1970s Challenge (Official, August 2020)

[blocho]

1970s Challenge




Welcome to the 1970s Challenge!


Goal:
Watch movies/episodes from the 1970s.


Rules:
- Anything you watch must have been released in the 1970s according to imdb.
- Challenge runs August 1, 2020 - August 31, 2020.
- A feature film (at least 40 minutes) counts as one point.
- A total of 60 minutes of short films (less than 40 minutes) counts as one point.
- For TV series/miniseries, each part (at least 40 minutes) counts as one point. If less than 40 minutes, then the short films rule applies.
- Not a rule but a request: When you post what you have watched, please include your reaction or at least a rating so that other people can learn about movies they might not know about.


Stats & Formatting:
- Title (Year) is the preferred format.
- Don't edit posts to include new movies you've watched. Always make new posts.


Previous Editions:
2012 - Won by burneyfan with 39 points.
2018 - Won by sol with 87 points.


Official Lists:
IMDb's 1970s Top 50


Unofficial Lists:
ICM Forum's Favourite Movies of the 1970s


Bonus Challenge #1 - Every Year
See at least one movie/episode from each year. Then do it again to become a two-time bonus challenge finisher. Then keep going. Shorts and episodes under 40 minutes do not count for this bonus challenge.


Bonus Challenge #2 - blocho's recommendation
See the following movie:
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/the ... hite+hope/


Bonus Challenge #3 - Best Contributor
The winner of this challenge will be the person who makes the best contribution to this thread beyond listing movies. Good contribution can include screenshots, ratings, reviews, comments, thoughts, discussion, etc. It is an entirely subjective bonus challenge. A winner will be picked at the end of the month by the host.

Participants

Rank	Participant	# of Points	Every Year?	Great White Hope
1	flavo5000	221	Yes, thirteen times!	Not Yet
2	Traveller	114	Yes, four times!	Not Yet
3	blueboybob	112	Yes, eight times!	Not Yet
4	jdidaco	70	Yes, four times!	Not Yet
5	sol	54	Yes, twice!	Not Yet
6	maxwelldeux	43	Yes, thrice!	Not Yet
7	allisoncm	37	Yes, once!	Not Yet
7	OldAle1	37	Yes, once!	Not Yet
9	burneyfan	32	Yes, once!	Not Yet
10	ororama	29	Not Yet	Not Yet
11	Lonewolf2003	24	Not Yet	Not Yet
12	AB537	23	Not Yet	Not Yet
12	St. Gloede	23	Not Yet	Not Yet
12	adwest	23	Not Yet	Not Yet
15	peeptoad	21	Yes, once!	Yes!!!
15	Obgeoff	21	Yes, once!	Not Yet
17	sebby	20	Not Yet	Not Yet
17	morrison-dylan-fan	20	Not Yet	Not Yet
17	frbrown	20	Not Yet	Not Yet
20	RogerTheMovieManiac88	16	Not Yet	Not Yet
21	blocho	13	Not Yet	Not Yet
21	cinephage	13	Not Yet	Not Yet
23	VincentPrice	9	Not Yet	Not Yet
23	hurluberlu	9	Not Yet	Not Yet
25	shugs	8	Not Yet	Not Yet
26	zzzorf	6	Not Yet	Not Yet
27	vortexsurfer	4	Not Yet	Not Yet
27	Local Hero	4	Not Yet	Not Yet
27	connordenney	4	Not Yet	Not Yet
30	nimimerkillinen	3	Not Yet	Not Yet

[VincentPrice]

yo

[blueboybob]

This is the easiest for me to focus on so I will probably do that.

[burneyfan]

I'm in -- I won't plan anything special -- just record '70s films in August as I happen to see them.

[Traveller]

In as well. Thanks for hosting, blocho.

[sol]

- For TV series/miniseries, each part (at least 40 minutes) counts as one point. If less than 40 minutes, then the short films rule applies.

