GO TO 1976

1977

GO TO 1978
ERASERHEAD (dir: David Lynch, Not Rated) - Thom says, "You know those nights where you don't know what you want to watch but you know you want to feel moist and slightly depressed and/or confused a lot? The search is over! ERASERHEAD took David Lynch like five years to make because he had to shave Jack Nance's hair every thirteen seconds for maximum creepitude. And boy, did it pay off! Worried about having a kid? Probably shouldn't watch this one because you might give birth to an alien chicken thing that may or not have grown up to be the Elephant Man. It probably will do just that because David Lynch's next film was the ELEPHANT MAN, which didn't take so long to make at all but is definitely depressing - no weird questions about it. Anyways, great flick."
DOT AND THE KANGAROO (dir: Yoram Gross, G) - Michelle says, "So, I lied when I said this movie starts and ends with a live action sequence as a frame story for a protagonist’s departure into an animated other world (see my review of THE WATERBABIES, another late seventies kiddie film). This is actually animation against a photographed background of live Australian settings. And unlike THE WATERBABIES, there’s not much narrative to Dot’s adventure. Lost in the woods, she is temporarily adopted by a kangaroo who has lost her baby and who introduces Dot to the local wildlife, including a bizarre supernatural creature called the Bunyip which terrified me as a child. In retrospect, what really makes this movie interesting is its tone – there’s something melancholy about the way Dot and the kangaroo can only be together for a short while. But that’s how real life is, right? Especially in Australia. Kid’s gotta learn that sometime."
THE LAST WAVE (dir: Peter Weir, PG) - Greg says, "For his first film after his international breakthrough PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, Australian director Peter Weir kept things enigmatic and heavy with a sense of impending doom. Richard Chamberlain is a Sydney lawyer who must break the silence of his five Aborigine murder defendants. But when he discovers what they're hiding might be the clue to a watery Armageddon that will drown all of Australia, what's a stuffy lawyer to do? It's funny that too much water could have ever been a problem in Australia since they are literally going to run out of drinking water in 15 years. They're already re-using their sewer water. It's going to be like MAD MAX down there very soon."
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (dir: Steven Spielberg, PG) – Greg says, "In an interview on this DVD, Spielberg talks about how when he was younger he actually believed in alien life, but as he’s grown older he’s become more resistant to the idea. Well, that explains why WAR OF THE WORLDS sucked, but back in '77 he was still combing the night skies for new friends. Madman Richard Dreyfuss goes all out building his mashed potato mountain. There’s that simple, yet iconic piece of music and even Francois Truffaut gets in on the fun. Faced with the daunting task of following up JAWS, Spielberg went into overdrive with a string of gems that would continue until he decided he needed to start making 'serious' films like THE COLOR PURPLE. When you’re cinema’s greatest magician, why would you trade it in for harsh reality?"
STROSZEK (dir: Werner Herzog, Not Rated) - Bart says, "It’s Werner Herzog at his most Fassbinder-ish in this story of a weak-minded accordion player who has to get out of Berlin because he’s constantly bullied by pimps and drug dealers. So off he heads to America with his two friends, a shrunken old man and an English-speaking prostitute. Watch the world dump on Bruno S., a favorite actor of Herzog who, as a mentally troubled individual, is basically playing himself. It’s exploit-astic!"
ABIGAIL'S PARTY (dir: Mike Leigh, Not Rated)
THE AMERICAN FRIEND (dir: Wim Wenders, Not Rated)
ANNIE HALL (dir: Woody Allen, Not Rated)
EQUUS (dir: Sidney Lumet, Not Rated)
KILLER OF SHEEP (dir: Charles Burnett, Not Rated)
THE LATE SHOW (dir: Robert Benton, PG)
STAR WARS (dir: George Lucas, Not Rated)
SUSPIRIA (dir: Dario Argeto, R)
3 WOMEN (dir: Robert Altman, Not Rated)   
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