Pulp

70s Drama
3.5 stars

Funny and clever, although a bit dragging in parts. I was hoping for more from the team who brought us the original Get Carter. This one is a comedic, colorful noir (oxymoron?) with a very interesting smaller role filled by Mickey Rooney. The scene of Rooney in his skivvies had me a little unnerved.

Ganja & Hess

70s African-American Vampire
4 Stars

Totally whacked out, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Some solid acting, music , cinematography, with a story that requires a few viewings to even get a sense of what is going on. Filmed in upstate New York, with some incredible scenes shot in a now defunct-church. Hugely creative and intellectual, seems to be an influence on Ferrara's Addiction.

Bone

70s Drama
4.5 Stars

A great find. Yaphet Kotto, one of the most underrated actors around (consistently excellent in Homicide, Live and Let Die) excels in this offbeat dramedy. The film veers between light and inventive dark moments. It captures the post-civil rights movement in a way I hadn't seen before, and blends this with a Save the Tiger/Breezy type generation clash. There's a freshness that also lasts about the way the film was shot. For a while it felt like a California Scorsese style. Highly recommended.

Heroes

70s Drama
2 stars

Total bullshit. When I saw this movie back in the late 1970s, the ending was straight out of a psycho-post traumatic stress disorder nightmare, with Henry Winkler unable to conquer his demons. Well, this version has replaced that with Sally Field consoling Winkler on the grass, telling him it's okay. This was my sister's favorite movie, presumably with the downbeat ending intact. Up until the ending switcheroo, the film is sort of a late 1970s continuation of the tone of Two Lane Blacktop, only not nearly as strong. The Vietnam war is never tackled head on, and for some reason I find that particularly insightful in 2008. Winkler deserves props for the effort.

Black Sunday

70s Drama
3 stars

Sheeoot. If they could've cut 45 minutes off this thing, plus rewritten the ending, they would've had something here. First off, the ending is like something out of a bad James Bond movie (bad like A View to a Kill bad). However, up until the final 30 minutes, the movie had some simmer. A plot featuring anti-Israeli terrorists planning to cause major destruction at the Super Bowl is intriguing. Bruce Dern is actually quite good here. Pretty good for the political stuff, awful for a tremendous nose dive at the end.

Macon County Line

70s Drama
2 stars

A couple of young men with a woman in tow run into trouble in the deep south. A potentially interesting formula, but this one was a dud. Scary southerners has been done elsewhere, and better. I had my finger hovering over the "stop" button on the remote like I was Jamie Farr wielding the gong on The Gong Show, but I put in the time and watched the entire thing. Bleh.

Two-Lane Blacktop

70s Drama
Existentialist
4.5 stars

This film can easily be held up to represent the best of 1970s American cinema. With an incredible cast (Warren Oates, James "Fire and Rain" Taylor, Dennis Wilson, and a don't blink cameo from Harry Dean Stanton), this story exists in the some of the same spaces as Easy Rider. Like Cockfighter, this film lurches ahead at its own pace using minimal dialog. Drag racing is the theme, and the viewer is challenged to draw metaphorical meaning. A strong, surreal, existential film.

The Missouri Breaks

70s Western
2.5 stars

A rather low rating on this one, even though I love Brando and Nicholson, and Night Moves by Penn is one of my all-time favorites. I actually like Brando's performance here, even with his all-over-the-place style, he's still somewhat of a rated PG badass. The story just doesn't compel. Film seems influenced by another favorite of mine, Peckinpah's Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, but is nowhere near as good. Should've been rated R, and if it had been we could've learned what was really up with Brando's sexually ambiguous character.

The Big Sleep

Noir
70s Drama
Mitchum
1.5 stars

This seems like a made for tv movie. It is the first film I've seen with Mitchum where he shows no charisma. Why this film was even remade is beyond me. Mitchum plays too old and can't carry Bogart's lead from the original. I fell asleep watching this on 2 different viewings. A flop on all counts.

Performance

70s Drama
4.5 stars

With Mick Jagger. A very interesting film of sex, drugs and rock and roll. Outstanding. Contains the early music video Memo From Turner. I watched this a couple of times and texted several friends about it.

Le Cercle Rouge

70s Drama
French
4.5 stars

Great, relatively unknown stylish French crime film. Hugely inventive, and deserving of much wider recognition. Recommended without reservation.

Prime Cut

70s Drama
3.5 stars
Lee Marvin

This is one of those weird 1970s dramas, with Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman. There are some fascinating scenes here, but overall this movie is kind of flat.

The Parallax View

70s Drama
3.5 stars

Interesting, yet ultimately bland conspiracy thriller (in this way somewhat of the same tone as the original Rollerball--though not as good), with Warren Beatty as a journalist trying to piece together why folks are being offed. Interesting throughout, famous for the brainwash/testing sequence (hello Zoolander). A good premise, but ultimately falls short.

Save The Tiger

70s Drama
4 stars

A solid movie with a splendid performance from Jack Lemmon as a middle-aged guy feeling out of touch, remembering with longing the joys of his past. This is a good urban, Los Angeles film, the kind often made with NYC as the backdrop. Lemmon is fantastic and the film strikes a very real chord. Would make a good double-feature with Breezy.

Hickey and Boggs

70s Drama
4.5 stars

Bill Cosby/Robert Culp as private dicks in early 70s L.A. I liked it very much. Cited often as a post-classic period noir.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

70s Drama
3 stars

I'm a big Walter Matthau guy, as I think he's consistently underrated, but this was a little dry for my expectations. Straightforward, minor cops & robbers film.

Cockfighter

70s Drama
3.5 stars

A way interesting film about a…cockfighter, trying to win back his self-respect. Warren Oates is amazing, as usual. The film is less convoluted/grittier and much tidier than I was expecting.

Vanishing Point

70s Drama
Existentialist
4.5 stars

Ok, so it's essentially an Easy Rider redux, with a sweet Dodge Challenger and Barry Newman. Great location shooting, and a classic example of existentialist film, 1970s style.

Tracks

70s Drama
4 stars
A Dennis Hopper film, one of the first to address Vietnam vets. Low budget, but very interesting. Talky, but effective.

Cisco Pike

70s Drama
3 stars
Interesting for old-school L.A., but sadly dated (not in a good way), very 70s. Kris Kristofferson and a little Gene Hackman. I didn't find it particularly memorable or excellent in any aspect, but I wanted to.