"You talking to me?" THE 70s COUNTDOWN IS DONE!

[cannastop]

#100

Midnight Express (1978)

 

17 points, 5 lists

Nominated for 6 Oscars, winning for adapted screenplay and score

 

Quote

The film was also criticized for its unfavorable portrayal of Turkish people. In Mary Lee Settle's 1991 book Turkish Reflections, she writes, "The Turks I saw in Lawrence of Arabia and Midnight Express were like cartoon caricatures, compared to the people I had known and lived among for three of the happiest years of my life."[16] Pauline Kael, in reviewing the film, commented, "This story could have happened in almost any country, but if Billy Hayes had planned to be arrested to get the maximum commercial benefit from it, where else could he get the advantages of a Turkish jail? Who wants to defend Turks? (They don’t even constitute enough of a movie market for Columbia Pictures to be concerned about how they are represented)".[17] One reviewer writing for World Film Directors wrote, "Midnight Express is 'more violent, as a national hate-film than anything I can remember', 'a cultural form that narrows horizons, confirming the audience’s meanest fears and prejudices and resentments'".[18]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_Express_(film)

Edited October 11, 2019 by cannastop

[cannastop]

#99

 

 

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)

 

18 points, on 3 lists, 2 of them in the top 10.

 

Sight & Sound 2012: 18 critics, 10 directors.

 

Quote

Herzog wrote the screenplay "in a frenzy", and completed it in two-and-a-half days. Much of the script was written during a 200-mile (320 km) bus trip with Herzog's football team. His teammates got drunk after winning a game and one of them vomited on several pages of Herzog's manuscript, which he immediately threw out the window. Herzog claims he cannot remember all of the things that he wrote on these pages.[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aguirre%2C_the_Wrath_of_God

Edited October 10, 2019 by cannastop

[cannastop]

#97 (tie)

 

Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

On 4 lists.

81% audience score on Rottentomatoes. Nominated for 5 Oscars, winning for visual effects.

 

Quote

Veteran 20th Century Fox executive Darryl F. Zanuck, who had earlier produced The Longest Day (1962), wanted to create an epic that depicted what "really happened on December 7, 1941", with a "revisionist's approach". He believed that the commanders in Hawaii, General Short and Admiral Kimmel, though scapegoated for decades, provided adequate defensive measures for the apparent threats, including relocation of the fighter aircraft at Pearl Harbor to the middle of the base, in response to fears of sabotage from local Japanese. Despite a breakthrough in intelligence, they had received limited warning of the increasing risk of aerial attack.[1] Recognizing that a balanced and objective recounting was necessary, Zanuck developed an American-Japanese co-production, allowing for "a point of view from both nations".[9] He was helped out by his son, Richard D. Zanuck, who was chief executive at Fox during this time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tora!_Tora!_Tora!

Edited October 10, 2019 by cannastop

[cannastop]

#97 (tie)

 

The Black Stallion (1979)

 

 

18 points, 4 lists, one 1st place ranking.

 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score:

Average Rating: 7.92/10
Total Count: 28
Fresh: 25 Rotten: 3

Nominated for two Oscars.

 

Quote

Napoleon was portrayed by Junior, who previously appeared in National Lampoon's Animal House as Trooper, Niedermeyer's horse.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Stallion_(film)

Edited October 10, 2019 by cannastop

[Dementeleus]

Oh man, 98?!

 

[cannastop]

#94 (tie)

 

The Conformist (1970)

 

18 points, 5 lists.

2012 Sight & Sound 16 critics, 10 directors.

 

Quote

The filming locations included Gare d'Orsay and Paris, France; Sant' Angelo Bridge and the Colosseum, both in Rome.[11] Lead actor Trintignant learned his Italian-language lines phonetically, and per common practice in the Italian film industry at the time, was later dubbed over by another actor, Sergio Graziani.[12][13][14]

The film was influential on other filmmakers: the image of blowing leaves in The Conformist, for example, influenced a very similar scene in The Godfather, Part II (1974) by Francis Ford Coppola.[15] Additionally, the scene in which Dominique Sanda is chased through the snowy woods after her husband has been murdered, is echoed with mood, lighting and setting in a third-season episode of The Sopranos, "Pine Barrens", directed by Steve Buscemi.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Conformist_(1970_film)

Edited October 10, 2019 by cannastop

[Jake Gittes]

How many lists did you end up getting?

