1978--The Year in Review

Perhaps this is not the best year of the 1970s, but it's not a mediocre one at all. The top 20 films here scream out joyously and fantastically to the Earth. And the top choice, battered as it may now be, still stands as a prime example of world cinema. It shook me to my core then, and it still does today. And I cannot fail to hail my top director, who really establishes his lyrical voice here. Plus, nearly the best music documentary of all time, and terrific horror, comedy, thrillers, spoofs, war movies, documentaries, rock n’ roll (great year for that!), UK and US television, and the first notable comic book movie (though that now seems like a execrable curse, even as this one set the template). By the way, please check out Special Delivery, the seven-minute choice for Best Animated Short--you will NOT be sorry. Treat yourself! It’s marvelous. And, yes…also…I love Scorsese's The Last Waltz. A masterpiece, that! It makes me cry with utter ecstasy. But so does, ever so slightly more importantly, Michael Cimino's heartbreaking wartime story. NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are only occasionally reflective of the selections made by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka The Oscars). When available, the nominee that actually won the Oscar will be highlighted in bold. 

PICTURE: THE DEER HUNTER (US, Michael Cimino)
(2nd: The Last Waltz (US, Martin Scorsese)
followed by: Days of Heaven (US, Terrence Malick)
Interiors (US, Woody Allen)
Straight Time (US, Ulu Grosbard)
The Tree of Wooden Clogs (Italy, Ermanno Olmi)
An Unmarried Woman (US, Paul Mazursky)
Who’ll Stop The Rain (US, Karel Reisz)
Blue Collar (US, Paul Schrader)
Halloween (US, John Carpenter)
Gates of Heaven (US, Errol Morris)
The Silent Partner (Canada, Darryl Duke)
Midnight Express (UK, Alan Parker)
Coming Home (US, Hal Ashby)
The End (US, Burt Reynolds)
An Enemy of the People (US, George Schaefer)
Superman (US, Richard Donner)
National Lampoon’s Animal House (US, John Landis)
The Rutles: All You Need is Cash (US, Eric Idle and Gary Weis)
I Wanna Hold Your Hand (US, Robert Zemeckis)
Dawn of the Dead (US, George A. Romero)
Killer of Sheep (US, Charles Barnett)
Girlfriends (US, Claudia Weill)
Autumn Sonata (Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)
Koko: A Talking Gorilla (West Germany, Barbet Schroeder)
Watership Down (US, Martin Rosen)
Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (France, Bertrand Blier)
Scared Straight! (US, Arnold Shapiro)
Martin (US, George A. Romero)
Magic (UK, Richard Attenborough)
The Buddy Holly Story (US, Steve Rash)
A Wedding (US, Robert Altman)
Heaven Can Wait (US, Warren Beatty and Buck Henry)
American Boy (US, Martin Scorsese)
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (Australia, Fred Schepisi)
Pretty Baby (US, Louis Malle)
Go Tell the Spartans (US, Ted Post)
The Brink's Job (US, William Friedkin)
Fingers (US, James Toback)
Summer of My German Soldier (US, Michael Tuchner)
La Cage aux Folles (France, Edouard Molinaro)
Big Wednesday (US, John Milius)
China 9, Liberty 37 (Italy, Monte Hellman)
Drunken Master (Hong Kong, Woo-Ping Yuen)
American Hot Wax (US, Floyd Mutrux)
Coma (US, Michael Crichton)
The Fury (US, Brian De Palma)
Up in Smoke (US, Lou Adler)
Death on the Nile (UK, John Guillermin)
The Lord of the Rings (US, Ralph Bakshi)
Stevie (UK, Robert Enders)
Foul Play (US, Colin Higgins)
Despair (West Germany, Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
The Legacy (UK, Richard Marquand)
The Boys From Brazil US, Franklin J. Schaffner)
Grease (US, Randall Kleiser)
Sextette (US, Ken Hughes))

ACTOR: Dustin Hoffman, STRAIGHT TIME (2nd: Anthony Hopkins, Magic, followed by: Robert De Niro, The Deer Hunter; Christopher Reeve, Superman; Richard Pryor, Blue Collar; Jon Voight, Coming Home; Gary Busey, The Buddy Holly Story; Elliott Gould, The Silent Partner)

ACTRESS: Jill Clayburgh, AN UNMARRIED WOMAN (2nd: Geraldine Page, Interiors, followed by: Jane Fonda, Coming Home; Ingrid Bergman, Autumn Sonata; Tuesday Weld, Who’ll Stop The Rain; Genevieve Bujold, Coma; Melanie Mayron, Girlfriends; Glenda Jackson, Stevie) 

