ILX Best Films of the 1970s

I dare you to find a principle in my disdain!

Sure I like throwing out lists of great movies, but since no two of my own from week to week would match, locking them into a ballot is just too labor-intensive to me.

Alec Guinness on Star Wars in new bio: "fairy-tale rubbish"

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Annie Hall
Network
Love and Death
Papillon
Taxi Driver
The Concert for Bangladesh
Up in Smoke
Manhattan
Woodstock
The Godfather: Part II
Master of the Flying Guillotine v. One Armed Boxer
Aguirre, Wrath of God
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Young Frankenstein
Get Carter
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Invincible Armour

Manhattan
The Last Picture Show
Annie Hall
Solaris
Don't Look Now
The Godfather
The Godfather part II
Taxi Driver
Harold & Maude
Stalker
The Harder They Come
Deep End
Catch-22
In the Realm of the Senses
Day For Night
Play It Again Sam
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Mean Streets
Walkabout
The Shout (not seen this mentioned - another oddity by Skolimowski, who made Deep End above)
That Obscure Object of Desire
Phantasm
M*A*S*H
Young Frankenstein
Sleeper
The Man Who Fell to Earth

1941
3 Women
36th Chamber Of Shaolin
7% solution
A Boy and His Dog
A Clockwork Orange
A Fistful of Dynamite
a new leaf
a woman under the influence
Across 110th Street
Aguirre the Wrath of God
Airport
ali: fear eats the soul
Alien
Amarcord
American Graffiti
an unmarried woman
Animal House
Annie Hall
Apocalypse Now
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
Bad News Bears
Badlands
Barry Lyndon
Bed & Board
being there
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Black Christmas
Blazing Saddles
Blue Collar
Blume In Love
Breaking Away
brewster mccloud
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Cabaret
California Spilt
Carrie
catch-22
Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke
chinatown
Chloe in the Afternoon
Claire's Knee
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Cries and Whispers
Cross of Iron
Dawn of the Dead
Day for Night
Days of Heaven
deadhead miles (for you malick fans)
Deathrace 2000
Deep End
Deep Red
Dersu Uzala
Dirty Harry
Dog Day Afternoon
Don't Look Now
Don't Touch the White Woman!
duel
Enter the Dragon
Eraserhead
Even Dwarfs Started Small
f for fake
Fantasy Mission Force
female trouble
fire sale
Five Easy Pieces
freebie & the bean
Freebie and the Bean
Gates of Heaven
Get Carter
Grease
Halloween
harlan county
Harold & Maude
harold and maude
harry and tonto
heart of glass
Hearts & Minds
hearts of the west
High Plains Drifter
In the Realm of the Senses
Invincible Armour
Jaws
Jeanne Dielman
Jonah, Who Will Be 25 In The Year 2000
Junior Bonner
kasper hauser
Kentucky Fried Movie
Killer of Sheep
killing of a chinese bookie
Klute
La Maman et La Putain
Lancelot Du Lac
Last House on the Left
last of the red hot lovers
last picture show
Last Tango In Paris
Lenny
Letter To Jane
Life of Brian
Little Big Man
little murders
Love and Death
lucifer rising
Lupin III: The Mystery of Mamo
M*A*S*H
Mad Max
Magnificent Butcher
Manhattan
Marathon Man
Master Of The Flying Guillotine
Master of the Flying Guillotine v. One Armed Boxer
McCabe & Mrs Miller
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Mean Streets
Mikey & Nicky
Millhouse
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python's Life of Brian
Nashville
National Lampoon's Animal House
Network
New York, New York
Night Moves
Night of the Lepus
O Lucky Man!
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Over the Edge
Papillon
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
Patton
Performance
Phantasm
Phantom of the Paradise
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Play It Again Sam
Pumping Iron
quadrophenia
rafferty & the gold dust twins
Real Life
Richard Pryor: Live in Concert
Rock 'n' Roll High School
Saint Jack
Shaft
Silent Movie
Sleeper
Small Change
Smile
Smokey & The Bandit
Smokey and the Bandit
Solaris
Sounder
spirit of the beehive
Stalker
STAR WARS
Straw Dogs
Stroszek
Susperia
sweet movie
Sweet Sweetback's Badassssss Song
Taxi Driver
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
That Obscure Object of Desire
the act of seeing with one's own eyes
The Adventures of Picasso
The Ballad of Cable Hogue
The Brood
The Chant Of Jimmy Blacksmith
The China Syndrome
The Concert for Bangladesh
The Conformist
The Conversation
The Deer Hunter
The Devil Probably
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
The Exorcist
The French Connection
The Fury
The Getaway
The Go-Between
The Godfather
The Godfather Part II
The Godfather: Part II
The Grande Bouffe
The Green Room
The Harder They Come
The Heartbreak Kid
The Holy Grail
The Hospital
the hot rock
the in-laws
The Iron Cross
The Jerk
The Last Detail
The Last Picture Show
The Last Waltz
The Long Goodbye
The Lord of the Rings
The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Man Who Would Be King
The Mirror
The Mouth Agape
The Muppet Movie
The Offence
The Omen
The Outlaw Josey Wales
the out-of-towners
The Red Circle
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Sentinel
The Shout
The Sorrow and the Pity
the spirit of the beehive
the sting
The Story of Adele H.
The Sugarland Express
the sunshine boys
the tenant
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
The Three Musketeers
The Twelve Chairs
The War At Home
The Warriors
The Wicker Man
The Wizards
The Woman With Red Boots
Theatre of Blood
They Might Be Giants
three days of the condor
Thunderbolt & Lightfoot
THX 1138
tout va bien
Two English Girls
Two-Lane Blacktop
Ulzana's Raid
Up in Smoke
valentin de las sierras
Vanishing Point
Walkabout
Wattstax
weekend
What's Up Doc?
Who Is Harry Kellerman And Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?
Willard
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Wise Blood
Woodstock
Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music
Xala
Young Frankenstein