[cannastop]

#94 (tie)

Manhattan (1979)

18 points, 5 lists

Sight & Sound 2012 8 critics 6 directors

Quote

According to actress Stacey Nelkin, Manhattan was based on her romantic relationship with Allen. Her bit part in Annie Hall ended up on the cutting-room floor, and their relationship started when she was 17 years old and a student at New York’s Stuyvesant High School.[10] Allen did not publicly acknowledge the relationship until 2014.[11]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_(1979_film)

Edited October 10, 2019 by cannastop

[cannastop]

#94(tie)

Duel (1971)

18 points, 5 lists

 

Quote

The script is adapted by Richard Matheson from his own short story, originally published in Playboy magazine. Matheson got the inspiration for the story when he was tailgated by a trucker while on his way home from a golfing match with friend Jerry Sohl on November 22, 1963, the same day as the John F. Kennedy assassination.[1] After a series of unsuccessful attempts to pitch the idea as an episode for various television series, he decided to write it as a short story instead.[1] In preparation for writing the story, he drove from his home to Ventura and recorded everything he saw on a tape recorder.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duel_(1971_film)

 

Edited October 10, 2019 by cannastop

[cannastop]

#93

Airport (1970)

 

 

18 points, 6 lists

 

Quote

Most of the filming was at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport. A display in the terminal, with stills from the field and the film, says: "Minnesota's legendary winters attracted Hollywood here in 1969, when portions of the film Airport were shot in the terminal and on the field. The weather remained stubbornly clear, however, forcing the director to use plastic 'snow' to create the appropriate effect."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_(1970_film)

Edited October 10, 2019 by cannastop

[Jason]

2 hours ago, Jake Gittes said:

How many lists did you end up getting?

A total of 27 lists were submitted - thanks to all!

Some other stats:
 

Spoiler

 

From those 27 lists, a total of 1,646 entries were submitted, for an average list length of 61 films. The most common list length was the full 100, 8 such lists were submitted.

No film appeared on more than 25 lists.
Four films appeared on 24 or more. (You'll have to wait to find out just how many appeared on 25!)
227 films appeared on only one list.

460 unique films were listed in total.

Every film to make the top 100 appeared on at least three lists.
Every film that appeared on at least seven lists made the list.

16 different films received a #1 ranking, 15 of which made the list.
62 different films received a top 5 ranking, 51 of which made the list.
92 different films received a top 10 ranking. 71 of which made the list.

 

 

Edited October 10, 2019 by Jason

[cannastop]

#91 (tie)

Three Days of the Condor (1975)

 

 

18 points, 7 lists

Sight & Sound 2012: 1 critic

 

Quote

Some critics also described the film as a piece of political propaganda, as it was released soon after the "Family Jewels" scandal came to light in December 1974, which exposed a variety of CIA 'dirty tricks'. However, in an interview with Jump Cut, Pollack explained that the film was written solely to be a spy thriller and that production on the film was nearly over by the time the Family Jewels revelations were made, so even if they had wanted to take advantage of them, it was far too late in the filmmaking process to do so. He said that despite both Pollack and Redford being well-known political liberals, they were only interested in making the film because an espionage thriller was a genre neither of them had previously explored.[13]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Days_of_the_Condor

Edited October 10, 2019 by cannastop

[cannastop]

#91 (tie)

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

18 points, 7 lists

2012 Sight & Sound: 2 directors

 

