At the end of the day, I feel like doing a ranking for this year is a bit pointless because seriously, all the films are sooooo good on their own (especially in comparison to 1970), and it is really difficult to decide how one movie is better than another. I even considered making Nashville my pick, despite if receiving 4.5. S till…
5) Barry Lyndon: I’m not crazy about Barry Lyndon like a lot of people are, but I’ll be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy the film. I thought it was a LOT better than expected, and far better than people say it is. It’s a beautifully made and respectable effort by a legendary director. 4/5.
4) Jaws: I’m not going to deny that I was a little over-enthusiastic about this one in my post at first, but there’s no denying that Jaws is a masterfully made and suspenseful thriller. It really showed Spielberg’s versatility as a director (he should have been nominated for this one). 4.5/5
3) Nashville: Nashville is an incredible film about people, and what makes it so admirable is how Altman managed to blend everything together so well. It’s a film that was ambitiously made, and to a large extent it succeeded. 4.5/5.
2) Dog Day Afternoon: Dog Day Afternoon is a masterpiece by Sidney Lumet, and by the way I actually prefer this movie to Network (which is superb, of course). It’s funny, saddening and heartbreaking at the same time, and it also has a legendary leading performance by a legendary actor. 5/5.
1) One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest: Although I admittedly sounded more enthusiastic in my Dog Day Afternoon post, strangely enough, it was One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest that really grew on me. Like I said, I just cannot explain how one film is better than the other, but while I was watching this I really cannot not be blown away by how well made it is. 5/5.
So all in all, I really had fun doing this year! It really shows how the 70s were a fantatsic decade for movies, and it reinforces my love for films and cinema. The next year I’m going to look at is 1978.
Filmfreak! 