FFA Movie Poll - 1974 Countdown Monday is here. (1 Viewer)

[otb_lifer]

  I recommend this one, too.

the only damn thing Lennon and McCartney agreed on during the dark pre/post breakup - Harry was genius.

Lennon's lost weekend? a tampon on the forehead, and Nilsson.

i haven't seen this doc, but it now nudges Dunham down a notch. 

 

[El Floppo]

It's a reason I have stayed away from Tiny Furniture too.  Actually, I don't even know if she's in it. 

Never seen Girls, and I have no problem separating people from movies either.  Just one I haven't gotten around to. 

 

[KarmaPolice]

Yeah, that was a couple odd statements, and I am not expressing myself well.  

I will drag my feet a tad if it's somebody I have a meh impression of.  How somebody is in the real world matters not to my enjoyment of a film when I get around to watching it.  Not sure that makes any more sense.  

Ie i watch and enjoy movies by Mel Gibson and Polanski even if I think they are terrible humans.  On the flip side I avoid movies with Nic Cage and Jeremy Renner because I think they are crap actors.  

Tiny Furniture has been on my list of movies to watch for awhile - since I made one of bluray Criterions I can get through our library system.  I envisioned it as being a quirky, Wes Andersony movie and that has far more to do with not getting to it vs her in real life not being the greatest.  (Didn't she admit to abusing her sister or some nonsense?) 

 

[El Floppo]

Yeah, that was a couple odd statements, and I am not expressing myself well.  

I will drag my feet a tad if it's somebody I have a meh impression of.  How somebody is in the real world matters not to my enjoyment of a film when I get around to watching it.  Not sure that makes any more sense.  

Ie i watch and enjoy movies by Mel Gibson and Polanski even if I think they are terrible humans.  On the flip side I avoid movies with Nic Cage and Jeremy Renner because I think they are crap actors.  

Tiny Furniture has been on my list of movies to watch for awhile - since I made one of bluray Criterions I can get through our library system.  I envisioned it as being a quirky, Wes Andersony movie and that has far more to do with not getting to it vs her in real life not being the greatest.  (Didn't she admit to abusing her sister or some nonsense?) 

I honestly don't know anything about her personal life. 

Fwiw, it's not Wes Anderson "quirky"...it's more post-grad, millennial zeitgeist funny observational stuff- like Baumbach's Kicking and Screaming for millennials. More "real" than "quirk" and she's incredibly brave with her exposing the uglier side of herself in her humor (in all ways imaginable, especially in the show).

 

[Ilov80s]

A few repeats here, a few I haven't seen mentioned yet:

Exit Through The Gift Shop

Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?

Rabbit Hole

Waiting for Superman

Greenberg

Blue Valentine

Nope.

Thanks for the recommendations!

 

[Eephus]

There were a lot of paranoid thrillers in the wake of Vietnam and Watergate.  A number including this one Executive Action, Blow Out and Winter Kills involved assassinations and others featured a shadowy political-industrial complex as the enemy.  They had a dark inevitability about them that you rarely see at the movies these days. 

Gordon Willis was the cinematographer on The Parallax View.  He had a pretty good 1974 because he was also the DP for Godfather Part II.

Do you recommend any of these?  At first I thought, "Oh yeah, Blow Up was a fantastic movie!" but then realized you said Blow Out.  I haven't seen any of these three

Executive Action is a polemical telling of some of Mark Lane's JFK conspiracy theories.  Its worst sins are dullness and wasting the talents of Burt Lancaster and Robert Ryan.

Blow Out is De Palma at his most stylized.  If you like him, you'll probably love Blow Out.  Like all De Palma's films, it has its moments for me but like most of them, the total package is missing something.

I think Winter Kills is the pick of the litter.  It was released near the end of the cycle in 1979 and extends familiar conspiracy and thriller tropes to the point of absurdity.  What's left is a black satire that's more cutting than funny.  The movie has a terrific cast:  a young Jeff Bridges, an old John Huston, Sterling Hayden, Eli Wallach, Anthony Perkins, Dorothy Malone.  It's on Amazon Prime.  I'll probably watch it after the game if Mrs. Eephus falls asleep.  Hope it's as weird as I remember it.

