While rereading Robert McKee’s ‘Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting’ to brush up on some storytelling elements, I was reminded of how many gorgeous movies our wicked minds have already made cinematic history with. I’m talking about the kind of feature-length films that inspired most of us to join this industry, in the first place.

The so-called classics.

Most I had already seen, albeit too young at the time, having been left with barely a memory of each. Some I’d had the pleasure to better dissect during film school. But then I checked my calendar and realized that this happened about 15 years ago—sigh… I figured it would be time to take a fine-toothed comb through Mr McKee’s recommended viewing list once more, now armed with a pair of adult eyes and a mind ripe enough to better understand the nuances and character studies that I might have missed in the past.

The best way to cover such a comprehensive list would be to sort them into 30-day nightly session clusters, otherwise the brain gets fried and the story is missed. Strap in, ladies and gentlemen, and allow me to walk you through my first 30-day movie challenge, comprising of one film per evening, in no specific order.

ROBERT MCKEE, ©GENARO MOLINA/LA TIMES

Day 1: ‘Blade Runner’ (1982)

Of course, I followed this up with ‘Blade Runner 2049’ (2017), because it made all the sense in the world. Starring Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah, and Harrison Ford, the film was based on Philip K. Dick’s novel, ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’. Hampton Fancher and David Webb Peoples penned the screenplay, and Ridley Scott skilfully handled the direction. Production was problematic and plagued by an ever-increasing budget, but the end result went on to become a cult classic and a monumental landmark in the history of cinema. It garnered praise from Philip K. Dick himself, even though he only got to see the first 20 minutes prior to his death in 1982.

Trivia nugget: Rutger Hauer improvised a significant portion of his death scene speech, commonly known as the ‘tears in rain’ monologue, which Mark Rowlands described as ‘perhaps the most moving death soliloquy in cinematic history’ and represents a defining moment in Mr Hauer’s career.

‘BLADE RUNNER’ (1982), ©WARNER BROS.

Day 2: ‘Good Will Hunting’ (1997) 

It won 2 of the 9 Academy Awards for which it was nominated, as Robin Williams took the Oscar home for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and Matt Damon and Ben Affleck got theirs for Best Original Screenplay at the remarkably young ages of 25 and 27, respectively. Directed by Gus Van Sant, the film was originally set to be helmed by Mel Gibson, who dropped out. His successor, Michael Mann, was also let go after he insisted on not giving Mr Damon the lead role because he wasn’t popular enough as an actor.

Trivia nugget: Robin Williams ad-libbed the lines in the scene where he talks about his late wife’s farting antics. It’s why Damon was laughing so hard and probably why the camera was just a tiny bit shaky, too.

‘GOOD WILL HUNTING’ (1997), ©MIRAMAX

Day 3: ‘Chinatown’ (1974)

Written by Robert Towne and directed by Roman Polanski, this film is still a masterclass in dramatic storytelling, probably because of the spellbinding way in which the forlorn and enigmatic tale unfolds with a tight and splendidly tense pacing. Starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and John Huston, ‘Chinatown’ won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Trivia nugget: The film was followed by a sequel, ‘The Two Jakes’ (1990), which Towne wrote and Nicholson directed. There was supposed to be a third part, as well, but elements of the story only made it as far as being incorporated into ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ (1988), which was advertised as a film-noir spoof and homage to ‘Chinatown’.

‘CHINATOWN’ (1974), ©PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Day 4: ‘Mystic River’ (2003)

Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film’s screenplay was penned by Brian Helgeland of ‘L.A. Confidential’ (1997) and ‘Man on Fire’ (2004) fame, based on the novel ‘Mystic River’ by Dennis Lehane. It brought Sean Penn and Tim Robbins each an Academy Award for their riveting performances, featuring some stunning acting chops by the revered Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden alongside Kevin Bacon and Lawrence Fishburne.

‘MYSTIC RIVER’ (2003), ©WARNER BROS.

Day 5: ‘The Accidental Tourist’ (1988)

Geena Davis won an Academy Award for her supporting role, and Frank Galati and Lawrence Kasdan earned a nod for Best Adapted Screenplay. William Hurt and Kathleen Turner execute their roles beautifully, as well, though I remain particularly fond of Amy Wright, David Ogden Stiers, and Ed Begley Jr. as Macon’s delightfully dull and neurotic siblings.

