70(tie). Barroom Romance- "Fat City"(1972)
Stacey Keach and Susan Tyrell booze it up in this John Huston heartbreaker.
70(tie). Aneurysm- "Damian: The Omen II"(1978)
A 12 year old Damian displays his diabolical power.
69. Making Love- "Don't Look Now"(1973)
Did Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie REALLY have sex? The mere existence of that question guarantees them a spot on this list.
68. Bare Knuckle- "Hard Times"(1975)
Charles Bronson was a bad-ass. Watch his Depression-era boxing drifter sometime and tell me I'm wrong.
67. "Is it safe?"- "Marathon Man"(1976)
Laurence Olivier's ex Nazi gives Dustin Hoffman some unwanted dental work in John Schlesinger's NYC-set thriller.
65. "A Side order of Toast".- "Five Easy Pieces"(1971)
Has any one in history ever ordered breakfast as entertainingly as Jack Nicholson? Maybe Michael Douglas in "Falling Down", but that's it.
64. UNION- "Norma Rae"(1979)
Best Actress Sally Field makes me proud to be in one, as she heroically stands up for her coworkers in a North Carolina textile factory.
63. Engine Room- "The Poseidon Adventure"(1972)
Gene Hackman was one of the decade's heroes. Shelley Winters would surely agree in this holiday hit from 'Master of Disaster' mega-producer Irwin Allen.
62. Popeye on smack- "The French Connection II"(1975)
A heroin-addicted Popeye is the definite high point of John Frankenheimer's sequel.
61. Therapy- "Klute"(1971)
Jane Fonda was the best actress of the '70s, as evidenced by this gripping sit-down with her hardened call girl Bree Daniels.
60. Krypton- "Superman"(1978)
A stately Marlon Brando makes sure we take Richard Donner's DC adaptation, the grandfather of superhero movies, seriously.
59. Truck crash- "Duel"(1971)
A 25 year old Steven Spielberg displays the crowd-pleasing craft that would make him a legend ten years later, in his dynamic directorial debut.
58. Lili Von Shtupp- "Blazing Saddles"(1974)
You could put any moment in which Madeline Khan appears in Mel Brooks' wildly popular Western spoof anywhere you want on this list. I won't argue.
57. Hooker and Gondorff win- "The Sting"(1973)
Butch and Sundance may have died, but Robert Redford and Paul Newman survived and thrived at the conclusion of George Roy Hill's beloved con artist caper.
56. Dismantled Bridge- "Smokey and the Bandit"(1977)
We can't have a '70s retrospective without Burt Reynolds. The Bandit's big jump in his Pontiac Trans Am had to have made Evel Knievel proud.
55. Second place- "The Bad News Bears"(1976)
Walter Matthau's rag-tag Little Leaguers lose the championship game, and celebrate anyway.
54. Mirrors- "Enter the Dragon"(1973)
The martial arts master's signature film is loaded with highlights from his too-short life and career. Bruce Lee will live forever.
 |
| Don't loan him any money. |
53. "I'll put this up your ass".- "Mean Streets"(1973)
Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese, both 30 years old, explode onto the screen. American cinema would never be the same.
52. Attica!- "Dog Day Afternoon"(1975)
Al Pacino confirms that he's one of the greatest acting talents in the world(as if there were any doubt) on a NYC sidewalk in Sidney Lumet's fact-based bank-robbery drama.
51. Shoe Polish-"Silver Streak"(1976)
A comedy duo is born in a bathroom, as Richard Pryor teaches Gene Wilder how to act black.
50. Luke and Sally- "Coming Home"(1978)
Jon Voight and Jane Fonda both earned Oscars for their tender, sensitive Vietnam-era love affair.
49. New Year's Eve job interview- "Kramer vs. Kramer"(1979)
A desperate Dustin Hoffman will do anything to keep his kid in the decade's last great drama.
48. Butter- "Last Tango in Paris"(1973)
For obvious reasons, this one might not hold up too well under 21st Century scrutiny, but there's no changing the fact that Bernardo Bertolucci filmed Marlon Brando's last great lead performance.
47. Mein Herr- "Cabaret"(1972)
Ever wonder why we're so enamored with Liza Minnelli? Look no further.
