#1 — Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974) According to Robert Towne, it was a vice cop who gave him the title Chinatown and the backstory of cynicism it conveys. He asked the officer what he did when he was stationed in … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 70s — Number One
#2 — Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976) When Robert De Niro played Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, he borrowed the clothing of screenwriter Paul Schrader to start shaping the character. Schrader, putting it simply, was a twisted dude. He has a … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 70s — Number Two
#3 — Manhattan (Woody Allen, 1979) I can say with some certainty that Manhattan is home to my favorite film opening. Over cinematographer Gordon Willis’s gorgeous black-and-white shots of the borough that gives the film its title and accompanied by George … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 70s — Number Three
#4 — A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971) Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange is widely considered a classic. I can’t think of another film in the same exalted status that is as brilliantly, exuberantly, comically savage. In adapted Anthony Burgess’s 1962 novella of the same name, Kubrick tore free the ferocious id of humanity and laid it bare, ultimately questioning whether the true problem was the roiling internal rage and impulsive hedonism of people or the cloying attempts of society to contain those instincts. Untamed passion may lead to random acts of violence and terror against innocent people, but isn’t … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 70s — Number Four
#5 — The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974) Through this process, I’ve already confessed to being out of step with the critical consensus on Francis Ford Coppola. While The Godfather showed up in this tally, other likely contenders–including its sequel and Apocalypse Now, which jumped past the mafia epics to become Coppola’s highest ranking film in the most recent Sight & Sound poll–were bypassed. The clearest statement I can give about my overall view of the director’s films is that The Conversation is far and away my favorite film to bear his cinematic signature. It is everything that Coppola’s more … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 70s — Number Five
#6 — McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1971) It’s routine to praise directors for their abilities to construct entire worlds, especially in the modern era of filmmaking which increasingly depends upon the startling efforts of creators who are freakishly adept … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 70s — Number Six
#7 — Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977) I’ve loved Annie Hall for a long time, but I don’t think I understood the extent of its specialness until I saw the Woody Allen directorial effort that directly preceded it, 1975’s Love … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 70s — Number Seven
#8 — All the President’s Men (Alan J. Pakula, 1976) All the President’s Men was released into theaters in the first week of April, 1976, less than two years after Richard Nixon’s resignation from the Office of the President of … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 70s — Number Eight
#9 — The Last Picture Show (Peter Bogdanovich, 1971) There’s a beautiful desolation at the heart of Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show, a echoing ache that’s given physical form by the scorched, dusty streets of the dying nineteen-fifties Texas town … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 70s — Number Nine
#10 — Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976) I don’t think it’s quite right to say that all great films are timeless. I do think there are broadly translatable qualities to the very best works–things such as wit, grace, intellectual heft and … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 70s — Number Ten
Coffee for Two 