Decades of Cinema - 10 Best of the 1970's

If you missed my previous decades lists you can find the 1920's here, the 1930's here, the 1940's here, the 1950's here, and the 1960's here. On we go to the 1970's, here are my ten favorite films from a remarkable decade.

10. Badlands

My man Terrence Malick, who crafted my favorite film of all time makes the list here with his incredible debut Badlands. The story of a teenage girl who gets swept up in a romance with the much older Kit, a man doing his best James Dean impression, and what results when they run away together is a killing spree spread across the badlands in South Dakota. Truly one of the most impressive debuts I have seen.

9. Jaws

How much really needs to be said about Jaws? It is iconic cinema and if the 1970's weren't so loaded with amazing movies, you would find this much higher than 9th considering it resides in my 100 favorite films of all time list. It is the film that made people afraid to go in the water.

8. Autumn Sonata

I only recently watched Autumn Sonata for the very first time and yet here it is, in my top 10 of arguably the finest decade of films ever. It's that great. Yet again Ingmar Bergman finds his way into these lists and with good reason. Brilliantly performed, powerful cinema that is impossible to shake after it ends, Autumn Sonata is simply masterful.

7. The Spirit of the Beehive

Do you see that look on the face of the little girl above? That was me while I watched The Spirit of the Beehive, a lyrical and spellbinding film about a young child who attends a screening in her town of Frankenstein and becomes fascinated with the monster portrayed. The Spirit of the Beehive takes place during the Spanish civil war and the imagination of a child is a form of escape for a mind too young to process the chaos around her. Guillermo del Toro declared this to be one of his all time favorite films and it obviously served as the inspiration for his very own masterpiece Pan's Labyrinth. 

6. Stalker

Stalker infected my brain both during and after I watched it and I couldn't let go of how brilliant and confounding of an experience it is. Seriously, if you have ever wondered why Andrei Tarkovsky is regarded as one of the finest auteurs since the medium of film was created, sit back and just let the oddness and beauty of Stalker totally envelop you. It is artistic, soulful, weird and haunting stuff.

5. Halloween

It's easy to freak people out when inside a world shrouded in darkness and shadows, and John Carpenter utilizes those factors with brilliance as well, but you know what else he does? He makes walking down the street on a bright, normal afternoon terrifying as well. Halloween is an absolutely incredible horror film that reminds us that pure evil not only exists, it can be roaming nearby under any circumstances.

4. Alien

I had the opportunity to see Alien at the beautiful old fashioned Tivoli theater in Downers Grove last year for the films 35th anniversary, a special midnight screening and it was an experience I will never forget. So many excited fathers ready to show their teenage sons what the phrase "In space, no one can hear you scream." really means, the place packed with eager cinema lovers ready to experience the nostalgic glow of one of their favorites on the big screen. Alien is a science fiction horror masterpiece.

3. The Godfather Part II

Some would safely say The Godfather: Part II is the greatest sequel ever made and it is hard to argue (although I would, as my choice for such an award will be on the 1980's list). This is pretty much a perfect film in every way and yet it only gets as high as #3 of its decade. That's because...

2. The Godfather

The Godfather is essentially perfect cinema as well and I will always have an ever so slight preference for it over its sequel. Something about the story of the original and the flow of it all, it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. To some this is safely the greatest movie ever made, and for me it is in fact top ten, but it still can't win the 1970's.

1. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

It's hard to beat Star Wars in my book. Not only is the trilogy packed to the brim with warm wonderful nostalgia for me considering how cherished the films were growing up, but they overflow when revisited as an adult and I realized, my goodness these are just great movies regardless. The start of the saga in 1977 is something glorious to behold, a space opera that builds characters and mythology was ease. Later this year I will be revisiting the entire Star Wars journey (yes, even the prequels) to prepare for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Next I will move into a decade I was actually alive during, the 1980's. Above is a picture from a film that will appear on that list.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence Review

As the months on the calendar continue to fall off far too rapidly and the years start to sound more like a science fiction setting rather than the present, the year 2001 starts to remind me less of the Kubrick masterpiece and more of a time long since passed. While I recall the memories of things that will be impossible to forget, like the surreal day in September in which America was attacked, very little of what I personally experienced back then will register in my mind ever again. I was 17 years old and the days I lived then all blur together in a mess of underage alcohol consumption and raging hormones, but oddly enough I have carried a hatred for a specific film with me for over thirteen years now: A.I. Artificial Intelligence.

