...And Justice for All. (1979)

An American courtroom drama directed by Norman Jewison, starring Al Pacino and Jack Warden.
An honest lawyer becomes aware of corruption and apathy in the court system. He is asked to defend a judge he hates and tries to do a good job.
I would think of this as a Serpico (1973) sequel. Al Pacino is in basically the same situation, an honest man amid corruption. The plot definitely held my attention and the characters were developed well. Production looked and sounded very '70s. The video was a little under-saturated and grainy/gritty. The audio was mostly focused in mid-range and I could hear all of the dialogue very well. I guess this goes along with a theme of equality that I've been noticing in 13th (2016), 16 Blocks (2006) and 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992). The basic idea that I'm seeing repeated is that everyone should treat eachother equally and follow the rules, but that becomes difficult when those who make the rules treat everyone else as inferior and don't follow the rules they made. Yes, we live in a contradictory world to the point that when something makes sense, people suspect that something is wrong with it. I rate this good and I'm putting it in a folder with Serpico. You should probably watch it.

Dead Mountaineer's Hotel A.K.A. "Hukkunud Alpinisti" hotell, Отель "У погибшего альпиниста" (1979)

A Soviet Estonian mystery directed by Grigori Kromanov.
An inspector is called to a hotel in a snowy, mountainous area. When he gets there, the owner says that he did not call. Unable to leave immediately because of weather and road conditions, the inspector stays at the hotel and meets the strange guests. Strange things then occurr, like a man strangling a copy of himself, cryptic messages, missing people, hidden guns and a supposed murder. The inspector tries to figure out what is going on.
Very strange. It almost looked like it was supposed to be an art film. There were tons of shots with only back lighting so people had glowing auras. It also looked more like 1969 than 1979, but that's just Soviet film technology. The plot was vague and not clearly presented. It could have made better use of fewer characters than it made poor use of many characters. There was tons of audio dead air noise, but again, Soviet film technology. I rate this tolerable. If you really want to watch it, be sure you know what it is.

10 (1979)

An American romantic comedy written, directed and produced by Blake Edwards, starring Julie Andrews.
A music composer turns 40 years old and has an ideological crisis about love. He spends his vacation in Mexico before returning home.
So, this is what romantic comedy used to be like. I think we've lost a good genre in the past 41 years. In fact, we've lost many good genres, but that is outside the scope of this post. This was classy and all about characters. It looked a little gritty and there was good camera-work. The editing made sense and the audio was very level. This is the exact opposite of what gets called romantic comedy now. The current trend of the genre is so sickeningly sweet, with bright video and overly dynamic audio. The plots are idiot-proof to the point of not being mentally stimulating to those with down syndrome. The comedy was funny, instead of just a bunch of thinly veiled, crass sex jokes. The main character's novocaine antics were slapstick, but well written. Above all else, it held my attention. I rate this adequate. You might want to watch it.

Magnificent Butcher A.K.A. Lin Shi Rong (1979)

A Chinese kung fu directed by Yuen Woo-ping, starring Sammo Hung, Kwan Tak-hing and Yuen Biao.
Because of misunderstandings and treason, all of the problems of one kung fu school are blamed on a student from another. The student meets an old drunken master who trains him before he confronts the rival school.
This was pretty standard, but entertaining. I haven't seen a good kung fu flick in a while. The hour 47 duration passed moderately with dynamic pacing. The plot was murky and confusing. It also followed the kung fu revenge formula, which I expected. I actually liked the characters. Sammo Hung is great at comedy by being a fool and the Beggar So character played a classic drunken master. There were some dialogue jokes that crossed the language barrier and all of the actors did a good job in their stereotypical roles. The fights were action-packed and choreographed very well. Sets and costumes were exactly what I've come to expect from Chinese kung fu films of the late '70s and early '80s. There were wardrobe jokes when Sammo's clothes were missing or his pants fell down. The only thing that I noticed in camera-work was extra close ups during the fights, mostly hands demonstrating animal styles. Editing cuts also happened much faster during fights and there were slow motion shots mixed in. I didn't really notice to much wire being used for special effects. Audio was terrible. The mix was clipping on anything louder than normal conversation. I won't even go into "woosh" and "ha!" here. Entertainment Weekly gave it a C+, J. Doyle Wallis of DVD Talk rated it 3.5/5, Bill Gibron of DVD Talk rated it 93/100 and it has 7.5/10 on IMDB. This averages to a 78.75 C+ grade and I agree. It was mostly standard and cookie cutter. I liked the 2 main protagonists though. I rate this adequate.

