by Allan Fish
Best Picture The Godfather Part Two, US (13 votes)
Best Director Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather Part Two (10 votes)
Best Actor Gene Hackman, The Conversation (8 votes)
Best Actress Gena Rowlands, A Woman Under the Influence (10 votes)
Best Supp Actor Robert de Niro, The Godfather Part Two (9 votes)
Best Supp Actress Madeline Kahn, Blazing Saddles (8 votes)
Best Cinematography Gordon Willis, The Godfather Part Two (6 votes)
Best Score Jerry Goldsmith, Chinatown (7 votes)
Best Short Closed Mondays, US (2 votes)
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onwards…
1975
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Best Picture/Director
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Adoption (Hungary…Márta Mészaros)
Agony (USSR…Elem Klimov)
Aloïse (France…Liliane de Kermadec)
Anna (Italy…Alberto Grifi, Massimo Sarchielli)
Barry Lyndon (UK…Stanley Kubrick)
Battle Cry (Japan…Kihachi Okamoto)
The Battle of Chile: Parts I, II & II (Chile/Venezuela/Cuba (until 1978)…Patricio Guzman)
Beni Walks by Himself (Albania…Xhanfize Keko)
Benilde, or the Virgin Mother (Portugal…Manoel de Oliveira)
La Bête (France…Walerian Borowczyk)
Bijoux de Famille (France…Jean-Claude Laureux)
Black Moon (France/West Germany…Louis Malle)
Butterflies (US…Joe Sarno)
Chronicle of the Years of Embers (Algeria…Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina)
The Confessions of Winifred Wagner (West Germany…Hans-Jürgen Syberberg)
Cops vs Thugs (Japan…Kenji Fukasaku)
Crazy Mama (US…Jonathan Demme)
Cria Cuervos (Spain…Carlos Saura)
Days of Hope (UK…Ken Loach)
Deep Red (Italy…Dario Argento)
Deewaar (India…Yash Chopra)
Deep Throat in Tokyo (Japan…Kan Mukai)
Dialogues of the Exiled (France…Raoul Ruiz)
Dog Day Afternoon (US…Sidney Lumet)
Edward the Seventh (UK…John Gorrie)
The Evacuees (UK…Alan Parker)
Farewell My Lovely (US…Dick Richards)
Fear of Fear (West Germany…Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
Fox and His Friends (West Germany…Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
Grey Gardens (US…Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer)
Hababam Sinifi (Turkey…Ertem Egilmez)
Hard Times (US…Walter Hill)
The Hedgehog in the Fog (USSR…Yuri Norstein)
Hester Street (US…Joan Micklin Silver)
How Green Was My Valley (UK…Ronald Wilson)
Hustle (US…Robert Aldrich)
I am a Cat (Japan…Kon Ichikawa)
Illustrious Corpses (Italy…Francesco Rosi)
India Song (France…Marguerite Duras)
Innocents With Dirty Hands (France…Claude Chabrol)
Irony of Fate (USSR…Elder Ryazanov)
Jaws (US…Steven Spielberg)
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Belgium/France…Chantal Akerman)
Juvenile Liaison (UK…Nick Broomfield, Joan Churchill)
Kaseki (Japan…Masaki Kobayashi)
The Legend of Lizzie Borden (US…Paul Wendkos)
Lips of Blood (France…Jean Rollin)
The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum (West Germany…Margarethe Von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff)
Love and Death (US…Woody Allen)
The Magic Flute (Sweden…Ingmar Bergman)
The Maids (US…Christopher Miles)
Maitresse (France…Barbet Schroeder)
The Man Who Would be King (UK…John Huston)
Manila, in the Claws of Neon (Philippines…Lino Brocka)
The Messiah (Italy…Roberto Rossellini)
The Middle Man (India…Satyajit Ray)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (UK…Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam)
Moses and Aaron (Austria/West Germany/France…Jean-Marie Straub, Danièle Huillet)
My Friends (Italy…Mario Monicelli)
The Naked Civil Servant (UK…Jack Gold)
Nashville (US…Robert Altman)
Night Moves (US…Arthur Penn)
Numéro Deux (France…Jean-Luc Godard, Anne-Marie Miéville)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (US…Milos Forman)
Le Orme (Italy…Luigi Bazzoni)
The Other Francisco (Cuba…Sergio Giral)
Overlord (UK…Stuart Cooper)
Une Partie de Plaisir (France…Claude Chabrol)
The Passenger (Italy/US…Michelangelo Antonioni)
Peasant Letter (Senegal…Safi Faye)
Phantasmes (France…Jean Rollin)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (Australia…Peter Weir)
Playing With Fire (France…Alain Robbe-Grillet)
Quasi at the Quackadero (US…Sally Cruikshank)
A Real Young Girl (France…Catherine Breillat)
Requiem for a Village (UK…David Gladwell)
The Road to Sampo (South Korea…Lee Man-hee)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (US…Jim Sherman)
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (Italy…Pier Paolo Pasolini)
Seven Beauties (Italy…Lina Wertmuller)
Shampoo (US…Hal Ashby)
Sholay (India…Ramesh Sippy)
Smile (US…Michael Ritchie)
The Story of Adèle H. (France…François Truffaut)
The Story of Joanna (US…Gerard Damiano)
The Story of O (France…Just Jaeckin)
The Story of Sin (Poland/France…Walerian Borowczyk)
The Sunshine Boys (US…Herbert Ross)
Supervixens (US…Russ Meyer)
Three Days of the Condor (US…Sydney Pollack)
Tommy (UK…Ken Russell)
The Travelling Players (Greece…Theo Angelopoulos)
Two Solutions for One Problem (Iran…Abbas Kiarostami)
Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees (Japan…Masahiro Shinoda)
Welfare (US…Frederick Wiseman)
When Joseph Returns (Hungary…Zsolt Kézdi Kovács)
The White Wall (Sweden…Stig Björkman)
Wide Angle Saxon (US…Owen Land)
Winstanley (UK…Kevin Brownlow, Andrew Mollo)
Wives (Norway…Anja Breien)
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Best Actor
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Woody Allen Love and Death
Stanley Baker How Green Was My Valley TV
Warren Beatty Shampoo
Tim Curry The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Bruce Dern Smile
Rainer Werner Fassbinder Fox and His Friends
Giancarlo Giannini Seven Beauties
Gene Hackman Night Moves
Walter Matthau The Sunshine Boys
Robert Mitchum Farewell, My Lovely
Jack Nicholson One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Jack Nicholson The Passenger
Ryan O’Neal Barry Lyndon
Al Pacino Dog Day Afternoon
Roy Scheider Jaws
Robert Shaw Jaws
Lino Ventura Illustrious Corpses
Timothy West Edward the Seventh TV
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Best Actress
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Isabelle Adjani The Story of Adele H.