 

[Eephus]

This is post kids for me, so my movie viewing-especially for foreign and indie- went way down. Would appreciate some recommendations in those

That's the 90s for me.  You probably missed out on taking the kids to the video store.  Good times

 

[El Floppo]

That's the 90s for me.  You probably missed out on taking the kids to the video store.  Good times

Floppinha shot a commercial for Red Box recentlt- we couldn't explain to her in a meaningful way what it is. "They deliver a download to your iPad?"

 

[krista4]

Executive Action is a polemical telling of some of Mark Lane's JFK conspiracy theories.  Its worst sins are dullness and wasting the talents of Burt Lancaster and Robert Ryan.

Blow Out is De Palma at his most stylized.  If you like him, you'll probably love Blow Out.  Like all De Palma's films, it has its moments for me but like most of them, the total package is missing something.

I think Winter Kills is the pick of the litter.  It was released near the end of the cycle in 1979 and extends familiar conspiracy and thriller tropes to the point of absurdity.  What's left is a black satire that's more cutting than funny.  The movie has a terrific cast:  a young Jeff Bridges, an old John Huston, Sterling Hayden, Eli Wallach, Anthony Perkins, Dorothy Malone.  It's on Amazon Prime.  I'll probably watch it after the game if Mrs. Eephus falls asleep.  Hope it's as weird as I remember it.

Ohhhh, Blow Out is the Travolta one.  I did see that.  Thought it was awful.  I'm going to check out Winter Kills - thanks!

 

[Ilov80s]

The opening of Parallax View is about as strong as any movie I've ever seen. I have a question- where did Warren Beatty come from? I know he starred in Bonnie and Clyde. I think he helped get Bonnie and Clyde made. How did he get that power? How did he get so popular? 

 

[wikkidpissah]

The opening of Parallax View is about as strong as any movie I've ever seen. I have a question- where did Warren Beatty come from? I know he starred in Bonnie and Clyde. I think he helped get Bonnie and Clyde made. How did he get that power? How did he get so popular? 

Beatty had a kinda Fonzie turn in a popular TV show when i was a kid and his first flick, Splendor in the Grass, made him a national heartthrob, the Kennedy of pictures. He had the savvy to recognize that, with studio control falling away, he could use his draw power to get the kind of movies made he wanted made the way he wanted em made & wala. Like i said about Steve Martin earlier in the week, a product less of great talent ('cept super hawt) than immense curiosity. For 40 yrs after he got big, he spent almost all the wee hours of almost every night on the phone with people his office would hook him up with when he'd tell em he wanted to know this or that. My agent was on his call list because he was Russian and had helped him on some points with Reds. Warren would call him every coupla months for years after and they'd talk about just everything for an hour & a half. Matter of fact, when Beatty was considering running for President in '92, i think, my agent said i got this kid in Reno i'm gonna donate to you as a troublemaking speechwriter. That woulda been cool.

 

[El Floppo]

The opening of Parallax View is about as strong as any movie I've ever seen. I have a question- where did Warren Beatty come from? I know he starred in Bonnie and Clyde. I think he helped get Bonnie and Clyde made. How did he get that power? How did he get so popular? 

Well, ilove80s.. There's a mommy Beatty and a daddy Beatty and...uh.. wikkid- can you take over please

 

[Ilov80s]

I never knew Shirley MacLaine was Beatty's sister. Good looking family there. 

 

[wikkidpissah]

Well, ilove80s.. There's a mommy Beatty and a daddy Beatty and...uh.. wikkid- can you take over please

daddy puts his Splendor in mommy's Grass until Heaven Can Wait no longer. back to you, flop -

 

[Eephus]

Ohhhh, Blow Out is the Travolta one.  I did see that.  Thought it was awful.  I'm going to check out Winter Kills - thanks!

