Just watched this movie, I am shocked at how fantastic it was. It just reinforces my idea that the older movies have so much more substance to them. Seeing good classic movies like this makes me wonder if modern movie makers are just out for a quick buck, or have nothing original to offer.
Any recommendations for some very good older movies in the same vein as this one?
Thanks.
Edit: Sorry Mods, meant to put this in Cafe Society…
The 70s Nicholson library is filled with classic film
The Last Detail
Carmel Knowledge
Five Easy Pieces
One Flew Over the Coockoos Nest
King of Marvin Gardens
Autocorrect wants Carnel Knowledge to be Carmel Knowledge…but that reminds me of another great ups film…Play Misty for Me…Clint Eastwoods first directoral effort.
I rewatched Chinatown recently just to marvel at how brilliantly the story unfolds.
In a similar vein three of my favorite 70s movies, that don’t seem to be all that often mentioned are:
Badlands, which may be my all time favorite
Sorcerer and
Straight Time
Chinatown is indeed amazing.
As far as 70s movies, while it is overshadowed by its soundtrack I think Saturday Night Fever is a good movie.
Straight Time is a shockingly forgotten film. Dustin Hoffman, playing completely against type, is brilliant as a hardened criminal. A young fresh faced Theresa Russell is very effective. Highly recommended.
Mel Brooks movies, with the exception of Space Balls, which sucks balls.
Personally, Chinatown invokes the eight deadly words for me. But what vein do you mean? 1970s movies? Detective noir movies? The field is wide open.
The Big Fix
The Conversation
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
The Long Goodbye
Marlowe
Night Moves
The Seven-Ups
In whose circulatory system is a Mel Brooks movie in the same vein as Chinatown?
mmm
Many films mentioned here:
Moved
Contrary opinion:
Saying older movies have more “substance” to them compared to modern movies is just selective memory. Look at what else came out in 1974. Start with Earthquake, which right this minute has a thread about how unbelievably stupid it is.
In the old vs new comparo, is Dirty Mary Crazy Larry better or worse than the Fast and the Furious? Is Freebie and the Bean better than The Other Guys?
For every The Conversation in 1974, there’s a McQ. Speaking of, does The Conversation have more or less originality than Enemy of the State?
On the other hand, The original Taking of Pelham 123 is far superior to the remake.
Personally, I think LA Confidential is better than Chinatown, but that’s just like my opinion.
Anyone up for a showing of Phantom of the Paradise? Or The Trial of Billy Jack?
I have always been a fan of The Day of the Jackal (1973). Just don’t watch the Bruce Willis remake “Jackal”. That was a horrible film.
Sorcerer. Good (80% on Rotten Tomatoes) gritty action flick that got overshadowed by a certain blockbuster space opera.
Just what I came in to post. It has that unhurried pace and logical progression which I love to see in a noir or a thriller.
Chinatown is an awfully hard one to beat, though. It’s one of my top five favorite films.
Ooh, I remembered a good one: Charley Varrick, with Walter Matthau and Joe Don Baker.
I like the Matheau trifecta from the early seventies:
The Laughing Policeman
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Charley Varrick
If you liked Chinatown, you should check out the sequel, The Two Jakes. Many people will tell you it is vastly inferior, but I found it very worthwhile. There was a third film intended, but it was never made. At least, not yet.
The Producers, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, Blazing Saddles…
All Classics! Great stories, and well-made films. Just because they are funny doesn’t make them sub-standard.