Harriet Andersson The White Wall
Francesca Annis Madame Bovary TV
Ann-Margret Tommy
Margit Carstensen Fear of Fear TV
Geraldine Chaplin Crià Cuervos
Annette Crosbie Edward the Seventh TV
Grazyna Dlugolecka The Story of Sin
Louise Fletcher One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Shima Iwashita Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees
Carol Kane Hester Street
Diane Keaton Love and Death
Jinko Miyashita A Woman Called Abe Sada
Sian Phillips How Green Was My Valley TV
Romy Schneider Innocents With Dirty Hands
Delphine Seyrig Jeanne Dielman 23 Rue de Commerces 1080 Bruxelles
Kinuyo Tanaka Sandakan 8
Monique Van de Ven Keetje Tippel
Angela Winkler The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum
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Best Supp Actor
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Edward Binns Night Moves
George Burns The Sunshine Boys
John Cazale Dog Day Afternoon
Brad Dourif One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Charles Durning Dog Day Afternoon
John Gielgud Edward the Seventh TV
Robert Hardy Edward the Seventh TV
Amjad Khan Sholay
Burgess Meredith The Day of the Locust
André Morell Edward the Seventh TV
Christopher Plummer The Man Who Would be King
Leonard Rossiter Barry Lyndon
Chris Sarandon Dog Day Afternoon
Donald Sutherland The Day of the Locust
Jack Warden Shampoo
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Best Supp Actress
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Ronee Blakely Nashville
Geraldine Chaplin Nashville
Shelley Duvall Nashville
Lee Grant Shampoo
Marie Kean Barry Lyndon
Hema Malini Sholay
Annette O’Toole Smile
Lily Tomlin Nashville
Ana Torrent Crià Cuervos
Tina Turner Tommy
Brenda Vaccaro Once is Not Enough
Gwen Welles Nashville
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Best Cinematography
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John Alcott Barry Lyndon (you may want to move on already)
John Alcott Overlord
Nestor Almendros Maitresse
Nestor Almendros The Story of Adèle H.
Yorgor Arvanitis The Travelling Players
Russell Boyd Picnic at Hanging Rock
Bill Butler Jaws
Tonino Delli Colli Salò, of the 120 Days of Sodom
Tonino Delli Colli Seven Beauties
Teo Escamilla Crià Cuervos
Conrad L.Hall The Day of the Locust
Bruce Surtees Night Moves
Luciano Tovoli The Passenger
Haskell Wexler and Bill Butler One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Zygmunt Zamosiuk The Story of Sin
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Best Score
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John Barry The Day of the Locust
Jerry Goldsmith The Wind and the Lion
Enzo Jannacci Seven Beauties
Maurice Jarre The Man Who Would be King
Ennio Morricone Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
Jack Nitzsche One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Alex North Bite the Bullet
Bruce Smeaton Picnic at Hanging Rock
Toru Takemitsu Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees
John Williams Jaws
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Best Short
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Angel and Big Joe (US…Bert Salzman)
The Ash Tree (UK…Lawrence Gordon Clark)
Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown (US…Phil Roman)
Christopher’s Christmas Mission (Sweden…Per Ahlin)
The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow (US…Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr.)
Four Seasons (USSR…Artavazd Peleshian)
The Girl Chewing Gum (US…John Smith)
Hedgehog in the Fog (USSR…Yu. Norshteyn)
Quasi at the Quackedero (US…Sally Cruickshank)
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (US…Chuck Jones)
Two Solutions for One Problem (Iran…Abbas Kiarostami)
Vibration (US…Jane Arden, Jack Bond)
Windows (UK…Peter Greenaway)
Water Wrackets (UK…Peter Greenaway)
The White Seal (US…Chuck Jones)
Click on names for archives
Writers/Founders
Best Picture: Barry Lyndon
Best Director: Stanley Kubrick (Barry Lyndon)
Best Actor: Jack Nicholson (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)
Best Actress: Isabelle Adjani (The Story of Adele H.)
Best Supporting Actor: Amjad Khan (Sholay)
Best Supporting Actress: Lee Grant (Shampoo)
Best Cinematography: John Alcott (Barry Lyndon)
Best Musical Score: Bruce Smeaton (Picnic at Hanging Rock)
The truly great films of 1975 aside from BARRY LYNDON (one of my 10 favorite films of all-time by the way) are: PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, THE MAGIC FLUTE, MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, FOX AND HIS FRIENDS, TRAVELLING PLAYERS, SHOLAY, SALO, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, THE PASSENGER, JAWS, THE STORY OF ADELE H., LOVE AND DEATH and SEVEN BEAUTIES.
So you pick ‘Salo’ over ‘Nashville’ (he said with a shit-eating grin).
Oh yes, Pasolini of any kind over NASHVILLE, Mark. SALO is quite disgusting and disturbing, but it’s a sort of masterpiece.
Copraphilia is best left to the imagination, on the printed page, as in in ‘Gravity’s Rainbow’. I can’t figure out your tastes (!), Sam. You go into panegyrics over treacle like ‘The Artist’, and then declare the depravities of ‘Salo’ masterful. There’s an inconsistency here I don’t follow. Are you the Marquis de Sade or Little Mr. Sunshine? (you know I love you , Sam).
LOL Mark!!!!!!!!!!!! I am a hybrid!!!!!!
Mark, it’s simple. With Sam, if it has classical music, that raises it *** by itself, and Salo has Orff. Nashville has not only no classical but the insult of country and western, a Sam turn off and blog button.,
This form of blanket generalization is about as convincing as the depraved Sandy Hook conspiracy theories.
Another great year in film. I should thank Sam, Allan, and Dennis for making me watch my top choice again after many years of negativity lol.
Best Picture: Barry Lyndon
Top Five: 1. Barry Lyndon 2. The Passenger 3. Night Moves 4. Picnic At Hanging Rock 5. Dog Day Afternoon
5 Almosts: Grey Gardens, The Story Of Adele H, Monty Python And The Holy Grail, Farewell My Lovely, and Nashville.
I vote “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” for best film.
I vote Terry Jones/Terry Gilliam for best director.
I vote Al Pacino for besr actor.
I vote Louise Fletcher for best actress.
I vote John Cazale for best supp. actor
I vote “Profondo Rosso” for best cinematography
I vote “Jaws” for best score
I vote “Hedgehog in the Mist” for best short (why on the main list?)
Top 5:
1. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
2. Dog Day Afternoon
3. Rocky Horror Picture Show
4. La batalla de Chile: La lucha de un pueblo sin armas – Primera parte: La insurreción de la burguesía
5. Profondo rosso
Picture: Barry Lyndon
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Fox and His Friends
Actor: Jack Nicholson, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Actress: Isabelle Adjani, The Story of Adele H.
Sup. Actor: Brad Dourif, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Sup. Actress: Lily Tomlin, Nashville
Cinematography: John Alcott, Barry Lyndon
Oh, boy. I mean…really…this hurt. I still can’t decide if I made the right move here, leaving the Kubrick, the Wertmuller, the Lumet and the Forman films out in the cold (even though I adore them all). But I thought that Nicholson was trumped this year–in a photo finish–by Pacino’s wild bank robber (which still seems like his best performance ever). Seeing as how Nicholson has already been chosen (by me, at least) for two previous awards, and is likely to be tapped again in the future, I thought it better to go with Pacino (I really considered a tie here, but I‘ve promised myself not to go that route unless absolutely necessary). Here’s where the case for CUCKOO’S NEST started to crumble for me. Fletcher’s performance was absolutely a supporting one, so I placed her in that category–where she didn’t have a chance. Supporting Actor, too, was locked up. So ultimately, the film came out as a winner of only one award from me. (As for BARRY LYNDON, I had to admit it comes up just a slight bit short for me in the emotional department, but it certainly was the most meticulously crafted film of the year.) Seeing as how this was the case, I was forced to come to the realization that my favorite director of the 1970s had to win again…for probably the final time…for his obvious masterwork, a damning criticism of American culture and politics, with scads of great characters thrown about its 3 hours. I tried to spread the love from here on. But…again…this really was tough. As always, those titles that are capitalized here are ones not appearing on Allan’s list.
BEST PICTURE: NASHVILLE, followed by, in descending order: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Seven Beauties, Dog Day Afternoon, Barry Lyndon, Jeanne Dielman 23 quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles, The Day of the Locust, Jaws, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Tommy, Grey Gardens, Overlord, Shampoo, Love and Death, The Passenger, The Story of Adele H., The Man Who Would Be King, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Night Moves, Smile, The Magic Flute, Deep Red, THE MAN WHO SKIED DOWN EVEREST, Hester Street, The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, RANCHO DELUXE, HEARTS OF THE WEST, COOLEY HIGH, ROLLERBALL, QUEEN OF THE STARDUST BALLROOM, HARD TIMES, DEATH RACE 2000, THE DROWNING POOL, Three Days of the Condor, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Maitresse, Farewell My Lovely RAFFERTY AND THE GOLD DUST TWINS, THE CALIFORNIA REICH, THE REINCARNATION OF PETER PROUD, ALOHA BOBBY AND ROSE, GIVE ‘EM HELL HARRY, The Sunshine Boys, BITE THE BULLET, BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?, THE STEPFORD WIVES, WHITE LINE FEVER, WW AND THE DIXIE DANCEKINGS
DIRECTOR: Robert Altman, NASHVILLE (2nd: Lina Wertmuller, Seven Beauties, followed by: Milos Forman, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Sidney Lumet, Dog Day Afternoon; Stanley Kubrick, Barry Lyndon; Chantal Akerman, Jeanne Dielman 23 quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles)
ACTOR: Al Pacino, DOG DAY AFTERNOON (2nd: Jack Nicholson, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, followed by: Giancarlo Giannini, Seven Beauties; Tim Curry, The Rocky Horror Picture Show; Roy Schieder, Jaws; Gene Hackman, Night Moves)
ACTRESS: Isabelle Adjani, THE STORY OF ADELE H. (2nd: Delphine Seyrig, Jeanne Dielman 23 quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles, followed by: Ann-Margret, Tommy; Diane Keaton, Love and Death; Angela Winkler, The Lost Honor of Katherina Blum; Maureen Stapleton, Queen of the Stardust Ballroom
SUPPORTING ACTOR: John Cazale, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, (2nd: Donald Sutherland, The Day of the Locust, followed by Brad Dourif, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Charles Durning, Dog Day Afternoon; Robert Shaw, Jaws; Burgess Meredith, The Day of the Locust
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Ronee Blakely, NASHVILLE (2nd: Louise Fletcher, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, followed by: Lily Tomlin, Nashville; Gwen Welles, Nashville; Tina Turner, Tommy; Marie Kean, Barry Lyndon)
CINEMATOGRAPHY: John Alcott, BARRY LYNDON (2nd: Russell Boyd, Picnic at Hanging Rock, followed by John Alcott, Overlord; Haskell Wexler and Bill Butler, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Conrad Hall, The Day of the Locust; Luciano Tovoli, The Passenger)
SCORE: John Williams, JAWS (2nd: Jack Nitzsche, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, followed by: Enzo Jannacci, Seven Beauties; John Barry, The Day of the Locust; Maurice Jarre, The Man Who Would Be King; Bruce Smeaton, Picnic at Hanging Rock
SHORT: HEDGEHOG IN THE FOG (Yuri Norstein) (2nd: Quasi at the Quackadero (Sally Cruickshank), followed by: Two Solutions for One Problem (Abbas Kierostami); Windows (Peter Greenaway); Angel and Big Joe (Bert Salzman); Rikki Tiki Tavi (Chuck Jones)
FURTHER:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Frank Pierson, DOG DAY AFTERNOON (2nd: Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle, Monty Python and The Holy Grail, followed by: Lina Wertmuller, Seven Beauties; Joan Tewkesbury, Nashville; Alan Sharp, Night Moves; Robert Towne and Warren Beatty, Shampoo
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO‘S NEST (2nd: Stanley Kubrick, Barry Lyndon, followed by Waldo Salt, The Day of the Locust; Cliff Green, Picnic at Hanging Rock; John Huston and Gladys Hill, The Man Who Would Be King; Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb, Jaws)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: GREY GARDENS (Ellen Hovde, Albert and David Maysles, Muffie Meyer) (2nd: The Man Who Skied Down Everest (Lawrence Schiller and Bruce Nyznik) followed by The California Reich (Keith Critchlow and Walter F. Parkes), Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (Phillippe Mora))