I watched Winter Kills (not 1974) last night.  It wasn't quite as great as I remembered but it is still a strange, strange movie.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I remember really digging Blow Out. 

 

[Eephus]

Most of Beatty's power as a industry player dates back to Bonnie & Clyde which capitalized on factors as diverse as the death of the studios, the French New Wave and hippie/rock n roll youth culture to become a huge hit.  He was able to get Bonnie & Clyde made on his bankable good looks and persistence in pulling together a production based on a script that had been passed around for years.  

Mark Harris' book Pictures at a Revolution looks at the transition from Old to New Hollywood from the angle of the five Best Picture nominees from the 1968 Oscars:  Bonnie & Clyde, The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Dr. Doolittle.  There are a lot of great stories about the making of the five movies and Harris does an excellent job of mixing the contemporary with perspectives from 40 years later.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I am behind on lists.  Hopefully I get to them tonight when I get home from holiday.  I think I have 6-7 to get added in plus any extra that might trickle in today. 

 

[Mr. Mojo]

Most of Beatty's power as a industry player dates back to Bonnie & Clyde which capitalized on factors as diverse as the death of the studios, the French New Wave and hippie/rock n roll youth culture to become a huge hit.  He was able to get Bonnie & Clyde made on his bankable good looks and persistence in pulling together a production based on a script that had been passed around for years.  

Mark Harris' book Pictures at a Revolution looks at the transition from Old to New Hollywood from the angle of the five Best Picture nominees from the 1968 Oscars:  Bonnie & Clyde, The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Dr. Doolittle.  There are a lot of great stories about the making of the five movies and Harris does an excellent job of mixing the contemporary with perspectives from 40 years later.

1967 was a great year for films. Cool Hand Luke was also that year.

 

[Ilov80s]

I am behind on lists.  Hopefully I get to them tonight when I get home from holiday.  I think I have 6-7 to get added in plus any extra that might trickle in today. 

You just got another one in your PM

Spoiler

20 (classics)  

Godfather 2

Chinatown

The Conversation

15 (great)    

Young Frankenstein

Hearts and Minds

Phantom of Liberty

12 (very good)   

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

The Taking of Pelham 123

The Parallax View

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Murder on the Orient Express

7 (good)   

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

A Woman Under the Influence

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

Blazing Saddles

 

[Ilov80s]

1967 was a great year for films. Cool Hand Luke was also that year.

Just looked at the 67 list and I agree that it's a very very strong year. 

 

[Ilov80s]

I thought it was some slick, pretty movie-making with a lot of implausible plot points.  Ultimately it felt unsatisfying, but I'll probably give it a point or two in my lowest tier just for some of the shots and sequences.  To wit:  opening sequence (which I watched twice), scene a la Clockwork Orange where he's strapped in watching sequences of photos, closing scenes with the band/candidate/kids with cards.  Some specific shots I loved:  the escalator shots in the closing scenes, the scene of the candidate coming in on the golf cart where the screen gets more and more filled with black (thought it bold to have so much black space on the screen for so long), scenes of Beatty and his former FBI friend on the kids' train.  Loved the movie-making, didn't love the plot or story overall (though liked the ending).

It was slick but I found the end really satisfying. The beginning and end sequences were the strongest parts of the film.  Yeah, you pretty much nailed it on your review except I did like the plot and the twist. I think the movie could be redone today but where the audience doesn't know for sure if he actually is the assassin at the end or not- was he framed or was he so obsessed with assassination, conspiracy, etc that he kills a senator? In an odd way I found the film really well made and also kind of failing to deliver on the potential. 

The last line is great too, could be the summation of the paranoid 70s vibe so many films have :

 This is an announcement, there will be no questions.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Spoiler

1. Chinatown (the closest to a perfect movie i've ever seen) - 30

2. Young Frankenstein - 25

3. Godfather 2 - 22

4. Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz - 20

5. Blazing Saddles - 20

6. Murder on the Orient Express - 17

7. The Conversation - 17

8. Groove Tube -12

9. The Man With the Golden Gun (my favorite Bond flick) - 8

10. Four Musketeers - 5

11. F for Fake - 4

12. Harry & Tonto - 4

13. Hearts & Minds - 3

14. Fear Eats Soul - 3

15. Lacombe, Lucien - 2

16. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore - 2

17. Death Wish - 2

18. Swept Away - 2

19. Parallax View - 1

20. Lenny - 1

Apologies to otb - i couldnt find a luddite way to re-screen Texas Chainsaw Massacre, so stuck with my original assessment. No apologies to Woman Under the Influence fans - still find it a frantic, actorly muddle. On to 2010 (unless the entire cinematic year gers folded back into '09)!!

 

[Gr00vus]

Alright, I'm cashing out for 1974 -

The Four Musketeers: 30

Blazing Saddles: 30

The Man With The Golden Gun: 21

Godfather II: 18

Chinatown: 18

The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz: 15

The Longest Yard: 10

Ali: Fear Eats The Soul: 5

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore: 4

No mistaken omissions. I've tried to like Young Frankenstein, it just doesn't make me laugh very much.

I didn't manage to see Parralax View, Harry And Tonto, or A Woman Under the Influence. I decided to spend some of my time revisiting The Three/Four Musketeers, and I think all things considered, I'm happier for it.

Only Porthos could invent a new way of disarming himself!

 

[krista4]

Rabbit Hole

This was on a couple of lists, so I looked it up and realized that not only had I seen it but I thought it was great.  Sorta losing my mind in that I can't even recognize movie titles from a few years ago.  Ugh.

I also noticed Biutiful on the 2010 list and recommend that one, too.  Not an "absolutely loved it" movie, but worth seeing.

 

[krista4]

Most of Beatty's power as a industry player dates back to Bonnie & Clyde which capitalized on factors as diverse as the death of the studios, the French New Wave and hippie/rock n roll youth culture to become a huge hit.  He was able to get Bonnie & Clyde made on his bankable good looks and persistence in pulling together a production based on a script that had been passed around for years.  

Mark Harris' book Pictures at a Revolution looks at the transition from Old to New Hollywood from the angle of the five Best Picture nominees from the 1968 Oscars:  Bonnie & Clyde, The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Dr. Doolittle.  There are a lot of great stories about the making of the five movies and Harris does an excellent job of mixing the contemporary with perspectives from 40 years later.

That book sounds fascinating.  

You just got another one in your PM

Spoiler

20 (classics)  

Godfather 2

Chinatown

The Conversation

15 (great)    

Young Frankenstein

Hearts and Minds

Phantom of Liberty

12 (very good)   

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

The Taking of Pelham 123

The Parallax View

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Murder on the Orient Express

7 (good)   

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

A Woman Under the Influence

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

Blazing Saddles

Our lists are amazingly similar.

It was slick but I found the end really satisfying. The beginning and end sequences were the strongest parts of the film.  Yeah, you pretty much nailed it on your review except I did like the plot and the twist. I think the movie could be redone today but where the audience doesn't know for sure if he actually is the assassin at the end or not- was he framed or was he so obsessed with assassination, conspiracy, etc that he kills a senator? In an odd way I found the film really well made and also kind of failing to deliver on the potential. 

The last line is great too, could be the summation of the paranoid 70s vibe so many films have :

 This is an announcement, there will be no questions.

Interesting idea for a remake.  I think I'd like that movie better than this one, though like you said the opening and ending sequences were fantastic.

 

[Eephus]

9. The Man With the Golden Gun (my favorite Bond flick) - 8

You can't just launch this into the cosmos without some backstory

 

[wikkidpissah]

You can't just launch this into the cosmos without some backstory

Its weird. Don't like Roger Moore, as Bond or not, but i thought it had the best plot; Moore, Christopher Lee, Tattoo & the girls all had alot of fun with it so it played like a comedy. Bond has the best, job, the best toys, the best chicks, the best tasks - he should be having a ball and, this time, everyone did.

