GO TO 1974

1975

GO TO 1976
MOTHER KÜSTERS GOES TO HEAVEN (dir: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Not Rated) - Michelle says, "When a sweet, working class woman loses her husband to a factory accident, the media and the political activists swoop in, briefly transforming her loss into a cause. But this is Fassbinder, a Brecht-influenced director focused on the wild reactions normal people have when provoked by a social and political world that is at best apathetic and at worst hostile. So while things quickly go back to normal for the rest of society in Fassbinder’s urban, almost-modern, dirty and mediocre Germany, Mother Kusters fights to not be forgotten: she joins up with some opportunistic anarchists and storms the offices of the newspaper she feels most slandered her (late) man. As with his other films, Fassbinder explores the innate selfishness of humanity by contrasting feeling people with their insensitive intimates, suggesting that kindness and love can blossom between strangers and be completely void within families and friends. But what I like best of all about this movie is its two separate endings (one for American audiences and one for everyone else) and how each interprets Mother Kuster’s final trip to heaven…"
JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES (dir: Chantal Akerman, Not Rated) - Bart says, "I've never given hugely respected Belgian director Chantal Akerman a fair shake because I've seen a few of her more recent films and they've ranged from mediocre to just pretty good. I've passed up opportunities to see some of her important Seventies work like JE TU IL ELLE and LES RENDEZ-VOUS D'ANNA, but now that her masterpiece (we're talking Top 10 of all time among certain critics) is finally available for home viewing in America, I figured I'd better check it out. WOW! 200 minutes of a middle-aged widow making the bed, boiling potatoes, shopping, helping her son learn Flemish, turning the occasional trick to make ends meet and every second is riveting. The tiniest details of this woman's daily routine take on huge significance as you watch her slowly lose control of her highly structured domestic life. Suspenseful! I'm totally serious!" 
THE ADVENTURE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES' SMARTER BROTHER (dir: Gene Wilder, PG) - Thom says, "In his little-watched directorial debut, Gene Wilder plays Sigerson Holmes, younger - and embittered - brother to the more well-known Sherlock. When Sherlock wants to throw off the bad guys he sends over Orville Sacker (Marty Feldman) to persuade Sigerson to take the case involving a stolen document that, if not recovered, could bring war with France. Madeline Kahn gives her finest comedic role as the alluring singer/liar Bessie Bellwood/Jenny Hill, earning her the giant gold key to my heart/pants. In a film full of stand-outs, Dom DeLuise steals the show whenever on screen as the eccentric opera singer/blackmailer Gambetti. I'll throw in a key for him as well. A key to my heart/pants. Bottom line: this movie is as fun and funny as any Mel Brooks film (Gene Wilder wrote most of Young Frankenstein, you know) and better than half of them."
JAWS (dir: Steven Spielberg, Not Rated) – Greg says, "Although JAWS is guilty of ruining Hollywood by ushering in the era of the summer blockbuster, it can't be held accountable. It's an elegant adventure tale with old sensibilities and the fact that it ruined swimming in the ocean for a lot of people forever is also proof of its greatness. And if anyone can think of a monologue in a motion picture better than Robert Shaw's U.S.S. Indianapolis speech, I'd like to hear it."
THE EIGER SANCTION (dir: Clint Eastwood, R) - Greg says, "If you’re like me, you don’t want a sensitive, emoting Clint Eastwood. You want a mountain climbing, girl slapping, art collecting gun-for-hire trying to find an assassin in the Swiss Alps. This is, pun intended, the apex of his 70s filmography."
DOG DAY AFTERNOON (dir: Sidney Lumet, R) – Kurt says, "Bank robberies, sex-change operations, true story, John Cazale… what out of those things don’t make you want to see this movie? It’s all about the actors and their excellent portrayals in Frank Pierson’s award winning script. Having a static setting until the last twenty minutes of the film, at no point will you feel bored from your perspective. Besides all that, this is one of those roles where Pacino has a right to yell and act crazy."
NIGHT MOVES (dir: Arthur Penn, R) - Kurt says, "The old private-eye/film-noir bit has been done and done and done. But for a good reason… it’s awesome!! Who doesn’t fantasize about being a private investigator/Gene Hackman? The only thing better than Hackman’s performance in this thriller is his HAIR! Just keep a ‘private eye’ on it and you’ll see his hair make some NIGHT MOVES of its own."
FOX AND HIS FRIENDS (dir: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Not Rated)
THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING (dir: John Huston, Not Rated)
NASHVILLE (dir: Robert Altman, Not Rated)
THE PASSENGER (dir: Michelangelo Antonioni, Not Rated)

PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK  (dir: Peter Weir, Not Rated)
SMILE (dir: Michael Ritchie, Not Rated)
Also: