The Year in Movies: 1975

 1975

Number of Movies I've Seen: 12

Number of Movies from my original top 365:  0

Oscar Winner:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - (PICTURED ABOVE) Story time! I was blessed to be in the honors college at East Carolina. One of the perks was getting first pick of classes for each semester. My wizened advisor Dr. Newton suggested I sign up for more classes than I wanted and then drop back to my desired number of hours after attending the first class or two. So for half-a-second I contemplated a political science major. Spurring this decision was the class "Politics in Film". Wednesday nights throughout the semester the class would watch a movie and discuss. I was psyched. The first movie was Cuckoo's Nest. It was my first viewing and I was ready when the professor invited discussion. After sharing my thoughts about the themes of freedom and bondage, I was met with stares of confusion. The class then proceeded to break the film down as strictly an allegory about political systems. I then learned that a 10-12 page paper would be due each week. I grabbed the list of films, dropped the class, and rented most of them at East Coast Music & video at my own leisure.

Box Office Winner:
Jaws - This one might mean more for me except for a couple of factors: 1. I saw it relatively late in life. I was probably in college for my first viewing. 2. I love the water, and a rubber shark isn't going to scare me away from it. Maybe if I had been born 10 years earlier or if I was set up a bit different when it came to "fear of nature", I would appreciate it more. As it stands, Jaws doesn't crack my top 10 favorite Spielberg films...

My Top Ten:
1. NEXT POST!

2. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 

3. Grey Gardens - What an absolute trip of a movie. Sometimes when you meet or hear about strange or interesting people, you may think, "I wish I could be a fly on the wall at their house!" This movie grants that wish. Although the subjects know they are being filmed, their genuine nature completely removes the camera from the room.

4. Cooley High - I guess this is known by some as the "black American Graffiti". And while there are plenty of similarities this is definitely a bit less funny and a bit more real. So much "hip-hop" culture in this I'm surprised it doesn't get a bit more credit and attention.

5. Jaws 

6. Monty Python and the Holy Grail - Monty Python is another very popular sector of nerd culture that I am just not 100% on board for. This movie has its moments, but too much of it borders on cringe humor for me to fully enjoy. Give me Mel Brooks any day over this.

7. The Rocky Horror Picture Show - So I finally sat down and watched this one all the way through this week. Meh... It still makes me want to see a live showing one day though!

8. Love and Death - Second-tier Woody Allen for me. Pretty forgettable. I'm sure I would like it more if I was a Russian literature nerd.

9. The Apple Dumpling Gang - I honestly don't remember much about this one other than enjoying it as a kid. It's on Disney+ though, so I may give it a spin soon.

10. Nashville - I recently watched Short Cuts (giving Robert Altman one final chance) and really liked it. I didn't get this one. Too much noise and not enough sound for me.