Top ten box-office films of 1976: 1. Rocky 2. A Star Is Born 3. King Kong 4. Silver Streak 5. All the President's Men 6. The Omen 7. The Bad News Bears 8. The Enforcer 9. In Search of Noah's Ark 10. Midway What are your top three films for 1976? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be: 1. Taxi Driver 2. Nuts in May 3. All the President's Men What are some of the forgotten gems from the year? What is overrated? What did you discover at a young age and what did you discover later? YEARS IN FILM • forum.chorus.fm
1. Rocky 2. Taxi Driver 3. Face to Face I have a soft spot for Rocky. Shout out to In the Realm of the Senses.
1. Mikey and Nicky 2. Rocky 3. Taxi Driver all the president’s men honorable mention. M&N is my favorite criterion find.
This was a weaker year for me. After Taxi Driver, nothing really stuck out as a must-add. Nuts in May is a very little-known Mike Leigh film about an obnoxious couple in nature, is very funny. His career took off with Naked in the 90's but he was around for years before that.
1. Taxi Driver 2. Network 3. Rocky Honorable mentions: Buffalo Bill and the Indians Carrie The Eagle Has Landed Freaky Friday Harlan County, USA The Man Who Fell to Earth Murder By Death The Pink Panther Strikes Again Voyage of the Damned
Nuts in May is a great film. Both that and Abigail's Party from next year showing that Leigh was making that squirmy / uncomfortable comedy about 25 years before it became popular again.
1. Taxi Driver 2. Nuts in May 3. Network I saw Taxi Driver on Thursday in the cinema, which was my first trip back in the cinema for about 8 months, and probably the longest gap since I was a toddler or something. In a film of horrific images and actions, by far the worst bit is Jodie Foster making herself Jam on toast, and then dousing it in sugar. Nuts in May as mentioned before is one of Mike Leigh's early TV films about a couple having a horrible time camping. A classic British class / value clash, with them getting into fights and just being awful company. Worth watching through your fingers. Third choice was a bit harder, but I went for Sidney Lumet's Network, which seems perpetually relevant and continually influential satire on media news. Also in contention for third spot were Mr Klein, The Tenant and In The Realm of the Senses. For some quality Hong Kong trashy films (a category I'll be posting more of for the next 20 years of thread or so), we have Black Magic 2, a quick sequel to the first one from 1975, and basically the same film again, as well as The Oily Maniac, which is about a man who gets cursed and becomes a big puddle of oil in human form, and ambles around yelling and killing people, before disappearing into a puddle and zooming off. For a really cool short film from this year, we have John Smith's The Girl Chewing Gum, which is him "directing" passers by, and then inanimate objects on a London street scene, before getting even more surreal towards the end. Great fun, and only 11 minutes, so worth your time;
1. In the Realm of the Senses 2. News from Home 3. Insiang My number one was an easy pick for this year. A film that absolutely stunned me on first watch and then felt like a genuine revelation when I caught it again on 35mm 5 years later. Picked the Akerman and Brocka for 2 and 3, but it was really a toss up that also considered Noroît, Kings of the Road, and Ici et ailleurs. I also adore Agnes Varda’s Daguerréotypes, an early foray into the docu-diary approach that would define her late career output. Just a lovely film with gorgeous 16mm photography.
Another year I'm leaving a few 5 stars out but.. 1. Network 2. Rocky 3. Bad News Bears (4. All the Presidents Men 5. Mikey & Nicky)
1. Rocky 2. All the President's Men 3. The Outlaw Josey Wales Movies I really like: Silent Movie Network Murder by Death Taxi Driver Freaky Friday The Front Car Wash Good ones: Bound for Glory Cria Cuervos Fellini Casanova The Pink Panther Strikes Again The Ritz Voyage of the Damned The Man Who Fell to Earth Solid/fine: Carrie Bugsy Malone The Slipper and the Rose Marathon Man The Bad News Bears The Omen The Seven-Per-Cent Solution King Kong Novecento Not a fan: In the Realm of the Senses
It's so easy to forget (probably because of the many, many sequels and that Stallone is somewhat of a punchline) but Rocky is basically a perfect movie.
1. Carrie 2. Assault On Precinct 13 3. Rocky Rocky might be higher or might not be there at all, I haven’t seen it in a while. Also dig Kings Of The Road and The Omen. There’s a violent discord common to a lot of these 1976 movies, much moreso than 1975. Even as I express fondness for some of them, I wonder what I’m connecting with. Remembering I enjoyed it as a kid, I watched The Outlaw Josey Wales recently and was shocked by its fascist, misogynist, racist, generally repellent overtones. Reading into it, I learned the movie is based on a book by KKK leader turned fake Cherokee author Asa Earl Carter who also wrote the George Wallace line “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever”. When i was 12 or whatever i think i was like fuck yeah josey wales is a badass, but now, wtf that dude sucks i’ve never seen Buffalo Bill And The Indians. Am i gonna be bummed?
This is another stacked year with way more than three that I could easily pick but as per usual those I have watched most often and still adore will get prioritized and they are - 1. Carrie 2. The Outlaw Josey Wales 3. All the President’s Men Other favorites from the year include; Robin and Marian, Assault on Precinct 13, Marathon Man, Burnt Offerings, The Eagle Has Landed, Family Plot, The Omen, Network, and The Pink Panther Strikes Again.
Taxi Driver wins it with 24 votes. Rocky was in second place with 14 votes. Taxi Driver will move on to the bracket.
Watched a film from 1976 called The Snake Prince tonight. It's really something special here, a psychedelic, funky, proggy Wuxia musical. It has big dance numbers, puppetry, people dressed up as snakes, guitar riffs, acrobatics and kung fu. Available in beautiful quality too, it's a film that you just smile all the way through in its ridiculousness and sense of fun. There's vibrant colours and sets, and just a sense of playfulness, without any deliberate irony or self awareness, it's just joyously good fun. Concludes with a woman giving birth to a snake egg, followed by a battle with giant puppet snake, equipped with a flamethrower.