‘THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST’ (1988), ©WARNER BROS.

Day 6: ‘Barry Lyndon’ (1975) 

I’m forever a fan of Ryan O’Neal. There’s something about him that just works for the characters which he has portrayed over the years, and none have been as enthralling as the titular hero of Stanley Kubrick’s insanely ambitious feature-length endeavour. Based on ‘The Luck of Barry Lyndon’ by William Makepeace Thackeray, the film won 4 Academy Awards, with Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design deservedly among them.

Trivia nugget: At one point, Kubrick’s name ended up on an I.R.A. hit list for featuring English soldiers in his Ireland scenes, reason for which the director was forced to move the entire production to England and dropped several scenes in the process.

‘BARRY LYNDON’ (1975), ©PEREGRINE/HAWK FILMS

Day 7: ‘Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles’ (1994)

I will never get enough of Tom Cruise’s mischievous Lestat and Brad Pitt’s emotionally tormented Louis. The screenplay was penned by Anne Rice, who also wrote the source material and gave the world a much more romantic take on the legendary blood-drinking monster, while Neil Jordan stepped in as director. It brought forth the immensely talented Kirsten Dunst as the vampire child Claudia, and it continues to entrance viewers with its literary charm, gory sensuality, and gorgeous costume design.

‘INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES’ (1994), ©GEFFEN PICTURES

Day 8: ‘Dances with Wolves’ (1990)

Michael Blake published the story in novel form first in 1988 before Kevin Costner picked up the film rights for his stellar directorial debut. Aside from the fact that ‘Dances with Wolves’ won a slew of awards, including the Oscar for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay, the film offered a respectful and sympathetic depiction of the First Nations, helping boost the number of Indigenous actors in Hollywood. This led to the Sioux Nation to adopt Mr Costner as an honorary member.

‘DANCES WITH WOLVES’ (1990), ©TIG PRODUCTIONS

Day 9: ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’ (1982)

I’d almost forgotten how absolutely adorable Henry Thomas once was as Elliott. Written by Melissa Mathison and directed by Steven Spielberg, ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’ was a box office smash hit and an awards-circuit darling due to its exquisite visual and special effects, and it propelled the genre of science fiction into a more commercial section of cinematography. Ahead of its time and timeless in equal measure.

‘E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL’ (1982), ©UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Day 10: ‘The Flight of the Phoenix’ (1965)

Written by Lukas Heller and based on the eponymous novel by Elleston Trevor, ‘The Flight of the Phoenix’ is a beautiful yet harrowing tale of survival directed by Robert Aldrich and fiercely led by James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, and Peter Finch.

’THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX’ (1965), ©THE ASSOCIATES & ALDRICH COMPANY

Day 11: ‘The Godfather’ (1972)

This is, without a doubt, one of the greatest films ever made. It’s not a matter of opinion anymore. It’s a fact, perfectly illustrated by the countless awards it earned—among them three Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Based on the bestselling novel by Mario Puzo and written by the author in partnership with Francis Ford Coppola, ‘The Godfather’ remains one of cinema’s most important films.

Trivia nugget: The cat wandered in from one of the sets and was never intended to be in the movie. She was so content to sit in Mr Welles’ lap that her purrs interfered with some of his lines on the audio track, leading to additional editing work to deliver dialogue.

THE GODFATHER’ (1972), ©PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Day 12: ‘Casablanca’ (1942)

Sometimes, there comes a film that is a trifecta of greatness, earning the most prestigious awards for its direction, for its screenplay, and for the coveted Best Picture category in one sweeping ceremony. Director Michael Curtiz has 179 film credits to his name, yet none would remain so deeply embedded within the history of cinema as ‘Casablanca’ whilst bearing IMDb’s exceptionally green Metascore of 100.

‘CASABLANCA’ (1942), ©WARNER BROS.

Day 13: ‘His Girl Friday’ (1940)

Like many of the films of that era, this one is problematic from a racial perspective, given some of the derogatory terms used by the characters and knowingly penned by the writers (Charles Lederer, Ben Hecht, and Charles MacArthur) under the direction of Howard Hawks. With that stain on its poster, however, I must admit that ‘His Girl Friday’ is a work of art in terms of dialogue and comedic screenwriting, while Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell make a fantastic pair on the silver screen.