NON-ENGLISH-LANGUAGE FILM: SEVEN BEAUTIES (Lina Wertmuller) (2nd: Jeanne Dielman 23 quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles (Chantal Akerman), followed by The Story of Adele H. (Francois Truffaut); The Magic Flute (Ingmar Bergman); The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (Volker Schlondorff and Margarethe Von Trotta); Maitresse (Barbet Schroeder)
ART DIRECTION: BARRY LYNDON, followed by The Day of the Locust, The Sunshine Boys, Tommy, The Man Who Would Be King, Picnic at Hanging Rock
COSTUME DESIGN: BARRY LYNDON, followed by Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Man Who Would Be King, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Tommy, Monty Python and the Holy Grail
FILM EDITING: JAWS, followed by Dog Day Afternoon, Nashville, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Night Moves, Overlord
SOUND: JAWS, followed by Tommy, Nashville, Dog Day Afternoon, Rollerball, Night Moves
SCORING OF A MUSICAL/ADAPTATION SCORING: TOMMY (Pete Townshend) (2nd: Barry Lyndon (Leonard Rosenmann))
ORIGINAL SONG: “My Idaho Home” from NASHVILLE (music and lyrics by Ronee Blakely) (2nd: Camelot Song (Knights of the Round Table)” from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (music by Neil Innes, lyrics by Graham Chapman and John Cleese), followed by “I’m Easy” from Nashville (music and lyrics by Keith Carradine); “One, I Love You” from Nashville (music and lyrics by Richard Baskin); “Drifting and Dreaming of You” from White Line Fever (music and lyrics by David Nichtern); ““A Friend” from WW and The Dixie Dancekings (music and lyrics by Don Williams and Jerry Reed)
SPECIAL EFFECTS: JAWS (2nd: The Hindenberg)
MAKEUP: MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (2nd: The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
Dean, absolutely agree about Louise Fletcher’s performance in “One Flew Over…” to be a supporting one, but I didn’t want to waste my vote to make a point, so I went with my runner-up for best supporting actress.
I am not ready to submit my ballot yet, although when I do will be joining the chorus in voting for what is, at this moment anyway, my favorite Kubrick.
Since I was unable to vote last week for the first time, I put my ballot up late and am linking it here, in case anyone’s curious.
My picks for 1974… http://tinyurl.com/bj7ugdj.
Especially worth checking out is the Parallax View clip embedded, for those who haven’t seen it. Also worth a mention, Place de la Republique – one of my favorite Malle docs – was not among the nominees unfortunately, but it made my top 5. Also, I joined Dean in voting for Closed Mondays which means we do have a short winner for ’74 after all (although my vote was late, I pleaded with Allan for an exemption, as it’s sad to see no short arise victorious in a given week – even if it wasn’t to be a tiebreaker, this was the one I was leaning toward, it’s quite creative and compelling).r 1974 –
YAY for CLOSED MONDAYS! A brilliant piece, that. And I so agree about that brainwashing scene in PARALLAX VIEW. Absolutely creepy stuff, really unlike anything else in cinema, with that strange Michael Small music and all those photos flashing by. The first time I saw this film…my jaw was dropped for the rest of the running time!
That scene in The Parallax View is certainly brilliant. Overall though Pakula’s Klute and All The President’s Men are better films IMO. Still the guy went on a three picture roll during that point in the 70’s. Nothing else he ever made came close unfortunately. Overall I still think he is somewhat underrated for belting out some great stuff at the height of American cinema.
And shorts for this year will be added tomorrow.
Another year in which there is not much doubt about the winner…. lots of good films, but nothing (not even the pythons) close to Nashville.
PICTURE: Nashville
DIRECTOR: Robert Altman
LEAD ACTOR: Jack Nicholson, in the Passenger (not just to be perverse – I tend to find Cuckoo’s Nest a bit overwrought… here, he is restrained, and the restraint plays well with his essential Jack-ness)
LEAD ACTRESS: Delphine Seyrig, Jeanne Dielman…
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Henry Gibson, Nashville
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: this is very difficult – it didn’t really occur to me before, but all the really good parts in Nashville are for women – the performances are all good, but the men tend not to be so important to the film – with Gibson and Carradine and Keenan Wynn as exceptions – but the women, all of them, are superb, and the film really turns around them. If I have to pick? maybe not for her pure acting, but for her overall performance, and her place in the film – it’s Ronee Blakely, all the way.
SHORT: Two Solutions to One Problem
SCORE: Jaws, I’m afraid…
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Luciano Tovoli, The Passenger
Plus bonus picks:
Script: Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail, obviously
Music/Sound: Nashville
If this group of film been for any other year I’d have had a field day singing the praises of my favorite and most beloved film of all time. I cannot tell you all how many times I have actually sat through Steven Spielberg’s JAWS. I saw it in the theatres, upon it’s initial release, 10 times and that very first showing is one of the landmark events in my life when it comes to film. Since then, I have seen it on HBO, worn out VHS tapes, Laserdiscs, DVD’s and cherish the current, excellent, restored print on Blu-Ray, If it’s on TCM, I will watch it no matter where in the film I pick it up. It is, for me, the film that spoke to me in whispers, while watching, that ANYTHING imagined can be done in the movies. JAWS was the very first film to ever make me aware of the person behind the camera and not just those actors in front. I am eternally grateful to Spielberg and JAWS for creating, in me, the film fan and officianado that I am today. JAWS is the best kind of popcorn movie and does everything a great movie, in my mind, should do (basically, grab hold of you and never let you go till the final credits roll)…
THAT SAID…
As I have grown older and my appreciation for film and the DIRECTORS that make them grew, I began to realize that there was more to meet the eye than just telling great stories of grabbing you by the throat. Although JAWS is that single film I could watch all day, EVERYDAY, it just missed being the BEST film of 1975, in my opinion, because a film of such magical transportation also appeared in 1975. Yes, the choices would have been tough if this same crop of films were presented a year earlier or a year later but, as fate would have it, they all have to be relegated to “also rans” as the best film of 1975 is work of such staggering artistic and emotional proportions that it cannot be challenged…
So…
PICTURE: BARRY LYNDON (d. Stanley Kubrick)
Top 5: 1. Barry Lyndon 2. Jaws 3. Picnic at Hanging Rock 4. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest 5. Jeanne Dielman 23 quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles
NO BRAINER.
