Martin Scorcesse movies, i only watch them for a few reasons:
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A Highly recommended recommedation
NOTHING else on TV
watching it with friends or family members
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But i am interested now with the contrasting views on Don't look now from both you and 1922. so i may well check it out. saying all this though i have seen a fair few of his really for a guy who dosen't like most of his movies:
Goodfellas (My brother bought the dvd)
The Aviator (1922 recommendation)
Taxi Driver ( On tv - thought it was meant to be a "classic")
Cape feare (Tv nothing else on - seeing what its like cmopared to the simpsons spoof)
Raging Bull (again meant to be "classic" - general recommendation form listology)
I'd only really rate Aviator / Goodfellas, there the only ones i liked.
hey just realised that don't look now isn't a martin scorcesse film! :-) lol more chance of me liking it!
i know this may sound silly, but hoffman's Miami dream sequence is possibly the best acting performance i've ever seen. I wouldn't even begin to know how to run like a cripple having a dream on a beach, but he does it SOOO well
yeah that was a great scene
I saw that Midnight Cowboy will be broadcast soon on German TV (29th of April)!!! And Deer Hunter too (26th of April).
yeah! i do hope you like them, can't wait to hear what you think of both
I finally managed to see Midnight Cowboy and also Serpico. MC is indeed terrific, while Serpico was a little overlong, and even Al Pacino has already been better (e.g. in Dog Day Afternoon).
Now I still want to see Annie Hall (grrr, it was on TCM, last Friday, but we no longer get it) and Badlands.
yay! glad you liked it, you also now remind me to update this list a little. review have been "comming Soon" for a long time. Yes, if you get a chance badlands is worth a watch, very very good stuff.
Yup, and I finally got to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind!
Cool, your thoughts on that?