‘HIS GIRL FRIDAY’ (1940), ©COLUMBIA PICTURES

Day 14: ‘Jaws’ (1975)

Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb weren’t given an Oscar for their screenplay, and Steven Spielberg didn’t get one for direction, either. Yet this film remains a classic and an innovative work of cinematic art, a brilliant ‘scary movie’ with an unnatural amount of tension at every turning point. Thank the stars for Roy Scheider’s decision to ad-lib the ‘You’re gonna need a bigger boat’ line, while we’re at it.

Trivia nugget: When John Williams originally played the score for Mr Spielberg, the director laughed and said, ‘That’s funny, John, really; but what did you really have in mind for the theme of “Jaws”?’ Williams took home an Academy Award for this score.

‘JAWS’ (1975), ©UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Day 15: ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’ (1979)

Praised by Robert McKee for its brilliant dramatic storytelling and Robert Benton’s ability to convey so much detail within each sequence, ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’ is truly a titan of the big screen. The breakfast scene after Joana’s departure alone is a treasure trove of personal information and emotion. Dustin Hoffman’s exquisite acting aside, Meryl Streep is such a good thespian that I found myself genuinely loathing her character.

KRAMER VS. KRAMER’ (1979), ©COLUMBIA PICTURES

Day 16: ‘The Last Emperor’ (1987)

I’ll never forgive Bernardo Bertolucci for what he and Marlon Brando did to Maria Schneider for that infamous scene in ‘Last Tango in Paris’ (1972), but I shall give credit where it is due. ‘The Last Emperor’ is a superb and sprawling historical epic based on Pu Yi’s published autobiography, chronicling the life of China’s last monarch.

Trivia nugget: It’s one of the few motion pictures made in and about China with the full cooperation of its government—so much so that when Queen Elizabeth II tried to visit the Forbidden City during a state trip, the film’s production took priority for its immense coronation scene.

‘THE LAST EMPEROR’ (1987), ©RECORDED PICTURE COMPANY (RPC)

Day 17: ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ (1962)

While I loved Jonathan Demme’s Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep, and Denzel Washington-led remake of the 1962 original directed by John Frankenheimer, I absolutely love the outstanding performances of Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury, and Laurence Harvey—the latter, especially, for his portrayal of Raymond Shaw. Another masterpiece of cinema, ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ didn’t receive any Academy Awards, but George Axelrod’s screenplay is a lesson in how tension is best delivered.

‘THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE’ (1962), ©M.C. PRODUCTIONS

Day 18: ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ (1995)

I actually read Mike Figgis’s screenplay before I saw the movie during my second year of film school. John O’Brien’s book, upon which the movie is based, was an even harder read. But I’ll admit that the feature itself was the most difficult part, as there is something absolutely gut-wrenching in Nicholas Cage’s performance. It was genuinely crushing to watch Ben Sanderson virtually drink himself to death.

‘LEAVING LAS VEGAS’ (1995), ©LUMIERE PICTURES

Day 19: ‘Nanook of the North’ (1922)

Directed by Robert J. Flaherty, ‘Nanook of the North’ is more than just a touching silent predecessor to the modern documentary. It’s the very first instance of dramatic storytelling used to narrate and edit real-life footage of one specific Inuit family living in the Arctic Circle.

Trivia nugget: Alas, despite being part of the Criterion Collection, the National Film Registry, and Roger Ebert’s list of Great Movies, many of the documentary’s scenes were staged for the purpose of showing how the Inuit lived before modern times, according to Flaherty.

‘NANOOK OF THE NORTH’ (1922), LES FRÈRES REVILLON/PATHÉ EXCHANGE

Day 20: ‘Ordinary People’ (1980)

Robert Redford’s directorial debut, understandably awarded with an Oscar. Timothy Hutton’s acting debut, deservedly awarded with an Oscar. It went on to take two more golden statuettes home—one for Best Picture, and once for Best Adapted Screenplay, and thank the stars for screenwriters like Alvin Sargent for telling such a moving story that inadvertently and effectively captures the look, the sound, and the temper of a broken American family struggling to adjust after a tragedy.

‘ORDINARY PEOPLE’ (1980), ©PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Day 21: ‘The Passion of Joan of Arc’ (1928)

Carl Theodor Dreyer didn’t allow any makeup for his actors, which only served to enhance Maria Falconetti’s devastating performance as the woman who was first a martyr before she became a patron saint of France. ‘The Passion of Joan of Arc’ was virtually the only movie Falconetti made, yet it went on to redefine silent cinema.