Over the Edge (1979)

An American crime directed by Jonathan Kaplan, starring Harry Northup and Matt Dillon.
Strict parents, rebellious teenagers and an asshole cop combine to cause a volatile situation in a small town.
This is a classic that I watched before starting this blog and just re-watched. The plot follows the main character as he has fun with his friends, gets a girlfriend and gets in fights with his parents and the cop. It obviously held my interest the whole time. The characters are typical of a '70s or '80s teen "coming of age" film. The video was actually very good for the time it was made. Good camera angles and punctual editing helped this. The audio was a little quiet, but the dialogue and music were mixed well. This music, of course, includes some of the best and most energetic of '70s rock like The Ramones and Van Halen. Overall, another one of those "freedom vs authority" films that I like so much. I rate this awesome. Watch it!!!

When a Stranger Calls (1979)

An American horror thriller directed by Fred Walton, starring Charles Durning and Carol Kane.
A mysterious man calls a babysitter. Turns out, the kids are dead. He is locked up, but escapes. The police look for him and he calls the same babysitter when she has a babysitter watching her kids.
Lackluster doesn't even begin to describe this. The plot was extremely predictable and there were only a few moments when I didn't know exactly what would happen next. The characters were drab and dull. The killer attempted to show depth by looking in the mirror and crying naked, saying he didn't exist. Whatever. The video was very much of the time and very straight forward. It just showed what was happening, but not in a bad way. The audio was a little off in the beginning because I couldn't hear what the man was saying through the phone. The opening scene was iconic, but it went downhill from there. Overall, a mediocre movie. I rate it tolerable. If you're trapped in a room and there's nothing but a player and this...

Woyzeck (1979)

A West German drama written, directed and produced by Werner Herzog, starring Klaus Kinski.
A manual labor worker in a small German town has had an illegitimate child with a woman and is participating as an experimental subject for a scientist. He eats nothing but peas for a month and has mental issues while his girlfriend has an affair with another man.
This was all WTF? moment, all the way through. The plot barely made any sense, but the craziness of it sort of held my attention. The characters were not likeable. In fact, most of them disgusted me. However, this seemed intentional. The video was pro-level, but definitely uninspired. Turns out, this is because it was filmed immediately after Nosferatu the Vampyre. The audio was an abomination, a sin against all that is holy. The dialogue was in German, but I'm not berating that aspect because I had accurate subtitles. The soundtrack sounded to me as if it were performed by a group of novice musicians with just enough skill to remember the parts, but not enough to play in tune or on time. This also seemed intentional. Overall, if I were trying to make a bad movie, it would be a lot like this. I rate this poor because it seems like it was supposed to be bad, and it is, but in an almost entertaining manner.

Arabian Adventure (1979)

A British fantasy adventure directed by Kevin Connor, starring Christopher Lee.
A boy with a pet monkey helps a prince to get a magical rose, defeat the evil caliph and win the princess.
This was alright at best. The plot was rather stereotypical of the genre. The prince, who was supposedly the main character, played a supporting role for the boy who actually conquered all of the obstacles. From what I heard, the boy's name was Machine and his monkey was called Shitty. The special effects were the most disappointing part for me. They went wild with flying carpets, but everything else was lack-luster. Set design was the best part of this film. The palace was expertly crafted with a very good color scheme. The audio was very poorly mixed, with loud music and quiet dialogue. A one point, a woman was giving the boy advice from inside a jewel and I expected him to say something like "Speak up, I can't hear you!". Overall, there are far better fantasy adventure films to watch. I rate this tolerable.

C.H.O.M.P.S. (1979)

An American science fiction comedy directed by Don Chaffey, starring Valerie Bertinelli.
A scientist at a security company makes a robotic dog. Some people want to harm the company and the new invention.
This was silly. The threadbare plot would have been good for about 20 minutes, but an hour and a half was too much. It lacked human drama to work around the robot dog gimmick. The characters were like cardboard cutouts, they were so shallow and static. Everyone was typically what you would see of extras in a TV series. The young couple, the foolish boss, the crooked business men and the mentally impaired crooks. Some of the video tricks were clever, but none of it was convincing in the least bit. At least they got correct focus and exposure, which is more than I can say for movies with better reviews than this. The audio was very annoying. Any time the dog was involved in action scenes, the same, high-pitched theme song was played. Sound effects were also heavily dependent on the treble register. The black dog, Monster had an ending line that I think summarized the film perfectly: "oh shit...". Overall, what seemed like a cool idea was so poorly executed as to become a joke. I'm giving this a weird pink rating because it's so bad it's good.

Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979)

A sexploitation written, produced and directed by Russ Meyer.
A couple are having sexual difficulties and turn to infidelity to solve their problems.
This film dances on the thin line between sexpoitation and pornography. It's basically all about sex, but without showing the juicy parts. The minimalist plot and barely developed characters don't help. There was humor involved and female anatomy points. Lots of big boobs. That was about it. Very basic, carnal and lewd. I rate this o.k.

Legend of the Mountain (1979)

A Taiwanese horror fantasy written and directed by King Hu, starring Sylvia Chang and Tien Feng.
A scholar goes to a remote and supposedly vacant building to copy a manuscript, but is accosted by ghosts who pretend to be his friends. They are actually all seeking the copy of the document that he is creating.
This was unique. A memorable plot expanded from the simple premise. The characters were decent, but there were some differentiation issues that became part of the plot later. The young women characters were very similar on purpose. The video all looked good, except one scene involving filming someone outdoors from inside a building. The white balance got all messed up there. The audio was clear, but treble-biased and there were some musical performances. The special effects were basic through most of the duration, but got more prominent at the end. Yes, this is where flying happens and explosions. The general atmosphere created reminded me of older kung fu flicks, but combining that with a clear plot helped immensely. Overall, a cool film if you're into King Hu's work. I rate it good.

The Castle of Cagliostro A.K.A. Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro no Shiro, Lupin the Third Castle of Cagliostro (1979)

A Japanese mystery adventure anime directed by Hayao Miyazaki, starring Yasuo Yamada, Kiyoshi Kobayashi and Sumi Shimamoto.
A thief and his friend are looking for adventure when they happen to rescue a princess who drops a special ring. The thief already knows the princess and follows clues that he learns from the ring to find her. She is engaged to a count who runs a money counterfeiting operation. The count calls in the thief's nemesis, Inspector Zenigata to prevent the thief from disrupting the wedding.
This was alright. It seemed to be a mixture of the team who made Lupin III and Miyazaki style. I could almost see the boundaries where they met on-screen. The most obvious instance is of Lupin and Jigen sitting on a Miyazaki set. The plot held my attention, but you really have to have seen some Lupin III to appreciate the characters. The funniest joke was Lupin swimming up a waterfall. Overall, pretty much as expected. I rate this adequate.

The Wanderers (1979)

An American crime drama directed by Philip Kaufman, starring Karen Allen.
A high school gang in New York City act like who they are. There is a new member, an old member switches gangs, a girlfriend gets pregnant, there are parental problems and a rumble.
This was pretty good, but I could swear I've already seen and reviewed it. The plot held my attention and I liked some of the multitude of characters. The video was pretty good for 1979 and the audio was appropriate. I think they went a little overboard on the dated and overplayed pop songs, but some people might like this movie for that. My favorite gangs were The Baldies and The Wongs (don't fuck with the Wongs). The ending brought back ideas and themes from the beginning. Overall, damn good for war & sex Kaufman. I rate this good. Watch It!
"war & sex Kaufman" is my commentary on his filmography as a whole. Those are his two main themes besides incredibly long durations. The majority of his films feature photographers and writers having sex during a war for over two hours.

Raining in the Mountain A.K.A. Kong shan ling yu (1979)

A Hong Kong Taiwanese kung fu drama directed by King Hu.
There is a precious scroll at a temple and many people seek to steal it from the monks. However, the monks know that the value lies in the meaning of the scroll. They thwart the attacks of the thieves anyway.
This was alright. The plot was pretty clear, but there were way too many characters. I really liked the ending though. The video and audio were many steps above the other King Hu movies I've seen. This was definitely because of better camera and audio equipment. It did still retain the over-foleyed movements like footsteps and fighting action movements. There were not enough fights and not enough flying. This fact cannot be stressed enough. For the guy famous for basically creating wuxia to not have enough flying and fighting in a well-produced film is unforgivable. Overall, this was the most disappointing of his films. I rate it o.k. because it was still a good movie, just nowhere near as good as it should have been.