Just beautiful. Best words that I can come up with as I cower in awe when I think of the staggering stature of BARRY LYNDON. Like an 18th century oil-work painting brought to life, Stanley Kubricks adaptation of Thackery’s novel on polite cruelties and fateful coincidence is not just a visual marvel, but probably the famed directors most emotional movie. Some will buck at it’s lengthy running time, call the proceedings boring. However, for those in the know, what you get with BARRY LYNDON is a methodically timed excursion into travel back in time and the parallels that see history repeat itself in all sort of social forms. At once an adventurous yarn, then a melancholic statement on the savagery of aquired opportunism. Stanley Kubrick’s BARRY LYNDON is film that takes time to grow on the viewer… But, once ingested, it informs us that it is also one of his greatest masterworks…
I am floored by this film every time I re-visit it.
DIRECTOR: Stanley KUBRICK (BARRY LYNDON)
Runner Up: Steven Spielberg (Jaws)
NO BRAINER.
You gotta give credit when it’s due and JAWS just doesn’t happen all by itself. Behind the biggest box-office champ of the time is a fledgling director hungry to make his mark as one of the rare, great, technical directors that ever lived. Using modes of presentation borrowed from the likes of masters such as Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean and Sam Pechinpah, Spielberg blends his knowledge of the kinds of films he likes with the balls of man on fire and delivers one of the most visually arresting adventure films of all time. From his waterline view of swimmers swimming directly into the camera to his use of underwater photography to put us in the mind of the relentless eating machine, Jaws is always given short shift and overlooked as a directorial tour-de-force.
However, as good as Spielberg may be with his make-it-or-break-it swing for the bleachers, it’s the insanely detailed eye of the great Stanley Kubrick that shows them all how it’s done with his breathtaking taste in BARRY LYNDON. Using rear-projection cameras refitted with Zeiss lenses used in space photography for NASA, the master, genius director creates moving paintings on screen all the while delivering a deliberately paced journey back to a time when things were slower and much more insanely cruel. At the core of BARRY LYNDON is the heart of a director yearning to take the medium of film someplace it has never, properly, been before and succeeds in trransporting us all back to the days of powedered wigs, polite pistol duels and over-the-top social ladder climbing. Inarguably, the most precisely directed and visualized period piece ever constructed for the screen and all delivered by the greatest American director post 1960.
LEAD ACTOR: Jack NICHOLSON (ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST)
Runners Up: Gene Hackman (Night Moves), Giancarlo Giannini (Seven Beauties), Ryan O’Neal (Barry Lyndon), Roy Scheider (Jaws)
NO CONTEST.
The greatest run of a single actor in the 1970’s comes to a close. Jack Nicholson tops them all when we consider his star-making turn in EASY RIDER and then, year by year, whallops us with one great characterization after another (for the record, condsider: FIVE EASY PIECES, THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS, CARNAL KNOWLEDGE, THE LAST DETAIL, CHINATOWN, TOMMY and THE PASSENGER). No actor of this decade is as prolific and, I dare say, as successful, in transforming into a wealth of interesting people that will be forever remembered as we look back at the greatest actors the medium has ever spawned.
What makes Nicholson’s turn in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST his very best is that he has this uncanny way of making the viewer feel like he’s takiing you by the hand and personally leading you on a secret journey. His attention to the characters every detail makes us all believe that the boisterous Randal Patrick MacMurphy is our friend, a pal we agree with and identify with. Because of this gargantuan familiarity he brings to his performance he captures our hearts and our affections. That Nicholson can also play comedy better than most professionally trained comedians just adds to the bravura nature of the characterization and this, more than anything, amplifies the hurt and the tearing of our emotions when the tragedy of MacMurphy’s fate is realized in the final moments of the film. Because he is our friend, because we love him and identify with him, the tragedy takes on shattering effects for us that shake us to tears in the end.
It’s true, Nicholson would make many more films between 1975 and1980. However, he wouldn’t hit it out of the park the same way he did with CUCKOO’S NEST until he teamed with this years best director (Stanley Kubrick) for THE SHINING in 1980.
No other actor in film since the heydays of guys like Cagney and Laughton and then not till the advent of modern masters like Penn and Day-Lewis has produced a canon of characters, or a gamut of emotions, through his craft better than Jack Nicholson.
Oscar got this one SOOOOOOOO right.
LEAD ACTRESS: Louise FLETCHER (ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST)
Runners Up: Carol Kane (Hester Street), Delphne Seyrig (Jeanne Dielman 23 quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles), Geraldine Chaplin (Crià Cuervos)
To those that say Louise Fletcher is just a supporting actor for ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’ NEST, I say look again.
Fletcher has more screen time in this film than almost any of the supporting actresses that Allan has listed above and her turn in this film cannot be considered supporting considering the importance of her relationship with the main character in the film (Jack Nicholson). That Fletcher is effortlessly creating one of the most subtlely menacing and evil social establishment villians of all time in her performance proves she is more than just a supporting player in the game. Her cold and calculating movement belies the warms smiles and kind words she is pontificating in the performance and to look into those gorgeous blue eyes long enough is to see a demon of uncalculable menace the likes of which stand tall with THE WIZARD OF OZ’s Margaret Hamilton, THE MANCHURAIN CANDIDATE’s Angela Landsbury (who was one of the directors first choices to play Nurse Ratched) and THE GRADUATE’s Anne Bancroft (also on the short list to play the part). Like the sleekness of a deadly jungle cat, Fletcher is all smoothness and tanquility as she slowly plunges an undetected knife into your heart.
Hands down the best in this field. Oscar also got this one ABSOLUTELY correct.
SUPP. ACTOR: Leon VITALE (BARRY LYNDON)
Runners Up: Robert Shaw (Jaws), Patrick MacGee (Barry Lyndon), Burgess Meredith (Day of the Locust)
The brashness of Robert Shaws towering and intimidating Shark Hunter in JAWS is almost too good to forego….