Trivia nugget: This film was considered lost for many years, until an almost complete print emerged in 1978 as part of a collection that an Italian priest had once used for screenings in psychiatric facilities.

‘THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC’ (1928), ©SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE DES FILMS

Day 22: ‘Q & A’ (1990)

Based on the book by Edwin Torres, I can’t say it’s the best among Sidney Lumet’s works, but it’s certainly up there. The story is so masterfully crafted that it leads this stellar cast into a memorable performance. Nick Nolte is downright terrifying. Timothy Hutton carries himself with a certain ingenuity that is mercilessly crushed by the harsh reality of corruption within New York’s police force. And Armand Assante earned himself a Golden Globe nod for his Bobby Texador.

‘Q & A’ (1990), ©REGENCY INTERNATIONAL PICTURES

Day 23: ‘Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (1981)

Yet another revolutionary motion picture from Steven Spielberg by way of George Lucas, Philip Kaufman, and the illustrious Lawrence Kasdan, this first installment of Indy’s blockbuster feature series takes us on a mad chase after the fabled Ark of the Covenant in 1936, which the Nazis nefariously intend to unleash upon the world. Personally, I love Harrison Ford’s rendition of Indiana Jones and dread the day when another actor will be cast for the inevitable reboot.

‘INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK’ (1981), ©PARAMOUNT PICTURES/LUCASFILM

Day 24: ‘Schindler’s List’ (1993)

This isn’t just a Holocaust film. That tragedy serves more as a backdrop for a double portrait—of Oskar Schindler, swindler of the Third Reich, and of Amon Goeth, evil incarnate and heartless psychopath, both men born from the filthy opportunities of war. It racked up a plethora of awards, including the Oscar for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The final scene at Schindler’s grave completely broke me. I don’t remember crying this hard since the finale of ‘Supernatural’ (2005-2020).

‘SCHINDLER’S LIST’ (1993), ©UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Day 25: ‘Tender Mercies’ (1983)

Written by Horton Foote and directed by Bruce Beresford, ‘Tender Mercies’ won Robert Duvall his only Academy Award in seven nominations. It’s like nothing else in its mixed genre of drama and romance—its quiet softness and simmering despair are everything this film needs to take a place among the greatest stories ever written for the silver screen.

‘TENDER MERCIES’ (1983), ©ANTRON MEDIA PRODUCTION

Day 26: ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ (1975)

Frank Pierson signed the screenplay for this cinematic oeuvre, based on a magazine article by P.F. Kluge and Thomas Moore, which in turn was inspired by a true event. It got Pierson a well-deserved Oscar. I mentioned ‘Q & A’ earlier as not being Sidney Lumet’s best, and I’d like to stick that specific label right here. ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ is absolutely his best.

Trivia nugget: A scene from this movie appears in the first episode of David Fincher’s ‘Mindhunter’ (2017) during a hostage negotiation training session at Quantico.

‘DOG DAY AFTERNOON’ (1975), ©WARNER BROS.

Day 27: ‘The Usual Suspects’ (1995)

In hindsight, a couple of this film’s headliners are… problematic, to say the least, yet this film cannot be forgotten nor ignored. The performances are out of this world, and that requires not only immense talent but good direction and a fantastic script. I think Bryan Singer was young and hungry when he shot this, and it shows. Every other credit of his fades in comparison. Most of the props go to Christopher McQuarrie, however, as he did win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

‘THE USUAL SUSPECTS’ (1995), ©POLYGRAM FILMED ENTERTAINMENT

Day 28: ‘The Conversation’ (1974)

HBO is currently hiding such hidden gems in its Movies category if you scroll down enough. Written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, ‘The Conversation’ is a noteworthy mystery thriller made singular by Gene Hackman’s outstanding performance—a key moment in his career, for that matter.

‘THE CONVERSATION’ (1974), ©THE COPPOLA COMPANY

Day 29: ‘Pulp Fiction’ (1994)

Few screenwriters/directors master the art of dialogue in a feature film as skilfully as Quentin Tarantino does in ‘Pulp Fiction’. Roger Ebert went as far as comparing his hard-boiled screen prose with the likes of Raymond Chandler and Elmore Leonard. It’s easy to see why, though, as the high quality drives humour without even asking for it, so it’s no wonder Tarantino won an Academy Award for his writing. ‘Pulp Fiction’ is one of those movies that you have to watch in this lifetime—though I’d be remiss if I didn’t specify that every title in this first list is worthy of such attention and appreciation. I’ll also call it a masterpiece lacking a message.