46. Opening speech- "Patton"(1970)
Fun fact- George C. Scott would only agree to play the great WWII general, if screenwriter Frances Ford Coppola's bold, barnstorming introduction of him remained intact.
45. Chainsaw dance- "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"(1974)
Leatherface lets loose in this legendary ending.
44. Glass pane decapitation- "The Omen"(1976)
Richard Donner's horror hit was the hottest movie of the summer of '76, thanks to grisly moments like this.
43. The Audition- "The Driver"(1978)
Ryan O'Neal was really f'n cool, as this revved-up parking garage exercise illustrates that in Walter Hill's lean, mean thriller.
42. Pecan Pie- "The Heartbreak Kid"(1972)
Charles Grodin lives up to his name in the ORIGINAL "Heartbreak Kid", the best comedy you've never seen. Forget that Farrelly brothers nonsense.
41. "I Need This"- "The Jerk"(1979)
Steve Martin takes his paddleball, his ashtray and his remote control and marches toward the comedy hall of fame.
40. Happily Ever After- "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"(1971)
Charlie views paradise and gets everything he ever wanted from Gene Wilder's wacky candy-man.
39. Popeye goes to work- "The French Connection"(1971)
Don't even think about calling yourself a movie buff if you haven't seen Gene Hackman break up a seedy bar in his porkpie hat. I think I'll watch it again tonight.
38. Nosy Fella- "Chinatown"(1974)
Jack Nicholson's polished PI Jake Gittes gets a blade up his nostril. If only Roman Polanski had been allowed to stay in the U.S.
37. Michael kills- "The Godfather"(1972)
Michael didn't want to get mixed up in the Family business. There's no turning back after a restaurant double murder as the Pacino legend is born.
36. Prom Night- "Carrie"(1976)
Sissy Spacek unleashes all her telekinetic powers and rains hell down upon her high school tormenters in Brian De Palma's breakthrough.
35. Thanksgiving night- "Rocky"(1975)
Cinema's ultimate first date finds Rocky Balboa sweetly courting Talia Shire's painfully shy Adrian. Things seemed a lot simpler then.
34. The Chief escapes- "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"(1975)
A lobotomized Randle McMurphy still prevails over Nurse Ratched's tyranny, as Will Sampson sends that hydrotherapy console through a window.
33. Chrissie Watkins- "Jaws"(1975)
An attractive blonde is shark bait in the attention-grabbing opening scene of the second-biggest movie of the '70s.
32. Indianapolis speech- "Jaws"(1975)
While we're on "Jaws", Robert Shaw's crusty captain Quint survived in 1945. Today's movies don't often take time out for quiet character-building moments like this.
31. Mad as hell- "Network"(1976)
The first ever posthumous Academy Award went to Peter Finch for his HOF freak-out in Sidney Lumet's prophetic satire.
30. UFO landing- "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"(1977)
Spielberg stages his first visit from extra-terrestrials with an astonished three-year old in Indiana. Appreciative moviegoers were every bit as astonished.
29. "Was that the Boogeyman?"- "Halloween"(1978)
Dr. Loomis(Donald Pleasance) rescues Laurie Strode(Jamie Lee Curtis) after a frightful night of babysitting. Six bullets leaves Michael Myers dead. He wouldn't stay that way.
28. Mad Mel- "Mad Max"(1979)
A star was born the moment a 22 year old Mel Gibson exacted revenge with a leather jacket and a sawed-off. You can hack through those handcuffs in ten minutes. Your ankle in five.
27. Summer Nights- "Grease"(1978)
John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John are immortalized in the last great musical for a long while.
26. Home Invasion- "Death Wish"(1974)
A young Jeff Goldblum is among the monstrous thugs that turn Charles Bronson's Paul Kersey into the cold vigilante we know and love in this late-night-cable classic.
25. Al and Willy- "The Sunshine Boys"(1975)
I'll take Walter Matthau and George Burns bickering in a NYC apartment with a Neil Simon screenplay over nearly every 2010s comedy.
24. Scorsese scene- "Taxi Driver"(1976)
The legendary director pops up in the backseat of Travis Bickle's cab as a particularly twisted passenger. Or is he just a bad idea in his head?