Dritte Generation, Die (1979)
... aka The Third Generation
Ehe der Maria Braun, Die (1979)
... aka The Marriage of Maria Braun (USA)
In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden (1978)
... aka In a Year of 13 Moons
Despair (1978)
Deutschland im Herbst (1978)
... aka Germany in Autumn
Bolwieser (1977) (TV)
... aka The Stationmaster's Wife
Frauen in New York (1977) (TV)
... aka Women in New York
Chinesisches Roulette (1976)
... aka Chinese Roulette (USA)
Satansbraten (1976)
... aka Satan's Brew (USA)
Ich will doch nur, daß ihr mich liebt (1976) (TV)
... aka I Only Want You to Love Me
Angst vor der Angst (1975) (TV)
... aka Fear of Fear (USA)
Mutter Küsters Fahrt zum Himmel (1975)
... aka Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven (USA)
... aka Mother Kuster's Trip to Heaven (UK)
Faustrecht der Freiheit (1975)
... aka Fox and His Friends (USA)
... aka Fist-Fight of Freedom (International: English title: incorrect title)
... aka Fist-Right of Freedom (International: English title)
... aka Fox (UK)
Wie ein Vogel auf dem Draht (1975) (TV)
... aka Like a Bird on a Wire
Effi Briest (1974)
... aka Effi Briest (USA)
... aka Fontane Effi Briest
Martha (1974) (TV)
Angst essen Seele auf (1974)
... aka Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (USA)
... aka Fear Eats the Soul
Nora Helmer (1974) (TV)
... aka Nora Helmer (USA)
Welt am Draht (1973) (TV)
... aka World on Wires
... aka World on a Wire
Wildwechsel (1973) (TV)
... aka Jail Bait (USA)
... aka Wild Game (UK)
Bremer Freiheit (1972) (TV)
... aka Bremen Coffee
... aka Bremen Freedom
"Acht Stunden sind kein Tag" (1972) (mini) TV Series
... aka Eight Hours Are Not a Day
Bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant, Die (1972)
... aka The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (USA)
Händler der vier Jahreszeiten, Der (1972)
... aka The Merchant of Four Seasons
Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte (1971)
... aka Beware of a Holy Whore (USA)
Whity (1971)
Pioniere in Ingolstadt (1971) (TV)
... aka Pioneers in Ingolstadt
... aka Recruits in Ingolstadt
Rio das Mortes (1971) (TV)
Niklashauser Fart, Die (1970) (TV)
... aka The Niklashausen Journey
Amerikanische Soldat, Der (1970)
... aka The American Soldier (USA)
Warum läuft Herr R. Amok? (1970)
... aka Why Does Herr R. Run Amok?
Kaffeehaus, Das (1970) (TV)
... aka The Coffeehouse
Götter der Pest (1970)
... aka Gods of the Plague (USA)

I've seen about 25 of those and the only one that sucks is "Satan's Brew" (farce was not his forte). I'd put 4 or 5 of them in a Seventies Top 20.

Murmur of The Heart
Prime Cut

My shortlist:

The Godfather
Star Wars
Jaws
The War at Home
The Bad News Bears
The Godfather Part II
Apocalypse Now
Taxi Driver
Mean Streets
The Sorrow and the Pity
Manhattan
Annie Hall
Saturday Night Fever
Blazing Saddles
National Lampoon's Animal House
The Harder They Come
Breaking Away
The China Syndrome
Dog Day Afternoon

And then it's a toss-up (based mostly on my poor memory):

The Warriors
Norma Rae
Walkabout
McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Chinatown
Grease
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
The Conversation
Carrie
Real Life
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Ha ha, that was my favorite of his as well as being the source of my login name.

Still at 6 ballots

18 more days of voting left!!!!

"They're breaking wind at 90!"

The voting period is half over, you have 2 weeks remaining to case your ballots.

I am still doing a drawing for a Amazon gift certificate for all ballots received.

Results are interesting so far.

I'm still working on mine, I'd like to watch a few more films that I feel like I should see.

The Conformist
Annie Hall
The Third Generation
End of the Road
Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street
Lucifer Rising
Dawn of the Dead
The Harder They Come
Tout Va Bien
The Act of Seeing With One's Own Eyes
Ganja and Hess
Thriller: A Cruel Picture
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
Razor 2: The Snare
Under the Flag of the Rising Sun
Sisters
11 x 14
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41
It's Alive

Murmur of The Heart
Prime Cut
California Spilt
Who Is Harry Kellerman And Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?
Smile
Jonah, Who Will Be 25 In The Year 2000
Night Moves
The Heartbreak Kid
Little Murders
Blue Collar
GATES OF HEAVEN
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

I know my list is ultra-conventional, but I think most of these films are famous for good reason. I've counted the two Godfathers together, as Sight and Sound did in their last poll--there are arguments against doing so, but it makes sense to me. I'll get this e-mailed...

It's actually one of his best films.

Well that's good, since Brando does what he can to wreck the first one.