The strange part is, I could no longer even remember why I hated it so much. I had seen it with friends when it opened in June of 2001, and I recall walking in with expectations of a grand, wildly imaginative science fiction masterpiece, and walking out bitching about the ending and the way it was "too long" and "boring". All these years later and I still found myself scoffing at the film when I would see it receive praise, and it occurred to me that I have forgiven people I actually had reason to dislike back then in recent years. I have transformed from a turd teenager to a 30 year old man with a 7 year old daughter since my one and only viewing of A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Wasn't it about time I gave the film a second chance?

While still not a masterpiece, A.I. Artificial Intelligence is certainly grand and wildly imaginative and I feel a bit of shame for holding such an odd grudge for 13 years when I could have been revisiting it and discovering the reasons to embrace it instead. The original vision of this film came from the master himself Stanley Kubrick all the way back in the 1970's, but he simply could not get the project off the ground, having issues with the quality of special effects available to him. Kubrick felt that they would not be worthy to create the child android character of David appear human enough, which is mandatory for the narrative. It wasn't until 1995 when Kubrick decided to hand the project off to good friend Steven Spielberg, and even then nothing moved forward until Kubrick passed away in 1999. 

While Kubrick never got the chance to see his finished vision finally put to celluloid, I now believe he would have been proud of what Spielberg achieved. I was blown away by how strong the visuals of the film stand up in 2014, which seems like a silly statement when referring to a film only released 13 years ago, but the progression of the quality of effects available continues to unfold rapidly and yet A.I. feels as if it could be put into cinemas today and no one would ever know the difference. The performances of Haley Joel Osment and Jude Law are hauntingly on point for the android roles they are playing, and the Pinocchio inspired story is constantly compelling and heartbreaking, which is ironic because while I shed tears for the pain of David, in truth David is feeling no pain. He has no heart, he has no soul, and yet I wanted nothing more than for him to find the blue fairy and become a real boy. If Kubrick picked Spielberg because he felt he was the correct choice to make the audience connect so deeply with something not human, much the way we did with an alien in E.T., than he certainly got it right. While the film may suffer from a small amount of flaws, the depth of how I connected to it on an emotional level was not one of them.

Speaking of those flaws, only one thing I recall feeling way back in 2001 still registered with me this time around and that is with the pacing. I don't know what it is exactly, but I was totally invested in the first and second acts of the film, but by the third act which takes place in a far distant future I felt myself fading away from the work a bit. A.I Artificial Intelligence went from a riveting, joyous ride to a bit of a lean back in my seat and check the clock to see how much more was left experience, and I cannot be certain whether this is truly the fault of the film or if I should be taking issue with myself as the viewer. I suppose a third viewing will be what makes or breaks this issue with my drifting away during the final thirty or so minutes.

Also, while it only comprises of about seven seconds of screen time, there is a sequence where Chris Rock does a voice cameo and it really feels out of place. I don't understand creative decisions like this, because it really wasn't amusing and it certainly didn't add anything to the film and yet it was a jarring reminder that I was indeed just watching a movie. I prefer to let the experience overtake me, when I lose sight of what is fact and what is fiction and instead just get swept away in the story, but little things like celebrity cameos meant for nothing more than a giggle or a talking point don't sit right. 

As a massive fan of the science fiction genre, I will not be quickly moving A.I. Artificial Intelligence to the top of any all time lists, but I certainly regret not finding time for a second viewing sooner and recognizing how silly my hatred was. For the most part this is a masterfully handled film with depth and passion seeping out of every pore. If you are like me with this or any other highly regarded picture, carrying with you the negative energy of a bad cinematic experience for years, I suggest you sit down with an open mind and give it a second chance. I'm thrilled I did.

4/5