PULP FICTION’ (1994), ©MIRAMAX

Day 30: ‘Jackie Brown’ (1997)

I made this selection on purpose, if only to end the 30-day-movie-challenge with something delightfully palatable while also comparing the aesthetics between Tarantino’s most popular film and his only adaptation. It felt appropriate since Mr Ebert brought Elmore Leonard into the conversation. The source material—the novel titled ‘Rum Punch’—serves as the foundation for my favourite Tarantino movie. I absolutely adore Pam Grier and Robert Forster; their chemistry is magnificent. On the other hand, Robert De Niro seems to have wandered into the picture, somehow, yet manages to make sense. It still befuddles me.

Trivia nugget: Tarantino was initially worried that Elmore Leonard might not like the changes he made to the story. It turns out the author actually liked the script so much, he said it was the best he’d read up to that point, and certainly among the best of the 26 adaptations of his novels and short stories.

‘JACKIE BROWN’ (1997), ©MIRAMAX

I will absolutely do this again. There are so many grand titles that are worth revisiting—or tackling for the first time, if you’re like me, and your watchlist gets occasionally engorged beyond manageability and in desperate need of slimming down. A movie a day keeps the dullness away.

The Seventies and early Eighties were an era of experiments on the silver screen. With new technologies and an updated Hollywood code, the decade we’re about to delve into was a flourishing one, to say the least. Today’s masters of horror and drama emerged with bold new stories that genuinely spoke to the audiences of that era. The lavish and melodramatic tales of the Golden Age were abandoned, making room for the gritty and shameless, for the violent and the startling. Boundaries were pushed.

1972: Tangoes, Mobsters, and the Madness of Man

Bernardo Bertolucci gave us a Marlon Brando at the height of his career and a wide-eyed Maria Schneider in ‘Last Tango in Paris’ (1972). When the two strangers meet, physical intimacy almost immediately becomes an ‘elemental force… the medium of exchange’ between the emotionally broken Paul and the sensually curious Jeanne, as once noted by Roger Ebert.

Their chance encounter gives birth to a mysterious and restless mood that goes on to define their tempestuous relationship. The coupling was basically a rape scene, and Mr Bertolucci later confirmed that Ms Schneider was not aware of the details prior to shooting, which made her emotions all the rawer and more shocking. In the end, ‘Last Tango in Paris’ was the first feature to equate physical intimacy with human communication, despite the contrast between its high-art aspiration and its controversies.

‘LAST TANGO IN PARIS’ (1972), ©UNITED ARTISTS/MGM

Once considered by critics as the Soviet reply to Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968), Andrei Tarkovsky’s ‘Solaris’ (1972) is eerily earthbound and drawn to the past, especially since it’s a sci-fi film set mostly on another planet in a distant future. The Russian director did not share Kubrick’s fascination with technology, nor his misanthropy. He also stepped away from the source material’s author, Stanislaw Lem, and his concern with Man confronting the Cosmos. Tarkovski was more about the humanity that Man brought with him into the depth of Cosmos, instead. He spent his entire career proving that cinema was an art form as important as any other medium, and he certainly proved it with the weightlessness scene between Kelvin and his dead wife’s ghost.

‘SOLARIS’ (1972), ©MOSFILM

The most memorable scene in Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘The Godfather’ (1972) is likely the horse’s head in the bed of Hollywood studio chief Jack Woltz. The circumstances that lead to this moment—specifically, Woltz’s decision to deprive mobbed-up singer Johnny Fontane of a key part in an upcoming war flick—were clearly inspired from Columbia boss Harry Cohn’s choice to cast Frank Sinatra in ‘From Here to Eternity’ (1954), though the dead horse trigger itself was something that writer Mario Puzo probably picked up from ‘The Public Enemy’ (1931). It haunts me, to this day.