However, it’s the polite desperation and emotionally torn turn of Leon Vitale as grown Lord Bullingdon in BARRY LYNDON that screams for recognition. Playing long-suffering and embarassment at the hands of a non-understanding father figure, Vitale is quietly brilliant as his stoic entitlement force him to take risks to his social standing and physical life. He scores one of the tour-de-force moments for an actor in LYNDON in the moment he must face the possibility of death as the dueling pistol is pointed at him. This is a great performance from an unknown who disappeared forever after this film and his verbal assualt on his mother during a formal concert is model of great classical dialogue from a time gone by.
SUPP. ACTRESS: Marisa BERENSON (BARRY LYNDON)
Runners Up: Ana Torrent (Crià Cuervos), Lorraine Gary (Jaws)
Perfect example of a performer relegated to LEAD ACTRESS status and really a SUPPORTING turn.
If being silent can say more than actually speaking then Marisa Berenson’s turn as the betrayed Lady Lyndon is one for the record books. Exuding everything through movement and just the flickering of her eyes, Berenson says nary a word in the film but always tells you exactly what she’s feeling as the grip of her standing in sociaety and her sanity slowly slip away. A beautifully modulated turn of quiet integrity and misplaced judgement, Berenson produces one of the great turns of quiet dignity of all time.
PHOTO: Stanley KUBRICK-assisted by John ALCOTT (BARRY LYNDON)
Runner Up: Bill Butler (Jaws)
NO CONTEST.
You only have to look at the opening shot of BARRY LYNDON, a pistol duel framed by trees as they lose their autumn leaves, to know that some of the most perfectly ravishing photography ever produced for a single film is on display. Kubrick pulls out every trick in the book to present BARRY LYNDON in the same colors and dimensions reminiscent of 18th century painting. Using techniques that would afford him the luxury of actually being able to film by candlelight (a first in the history of the medium), BARRY LYNDON may not accurately capture the reality of the 18th century, but absoolutely conquered the look that most artists of the time had in their heads as they bring brush to canvass.
Breath-taking is the only way to decribe the visual dichotomy of this film and it’s, certainly, one of the four or five best photographed films in the history of medium. I know for a fact that this one is studied by budding cinematographers in every school that teaches the art of photography for film.
Stanley Kubrick was one of the greatest cinematographers in film history.
I don’t wanna sound condescending in any way… But, I don’t think anyone in the know would ever go against this one for the best of 1975.
MUSIC: John WILLIAMS (JAWS)
Runner Up: Jerry Goldsmith (The Wind and the Lion)
NO CONTEST.
Not since Bernard Herrmann brought in the stoccato strings to kill Janet Leagh to in Hitchcocks PSYCHO has something so simple raised the hairs on the back of the necks of movie audiences better than John Williams chugging themes for JAWS. Often predicting an attack, but then used to deliver a red herring before the screen goes silent and THEN seeing the attack take place, many (and I am one of them) think that almost half of the exciting success of JAWS was made plain and clear by the music.
Chalk this one up as Williams first in a career of masterpieces.
Is there any wonder why he’s won 5 Oscars?????
Thank God I’m not the only one who loves ‘Jaws’. I thought I was some sort of mouth-breathing hick for admiring Spielberg’s rollercoaster ride.
Dennis, I think you’re a New Yorker, so you must know that Berenson will appear live with Minnelli, Grey and York at the Ziegfeld premiere of the restoration of ‘Cabaret’ later this month. Apparently, O’Neal didn’t cotton much to Marisa on the set of ‘Barry Lyndon’, I’ve read. Called her vacuous and overbred. Come to think of it her face does remind one of a borzoi, but you didn’t hear that from me ‘cuz I ain’t one to gossip.
Best Picture: Barry Lyndon
Best Director: Stanley Kubrick (Barry Lyndon
Best Actor: Jack Nicholson (Cuckoo’s Nest)
Best Actress: Louise Fletcher (Cuckoo’s Nest)
Best Supporting Actor: John Cazale (Dog Day Afternoon)
Best Supporting Actress: Lee Grant (Shampoo)
Best Cinematography: John Alcott (Barry Lyndon)
Best Score: John Williams (Jaws)
Best Picture: Nashville
Best Director: Robert Altman- Nashville
Best Actor: Al Pacino- Dog Day Afternoon
Best Actress: Isabelle Adjani- The Story of Adele H
Best Supporting Actor: John Cazale- Dog Day Afternoon
Best Supporting Actress: Lee Grant- Shampoo
Best Cinematography: Barry Lyndon
Best Score: Jaws
I am a huge, huge fan of Robert Altman, but strangely enough I have always found NASHVILLE his most overrated film. I know there are fans who feel it is as great as any other American film, and I sure do envy their take on it.
I can sympathize Sam. I think Nashville is good (my tenth favorite of 1975), but McCabe, Long Goodbye, California Split, and Gosford Park all seem superior by a comfortable margin to me. Still when it comes to his most overrated I would nominate MASH myself.
A pair of killjoys. Hehehe.
I would say that, if you don’t cotton to country music by and large, you won’t be liking NASHVILLE as much others might. Me, I love me some country music (most particularly from the 60s and 70s), and while I realize some of the movie’s songs are spoofing that genre of hits, that’s okay, too, because it means I really get the jokes.
Well, re: the country music theory, I was, of course, hypothesizing based on a lack of any apparent evidence or explanation as to why you didn’t like the film, Sam and Maurizio. If it’s the pacing, then I suppose I can understand that, because it, like many Altman movies, has a bit of a rambling style (I guess because there’s a lot of inprov going on in the film, which I think is brilliant stuff, but maybe it seems too slow for some, though you would think if one likes the pace of BARRY LYNDON, then NASHVILLE would be a breeze to get through). Glad to hear you guys like country music, though…I know there are some people out there who do not, and I feel sorta sorry for them.
Dean with me it was always the pacing. I do love country music passionately, especially Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson and Loretta Lynn. But I still can see why you would make that sensible perception.