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Walken, THE DEER HUNTER (2nd: John Cazale, The Deer Hunter, followed by: Yaphet Kotto, Blue Collar; Christopher Plummer, The Silent Partner; Dom Deluise, The End; Harry Dean Stanton, Straight Time; Bruce Dern, Coming Home; John Hurt, Midnight Express)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Maureen Stapleton, INTERIORS (2nd: Mary Beth Hurt, Interiors, followed by: Linda Manz, Days of Heaven; Theresa Russell, Straight Time; Meryl Streep, The Deer Hunter; Diane Keaton, Interiors; Maggie Smith California Suite; Wendy Jo Sperber, I Wanna Hold Your Hand)



DIRECTOR: Michael Cimino, THE DEER HUNTER (2nd: Terrence Malick, Days of Heaven, followed by: Martin Scorsese, The Last Waltz; Woody Allen, Interiors; John Carpenter, Halloween; Paul Mazursky, An Unmarried Woman; Alan Parker, Midnight Express; Paul Schrader, Blue Collar)



NON-ENGLISH-LANGUAGE FILM: THE TREE OF WOODEN CLOGS (Italy, Ermanno Olmi) (2nd: Autumn Sonata (Sweden, Ingmar Bergman), followed by: Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (France, Bertrand Blier); La Cage aux Folles (France, Edouard Molinaro); Drunken Master (Hong Kong, Woo-Ping Yuen))



DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: THE LAST WALTZ (US, Martin Scorsese) (2nd: Gates of Heaven (US, Errol Morris), followed by: Koko: A Talking Gorilla (West Germany, Barbet Schroeder); Scared Straight! (US, Arnold Shapiro); American Boy (US, Martin Scorsese))



ANIMATED FEATURE: WATERSHIP DOWN (US, Martin Rosen) (2nd: The Lord of the Rings (US, Ralph Bakshi)


 
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Michael Cimino, Derek Washburn, Quinn Redeker and Louis Garfinkle, THE DEER HUNTER (2nd: Paul Schrader and Leonard Schrader, Blue Collar, followed by: Paul Mazursky, An Unmarried Woman; Woody Allen, Interiors; Jerry Belson, The End)



ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Alvin Sargent, Edward Bunker and Jeffery Boam, STRAIGHT TIME (2nd: Judith Rascoe and Robert Stone, Who'll Stop the Rain?, followed by: Alexander Jacobs and Arthur Miller, An Enemy of the People; Curtis Hanson, The Silent Partner; Oliver Stone, Midnight Express)



ANIMATED SHORT: SPECIAL DELIVERY (Canada, Eunice Macauley and John Weldon) (2nd: Rip Van Winkle (US, Will Vinton), followed by: The Small One (US, Don Bluth); The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa (Canada, Caroline Leaf); Afterlife (Canada, Ishu Patel))

LIVE ACTION SHORT: HARDWARE WARS (US, Ernie Fossellus) (2nd: Within the Woods (US, Sam Raimi), followed by: Teenage Father (US, Taylor Hackford); Xenogenesis (US, James Cameron and Randall Frakes)

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Nestor Almendros and Haskell Wexler, DAYS OF HEAVEN (2nd: Michael Chapman, Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond, The Last Waltz, followed by Vilmos Zsigmond, The Deer Hunter; Gordon Willis, Interiors; Dean Cundey, Halloween)

ART DIRECTION: INTERIORS, The Wiz, The Brink’s Job, Heaven Can Wait, Days of Heaven

COSTUME DESIGN: THE WIZ, Death on the Nile, Days of Heaven, Pretty Baby, Interiors



FILM EDITING: THE DEER HUNTER, The Last Waltz, Midnight Express, Straight Time, National Lampoon’s Animal House

SOUND: THE DEER HUNTER, The Last Waltz, Days of Heaven, Midnight Express, Superman



ORIGINAL SCORE: John Carpenter, HALLOWEEN (2nd: Giorgio Moroder, Midnight Express, followed by: John Williams, Superman; Jerry Goldsmith, The Boys from Brazil; Jerry Goldsmith, Magic)



SCORING OF A MUSICAL/ADAPTATION SCORING: Joe Renzetti, THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY (2nd: Neil Innes, The Rutles: All You Need is Cash, followed by: Louis St. Louis, Grease)



ORIGINAL SONG: “Hopelessly Devoted to You” from GREASE (Music and lyrics by John Farrar) (2nd: “Can You Read My Mind” from Superman (Music by John Williams, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse), followed by: “FM (No Static at All)” from FM (Music and lyrics by Donald Fagan and Walter Becker); “Last Dance” from Thank God It’s Friday (Music and lyrics by Paul Jabara); "Grease" from Grease (Music and lyrics by Barry Gibb); “Another Fine Mess” from The End (Music and lyrics by Paul Williams); “Ready to Take a Chance Again” from Foul Play (Music by Charles Fox, lyrics by Norman Gimbel); "Through the Eyes of Love" from Ice Castles (Music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager))

SPECIAL EFFECTS: SUPERMAN

MAKEUP: THE WIZ, Dawn of the Dead, Superman

My Movie Poster Collection: I

Remember that you can always click on the images themselves to see them (hopefully) larger:

I WALK THE LINE (John Frankenheimer, 70). Folded, VG
I bought this at first glance. I had never heard of the movie, but the sight of a golden-age actor (Gregory Peck) giving what for to a hippie-age actor (the beautiful Tuesday Weld) is too dynamic to ignore. I saw the movie after I bought this. I liked it alright, but I wondered if something more authentic could've been had. Still, an amazing poster, with a strong shout-out to Johnny Cash.

