April 4, 1971

Hilltop (1971) *****

"I'D Like To Buy The World A Coke". Probably the most iconic TV commercial of all times, immortalized at the end of "Mad Men" as the payoff for the entire series.

Norien Ten (1971) ***

Imagine (1971) ***

A music video by John Lennon.

Sentinels Of Silence (1971) ***

Double Oscar-winning documentary about the ancient Mexican civilizations.

Adventures In Perception (1971) ***

Oscar-nominated documentary short about M.C. Escher.

Try It You'll Like It (1971) ***


Schick After Shave (1971) ***

Quite a rarity - a genuine Maoist commercial. An actual advertisement for Schick After Shave, directed by the Dziga Vertov Group (Jean-Luc Godard et Jean-Pierre Gorin).

The Walls Of Sana'a (1971) ***

Apel (1971) ****

Superbly directed film set in a Nazi concentration camp. An allegory about repression, rebellion and surrender. Directed by Ryszard Czekala.

Evolution (1971) ***


Signor Rossi At Photo Safari (1971) ***

Signor Rossi goes to Africa and wants to photograph wild beasts. Unfortunately, other tourists have more violent hobbies. Directed by Bruno Bozzetto.

The Selfish Giant (1971) ***

A British cartoon, adapted from a fairy tale by Oscar Wilde, about a mean giant who forbids children from entering his garden.

Battle Of Kerjents (1971) ***

Directed by Ivan Ivanov-Vano and Yuri Norstein. Based on the 1907 opera of Rimsky-Korsakov and visually inspired by the Russian icon paintings, it's a spectacular cartoon about a medieval battle.

Synchromy (1971) ***

A visual representation of the soundtrack. This cartoon by Norman McLaren might have been inspired by the intermission from "Fantasia" (1940).

Kitty From The City (1971) **

Woody is fighting with a city puss in a national park.

The Crunch Bird (1971) **

The shortest film ever to win an Oscar (barely over 2 min). A one-joke idea.

Shanghai Woody (1971) **

Woody is shanghaied.

Jabberwocky (1971) **

Bizarrely narrated puppet animation film about dolls, toy soldiers and other objects. Directed by Jan Svankmejer.

March 3, 1971

February 2, 1971

Escape From The Planet Of The Apes (1971) **

Intelligent apes from the future travel back in time to the 1970's. The funniest episode of the "Ape" series.

Klute (1971) **

January 1, 1971

The Red Tent (1971) *

An Italian expedition to the North Pole ends tragically.

Death In Venice (1971) *

Widely praised film about a homosexual composer (Dick Bogarte). Ponderous and pretentious.

1 PM (1971) *

Basically an assembly of rushes filmed by Jean-Luc Godard in United States in 1968.

Nicholas And Alexandra (1971) *

The tragic fate of the last tsar of Russia. Overlong epic whitewashes much of Russia's history, and makes the animated "Anastasia" (1997) look gritty by comparison. Essentially, the film presents the mainsteam Western view of the Soviet Revolution during the Cold War era that was largely discredited after the fall of the Soviet Union, when even Russian films (like 1992's "The Chekist") began to show the Bolsheviks in a far more monstrous light.

July 10, 1970

Top 10 Films of 1970

1. "Valerie a tyden divu" (Jaromil Jires, Czechoslovakia)

2. "A Love Story" (Roy Andersson, Sweden)

3. "Le Genou de Claire" (Eric Rohmer, France)

4. ''MASH'' (Robert Altman, USA)


6. "The Man Who Put His Will On Film" (Nagisa Oshima, Japan)

7. ''Woodstock'' (Michael Wadleigh, USA)

8. ''Hi Mom !'' (Brian De Palma, USA)

9. "British Sounds" (Jean-Luc Godard, UK)

10. "The Ear" (Karel Kachyna, Czechoslovakia)


Other great films:

Africa Erotica (Brazil)
Airport
The Beginning (Soviet Union)
Le Boucher (France)
Companeros (Italy)
L'Initiation (Canada)
Maly (Poland)
The Mummy (Egypt)
Pravda (France)
Red (Canada)
Rejs (Poland)
La Rupture (France)
El Topo (Mexico)
Tristana (Spain)


Top 10 Guilty Pleasures of 1970:

1. "Fruit Of Paradise" (Vera Chytilová, Czechoslovakia)

2. "Women In Love" (Ken Russell, UK)

3. "Brewster McCloud" (Robert Altman, USA)

4. "The American Soldier" (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Germany)

5. "Zabriskie Point" (Michelangelo Antonioni, USA)

6. "The Vampire Lovers" (Roy Ward Baker, UK)


7. "Quiet Days In Clichy" (Jens Jørgen Thorsen, Denmark)

8. "Lokis: Rekopis profesora Wittembacha" (Janusz Majewski, Poland)

9. "Mona The Virgin Nymph" (Michael Benveniste, Howard Ziehm, USA)

10. "Trash" (Paul Morrissey, USA)


Short Top 3:

1. "The Corridor" (Standish Lawder, USA)

2. "Necrology" (Standish Lawder, USA)


3. "Interviews With My Lai Veterans" (Joseph Strick, USA)


Other great shorts:

The Resurrection Of Broncho Billy

Top Music Video:

"Lookin' Out My Back Door"


Top Commercial:

"The Great American Soup" (Heinz)


TV Top 3:

1. "Monty Python's Flying Circus: How Not To Be Seen" (Ian MacNaughton, BBC)


2. "Zapalniczka" (Krzysztof Szmagier, Poland)


3. "Czterej pancerni i pies 3" (Konrad Nalecki, Poland)


Other great TV shows:

Cudow nie ma (Poland)

Cartoon Top 3:

1. "The Further Adventures Of Uncle Sam" (Dale Case, Robert Mitchell, USA)


2. "The Shepherd" (Cameron Guess, USA)


3. "Is It Always Right To Be Right ?" (Lee Mishkin, USA)


Other great cartoons:

Matrioska (Canada)

Weak films of 1970:

Bande de cons ! (Belgium)
Beneath The Planet Of The Apes

Top Musical of 1970

"Darling Lili" (Blake Edwards, Paramount)