I like all those artists Sam mentions plus Johnny Cash, The Louvin Brothers, Mearle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Gram Parsons, Buck Owens, Emmylou Harris, and on and on. Country music is not the problem for me either…
Film: Nashville; Jeanne Dielman; Barry Lyndon
Director: Altman; Akerman; Kubrick
Actor: Jack Nicholson (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The Passenger); Giancarlo Giannini (Seven Beauties and Swept Away); Al Pacino (Dog Day Afternoon)
Actress: Delphine Seyrig (Jeanne Dielman); Isabelle Adjani (The Story of Adele H); Ann-Margret (Tommy) & Mariangela Melato (Swept Away)
S. Actor: Robert Shaw (Jaws); Henry Gibson (Nashville); no third choice
S. Actress: Lily Tomlin (Nashville); Ronee Blakley (Nashville); Rachel Roberts (Picnic At Hanging Rock) & Melanie Griffith (Night Moves)
Photography: John Alcott (Barry Lyndon); Nestor Almendros (The Story of Adele H); Tonino Delli Colli (Seven Beauties)
Ensemble acting award goes to ‘Nashville’ by a country mile.
I have added short films. I’ll return later with some You Tube highlights, but for now here’s a piece I wrote for Wonders a little over a year ago, on one of the films nominated, The Girl Chewing Gum: http://tinyurl.com/bcxkq77
Only Sam has mentioned Angelopoulos’ monumental The Travelling Players. If I was voting… Perhaps not many have seen it.
Tony, I quite agree with what you say. It’s a staggering masterpiece. I am thinking that at least some of the voters may not have caught it. It’s one of the greatest films ever made in Greece, but a director many consider as the country’s all-time finest. Allan has seen it and rates it with his highest five-star grading.
Sadly, only on DVD in Europe, another one ignored stateside by those reluctant to go multi region. IT’S NOT UNAMERICAN, GUYS!
Pic- Barry Lyndon
Dir- Kubrick
Actor- Pacino – Dog Day Afternoon
Actress- Susan Sarandon – Rocky Horror…..
Supp. Actor- Cazale – Dog Day Afternoon
Supp. Actress- Shelley Duvall- Nashville
Score- Williams – Jaws
Cinematography – John Alcott – Barry Lyndon (he also did some very nice work in Overlord too…quite the year for him)
Best Picture: Barry Lyndon
Best Director: Kubrick
Best Actor: Nicholson, Passenger
Best Actress: Fletcher
Supporting Actor: Dourif
Supporting Actress: hard to pick from Nashville, but I say Tomlin
Cinematography: Alcott, B. Lyndon
Score:Williams, Jaws.
Best Picture: Barry Lyndon
(RU: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Love and Death, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Salò)
Best Director: Stanley Kubrick (Barry Lyndon)
Best Actor: Jack Nicholson (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)
Best Actress: Isabelle Adjani (The Story of Adele H.)
Best Supporting Actor: Brad Dourif (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)
Best Supporting Actress: Marie Kean (Barry Lyndon)
Best Cinematography: John Alcott (Barry Lyndon)
Best Musical Score: John Williams (Jaws)
Picture: Dog Day Afternoon
Director: Sidney Lumet
Actor: Al Pacino
Actress: Louise Fletcher
Supporting Actor: Brad Dourif
Best Picture: Barry Lyndon
Best Director: Stanley Kubrick (Barry Lyndon)
Best Actor: Al Pacino (Dog Day Afternoon)
Best Actress: Isabelle Adjani (The Story of Adele H.)
Best Supporting Actor: John Cazale (Dog Day Afternoon)
Best Supporting Actress: Lee Grant (Shampoo)
Best Short: Rikki Tikki Tavi
Best Cinematography: John Alcott (Barry Lyndon)
Best Score: John Williams (Jaws)
Best Film: Picnic at Hanging Rock
Best Director: Peter Weir, Picnic at Hanging Rock
Best Actor: Al Pacino, Dog Day Afternoon
Best Actress: Carol Kane, Hester Street
Best Supporting Actor: John Cazale, Dog Day Afternoon
Best Supporting Actress: Geraldine Chaplin, Nashville
Best Short: Windows, Peter Greenaway
Best Cinematograpy: John Alcott, Barry Lyndon
Best Score: Bruce Smeaton, Picnic at Hanging Rock
Film: Jaws
Director: Steven Spielberg
Actor: Al Pacino
Actress: Shelley Duvall
An excellent year – in fact, one of the best of the decade. Though most have opted for either Kubrick or Altman, I shall be going with Theo, as I consider this film as not just the best movie of the year (that too by some distance), but also as one of the strongest contenders for the best of the decade. In fact, I will be going with Theo a few more times in the subsequent years, even though, I guess, he’ll end up on the losing side on most, if not all, occasions.
Best Picture: The Travelling Players
Best Director: Theo Angelopoulos (The Travelling Players)
Best Actor: Jack Nicholson (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)
Best Actress: Diane Keaton (Love & Death)
Best Supporting Actor: Henry Gibson (Nashville) & John Cazale (Dog Day Afternoon)
Best Supporting Actress: Ronee Blakely (Nashville)
Best Cinematography: The Travelling Players
Best Score: Loukianos Kilaidonis (The Travelling Players)
Top 10:
1. The Travelling Players
2. Nashville
3. Barry Lyndon
4. Love & Death
5. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
6. Dersu Uzala (considered it for ’74 poll, so won’t be considering it here)
7. Dog Day Afternoon
8. The Mirror (same as Dersu Uzala)
9. Sholay
10. Deewar
Just Missed: Jaws, Personel, Three Days of Condor, Chupke Chupke
6.
My top five for 1975:
1. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles – Chantal Akerman
2. Barry Lyndon – Stanley Kubrick
3. Shampoo – Hal Ashby
4. The Passenger – Michelangelo Antonioni
5. Numero Deux – Jean-Luc Godard
Best Picture: Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
Best Director: Stanley Kubrick (Barry Lyndon)
Best Actor: Warren Beatty (Shampoo)
Best Actress: Isabel Adjani (The Story of Adele H.)
Best supporting actor: John Cazale (Dog Day Afternoon)
Best supporting actress: Ronee Blakley (Nashville)
Best Cinematography: John Alcott (Barry Lyndon)
Best Score: John Williams (Jaws)
Best Film: Barry Lyndon
Best Director: Peter Weir (Picnic at Hanging Rock)
Best Actor: Al Pacino (Dog Day Afternoon)
Best Actress: Isabelle Adjani (The Story of Adele H.)
Best Supporting Actor: Brad Dourif (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)
Best Supporting Actress: Shelley Duvall (Nashville)
Best Cinematography: John Alcott (Barry Lyndon)
Best Score: John Williams (Jaws)
Best Short: The First Christmas
The greatest year in the 70s and one of the greatest years ever. After making my Best Films of 2012 list and reflecting on how weak of a year it was for film, it’s almost shocking to see how many masterpieces had their world releases in 1975.
