Top ten box-office films of 1977: 1. Star Wars 2. Smokey and the Bandit 3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind 4. Saturday Night Fever 5. The Goodbye Girl 6. A Bridge Too Far 7. The Deep 8. The Spy Who Loved Me 9. Oh, God! 10. Annie Hall What are your top three films for 1977? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be: 1. Annie Hall 2. Eraserhead 3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind 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. Eraserhead 2. Saturday Night Fever 3. Star Wars I wouldn’t be being honest with myself if I didn’t include Star Wars, the first movie has a lot of legitimate brilliance going for it and it’s purity as a stand alone thing with the political statements it’s making are unmatched in the rest of the franchise. That said I don’t want it to win. Eraserhead and Saturday Night Fever are both worthy of being ranked higher. Honestly Annie Hall was a longtime favorite but who needs to put that energy out into the world still
1. Star Wars 2. Close Encounters of the Third Kind 3. A Bridge Too Far All great movies I saw when I was a kid
1. Abigail's Party 2. Eraserhead 3. House Mike Leigh is pretty adamant that Abigail's Party is "not a film", but he's not going to be part of these threads, so I can ignore what he thinks. This is an absolutely excruciating, wince-worthy comedy, which features a brilliant turn from Alison Steadman as the monstrous Beverley. Feels far ahead of it's time, definitely feels like a mid-00s British comedy, but 25 years earlier. Eraserhead is a deeply unsettling and uncomfortable film to watch, that despite really really enjoying it the 2 - 3 times I've seen it, I never really feel like I want to revisit it. Really gets under your skin, the work of twisted genius. House is basically the opposite sort of horror film to Eraserhead, while still being a highly imaginative work. A bold and brashly coloured film, with ridiculous and madcap silly effects, full of eccentric and off the wall humour. Honourable mentions for this year would include Annie Hall, Suspira & The American Friend. This year, we also have Sammo Hung's directorial debut, The Iron Fisted Monk. Sammo is going to pop up a bit in my lists in the next 10 years or so, with his incredible mix of comic martial arts, Buster Keaton meets Bruce Lee. This debut is not quite as good as what would come next, but still worth highlighting.
1. Star Wars 2. Close Encounters of the Third Kind 3. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Movies I really like: The Goodbye Girl The Spy Who Loved Me Annie Hall Julia Smokey and the Bandit Good ones: The Late Show The Rescuers Suspiria The American Friend Man of Marble The Deep Solid/fine: Slap Shot Pete's Dragon Oh, God! High Anxiety The Hills Have Eyes Saturday Night Fever The Ascent Last Chants for a Slow Dance Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown Not a fan: Eraserhead The Turning Point Airport '77 Looking for Mr. Goodbar
Is fucking Star Wars going to win this year? That's wild! 1. Suspiria 2. The American Friend 3. Hausu
I’m not 100% sure I’ve ever actually seen Star Wars. I have a vague memory of it, as a kid on a VHS at a friends house, but I’m not sure how reliable that memory is, and how much I’ve just assimilated from general pop culture. I’ve certainly seen some of the prequels and one of the newer ones, and I think I’ve probably seen the originals, but I wouldn’t bet my life on it.
Glad to see Hausu pop up a few times already. I don’t love it - in fact there’s at least a dozen Obayashi films I like more - but he’s truly one of my all time favourite filmmakers so I’m happy to see it. No one reveled in the bizarre possibilities of green screen like he did for literally his entire career. I’m shocked that this is the first list with Suspiria on it. It’s not on my list so I’m really in no place to speak (although it was in contention for the third place) but still unexpected. Really didn’t expect anyone else to have this Varda as their number one! The more time that passes, the more that I think it might be her greatest work. Such an incisive, empathetic, frustrated, and inventive work.
Easy year for me, not because there isn't much to choose from but due to the fact three of my all-time favorite films were released in 1977 and they are - 1. Sorcerer 2. The Spy Who Loved Me 3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind Other favorites from the year include; Twilight’s Last Gleaming, Sleeping Dogs, Rollercoaster, The Gauntlet, The Duellists, A Bridge Too Far, The Deep (nice to see someone else appreciate this @cshadows2887 ), Demon Seed, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, Orca, The Hills Have Eyes and Capricorn One.
I know it has some story flaws, but man it's incredible to look at and it really does manage to build some spooky tension
Jaws, The Deep, The Sting, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three...shit you might be on to something there.
Then there is Black Sunday, Robin and Marian, and Force 10 from Navarone. The guy really spent his final years going out with a bang, he died way before his time.