Network (yeah, the 1976 movie)

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Just watched it for the first time last night. What a great movie -- the writers were absolute geniuses. And through a lucky coincidence, we're in a sort of 70's retro period in fashions right now, so the vast majority of the actors don't look impossibly dated . Except for the guy with the Burt Reynolds haircut, beard, and light leisure suit .

If you've never watched it, you really ought to.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[quade 4]

Paddy Chayefsky was a genius and so is the film.

What is amazing about it is that it's still completely relevant today, maybe even more so. Which only points out what a true genius Chayefsky really was in being able to see how things were lining up.

A couple of the best monologues in the history of movies come out of that film; "Mad As Hell" and "Turn Off Your Television".

Someday I hope to write something one bajillionth as good.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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Just watched it for the first time last night. [What a great movie -- the writers were absolute geniuses. And through a lucky coincidence, we're in a sort of 70's retro period in fashions right now, so the vast majority of the actors don't look impossibly dated . Except for the guy with the Burt Reynolds haircut, beard, and light leisure suit .

If you've never watched it, you really ought to.

Wendy P.

Network is great and in my rotation (currently movies get re-watched about every five years with a few TV series, new releases, etc shoehorned in)

Coppola did some of his best work in that decade. If you liked Network, you should probably see The Conversation (obviously not as relevant, but still good)

The other obvious pieces in that decade/ouvre would be The Godfather, The Godfather 2, and Apocalypse Now (better than Platoon or Full Metal Jacket).

Other excellent 70s films would be

They Call Me Mr Tibbs (police drama, Sidney Potier. I don't remember if In The Heat of the Night was better)
Serpico (police drama, Al Pacino)
The Deer Hunter (a town after vietnam, De Niro, Maryl Streep)
Taxi Driver (one veteran; Scorsese directing with De Niro and a very young Jodie Foster)
Dog Day Afternoon (one crime gone wrong with Al Pacino)

A Clockwork Orange (classic Kubrick from the Burgess book)
The God Father & The Godfather 2 (Coppola, Brando, the most mournful trumpet on the score)
Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks. Very funny. Cameo by Count Basie and his band)
Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks. Funny)

Netflix should let you extract your viewed list by director, actor, or decade. It used to be possible to download that for easy post-processing.

[ryoder 1,590]

And I am still peeved that the Academy award for "Best Picture" that year went to "Rocky" instead of "Network".
Apparently, no one over 14 was allowed to vote that year.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[quade 4]

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And I am still peeved that the Academy award for "Best Picture" that year went to "Rocky" instead of "Network".
Apparently, no one over 14 was allowed to vote that year.

It did, however, win "Best Screenplay". There is a fundamental difference between the two. One is the work of a (or a team of) writers and the other is the work of the entire team of people involved in the production. It's a distinction lost on most people outside Hollywood and even then a lot of people don't quite get it. I mean, seriously, when was the last time you actually read a script for a film?

"Network" was brilliantly written, but I can see why the Academy as a whole thought "Rocky" was perhaps a better film.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver