Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
For 20th- and 40th-anniversary screenings of Grease, teenagers abandoned their screens and flocked to the big one at the cinema and sing along with John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, and that scene-stealing Stockard Channing. There should be a law against any effort to remake this classic.
Director: Randal Kleiser
Starring: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing
Major nominations on original release : None
Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
Produced for not much more than today’s tuition at a college in New England – where Otis Day and the Knights are still available to sing “Shout” at your fall formal – Animal House is a good and funny reminder that boys mature relatively late.
Director: John Landis
Starring: John Belushi, John Vernon, Tim Matheson, Verna Bloom
Major nominations on original release : None
Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
San Francisco residents are practicing social distancing, in a bad way, and two staffers from the health department soon figure out why: aliens are taking over their bodies. “They get you when you sleep,” we soon learn, but don’t worry: you’re unlikely to nod off during this Philip Kaufman sci-fi thriller.
Director: Philip Kaufman
Starring: Brooke Adams,Donald Sutherland,Jeff Goldblum,Leonard Nimoy
Major nominations on original release : None
Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
Though we’re not in Bangkok – this was shot on location in Egypt – the lyric “a show with everything but Yul Brynner” comes to mind during the final credits; there are too many A-list stars to count in this adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel. With Peter Ustinov as the Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot.
Director: John Guillermin
Starring: Bette Davis,Jane Birkin,Lois Chiles,Peter Ustinov
Major nominations on original release : BAFTA for Best Actor (Ustinov), Supporting Actress (Smith and Lansbury)
Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
Zombies attack! Surviving Americans establish a shopping mall (of course) as their Alamo. Over-the-top gore ensues. Never has a pointless bloodbath been so well-loved by critics and audiences alike; as Roger Ebert wrote of the film: “Nobody ever said art had to be in good taste.”
Director: George A. Romero
Starring: David Emge , Gaylen Ross , Ken Foree , Scott Reiniger
Major nominations on original release : None
Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
Against golden-hour backdrops of the Texas panhandle, young Linda (Manz) narrates the story of her older brother (Gere) and girlfriend (Adams) trying to escape poverty working for a well-off farmer (Shepard). If possible, see it on the big screen.
Director: Terrence Malick
Starring: Brooke Adams , Linda Manz , Richard Gere , Sam Shepard
Major nominations on original release : Cannes: Prix de la mise en scène (won)
Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
Even Deadpool owes a debt of gratitude to 1978’s Superman, the first “comic-book movie” to offer an origin story for its hero. As he did later in Lethal Weapon and The Goonies, the versatile Donner delivers an expert mix of action, emotion and comedy.
Director: Richard Donner
Starring: Christopher Reeve , Gene Hackman , Margot Kidder , Marlon Brando
Major nominations on original release : BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actor (Hackman), Most Promising Newcomer (Reeve - won)
Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
Oliver Stone’s riveting script shows the ordeal of an American student, arrested at the airport with drugs, trying to endure and escape a Turkish prison. Giorgio Moroder’s soundtrack also won an Oscar.
Director: Alan Parker
Starring: Brad Davis , Irene Miracle , John Hurt , Randy Quaid
Major nominations on original release : Academy Award for Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay (won), Supporting Actor (Hurt); Cannes Palme d'Or
Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
The ur-slasher movie. Masked Michael Myers chases the original “final girl” Laurie Strode, leaving a trail of tropes recycled by the Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street and other franchises. True to the genre it created, the killer keeps coming back; a 10th Halloween sequel is expected in 2020.
Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Donald Pleasence , Jamie Lee Curtis , Nancy Loomis , P.J. Soles
Major nominations on original release : None
Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
Shortlist for Vintage Film of 1978
Heartbreaking and unforgettable, The Deer Hunter depicts the tragedy of America’s war in Vietnam through the eyes of three soldiers from small-town Pennsylvania.
Director: Michael Cimino
Starring: Christopher Walken , John Cazale , John Savage , Meryl Streep , Robert De Niro
Major nominations on original release : Academy Award for Best Picture (won), Director (won), Original Screenplay, Actor (De Niro), Supporting Actor (Walken - won), Supporting Actress (Streep); BAFTA for Best Film, Direction, Screenplay, Actor (De Niro), Supporting Actor (Walken)