If you're not going to exclude TV, can we at least cap it at 180 minutes or one whole season or something? Otherwise, this challenge will get ridiculous. I don't think 72a allowed TV episodes at all last time that he hosted...

[frbrown]

Otherwise, this challenge will get ridiculous.

Are you sure? Do we have many 70s TV fans here?

I'm in favor of allowing TV.

[blocho]

- For TV series/miniseries, each part (at least 40 minutes) counts as one point. If less than 40 minutes, then the short films rule applies.

If you're not going to exclude TV, can we at least cap it at 180 minutes or one whole season or something? Otherwise, this challenge will get ridiculous. I don't think 72a allowed TV episodes at all last time that he hosted...

I've thought a lot about the TV/movies issue, and while in past challenges I've used the 120 minutes of TV rule, I want to move more in the direction of runtime equality. While I personally almost always prefer movies to TV, as host of a challenge I don't think it's my place to give something a very different value based on whether it was exhibited in theaters or broadcast on TV.

That being said, if a clear consensus emerges around valuing TV less than movies, I'm willing to go to 120 minutes of TV for a point.

[allisoncm]

I'm in for a few.

[sol]

I've thought a lot about the TV/movies issue, and while in past challenges I've used the 120 minutes of TV rule, I want to move more in the direction of runtime equality. While I personally almost always prefer movies to TV, as host of a challenge I don't think it's my place to give something a very different value based on whether it was exhibited in theaters or broadcast on TV.

I would argue that the ease of binge-watching an entire season of a television series is very different to watching multiple unrelated films, but ignoring that, I don't think 60 minutes of television episodes is "runtime equality" by any stretch. While there are certainly some ~60min movies out there, most films are around 90mins long, so if you really wanted to achieve "runtime equality", I would think that 90 mins of TV episodes would be much fairer.

But fine, I won't complain. Some of my favourite TV shows were made during the 1970s and if it is easier for me to rack up points by rewatching those rather than exploring what I have not yet seen in 1970s cinema, maybe I'll go for the less challenging option myself...

[frbrown]

Some of my favourite TV shows were made during the 1970s and if it is easier for me to rack up points by rewatching those rather than exploring what I have not yet seen in 1970s cinema, maybe I'll go for the less challenging option myself...

Go for it, sol

[blocho]

I don't think 60 minutes of television episodes is "runtime equality" by any stretch. While there are certainly some ~60min movies out there, most films are around 90mins long, so if you really wanted to achieve "runtime equality", I would think that 90 mins of TV episodes would be much fairer.

I hear what you're saying, Sol. And you have a good point. The average movie is closer to 90 minutes long, so that might make more sense. On the other hand, it feels weird to have a 90 minute minimum for TV versus a 40 minute minimum for movies, even if the vast majority of movies people see are more than an hour long. I should also mention that the last time I hosted a challenge with a 120-minute TV minimum, someone complained about the disparity of that minimum compared to movies. So there are competing imperatives here.

I'm willing to accommodate any consensus that emerges. If no consensus emerges, I'll stick with the 60 minutes of TV rule for this challenge at least (I'll reconsider the next time I host). Ultimately, I would like the forum as a whole to come up with a default rule for time minimums.

...

Just as an aside, I hope philosophically that people join challenges with primary goals other than winning. I know that's a bit ironic because it is, after all, a challenge, and a winner is named at the end. I certainly don't think less of anyone who cares about winning. But I think the real point of a challenge is to see interesting things, converse about them, and enjoy the experience of spectatorship. Perhaps all challenges should be twofold - a winner is named for the person with the most points and another winner is named for the person who makes the most insightful and meaningful written contributions by posting reactions/reviews and engaging in discussion.

[maxwelldeux]

I don't think 60 minutes of television episodes is "runtime equality" by any stretch. While there are certainly some ~60min movies out there, most films are around 90mins long, so if you really wanted to achieve "runtime equality", I would think that 90 mins of TV episodes would be much fairer.

