Best Films Of 1978
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- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsRichard PryorHarvey KeitelYaphet KottoWhen three automotive factory workers who're struggling financially try to steal from their own labor union, they discover corruption, and reluctantly decide to use this information for blackmail.I just absolutely love this Paul Schrader cult classic. It's my favorite Richard Pryor film, and it's not even a comedy. 9/10
- DirectorClaudia WeillStarsMelanie MayronEli WallachAdam CohenA photographer and her girlfriend are roommates. She is stuck with small-change shooting jobs and dreams of success. When her roommate decides to get married and leave, she feels hurt and has to learn how to deal with living alone.If you like very down to earth films, this one is an absolute must see! Honestly, I have to say I like this film even a touch more than The Deer Hunter, which in its own right is a great picture. This is low budget arthouse filmmaking at its very best. I'm really not sure why more people haven't seen this film by now, and why it isn't more widely regarded as the great film it truly is. Even Stanley Kubrick called this film, "Wonderful.". I for one, couldn't agree more.
Update 2022: Stanley didn't just mention the film once either, he actually raved about it a few times I have now come to find out. I didn't find this surprising. I've had this at 8.5 here now for years. I honestly do consider it to be among the very best ever American debut films. 8.5/10 - DirectorMichael CiminoStarsRobert De NiroChristopher WalkenJohn CazaleAn in-depth examination of the ways in which the Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of several friends in a small steel mill town in Pennsylvania.Words...who needs them? This film will leave you speechless. 8.5/10
- DirectorDaryl DukeCurtis HansonStarsElliott GouldChristopher PlummerSusannah YorkA timid bank teller anticipates a bank robbery and steals the money himself before the crook arrives. When the sadistic crook realizes he's been fooled, he tracks down the teller and engages him in a cat-and-mouse chase for the cash.One of the most unorthodox Christmas films you can find. A little known gem, but not for the faint of heart. It's a little sleazy at times and violent too. Even the late great John Candy has a small role in this under-seen Canadian cult classic. 8.5/10
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsDavid EmgeKen ForeeScott H. ReinigerDuring an escalating zombie epidemic, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his TV executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.One of the better horror films you'll ever see. The remake was a bore-fest. In all truth I've seen a ridiculous amount of zombie films, from the modern era all the way back to the classic B&W films. To me there is simply no better zombie film than this. Some Romero fans claim Night of the Living Dead is his best, but to me it was just part of his warm up to this, his true zombie masterpiece. 8/10
- DirectorSteve RashStarsGary BuseyDon StroudCharles Martin SmithThe story of the life and career of the early rock and roll singer, from his meteoric rise to stardom, to his marriage and untimely death.No nerd in history got more girls than Buddy Holly. That's my bet anyway. Just to clarify, I personally have met quite a few pretty cool nerds in my time. 8/10
- DirectorHal AshbyStarsJane FondaJon VoightBruce DernIn 1968 California, a woman whose husband is a Marine officer fighting in Vietnam falls in love with a former high school classmate who suffered a paralyzing combat injury in the war.7.5/10
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsBrooke ShieldsKeith CarradineSusan SarandonA preteen girl lives as a prostitute in New Orleans in 1917.7.5/10
- DirectorUlu GrosbardDustin HoffmanStarsDustin HoffmanTheresa RussellGary BuseyThe difficulties of a career burglar to reinsert himself after being released on parole.A Hoffman/Stanton classic. 7.5/10
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsDonald PleasenceJamie Lee CurtisTony MoranFifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.One of the best endings in the history of horror on film. You could also say that about Carpenter's The Thing a few years later. Also, if you can handle it, In The Mouth Of Madness. 7/10
- DirectorPhilip KaufmanStarsDonald SutherlandBrooke AdamsJeff GoldblumWhen strange seeds drift to earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow and invade San Francisco, replicating the city's residents one body at a time.7/10
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsAlan AldaEllen BurstynIvan BonarA married man and a married woman end up sleeping with each other, and decide to meet at the same place every year on the anniversary of their one night stand. As the years go by, they observe changes in each other and their relationship.
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsChristopher ReeveMargot KidderGene HackmanAn alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.7/10
- DirectorHerbert RossStarsJane FondaAlan AldaMaggie SmithMisadventures of four groups of guests at the Beverly Hills Hotel.7/10
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsJohn BelushiKaren AllenTom HulceAt a 1962 college, Dean Vernon Wormer is determined to expel the entire Delta Tau Chi Fraternity, but those troublemakers have other plans for him.7/10
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsSylvester StalloneRod SteigerPeter BoyleA rebellious Cleveland warehouse worker rises through the ranks of a trucking industry union to become union president but his organized crime links cause his eventual downfall.Divisive I'm sure. But this film is nicely gritty and tells overall a pretty interesting story about a union formation in its infancy. A little underrated generally in my view.
- DirectorJohn GuillerminStarsPeter UstinovMia FarrowSimon MacCorkindaleAs Hercule Poirot enjoys a luxurious cruise down the Nile, a newlywed heiress is found murdered on board. Can Poirot identify the killer before the ship reaches the end of its journey?6.5/10
- DirectorLou AdlerTommy ChongStarsCheech MarinTommy ChongStrother MartinTwo stoners unknowingly smuggle a van - made entirely of marijuana - from Mexico to L.A., with incompetent Sgt. Stedenko on their trail.6.5/10
- DirectorEnzo G. CastellariStarsBo SvensonPeter HootenFred WilliamsonIn 1944 France, a group of escaped American military prisoners en route to Switzerland volunteers to steal a German V2 rocket warhead for the Allies.6.5/10
- DirectorFranklin J. SchaffnerStarsGregory PeckLaurence OlivierJames MasonA Nazi hunter in Paraguay discovers a sinister and bizarre plot to rekindle the Third Reich.6.5/10
- DirectorWarren BeattyBuck HenryStarsWarren BeattyJames MasonJulie ChristieA Los Angeles Rams quarterback, accidentally taken away from his body by an overanxious angel before he was meant to die, returns to life in the body of a recently murdered millionaire.6.5/10
- DirectorJames FargoStarsClint EastwoodSondra LockeGeoffrey LewisThe San Fernando Valley adventures of trucker turned prize-fighter Philo Beddoe and his pet orangutan Clyde.6/10
- DirectorJoe DanteStarsBradford DillmanHeather Menzies-UrichKevin McCarthyWhen flesh-eating piranhas are accidentally released into a summer resort's rivers, the guests become their next meal.6/10
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsPaul SorvinoTony Lo BiancoRichard GereA young man is torn between following in his brothers' footsteps or striking out on his own.6/10
- DirectorJerzy SkolimowskiStarsAlan BatesSusannah YorkJohn HurtA traveller by the name of Crossley forces himself upon a musician and his wife in a lonely part of Devon, and uses the aboriginal magic he has learned to displace his host.
- DirectorSylvester StalloneStarsSylvester StalloneLee CanalitoArmand AssanteThree Italian-American brothers, living in the slums of 1940's New York City, try to help each other with one's wrestling career using one brother's promotional skills and another brother's con-artist tactics to thwart a sleazy manager.5.5/10