Nosferatu the Vampyre A.K.A. Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979)

A West German horror directed by Werner Herzog, starring Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani and Bruno Ganz.
A retelling of the Dracula story.
This seemed like it was all in slow motion. The soundtrack never going above 40bpm did not help things. The only scene with any action was Jonathan Harker rampaging through the castle, slamming doors. The plot was good and I liked the ending more than any of the other Dracula films I've seen. The characters were not developed at all. Like zero, none, static extras. The video was all beautifully shot. There were majestic landscapes on the way to the castle and epic amounts of rats in the city. The opening credits of mummified corpses complete with genital shots was a little too much, even for me. Overall, the slowest Dracula film ever made. I rate this o.k.

The First Great Train Robbery (1979)

A British crime adventure written and directed by Michael Crichton, starring Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland.
A team of professional criminals make copies of 4 keys that unlock a safe on a train that contains a large amount of gold so they can steal it while the train is moving.
This was good. From opening to triumphant finish, I really liked it. The plot (although fitting the universal plot summary) was interesting and the characters were acted very well. The period costumes looked very authentic as well. The camera-work was excellent, with lots of movement. The crane or helicopter shots that pulled back from the moving train were really well done. Some of the beginning was a little dull, but once things got moving it was very good. I noticed that the criminal who climbs well was referred to as "King Willie, the Snakesman", a phallic title to say the least. Since I have very little bad to say and am full of compliments, I rate this good. This is one of those solid green ratings that define what film is supposed to be.

Elvis (1979)

An American made for TV biography directed by John Carpenter, starring Kurt Russell.
The story of Elvis Presley's music career is told in a very limited way. From a young white man with a black music sound to the rhinestone jumpsuit shows.
If I was Elvis, this is how I would present my biography. It is put in a very positive light (understatement). Sure, he has disagreements with his wife and neglects her in favor of his career, but what about all the drugs and booze? Oh, he's "tired" from doing too many shows and collapses, but what about railing amphetamines and chasing it with whiskey? We don't see any of that here. The story had so many gaps that it did not make sense and the characters were portrayed falsely. The camera-work and framing was good, but the copy that I got was total crap and froze every so often. They even made the wise choice of not showing Kurt Russell's hands in the piano playing scene. Because the filmmaker was not Elvis and because of lying by omission, I rate this bad. Take that, John Carpenter. Go build a table or a chair. Your woodworking would be better than this.

Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle (1979)

A comedy by Picha and Boris Szulzinger.
After being kicked out of his treehouse by his wife for poor sexual performance, a Tarzan-like man has to save this same wife from a woman who wants her hair and an army of phalluses.
This is along the lines of  The Big Bang. It's funny to watch once, but becomes stale quickly. There was something about the cocks that pissed me off (pun intended), but I can't exactly place why I didn't like them. There was also a strange song played during military operations and armies marching in the film that I found to be memorable, but in a good way. My favorite character was Craig Baker, the drunk that was flying the magic carpet. I'm rating this o.k.

The Driller Killer (1979)

An American slasher film by Abel Ferrara.
A poor artist lives in an apartment with his girlfriend and her girlfriend. After seeing a commercial for a portable power pack, he buys one. A rock band moves into the building and plays all the time, driving him crazy. He decides to use the porto-pak in combination with his electric drill to kill hobos.
I have to give it points for uniqueness. "female anatomy points" were gathered during a lesbian shower scene. Otherwise, I can't think of anything good to say about it. I'm rating it poor because it's a bad movie, but got some mandatory points for some elements.

The Villain (1979)

A comedy western directed by Hal Needham, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kirk Douglas.
A beautiful woman arrives in a town to pick up her father's money and is escorted home by her father's friend. An outlaw tries to stop them and take the money.
I understood the Looney Tunes style of humor, but didn't think that much of it was all that funny. The plot and characters were very good and I even appreciated the style. Ann Margret was a very good choice for the female lead and I liked her costumes for obvious reasons. The production value didn't really win me over because the sound was slightly on the terrible side. Overall, I like it and rate it good.