I hear what you're saying, Sol. And you have a good point. The average movie is closer to 90 minutes long, so that might make more sense. On the other hand, it feels weird to have a 90 minute minimum for TV versus a 40 minute minimum for movies, even if the vast majority of movies people see are more than an hour long. I should also mention that the last time I hosted a challenge with a 120-minute TV minimum, someone complained about the disparity of that minimum compared to movies. So there are competing imperatives here.

I'm willing to accommodate any consensus that emerges. If no consensus emerges, I'll stick with the 60 minutes of TV rule for this challenge at least (I'll reconsider the next time I host). Ultimately, I would like the forum as a whole to come up with a default rule for time minimums.

...

Just as an aside, I hope philosophically that people join challenges with primary goals other than winning. I know that's a bit ironic because it is, after all, a challenge, and a winner is named at the end. I certainly don't think less of anyone who cares about winning. But I think the real point of a challenge is to see interesting things, converse about them, and enjoy the experience of spectatorship. Perhaps all challenges should be twofold - a winner is named for the person with the most points and another winner is named for the person who makes the most insightful and meaningful written contributions by posting reactions/reviews and engaging in discussion.

I have several philosophical opinions on this which are neither here nor there, my main thing comes down on simplicity. I don't want to have to track different things different. Keep it simple, easy to manage, and easy to play. Including TV with the normal 40/60 rule is fine. Excluding TV is fine. Raising the minimum film length to 60m for everything is fine. But for me at least, the least desirable approach would be separate approaches for "TV" vs. "short films"

[sol]

Ultimately, I would like the forum as a whole to come up with a default rule for time minimums.

Same. Last time that I brought this up though, the consensus was to let individual Challenge hosts make their own decisions at their own discretion. Remind me and I'll bring this up again in late November or early December, whenever we finalise the 2021 Schedule.

I hope philosophically that people join challenges with primary goals other than winning. I know that's a bit ironic because it is, after all, a challenge, and a winner is named at the end. I certainly don't think less of anyone who cares about winning. But I think the real point of a challenge is to see interesting things, converse about them, and enjoy the experience of spectatorship. Perhaps all challenges should be twofold - a winner is named for the person with the most points and another winner is named for the person who makes the most insightful and meaningful written contributions by posting reactions/reviews and engaging in discussion.

Just to be clear, I do not participate in Challenges in order to win them. I have won zero so far this year and there has only been one that I have even attempted to win.

The problem lies in the incentives produced by Max's Challenge Olympics with awards given for achieving 36 watches in a single month and so on. I've just come off holidays, but during the school term is nigh on impossible for me to get 36 x 3 watches. The loophole that you have provided (edit: stuffed up the example) is pretty hard not to want to take advantage of.

[sol]

But I think the real point of a challenge is to see interesting things, converse about them, and enjoy the experience of spectatorship.

Oh, and again just to be clear, I write about everything that I watch in every single Challenge that I participate in. I'm not going to stop if I doing so if I do brief TV stint this month, however writing one paragraph on the entire first scene of M*A*S*H (for example) is far less taxing than writing up individual Letterboxd reviews for the equivalent runtime's worth of feature length films.

[peeptoad]

Thanks for hosting, blocho. I have ~20 on the agenda for this one. Going to split between here and German/Austrian/Swiss next month.

[VincentPrice]

1. Where's Poppa?-1970: 7/10

[sol]

1. Mark of the Devil (1970)



Opening with graphic depictions of a man being tarred and feathered and two women being burned alive at the stake, this look at the witch hunt trials of centuries ago is captivating from the get-go and things only get more intriguing as the film goes on. The chief antagonists all abuse their power with the film providing a scathing look at absolute power corrupting absolutely. Reggie Nalder is particularly well cast one of the more vicious witch-finders.

