Film.com was a film website that was owned by Realnetworks.com. In June 2007 the site’s staff compiled a list of the top 10 films for 1978. Alan Parker’s controversial Midnight Express is placed 2nd while even more surprising is the ranking of musical Grease at number 3. There’s notably no foreign language films among the ten.
1) The Deer Hunter
Director: Michael Cimino
2) Midnight Express
Director: Alan Parker
3) Grease
Director: Randal Kleiser
4) Superman
Director: Richard Donner
5) Halloween
Director: John Carpenter
6) Animal House
Director: John Landis
7) Dawn of the Dead
Director: George Romero
8) Same Time, Next Year
Director: Robert Mulligan
9) Days of Heaven
Director: Terrence Malick
10) Up in Smoke
Director: Lou Adler
In our recent society discussions we were talking about 1978 being a great year for American cinema, particularly given the releases of masterpieces like Days of Heaven and The Deer Hunter. It was also the year that saw the arrival of two of the most seminal and influential films of the horror genre, John Carpenter’s scary slasher classic, Halloween and George E. Romero’s gruesome zombie picture, Dawn of the Dead. Below is Filmsite’s picks for the best of that year. Interestingly the yearly lists on the site do include foreign language entries despite them not being considered for their greatest films of all-time lists. The films are listed in alphabetical order.
Romero’s independently made zombie sequel provides a tongue in cheek attack on the shortcomings of our modern materialistic society by way of hordes of reanimated corpses preying on human flesh. The film follows four Pennsylvanian survivors of the epidemic, caused by an unidentified phenomenon, who barricade themselves inside a suburban shopping mall amid mass hysteria. Combining action, tension, gruesome horror and a surprising amount of humour, Dawn of the Dead manages to move far beyond its low budget, and, thanks to a great cast and clever special effects, is seen as one of the best horror films ever made.
Special Divimax Edition (DVD)
In January 2015 Rolling Stone magazine published a list of the 10 best action movies of all-time having polled their readers. The thing that stands out from the results is that each of the entries is from a franchise. Mad Mad 2 seems like a great choice at number one, as it’s as relentless in it’s action as any you’re likely to find.
Having avenged the death of his wife and child in the original film, hardened “Mad” Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) returns to patrol the dusty highways of a post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland where he fights off nomadic tribes. However, the cynical drifter begins to recover some humanity when he is drawn into protecting a community of settlers from a roving band of marauders. The film follows an archetypal “Western” frontier movie motif, but still feels strikingly original thanks to stunning visuals, Gibson’s star performance and an influential comic book style. With a bigger budget than the first instalment, it delivers even more in the way of relentless and disturbing action scenes.
Buy or Rent (watch online)
The second of three movies in the Evil Dead series is part horror, part comedy, and follows the lone survivor of the first film, Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell), who is once again battling an onslaught of horrifying demons at a secluded cabin in the woods. Inventive and full of energy, Evil Dead II is very funny, has better special effects and delivers much more in the way of gore and scares than the original.
Blu-ray
The sequel to the 2012 film 21 Jump Street, which was based on the television series of the same name, the plot follows police narcotics officers Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill, also co-writer) and Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum) as they once again go deep undercover, this time at a local college in order to find the supplier of a new drug. Some critics dismissed the film as juvenile and tedious but its also been seen as a notable improvement on the original. For the not so easily offended the film has some outrageously funny moments, enhanced by the two likeable leads and its one of the better examples of American college set comedies.
Buy or Rent (watch online)
Arthur C. Clarke was one of the most renowned science fiction writers of the 20th century. He became particularly famous for his collaboration with Stanley Kubrick on the screenplay for the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, widely considered to be one of the most influential films of all time. The film was based on Clarke’s short story “The Sentinel,” and led to him developing a big interest in filmmaking. While on the set of director Peter Hyams’ 2010: The Year We Make Contact (a sequel to 2001) in 1984 he was asked to list his favourite science fiction movies of all time. It’s difficult to say whether the films are listed in any particular order.
Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece (Hard Cover)
Robert Wise’s entertaining sci-fi classic sees a humanoid alien visitor named Klaatu (Michael Rennie), accompanied by a softly spoken but powerful eight-foot tall robot, Gort, who lands his UFO in Washington D.C., to deliver an important message to Earth’s leaders that will affect the entire human race. Klaatu has come on behalf of Aliens who are feeling threatened by the nuclear proliferation they have viewed on post-war Earth. Reflecting the fear and paranoia of the early cold-war era, The Day the Earth Stood Still is a landmark for the genre that’s superbly crafted, thought provoking and has aged remarkably well.
Buy or Rent (watch online)
Stillman’s Oscar nominated low budget comedy of manners concerns the lives of a group of wealthy young socialites during debutante season in Manhattan. In addition to some of their debutante parties, it covers their frequent informal after-hours gatherings at a friend’s Upper East Side apartment, where they discuss life, philosophy, and their fate. They form attachments, romances, and intrigues and react to a radical but less well-to-do newcomer. An ironically comic look at the lives of New York preppies that is recognised as one of the most significant achievements of American independent film of the 1990s.
The Criterion Collection (DVD)