 

[simey]

Spoiler

9. The Man With the Golden Gun (my favorite Bond flick) - 8

It is my favorite Bond film too. 

 

[Eephus]

Its weird. Don't like Roger Moore, as Bond or not, but i thought it had the best plot; Moore, Christopher Lee, Tattoo & the girls all had alot of fun with it so it played like a comedy. Bond has the best, job, the best toys, the best chicks, the best tasks - he should be having a ball and, this time, everyone did.

I was hoping for a story about that time you met Herve Villechaize at The Ritz.

 

[wikkidpissah]

I was hoping for a story about that time you met Herve Villechaize at The Ritz.

nope, but i have deplaned on several occasions

 

[KarmaPolice]

The only Bond movie I've seen is one from the Daniel Craig era.  

 

[Eephus]

The only Bond movie I've seen is one from the Daniel Craig era.  

If you add that to my 007 watching history and take the average, you'd end up with two obsessive Bond fans. 

 

[KarmaPolice]

Dammit, a little farther behind than I thought.  

and start the maths. 

 

[KarmaPolice]

Oooh.  Only 1 pt difference between the #5 and #6 movies.  Only about 150pt difference between 1st and 2nd.  

 

[KarmaPolice]

Alright, I will close up shop until the countdown tomorrow.  

I received 27 lists (which exactly mimicked the # of votes in the poll who said they wanted 70s individually) and there were 72 different titles that got votes this time.  

The natural cutoff was 40pts which will give us 25 movies for the countdown.  

 

[KarmaPolice]

 

[KarmaPolice]

Please have patience today - I'm looking at you, Yankee - had some lovely health issues last night and I am working on a couple hours of sleep.  Not sure I will get through this whole thing today.  

 

[KarmaPolice]

#25 -  40pts

3/1

I worry that you'll work in an office, have children, celebrate wedding anniversaries. The world of the heterosexual is a sick and boring life.

Absolutely the grossest movie I've ever seen

Absolutely the grossest movie I've ever seen all done without gore which I have to give John Waters some credit for. It has been a long time since I saw this movie but some scenes will probably be with me for life. My first sense that this might not be the movie for me is when I noticed I was the only female in the theater. I had to bail about 20 minutes from the end. My ex-husband watched the rest without me. Anyway not recommended for women or most men. It might be of use for preventing pregnancy with teen girls.

FEMALE TROUBLE

 

[Eephus]

#25 -  40pts

FEMALE TROUBLE

Yay

/thread

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Please have patience today - I'm looking at you, Yankee - had some lovely health issues last night and I am working on a couple hours of sleep.  Not sure I will get through this whole thing today.  

Jeez, even when I'm silent and patient I get attacked.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

27 lists and 40 points is the cutoff.  Why do I get the feeling that the movies that didn't make the countdown are going to start a war.....

 

[KarmaPolice]

Jeez, even when I'm silent and patient I get attacked.

  Just knew it was coming if I didn't get through this today... 

 

[KarmaPolice]

#24  45pts

5/-

I'm in the driver's seat! I'm runnin' the show! I'M THE ####IN' PRESIDENT!

A film of unbelievable badness

Straight to the point: "The Groove Tube" is one of the most unfunny, unclever and downright horrible films ever made. This "comedy" is so void of anything remotely resembling a trace of wit that it's almost incomprehensible that it was even made. I said almost because there are fans of everything after all.

This film isn't even "good" bad or "enjoyable" bad. To put this movie on the same level of entertainment as "Plan 9" or "Robot Monster" would be a crime to those films. Films like that you can actually watch and get a kick out of. But this film is SO bad, SO poorly made, acted and scripted and SO incredible stale, that there just isn't even a trace of "camp" or "schlock" to be found.

THE GROOVE TUBE

 

[wikkidpissah]

#24  45pts

5/-

I'm in the driver's seat! I'm runnin' the show! I'M THE ####IN' PRESIDENT!

A film of unbelievable badness

Straight to the point: "The Groove Tube" is one of the most unfunny, unclever and downright horrible films ever made. This "comedy" is so void of anything remotely resembling a trace of wit that it's almost incomprehensible that it was even made. I said almost because there are fans of everything after all.

This film isn't even "good" bad or "enjoyable" bad. To put this movie on the same level of entertainment as "Plan 9" or "Robot Monster" would be a crime to those films. Films like that you can actually watch and get a kick out of. But this film is SO bad, SO poorly made, acted and scripted and SO incredible stale, that there just isn't even a trace of "camp" or "schlock" to be found.

THE GROOVE TUBE

I may not have known Herve Villechaize, but i traded laughs with Ken Shapiro on several occasions and i am verrrry proud to be able to say that.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Zardoz didn't make the list, did it?  One of the best worst science fiction movies ever made and it couldn't muster 1.48 points per list.... Shame.

By the way - Groove Tube was X rated when it came out, which is a technical violation of your no porn rule I think.  Maybe.  Because having a penis spokesperson in the 70's was just wrong.  

 

[KarmaPolice]

#23  50pts

4/1

What we professional liars hope to serve is truth. I'm afraid the pompous word for that is "art".

M is for mediocre

Orson Welles' 1974 documentary "F for Fake" examines trickery and fraud, mainly focusing on two men who have been exposed as frauds themselves. Clifford Irving is a biographer who wrote the allegedly fraudulent Howard Hughes autobiography, yet, at least it seems, purports his innocence. The other main subject of the film is artist Elmyr de Hory, a man who has spent his life painting fakes of famous masterpieces, sometimes selling them to museums as real works by the original artists. Interspersed among these stories are bits where Welles does magic tricks to illustrate points, etc., and he also addresses the fact that his career began as a fraud when he first lied on his resume and then created a radio sensation with "War of the Worlds".

I really wanted to love this film and find it profound since I am such a Welles devotee, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Part of the problem lied with the fact that it was not just non-linear, it was completely scattered. While I appreciate stylish editing and quick jumps and zooms, particularly when used in an unusual format such as a documentary, there was simply too much of it going on in "F for Fake". They created a distraction as opposed to lending style. If the story had been more clear and comprehensive, I think that the editing probably would not have been as annoying. The scattered storytelling was made all the more obnoxious by the fact that these were truly interesting subjects, particularly Elmyr de Hory. His artistic fakery brings up the topic of fraud in the art world, and who is truly able to determine the authenticity of certain works; and if the works are not authentic, what does it say about those who admire the pieces in museums? This is one documentary that I would say to at least give a shot, but don't be afraid to turn it off if you're not enjoying it. It is certainly the most discombobulated documentary I have ever seen; it is a cross between a documentary, an art film and experimental film, none of which is properly represented or isolated. I don't have any lesser opinion of Welles after seeing it, but it certainly, in my opinion, doesn't stand out as a glowing specimen in his oeuvre.

F FOR FAKE

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Discombobulated is a word that just doesn't get used enough.

 

[KarmaPolice]

#22 55pts

5/1

I reek of England and Calvinism.

A poor costume drama that doesn't take itself seriously enough.

This sequel sets the standard for sequels being inferior to the original. Aside from some interesting camera angles, Ms. Welch's clevage, and some pretty scenery, this movie is just a collection of oh so clever scenes.

It's a waste of time.

THE FOUR MUSKETEERS

 

[Yankee23Fan]

#22 55pts

5/1

I reek of England and Calvinism.

A poor costume drama that doesn't take itself seriously enough.

This sequel sets the standard for sequels being inferior to the original. Aside from some interesting camera angles, Ms. Welch's clevage, and some pretty scenery, this movie is just a collection of oh so clever scenes.

It's a waste of time.

THE FOUR MUSKETEERS

Ms. Welch's cleavage was outstanding though.

Like make you believe in God good.