In ‘Aguirre, the Wrath of God’ (1972), his finest film with his archetypal star, Werner Herzog delivered a perfect example of his desire to depict the world as it had never been seen or even imagined before. The movie can easily be interpreted as an allegory of authoritarianism, its deranged hero representing the Hitlers of absolutely every stage of humanity. But viewing this story solely through an intellectual lens would diminish its sensory appeal, which ultimately carries its true meaning. As the camera swirls around Aguirre on his raft, stricken with delusional madness, Herzog presents us with history as nightmare, making his viewers breathe a sigh of relief when the film ends, and we’re returned to reality.

‘AGUIRRE, WRATH OF GOD’ (1972), ©WERNER HERZOG FILMPRODUKTION

1973: Political Statements, Merchandizing, and Demons

On 27^th March 1973, Marlon Brando won an Oscar for his role in ‘The Godfather’. The actor sent Sacheen Littlefeather, a 26-year-old Apache, to refuse the Academy Award on his behalf, and to use the 45 seconds initially allocated to his speech to read out a 15-page statement instead. The brave young woman made her points about the portrayal of Native Americans in film and TV with courtesy and eloquence, drawing audience gasps and cheers. It wasn’t the first political upset at the Oscars, but it was certainly the most memorable. Charlton Heston called it ‘childish’, while Jane Fonda said that what Brando did ‘was wonderful’.

SACHEEN LITTLEFEATHER AT THE OSCARS, ©ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES

On 20^th August, George Lucas was still reaping the success of ‘American Graffiti’ (1973) and renegotiating his deal at Twentieth Century Fox for a science-fiction film. He didn’t ask for more money upfront but insisted on retaining all the merchandising rights of the film (this included income from any soundtrack album, tie-in book, or range of toys). At the time, few people understood how far-sighted the decision really was.

Merchandising rights were considered the ‘garbage’ of any contract, so no one thought much of it, until ‘Star Wars’ (1977) became the highest-grossing film of all time, and absolutely everything bearing its logo sold like hot and crispy powdered sugar beignets. His success with Star Wars merchandising went on to change the way movies were made, sold, promoted, then profited from.

GEORGE LUCAS ON THE SET OF ‘AMERICAN GRAFFITI’ (1973), ©UNIVERSAL PICTURES

This year also gave us William Friedkin’s ‘The Exorcist’ (1973), starring Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, and Max von Sydow. The director’s insanely popular follow-up to ‘The French Connection’ (1971) is a textbook adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s novel, who also penned the screenplay. It is a wonderfully crafted example of how to balance the temporal and spiritual aspects of such a troubling story. But without the legitimate scepticism from Burstyn’s Chris MacNeil when a radical course of treatment is recommended for Blair’s Regan, her daughter, I doubt the climactic showdown between Miller’s young Damien Karras and the demon Pazuzu would’ve had such a striking effect.

‘THE EXORCIST’ (1973), ©WARNER BROS.

1975: The Year of Pacino, Nicholson, and O’Neal

In ‘The Passenger’ (1975), Michelangelo Antonioni uses an incredible seven-minute single take as his pinnacle, claiming that he made this decision purely because he didn’t wish to create a run-of-the-mill death scene for Jack Nicholson’s Locke. The influence of Michael Snow’s ‘Wavelength’ (1967), an underground gem of cinema, is downright palpable as the long-held static shot from inside the hotel room takes Nicholson out of shot, and the camera slowly moves towards and through the barred windows into the piazza. Cars arrive, along with key characters and cops… they all come and go in the space between the hotel and a bullring, and even the extras are given significance until the camera executes a 360-degree turn and returns to a now unidentifiable dead man on the hotel bed.

Three years earlier, on 22^nd August 1972, as Richard Nixon was nominated for a second term in office, John Wojtowicz walked into a Brooklyn branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank with a gun and declared a hold-up, desperate to get the money he needed for his gay lover’s sex-change operation. It was a seminal moment in America’s social landscape, and Warner Bros. were quick to make the most of it. They hired Sidney Lumet and gave the lead role to a young Al Pacino (then fresh off ‘Godfather II’), giving us ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ (1975), one of the most emotionally stirring films to come out of the Seventies altogether.

‘DOG DAY AFTERNOON’ (1975), ©WARNER BROS.

Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Barry Lyndon’ (1975), starring Ryan O’Neal and Leon Vitali, has the ideal melange of style, story, and feeling that a viewer might demand of a suspenseful movie. The story is about history as loss, and the camera barely moves. Its frames resemble paintings of times gone by with powerfully baroque vibes, and its chief stylistic signature is the reverse zoom, where the scene begins with a close-up as the camera moves back to give us the fuller, greater picture. The final duel doesn’t have any reverse zooms, though, yet it stands out as a profoundly touching moment, enriched with medium-distance shots or moodier long shots that connect the characters to their environment, while O’Neal’s self-seeking hero proves that he does have the makings of a gentleman, after all.

‘BARRY LYNDON’ (1975), ©WARNER BROS.

While George Lucas’s ‘Star Wars’ (1977) made history as the highest-grossing film one time, the blockbuster was born a couple of years earlier with ‘Jaws’ (1975), Steven Spielberg’s frightful oeuvre. By then, Mr Spielberg was already regarded as a wunderkind of cinema, but his shark tale turned him into a cultural force not only through the way in which he adapted Peter Benchley’s novel but also through the way in which ‘Jaws’ was marketed and promoted worldwide. Thanks to superb word-of-mouth and repeat viewers, the film racked up about $260 million, which was more than ‘Gone with the Wind’, then box-office-champion, had made. The jackpot mentality took hold after Spielberg’s horror flick, as studios spent millions to will megahits into creation.

‘JAWS’ (1975), ©UNIVERSAL PICTURES

1976: Scorsese, the Steadicam, and Stephen King

In Martin Scorsese’s ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976), camera work, along with Robert De Niro’s exquisite acting and hairstyle come together in one of the most jolting revelations of unleashed evil ever portrayed in American film. However, it’s not that easy to figure out the certainty of Travis Bickle’s terrifying psychosis. Even when he reads his diary entries about New York’s nastiest streets, or when he devises his quick-draw contraption to strap on his arm, or during his ‘You talkin’ to me?’ monologue, we’re still unsure. It could simply be the sharpness of puritanism. It’s at the rally for Senator Palatine that our doubts dissolve, when the camera lifts to Travis’s mohawk as he pops his pills. There, the ugly truth becomes impossible to reject.

‘TAXI DRIVER’ (1976), ©COLUMBIA PICTURES

In the early Seventies, cameraman Garrett Brown and Cinema Products, Inc. engineers developed the Steadicam system, which mounts the camera on a mobile, spring-leaded arm attached to a weight-bearing harness, thus giving hand-held camerawork the smoothness of a classical dolly. It was first used by Brown in 1976, in three major films: ‘Rocky’, ‘Bound for Glory’, and ‘Marathon Man’. Two years later, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (which often forgets that last bit of its remit) awarded Brown with a special technical Oscar to honour his invention. However, the Steadicam’s greatest first showcase happened later, with Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’ (1980), where the pioneering cameraman rushed around the corridors of the Overlook Hotel set, following the kid on his tricycle.

GARRETT BROWN ON SET WITH SYLVESTER STALLONE, ©CHARTOFF-WINKLER PRODUCTIONS

We all remember ‘Carrie’ (1976) as Brian de Palma’s adaptation of Stephen King’s first novel and the beginning of supernatural horror’s true form. We remember the pig’s blood scene at the prom and the mean girls flicking tampons at poor Carrie when she gets her first period after gym class. But what the film is also memorable for is its most blatant use of gratuitous shock when Carrie’s hand erupts from the ground to grab Sue—only it’s a bad dream, and Sue wakes up, and the terror that Carrie caused as revenge for how she was bullied is over. Other directors have shamelessly reused this gimmick, including John Cassavetes’s detonation at the end of ‘The Fury’ (1978) and Sean S. Cunningham in ‘Friday the 13^th’ (1980). It always seems to make us jump, though.

‘CARRIE’ (1976), ©RED BANK FILMS

1977: Family-Friendly Aliens and Bloody Ballet

In Steven Spielberg’s ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ (1977), the magic moment when the spaceships form the Big Dipper in the sky marks the beginning of the director’s artful authorship. After hostile examples set by the likes of ‘The War of the Worlds’ (1953) and ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ (1956), one might wonder why Richard Dreyfuss’s Roy Neary is so keen to meet aliens, especially after his own encounter left him sunburned only on the right side of his face. But he pursues this obsession throughout the film and all the way to Wyoming, on a secret platform on Devil’s Tower where scientists confirm what he already knows: aliens are here, and they’re ready to meet us.