23. "You have to have a little faith in people".- "Manhattan"(1979)
Some prefer Woody Allen's black-and-white love letter to the greatest city in the world, and it's perfectly-pitched ending, to his more celebrated "Annie Hall".
22. Ben Kenobi- "Star Wars"(1977)
Alec Guinness adds instant weight and credibility to all that Force talk and the very existence of lightsabers as that wise old hermit Ben Kenobi.
21. Superman and Lois Lane- "Superman"(1978)
I don't care if they make a hundred "Superman" movies. Not one will hold up as well as a 25 year old Chris Reeve and Margot Kidder being directed by Dick Donner on that balcony.
20. "I'm the only one here".- "Taxi Driver"(1976)
Travis talks to himself in his apartment. That's all Paul Schrader's script said. De Niro took one step closer to immortality with this unforgettable improvisation.
19. "Is it true?"- "The Godfather"(1972)
It IS true, and Diane Keaton's Kay Corleone will never know what's going on in that room.
18. A bigger boat- "Jaws"(1975)
Steven Spielberg lets us see 'Bruce' for the first time and packed theaters across the country collectively gasped.
17. Willard kills Kurtz- "Apocalypse Now"(1979)
Martin Sheen mows down a bald, bloated, bloviating Marlon Brando. The horror.
15. Imaginary ballgame- "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"(1975)
Jack Nicholson lifts the spirits of a room full of mentally-ill misfits in Milos Forman's Oscar-winning masterpiece.
14. Win montage/The Rematch- "Rocky II"(1979)
If the last half-hour of Sylvester Stallone's second boxing movie doesn't recharge your batteries, you're probably dead.
13. Squeal Like a Pig- "Deliverance"(1972)
Ned Beatty has a very unpleasant encounter with a pair of vile hillbillies. An entire generation is traumatized.
12. Vito takes over- "The Godfather Part II"(1974)
Robert De Niro's entire portion of "Part II" is riveting, but this carefully planned kill really seals the deal.
11. Travis snaps- "Taxi Driver"(1976)
A brothel bloodbath frees Jodie Foster's underage prostitute Iris, and is the culmination of all of Bickle's mental anguish. Did he really survive it?
10. Elevated train chase- "The French Connection"(1971)
Legend has it that Popeye Doyle's Pontiac LeMans careened through REAL Brooklyn traffic in William Friedkin's famous chase scene against which all others would soon be measured.
9. "Do You Feel Lucky..."- "Dirty Harry"(1971)
You're lucky if you got to see a 40 year old Clint Eastwood blast his way onto the A-list. 'Dirty' Harry Callahan is one hellacious crimefighter.
8. An Offer We Can't Refuse- "The Godfather"(1972)
Marlon Brando's mesmerizing Vito Corleone grants favors on his daughter's wedding day, setting the classy tone for the whole decade in the process.
7. You Should Be Dancing- "Saturday Night Fever"(1977)
A svelte 23 year old stud named John Travolta tears up the dance floor. Don't you wish you had a time machine?
6. The Smell of Napalm- "Apocalypse Now"(1979)
Robert Duvall is dynamite as the surf-loving Col. Kilgore, as Frances Ford Coppola lays any doubts about his Vietnam epic to rest.
5. Chest-bursting- "Alien"(1979)
What the FUCK?! Ridley Scott rewrote the rulebook on science-fiction(and ruined John Hurt's shirt) in his franchise-starting, career-making classic.
4. "The Power of Christ Compels You".- "The Exorcist"(1973)
This edge-of-your-seat ending had people fainting in the theater and may have been responsible for a heart attack or two(hey, it was 1973). The greatest horror movie of all time earned it's reputation.
3. "I Love YOU"- "Rocky"(1976)
Sylvester Stallone's immortal pugilist loses to Apollo Creed by decision, but wins something much more valuable.
2. Aerial assault on the Death Star- "Star Wars"(1977)
This crazy climax(still impressive today) changed EVERYTHING, making George Lucas' gargantuan space fantasy THEE movie event of the 1970s. Among a lot of other reasons.
1. Russian Roulette- "The Deer Hunter"(1978)
I don't care if it never happened in real life. This harrowing sequence is the textbook definition of intense, as Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken(in his Oscar-winning breakthrough role) are scarred for the rest of their lives inside a Vietnamese prison camp.
No comments:
Post a Comment