Best Picture: The Passenger
Best Director: Stanley Kubrick (Barry Lyndon)
Kubrick’s best film in my opinion one of the greatest films ever made.
Runner Ups: Michelangelo Antonioni, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Marguerite Duras
Best Actor: Al Pacino (Dog Day Afternoon)
One of the pleasures of watching Sidney Lumet’s films was that you knew you always knew the actors were going to give great performances. From Henry Fonda in 12 Angry Men to Philip Seymour Hoffman in Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, Lumet just had a knack for getting his actors to give sublime performances. With Pacino, he was able to get a performance for the ages. Pacino basically plays the negative image of Michael Corleone and does it brilliantly. Easily the best performance the great actor ever gave.
Runner Ups: Jack Nicholson, Gene Hackman, Sean Connery
Best Actress: Margit Carstensen (Fear of Fear)
An incredibly underrated film from the great German filmmaker and a very good performance from Fassbinder regular, Margit Carstensen. One of the finest portrayals of a woman having a nervous breakdown ever filmed.
Runner Ups: Louise Fletcher, Shima Iwashita, Diane Keaton
Best Supporting Actor: John Cazale (Dog Day Afternoon)
Though not his most memorable, I think this was hands down Cazale’s greatest performance. The character of Sal is probably the most underwritten of the main characters and yet Cazale is able to bring so much to him.
Runner Ups: Robert Shaw, Brad Dourif, Michael Murphy
Best Supporting Actress: Lilly Tomlin (Nashville)
I don’t put Nashville, Robert Altman, on the same pedestal that most cinephiles do, but I always liked the performances from the film and Lily Tomlin in particular. Also, I haven’t seen any supporting actress roles that impressed me all that much.
Runner Ups: Hema Malini, Ronee Blakley, Judith Malina
Best Cinematography: John Alcott (Barry Lyndon)
Not even close
Runner Ups: Tonino Delli Colli, Luciano Tovoli, Haskell Wexler and Bill Butler
Best Score: Jack Nitzsche (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)
Probably in the minority rating this above John William’s score for Jaws. Oh well.
Runner Ups: John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Toru Takemitsu
Best Short: Four Seasons (Artavazd Peleshian)
Artavazd Peleshian’s best film and one of the great Soviet films of the decade. Collaborating with Mikhail Vartanov, Peleshain creates a mesmerizing portait of the relationship between people and nature. Easily one of the best films of that year.
Runner Ups: Hedgehog in the Fog, 31/75: Asylum, Windows
and finally…
Top 15
The Passenger/Professione: reporter – dir. Michelangelo Antonino ( Italy/France/Spain)
Barry Lyndon – dir. Stanley Kubrick (US)
Salo, or 120 days of Sodom/Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma – dir. Pier Paolo Pasolini (France/Italy)
India Song – dir. Marguerite Duras (France)
Number Two/Numéro Deux – dir. Jean-Luc Godard (France)
Dog Day Afternoon – dir. Sidney Lumet (US)
Fox and his Friends – dir. R W Fassbinder (West Germany)
The Man Who Would Be King – dir. Joun Huston (US/UK)
The Traveling Players – dir. Theodoros Angelopoulos (Greece)
Fear of Fear – dir. R W Fassbinder (West Germany)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – dir. Milos Foreman (US)
Seasons/Vremena Goda – dir. Artavazd Peleshian (USSR)
Jaws – dir. Steven Spielberg (US)
Night Moves – dir. Arthur Penn (US)
Sholay – dir. Ramesh Sippy (India)
Biggest films I’ve not seen from 1975: Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, The Middle Man, and Kaseki (honestly, does anyone know if a copy of this film actually exists!?)
Btw, I’ve updated my ’74 choices because I forgot the great Indian film Ankur, particularly Shabana Azmi’s winning turn, and have replaced my Rowlands pick. Not that either one counted in the first place since the ballot was late. But Ankur deserves to be more widely seen, and I’ve included an embed for it on the ’74 thread.
On to ’75, on time this week…
Feature: Barry Lyndon
followed by:
2. Jaws
3. Cria Cuervos
4. The Passenger
5. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Short: The Hedgehog in the Fog
Director: Stanley Kubrick, Barry Lyndon
Normally I don’t quibble with Allan’s acting placements, but they are just crazy this year! There is no way I can place Shaw in the Lead category, but even more mind-boggling is the assignment of Torrent to the Supports. In no way, shape, or form is she a supporting actress in this movie. She is the lead pure and simple. I thought it was odd to place her there for Spirit of the Beehive, but this is just unfathomable. I’m guessing child actors are just automatically relegated to supporting actors? I don’t get it man. Likewise Chaplin is a Support in that film, not a Lead, but that’s a minor misplacement compared to the other two. Yer killin’ me, Fish! Sadly Cria’s ladies don’t stand a chance anyway, so it’s a moot point…
Actor: Al Pacino, Dog Day Afternoon
Actress: Ana Torrent, Cria Cuervos
Supp. Actor: Robert Shaw, Jaws
Supp. Actress: Geraldine Chaplin, Cria Cuervos
Cinematography: John Alcott, Barry Lyndon
Score: John Williams, Jaws
Screenplay: Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Editing: Jaws
Ensemble: The cast of Nashville (duh)
Line: “On second thought, let’s not go to Camelot. It is a silly place.” (Monty Python and the Holy Grail) – although I suspect later I’ll think of even funnier lines from the film
Use of Music: Cria Cuervos
Scene: The duel, Barry Lyndon
Not listing runners-up, except for scene: the “flesh wound” fight and bridge-crossing in Python, the amazing final shot of The Passenger, and especially the Indianapolis speech in Jaws all deserve a mention.
a decent year, but not even close to 1971, 1972 or 1973. Not even close!
Best Picture: Picnic at Hanging Rock
Best Director: Peter Weir (Picnic at Hanging Rock)
Best Actor: Al Pacino (Dog Day Afternoon)
Best Actress: Diane Keaton (Love and Death)
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer (The Man Who Would Be King)
Best Supporting Actress: Brenda Vaccaro (Once is not Enough)
Best Cinematography: Russell Boyd (Picnic at Hanging Rock)
Best Score: Bruce Smeaton (Picnic at Hanging Rock)
Best Short: Hedgehog in the Fog (Just watched this!)