Mike’s Top Ten of 1970-1979
The 70s might be the single best decade for American film. I love the 30s and 40s, but the 70s is just so good. There’s not really much to say about this decade except, this is when the director was king. Directors got to make these offbeat, weird films that they thought would be good, stuff the studios would have never made ten years earlier, and while there were some failures, it led to so much more interesting filmmaking that has continued to endure.
Surprisingly, this wasn’t an overly difficult list. Four of them are in my top ten of all time, and one more is in the top twenty. So that’s half the list. The rest — you don’t need to go down very far on my list of favorite films to get to them. And you’d think the hardest part was narrowing the list down to 20. But no. That was easy too. I got a solid 20 and really only could have fit on one more. I think this one hit the sweet spot.
For methodology purposes, the way I compile these Top Tens of the Decade lists: I take my top ten for each year of the decade, throw them all together, and simply whittle it down until I find what I feel are my ten favorites from that decade. Not the best, my favorite. That’s really all it is. I feel like if I can figure out what my favorite films of all time are, then I can figure it out by specific decades. (more…)
Pic of the Day: “I know something about this dog. She’s going somewhere. She’s on her way.” (75th Anniversary)
Mike’s Top Ten of 1979
If I had an affinity for 1978 because it has two of my all-time favorite films, double down on that for 1979. I’ve got two top ten favorite films this year. And there’s a bunch of stuff I love down below the line too.
There’s just so much great stuff here. And, in a way, this is really the last of the auteur years. People often point to the 70s as being the best decade in American film. Typically what they mean is 1967-1976. That’s the decade. But even so, that ’70s’ mentality hung around for the last couple years after Star Wars, before it started getting phased out. This is the last year where it had a noticeable presence. 1980 was the year where it officially ‘ended’, before being turned over to big corporations and mainstream filmmaking. This year still feels like it has some freedom for the cool auteur stuff to come out. Though you can definitely see things coming to an end based on what we had five years before this. (more…)
Pic of the Day: “You think you know something, don’t you? You think you’re the clever little girl who knows something. There’s so much you don’t know, so much. What do you know, really? You’re just an ordinary little girl, living in an ordinary little town. You wake up every morning of your life and you know perfectly well that there’s nothing in the world to trouble you. You go through your ordinary little day, and at night you sleep your untroubled ordinary little sleep, filled with peaceful stupid dreams. And I brought you nightmares. Or did I? Or was it a silly, inexpert little lie?” (75th Anniversary)
Mike’s Top Ten of 1978
A lot to like about 1978. Two of my all-time favorite movies came out this year. So I’ll always think back fondly on it. Plus, there are a couple of really iconic films, aside from those two. The superhero movie started this year. The comedy genre changed forever this year. The horror genre definitely changed forever this year. There’s not really an overarching cinematic change here so much as the 70s continue to churn out great movies.
If there’s one thing I can say about this year, it’s just… Magic. Go see Magic. It’s awesome. (more…)
“There can’t be such a thing as civilization unless people have a conscience. Because if people touch God anywhere, where is it except through their conscience? And what is anybody’s conscience except a little piece of the conscience of all men that ever lived?” (75th Anniversary)
