List of Crap #115: Top 50 Movies of the 70s Countdown!

[Edward J Grug III]

One day I'll have to check Amazon to see if they got that on DVD/BD.

I haven't watched it in many, many years mind you. I saw it long before I ever saw Attack, and was disappointed when I got around to Attack.

[Cyrusso]

Well it's probably at least worth a watch or two.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Never heard of tomato jam before, I like tomatoes, in sauces, raw, as ketchup, but the thought of tomatoes + sugar in jam form does not sound appealing.

[Edward J Grug III]

Never heard of tomato jam before, I like tomatoes, in sauces, raw, as ketchup, but the thought of tomatoes + sugar in jam form does not sound appealing.

They aren't super sugary like fruit jam. More savoury like onion jam or chilli jam.

[Cyrusso]

Yeah I think I'd rather eat soured herring(I'm not a big fan of fish, as far as dining goes).

[Edward J Grug III]

I mean, you don't eat it on its own. It's in the ballpark of a relish and you put it on a burger or something.

That's it - Starting my savoury jam thread next ;P

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Never heard of tomato jam before, I like tomatoes, in sauces, raw, as ketchup, but the thought of tomatoes + sugar in jam form does not sound appealing.

They aren't super sugary like fruit jam. More savoury like onion jam or chilli jam.

That's all new to me, I've never seen or heard of anyone ever eating any jams like that.  Must be a thing that just isn't popular in the Northeast USA.

[Johnny Unusual]

Yeah, jams for burgers are wonderful.  This includes jams for meats like bacon and chorizo.  Also in the ballpark of relish is tomato chow chow, a Canadian maritime favourite, which is made only with green tomatoes and onions, vinegar and spices.  I actually don't care for it, but my mother makes it and everyone else likes it.  That said, I had some tomato chow chow on a veggie burger (which I had as part of a three week long crosstown burger competition) recently and they paired well-together.

[Johnny Unusual]

#8

87 Points, 4 Lists, #2 Psycho Goatee

It's okay with me.

Year 1973

What's it about?

Private investigator Phillip Marlowe's old friend Lennox needs a lift from LA to the Mexico border, which he obliges.  Soon after he returns, he learns that his friend has been accused of murdering his wife.  Marlowe refuses to cooperate with the police and is released three days later when Lennox turns up dead.  The police have ruled it a suicide but Marlowe suspects otherwise.  When Marlowe takes a case involving an alcoholic novelist, he learns the novelist knew Lennox.  Both men believe that Lennox's "suicide" is more than it seems and Marlowe decides to investigate, only to run into deadly mob boss Marty Augistine, who is owed a lot of money from Lennox.

What's it REALLY about?
Anachronisms, maybe?  I haven't seen the film but one thing I do know is that the character of Marlowe in this film is essentially an intentional throwback living in the modern world.

Legacy
Chinatown may have been THE neo-noir critics darling at the time, but the year before this film came out to... negative reviews.  Re-evaluation has been very kind to it, and it is now considered one of the great underrated noir movies with a tone and style all its own.  Probably why it was so hard to sell this one back then

Trivia
Elliott Gould has said that so long as he is physically able he holds out hopes that he could reprise the role of Phillip Marlowe. He has a screenplay entitled "It's Always Now," based on a Raymond Chandler story, "The Curtain." The Chandler estate sold him the rights to the story for $1.

I would actually be down for that.

Johnny's Thoughts
I haven't seen this one, but it sounds like it is up my alley.

[George-2.0]

Wow, that high on the list. I didn't like it when I first saw it, then gave it another try a few years ago - but no soap. I can't warm up to the Long Goodbye. I dislike Gould in the role, I disliked the film tonally.

[PsychoGoatee]

Nice to see The Long Goodbye so high on the list, one of my favs. I love the book The Big Sleep, haven't read The Long Goodbye but it sounds like a great book up that alley. The movie mixes up Chandler's tone in a fun laidback way, this movie to me is a bit comparable to Big Lebowski in some ways. Laidback, funny, also serious, really unique cool movie.

[Johnny Unusual]

I can't warm up to the Long Good Friday.

Nobody voted for that film.  Seems like you don't like films that describe themselves as "Long Good".

[Johnny Unusual]

#7

103 Points, 8 Lists, #2 CJones

It's got a wonderful defense mechanism. You don't dare kill it.

Year 1979

What's it about?

The crew of the starship Nostromo have received a distress signal.  Exploring a moon, one member is attacked by a creature that emerges from an egg.  The crew member is taken aboard and seems to be alright at first, until something emerges from his chest during dinner.  Now whatever it is has escaped and is growing.  Incredibly deadly, the crew is picked off one by one... which might be all according to plan.

What's it REALLY about?
It's a classic haunted house movie with a monster that symbolizes rape.  And don't trust corporations.  Also, while I don't think this was the intention (at least not in it's entirety), it is intersting that a rape metaphor is being enabled by a corrupt authority through inaction.  That feels... relevant.

Legacy
The film was a hit with audiences and critics and became a huge franchise, even inspired, weirdly enough, a line of action figures in an era where they were basically just marketed at kids.  It also inspired a lot of bad movies in the 80s from people who didn't know how to do it right.

Trivia
Shredded condoms were used to create tendons of the beast's ferocious jaws.

Johnny's Thoughts
Alien is such a brilliant, chilling movie.  The creature design is wonderful and unique (which is hard to do, I think), but unlike the later movies, the best service done to it is keeping it in the dark.  Enough to see how horrifiying it is but not so much that we get used to it.


Oh, and there's a high school production of it...
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/25/entertainment/alien-high-school-play/index.html

[Pak-Man]

Only #7? I had it pegged as top 5 for sure. I know that's pretty close, but I can only think of 3 movies that can touch it. But then, I have different tastes than a lot of voters for this list (Which is fine, of course)..

[PsychoGoatee]

I like Alien, I love Harry Dean Stanton, I love it when a plan comes together as Hannibal once said.