‘CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND’ (1977), ©COLUMBIA PICTURES

‘Suspiria’ (1977) was Dario Argento’s first horror film. In it, he remembered the lesson learned during his time shooting gialli: murder scenes must be original set pieces that leave the viewer breathless. Therefore, the main character’s introduction is swiftly followed by the brutal murder of two girls at the hands of an almost invisible force. It’s a complicated double murder sequence, rife with unrestrained gruesomeness and symptomatic of the Seventies’ genre yet transcended by Argento’s calculated and daring aesthetic choices. Its theatricality is purveyed by the vast and empty Art Deco scenery, but also by Goblin’s saturated music theme.

‘SUSPIRIA’ (1977), ©SEDA SPETTACOLI

1979: Jazz and Killer Aliens

Bob Fosse was a choreographer before becoming a critically acclaimed director. ‘All That Jazz’ (1979), featuring Roy Scheider and Jessica Lange, is basically an autobiographical testament, as well as one of the most personal and original films to ever come out of Hollywood. Fosse’s strikingly bold approach deals with death in a romantic fashion as the movie is structured in the form of a dialogue between Scheider’s Gideon and his ‘angel of death’. It also adds a clinical angle through the open-heart surgery scenes and an ironic stab through the climactic song-and-dance sequences. A dazzling masterpiece of the silver screen, ‘All That Jazz’ deserved the Oscar for Best Film that ultimately went to ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’ that year.

Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’ (1979) set a standard for gruesome and horrifying sci-fi effects—the first, in fact, to step away from the otherwise humanoid depictions of aliens offered by cinema up to that point. The emergence of the beast when it explodes from John Hurt’s chest is a stellar early example of the now-holy union between horror film and advanced body make-up.

‘ALIEN’ (1979), ©BRANDYWINE PRODUCTIONS

1980: Acting and Politics

There were two noteworthy events that best describe humanity’s first step into the Eighties. One came in the form of Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’ (1980), another Stephen King adaptation that secured its slot in the annals of cinematic history. The second came on 4^th November, when Ronald Reagan was elected as President of the United States—the one-time B-list actor and TV personality landed the greatest role of his life as the leader of the so-called ‘free world’. He understood the power of media spectacle and mass entertainment.

His presidency ultimately promoted a sentimental optimism and a certain detachment from reality. It was a triumph of stage management and a performance that recognized the value of that key big moment with its well-timed line. In the end, it also redefined the relationship between entertainment and politics.

©RONALD REAGAN LIBRARY

1982: Crossing the T’s

We conclude this cinematic period with three monumental works of feature-length film. Steven Lisberger’s ‘Tron’ (1982) is the first substantially computer-animated movie. The innovations it put forth irrevocably changed the special effects industry. Technically speaking, there are only 15 minutes of computer-generated imagery, but it’s a miracle that the digital imaging crew were able to produce any footage at all! It took four monolithic computers two hours to render a mere half-second of film. For that era, ‘Tron’ was extraordinary, and it shifted our view of SFX forever.

‘TRON’ (1982), ©WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS

Sydney Pollack’s ‘Tootsie’ (1982), starring Dustin Hoffman and Bill Murray, gives us a hilariously sentimental romp with an out-of-work but savagely uppity actor who ends up dressing like a woman and nailing the role of a female doctor on ‘Southwest General’. Murray’s Jeff is a key counterpart to Hoffman’s Dorsey. The failed playwright has few lines, but they anchor the film. In fact, his downbeat one-liners were never more effective than in ‘Tootsie’.

And last, but certainly not least, John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ (1982) provides us with the single greatest technical and artistic use of the bubbling-flesh effect. The late Seventies and early Eighties are basically the domain of Rob Bottin, Rick Baker, Chris Walas, and an assortment of other special makeup effects pioneers who created and serviced a boom market for transforming bodies of all kinds, particularly in the horror and sci-fi genres.

‘THE THING’ (1982), ©UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Requiring the hard work of 34 SFX makeup staffers (Rob Bottin and Stan Winston among them), ‘The Thing’ is a superficial remake of Howard Hawks’ ‘The Thing from Another World’ (1951) and a towering presence above every other entry in the field of bubbling flesh.

Carpenter’s film isn’t astonishing purely from a visual effects angle, either. The film comes with literary entertainment attached, an original text of science-fiction paranoia and assimilation terror which the director mines greedily.