I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND (Robert Zemeckis, 78). Folded, VG
I LOVE this movie. It's my movie. It's my baby. And the poster is yellow and bright, and it has terrific copy, and it features Wendy Jo Sperber, Theresa Saldana, Eddie Deezen, and Nancy Allen. What the frick?? This was a must for my collection.

IDA (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2013). Rolled, M

AN IDEAL HUSBAND (Oliver Parker, 99). Rolled, VG
I like the movie, and the stars, but I dislike the poster. ZZZZZZZ--zaaa? Wha? Don't bother me, I'm sleeping...

THE IDIOTS (Lars Von Trier, 98). Rolled, VG
Another unfortunately ugly movie campaign. I understand why it is as such, but it don't make for a convincing sale. Nevertheless, the movie is outstanding.

I'M ALL RIGHT, JACK (John Boulting, 59). Folded, VG
Is this the oldest poster in my collection? Going 52 years old--pretty elderly for a piece of paper, it seems. This early Peter Sellers (supporting) vehicle is a classic of British cinema, but I found it deadly dry...maybe I needed to be British to appreciate it. Or maybe I wasn't in the mood. It happens, y'know?

INHERENT VICE (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014). Rolled, M.

INLAND EMPIRE (David Lynch, 2006). Rolled, NM
It was a miracle I got this poster, but I did. I think there were very, very few of these produced (at our pre-screening at the Plaza in Atlanta, Lynch offered to whatever # ticket-buyer a special door prize: a silver-signed copy of this poster. It's cleanly pressed on thick card stock, with strange art that punches much differently up close than it does from far away. Thus, it regularly creeps me out maybe more than any other David Lynch one-sheet. Also, outside of Eraserhead, the poster is the most rare of Lynch's movie graphics. Love that I have it.

  
INNOCENT BLOOD (John Landis, 92). Rolled, NM. 

INSIDE MOVES (Richard Donner, 80). Rolled, VG
This looks like it was done by one of the great poster artists...maybe Drew Struzan. But I can't find any info on who did it. No matter. Even if the poster sucked, I'd have to get it, because Inside Moves is absolutely one of my favorite sleepers. I interviewed director Richard Donner back in 1985--in one of the most unusual ways, sitting on a park bench in downtown Atlanta--and he revealed to me that it was his personal favorite of any of the works he'd done up to that time. There you have it. It's now released on DVD, so view it forthwith!

THE INSIDER (Michael Mann, 99). Rolled, NM
An incredible movie, one that gets better with each viewing, somehow. The one-sheet reflects this quality. It's perfectly designed. I won't part with it.

INTERIORS (Woody Allen, 78). Folded, VG
One of Woody's most majestic one-sheets, with elegant typography and an obvious photographic reference to Ingmar Bergman. The shot included is the final shot of the film, and it is superb. "RENATA: The water's so calm. JO: Yes. It's very peaceful."

INTO THE NIGHT (John Landis, 85). Folded, G. A forgotten entry into John Landis' ouvre, unjustly so.

IRMA LA DOUCE (Billy Wilder, 63). Folded, G
My copy has a FOR ADULTS ONLY sticker pasted on it. Saul Bass may have done this poster art; Billy Wilder can't remember (which is not as surprising as it should be). That said, no one has any proof the art belongs to Bass. But what do you think?

IS PARIS BURNING (Rene Clement, 66). Folded, VG
Wow! This one-sheet is outstanding! So much crisp to read copy and jagged graphics to take in! I really, really love this piece. And the movie is underrated--huge cast and on-point crew does well with a script co-written by Francis Coppola and Gore Vidal!

SIDE ORDERS #7

This month, SIDE ORDERS begins with a vintage 1980 TBS late movie opening which stars my favorite theater in the United States, Atlanta's Plaza Theater (open since 1939 and still going strong). This is pure nostalgia for me, and a suitable sort of policy trailer / theater intro for the superlative movie scenes you're about to see!


While working at the Plaza, I met Patrick Flynn. An accomplished moviemaker (his color and then B&W super films are superb) and photographer (you can see some his stuff on West End ATL's Blue Tower Gallery site), Patrick worked at the Plaza for a record-breaking 15 years, also while toiling away as a bartender and waiter at other Atlanta establishments. Along with all the other idiosyncratic Plaza employees and satellites of the 1990s, Patrick and I would have incisive, insightful conversations about a whole host of bizarre, quite taboo subject matters--usually of a darker bent--while we waited for the next movies to be let in. All of us had a wonderful time working at that theater. I don't see its truly one-of-a-kind quality being repeated in our lives, but at least we were lucky to once have treasured the Plaza as our homebase. Anyway, over the years there, I found that Patrick and I shared the same passion for a key movie blockbuster from our childhoods: Ronald Neame's 1972 epic The Poseidon Adventure. I've discovered, through the years, that The Poseidon Adventure has a very rich cult following that can quote the film by heart. This doesn't surprise me a bit. If you were a kid in the early 1970s, The Poseidon Adventure was the shit! It's got a terrific cast--Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Stella Stevens, Roddy McDowell, Arthur O' Connnell, Leslie Nielsen (whose scenes are now pure folly after his precise self-spoofery in Airplane and Police Squad!/The Naked Gun). It's got Red Buttons protecting cute Carol Lynley, and bratty kid Eric Shea running around with his little chickie sister Pamela Sue Martin. Producer Irwin Allen's runaway moneymaker was nominated for Oscars for its well-crafted photography, sound, costumes, art direction, score (by John Williams), and for Shelley Winters' iconic supporting performance as the movie's lovable, heroic fat lady. And it won two awards: one for its song ("The Morning After," which my elementary school class sang on stage as part of our graduation ceremony) and for its beautiful special effects. Lemme tell ya, the movie was a bonafide phenom.

If you're a lover of The Poseidon Adventure, you naturally count the capsizing of the huge boat as one of your favorite movie moments. In his excellent DVD commentary on the movie--the only one I've heard in which a director admits his mistakes as well as his successes--Ronald Neame (at one time a close collaborator with fellow Brit David Lean) details the tremendous amount of work that went into making this sequence operate as well as it does. Neame and his editors took detailed care in making sure, camera-wise, the sequence makes sense. If you notice, the angle of the camera is always kept fully in synch with the supposed position of the boat. This make this sequence take hold of us, along with the performances of the stars as well as the brave extras (including the guy who falls at the end, which was done on the first take). Wolfgang Petersen, director of the stinky 2006 remake Poseidon failed to heed Neame's example in his doofus multi-million dollar recreation of this scene; Petersen did a supremely messy job convincing the viewer of the disaster's reality, while Neame--at a fraction of the cost--achieves brilliance. I can't count how many times Patrick Flynn and I have marveled at this scene--seriously, it must be in the 50-time range. And, still, we're positive this is one of the most exciting and significant moments in movie history.


For the tuneful portion of SIDE ORDERS, I include this scene from Herbert Ross's neglected 1981 musical Pennies From Heaven. The best scene in screenwriter Dennis Potter's incredibly downbeat Great Depression fable has Christopher Walken playing a barroom pimp who approaches the shy Bernadette Peters after she's been jilted by failing sheet-music salesman Steve Martin. Walken is slimily attempting to recruit her as a prostitute, and as a result, she joins the fantasy-obsessed Steve Martin in imagining her enemies as a singing, dancing player in a 1930s musical. This scene is sheer magnificence, with Walken delivering one of the most notable one-scene performances ever. He's an accomplished dancer, with training from the vaudeville greats; if you didn't know that by now, what with his appearance in that Fatboy Slim video, then his scene in Pennies From Heaven will clue you in. Do yourself a favor and watch the whole movie: it's filled with marvels like this.


This gear-jamming car chase from Peter Yates's 1968 film Bullitt helped the movie win Oscars for its sound and editing. Even then, moviegoers had never seen anything like it; seen now, it's still a model of the artform. Just watch the rhythm of the cuts and listen to the battling car engines and you'll realize it's immeasurably influential. It's been long noted that more hubcaps are lost in this scene than there are available on the cars in action. See if you can count 'em!


In Alan J. Pakula's The Parallax View, Warren Beatty plays a small-time journalist investigating a possibly CIA-run program designed to train assassins to kill prominent political figures. Beatty sets himself up as an entrant into this program, and he's invited to the Parallax Corporation's headquarters to test for the program. He sits down, hands in the proper place, and they show him this movie, all the while recording his internal responses. The movie that they project--that we see--is unlike anything ever witnessed in mainstream cinema. It is disturbing to the nth degree. Composed of famous photographs from movies, journalism, advertising, and pop culture, and coupled with dissonant music from David Shire, this spoiler-free montage from The Parallax View will instantly make you want to see the whole movie.


Finally, a trailer from one of my favorite movies. This time: Woody Allen's first foray into dramatic filmmaking, 1978's Interiors (with a couple of scenes that weren't in the final film).