Summer 2003
32 pages tabloid-sized
Summer In The 70s
At the time, this issue had received the most enthusiastic response from readers. It just seemed to strike a chord with many people. In past reviews and articles, ESR has always made reference to the last great decade of American Cinema– the 1970’s. And then, we devoted an entire issue to hopefully explain why. The 1970s offered much hope for the future of cinema. Even if some films were terribly flawed, they still remain noteworthy for being adventurous, even surprising. When was the last time you could apply those two words to a mainstream Hollywood movie?
This issue exists as a series of articles which examine the trends of filmmaking in the 1970s, illustrating interesting works in each of these. Not only do the cited films reflect the styles of the day, but also the social and political attitudes of the general populace. Below, we cite the title of the article, plus the films discussed within.
BBS and their Pals
A Safe Place (1971); The Hired Hand (1971); Drive, He Said (1971); The Last Movie (1971); The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
Counterculture
Zabriskie Point (1970); Hi, Mom (1970)*; The Panic in Needle Park (1971); Born to Win (1971); Cisco Pike (1971); Cocksucker Blues (1972) (* an updated review is featured elsewhere on this site).
The Nostalgia Machine
The Grissom Gang (1971); What’s Up Doc (1972); Play It Again, Sam (1972); The Lords of Flatbush (1974); The Black Bird (1975); Silent Movie (1976); American Hot Wax (1978)
Turning Genre on Its Ear
Doc (1971); Zachariah (1971); Minnie and Moskowitz (1971); The Long Goodbye (1973); Bugsy Malone (1976)
Black Cinema
Watermelon Man (1970); Across 110th Street (1972); Uptown Saturday Night (1974); Claudine (1974); Car Wash (1976); Leadbelly (1976). Plus: Pam Grier!
Screw The System
Taking Off (1971); Little Murders (1971); Get To Know Your Rabbit (1972); Steelyard Blues (1973); Blue Collar (1978)
…and the road leads to nowhere…
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971); Vanishing Point (1971); Aloha, Bobby and Rose (1975)
The Underground
Trash (1970); The Devil’s Cleavage (1973); Thundercrack (1975); Andy Warhol’s Bad (1977)
Veterans
Fat City (1972); Hustle (1975)
Excess
At Long Last Love (1975); Sorcerer (1977); New York, New York (1977); 1941 (1979); Popeye (1980)
Discoveries in the Dark
Robert Altman’s key film, Images, which was long unavailable on any home video format.
Print Film
Reviews of two key books about 1970s American Cinema: American Film Now, by James Monaco; Easy Riders and Raging Bulls, by Peter Biskind.
Tail Slate
Many 70s films that were still unavailable on home video (at the time).
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