[Traveller]

01. Hundertwassers Regentag (1971) - 6/10

02a. Fly (1970) (25min)
02b. Hapax Legomena III: Critical Mass (1971) (26min)
02c. Tup Tup (1972) (10min)

03a. Troe iz Prostokvashino (1978) (17min)
03b. Holding (1971) (13min)
03c. World (1970) (6min)
03d. The Story of a Village and a War (1979) (25min)

04a. The Golden Positions (1970) (30min)
04b. Hapax Legomena II: Poetic Justice (1972) (31min)

05. The Stepford Wives (1975) - 8/10
06. The Andromeda Strain (1971) - 7/10

[maxwelldeux]

1. Convoy (1978)
2. Breaker! Breaker! (1977)

I don't know why, but I started with two trucker movies. Neither were very good. Convoy was a Peckinpah film, so if your opinion is that westerns don't have enough big rig trucks in them, then I have the film for you! There were some cool things in there, but aside from a bar fight, crashes, and an explosion, it was cop = bad, truckers = good.

Breaker is a Chuck Norris film, so that. Kicks. Trucks. Corrupt town. You know the drill.

[burneyfan]

01. Tagebuch eines Liebenden a.k.a. Diary of a Lover -- Shahid-Saless, 1977.

This is the third film I've seen from Iranian filmmaker Sohrab Shahid Saless, and...the other two (Still Life and A Simple Event) went better. It's about a lonely, isolated man who writes in his diary...dark and depressing, but not in an interesting or involving way, for the most part. Some of my issue was probably the viewing experience, too: it was a recording taken from a VHS with a lot of feedback, and very dark. I'd still recommend his other two films that I've seen before this one.

[burneyfan]

Spoiler

01. Tagebuch eines Liebenden a.k.a. Diary of a Lover -- Shahid-Saless, 1977.

02. Ioannis o viaios a.k.a. John the Violent -- Marketaki, 1973.

This is my third film directed by Tonia Marketaki, and the best, so far. It's a three-hour work covering all aspects of a murder, from varying witness statements to the murder's methods and psychology, to courtroom arguments. It has a Rashomon-esque structure (particularly at first), with relatively sophisticated narrative technique. The cinematography is nothing special, but adequate; it's the script and performances that appeal most.

[blueboybob]

1. Shirley Thompson Versus the Aliens (1972)
2. 10 (1979)
3. The Very Same Munchhausen (1979)
4. Twenty Days Without War (1977)

[AB537]

1. Eyes of Laura Mars (Irvin Kershner, 1978) 6.5/10
2. Numéro deux (Jean-Luc Godard, 1975) 3/10
3. Bloody Mama (Roger Corman, 1970) 5.5/10
4. Caged Heat (Jonathan Demme, 1974) 6.5/10

[sol]

70s

1. Mark of the Devil (1970)

2. Numéro Deux (1975)



Consisting almost entirely of filmed television sets on black backgrounds, this Jean-Luc Godard movie depicts a bickering, dysfunctional couple with two curious children. The filming style is very dynamic, especially whenever two screens are present. Godard plays around with the size of the screens and the second set often contradicts the other as Godard uses the screen as a symbolic filter here to force us to evaluate his truth at 24 frames per second.

Highly recommended (sorry, AB).

[sol]

This 70's Show

1. Mark of the Devil (1970)
2. Numéro Deux (1975)

3. Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny & Girly (1970)



Although nowhere as graphic and out-there as Singapore Sling, the Nikos Nikolaidis film might be the best comparison piece with its stranger sucked into a power play between two women who may or may not be mother and daughter. As for Girly, it is much more of a comedy and sometimes to the detriment of the outlandish premise. The satire is potent throughout though as the daughter keeps insisting "we're a happy family!" and maybe they are.

[burneyfan]

Spoiler

01. Tagebuch eines Liebenden a.k.a. Diary of a Lover -- Shahid-Saless, 1977.
02. Ioannis o viaios a.k.a. John the Violent -- Marketaki, 1973.