Quote

Carpenter had hoped to make a Howard Hawks-style Western like El Dorado or Rio Lobo, but when the $100,000 budget prohibited it, Carpenter refashioned the basic scenario of Rio Bravo into a modern setting.[8][6]:2[7] Carpenter employed the pseudonym "John T. Chance" for his original version of script, entitled The Anderson Alamo, but he used his own name for the writing credit on the completed film.[6]:3 The script was written in eight days.[9] Carpenter joked, "The script came together fast, some would say too fast."[10]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_on_Precinct_13_(1976_film)

Edited October 10, 2019 by cannastop

[cannastop]

#90

The Wicker Man (1973)

 

 

19 points, 5 lists

2012 Sight & Sound: 1 critic

 

Quote

In the early 1970s, the actor Christopher Lee was a Hammer Horror regular, best known for his roles in a series of successful films, beginning with The Curse of Frankenstein (as the monster, 1957). Lee wanted to break free of this image and take on more interesting acting roles. The idea for The Wicker Man film began in 1971 when Lee met with screenwriter Anthony Shaffer, and they agreed to work together.[9] Film director Robin Hardy and British Lion head Peter Snell became involved in the project. Shaffer had a series of conversations with Hardy, and the two decided that it would be fun to make a horror film centering on "old religion", in sharp contrast to the Hammer films they had both seen as horror film fans.[10]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wicker_Man

Edited October 10, 2019 by cannastop

[cannastop]

#88 (tie)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

 

20 points, 5 lists

100% on Rotten Tomatoes with 38 reviews

 

Quote

Novelist Godey (Morton Freedgood) was a "subway buff."[7] The novel and the film came out during the so-called "Golden Age" of skyjacking in the United States, from 1968 through 1979. Additionally, New York City was edging toward a financial crisis, crime had risen citywide (as depicted in the contemporaneous film Death Wish) and the subway was perceived as neither safe nor reliable.

 

At first the Metropolitan Transportation Authority refused to cooperate with the filmmakers. Godey's novel was more detailed about how the hijackers would accomplish their goal and recognized that the caper's success did not rely solely on defeating the “deadman feature” in the motorman's cab. Screenwriter Stone, however, made a fictional override mechanism the lynchpin of the script. Director Sargent explained, “We’re making a movie, not a handbook on subway hijacking...I must admit the seriousness of ‘Pelham’ never occurred to me until we got the initial TA reaction. They thought it potentially a stimulant—not to hardened professional criminals like the ones in our movie, but to kooks. Cold professionals can see the absurdities of the plot right off, but kooks don't reason it out. That's why they're kooks. Yes, we gladly gave in about the ‘deadman feature.’ Any responsible filmmaker would if he stumbled onto something that could spread into a new form of madness.”[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taking_of_Pelham_One_Two_Three_(1974_film)

Edited October 10, 2019 by cannastop

[cannastop]

#88 (tie)

All That Jazz (1979)

 

 

20 points, 5 lists.

2012 Sight & Sound: 3 directors

Quote

With increasing production costs and a loss of enthusiasm for the film, Columbia brought in Fox to finance completion, and the latter studio acquired domestic distribution rights in return.[5]

 

The film's structure is often compared to Federico Fellini's 8½, another thinly veiled autobiographical film with fantastic elements.[6][7][8]

 

The story's structure closely mirrors Fosse's own health issues at the time. While trying to edit Lenny and choreograph Chicago, Fosse suffered a massive heart attack and underwent open heart surgery.[9]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_That_Jazz_(film)

Edited October 10, 2019 by cannastop

[cannastop]

And that's it for tonight.

And now I no longer envy people who do countdowns.

[cannastop]

18 minutes ago, Jason said:

From those 27 lists, a total of 1,646 entries were submitted, for an average list length of 61 films. The most common list length was the full 100, 8 such lists were submitted.

Interesting.

[cannastop]

@DeeCee @ZeeSoh @captainwondyful @Eric Addams @Water Bottle

 

pin, please?

[Dementeleus]

I think I forgot to put DUEL on my list.