03. Bang Bang -- Tonacci, 1971.

From the title, I imagined it was a Brazilian crime film when I put it on. Wrong...well, mostly. It's an avant-garde attempt to disturb the viewer's narrative sense with a bunch of odd sketches with some recurring characters -- some scenes "make sense," while others don't. Definitely one of the weirder films I've seen this year, and easily the film with the most belching. The general vibe reminded me a tiny, tiny, TINY bit of Roy Andersson (don't get too excited, Andersson fans!), but more cluttered, dirtier, and noisier.

[blueboybob]

5. Don Giovanni (1970)

[maxwelldeux]

Bonus Challenge #2 - blocho's recommendation
See the following movie:
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/the ... hite+hope/

8. The Great White Hope (1970)

This is based on a stage play, and it showed, primarily through the dialogue. James Earl Jones was a badass in here, and that was pretty cool to see. But I didn't like the adaptation, and I blame the play. It seemed very award-baity, and just tried too hard. I'd love to see a modern adaptation of the story not from the play, as I think Jack Johnson is a super cool character from American history.

So, I'm not going to rewatch that this month, but that's what I wrote for the African American challenge in 2018. I have down as a 6/10. My biggest issue with the film is the storytelling - Jack Johnson is just so damned cool and complex, but the story didn't convey all of it. I find the biographies to be more compelling. But I would love to see a remake, especially in the current political climate in the US.

[Traveller]

07. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) - 8/10
08. Logan's Run (1976) - 5/10
09. Midnight Express (1978) - 5/10
10. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) - 5/10

[maxwelldeux]

Physical media puts the disc back in disco

1. Convoy (1978)
2. Breaker! Breaker! (1977)

3. The American West of John Ford (1971)

John Ford is awesome, shouts John Wayne. A few other people said things, but it was all fawning.

4. A Bridge Too Far (1977)

I just didn't feel this one. One thing was that there were too many stars - individually, that cast was great, but when everyone has amazing screen presence, no one does. It felt to me more like a rote depiction of history rather than telling a story. I didn't connect with anyone, I didn't feel like the leadership cared, the deaths felt cartoony. It just fell flat on an emotional level for me.

[blueboybob]

6. L'automne (1972)

[flavo5000]

1. Iracema - Uma Transa Amazônica (1975)


2. Meteor (1979)


3. Le fond de l'air est rouge a.k.a. A Grin Without A Cat (1977)


4. Hokkyoku no Mushika Mishika a.k.a. Adventures of the Polar Cubs (1979)

Spoiler

1. Iracema - Uma Transa Amazônica (1975)
2. Meteor (1979)
3. Le fond de l'air est rouge a.k.a. A Grin Without A Cat (1977)
4. Hokkyoku no Mushika Mishika a.k.a. Adventures of the Polar Cubs (1979)

[zzzorf]

1. Satan's School for Girls (1973) - 7/10

[connordenney]

1. Exorcist II: The Heretic (John Boorman, 1977)

Spoiler

1. Exorcist II: The Heretic (John Boorman, 1977)

[3eyes]

I found quite a few 70s E & W German-language films on Kanopy, some of which I'd never heard of.
Also Criterion just added an Australian New Wave collection which is mostly 70s.

[AB537]

5. The Longest Yard (Robert Aldrich, 1974) 7/10
6. Xala (Ousmane Sembene, 1975) 7.5/10

[blueboybob]

7. The Scenic Route (1978)
8. Pays de cocagne (1971)

[burneyfan]

Spoiler

01. Tagebuch eines Liebenden a.k.a. Diary of a Lover -- Shahid-Saless, 1977.
02. Ioannis o viaios a.k.a. John the Violent -- Marketaki, 1973.
03. Bang Bang -- Tonacci, 1971.

04. Hanare goze Orin a.k.a. The Ballad of Orin -- Shinoda, 1977.

Shinoda's portrait of a blind musician's life. It's no Pale Flower or Silence, but it's engaging and the cinematography is good.

[ororama]

1. The Night Stalker (1972) 75 min. 
2. The Night Strangler (1973) 90 min. 
3. Pays de cocagne/ Land of Milk and Honey (1971) * 75 min.


*First time viewing.