Top Films of 1979: World Premieres
My 1979 Oscar Ballot
| 1. | Apocalypse Now Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. With Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando A |
| 2. | The China Syndrome Dir. James Bridges. With Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas A |
| 3. | Manhattan Dir. Woody Allen. With Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Micheal Murphy A– |
| 4. | All That Jazz Dir. Bob Fosse. With Roy Scheider, Leland Palmer, Ann Reinking A– |
| 5. | The Brood Dir. David Cronenberg. With Art Hindle, Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar B+ |
| 6. | Alien Dir. Ridley Scott. With Sigourney Weaver, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Tom Skerritt B+ |
| 7. | The Tin Drum Dir. Volker Schlöndorff. With David Bennett, Angela Winkler, Mario Adorf B+ |
| 8. | The Muppet Movie Dir. James Frawley. With the voices of Jim Henson and Frank Oz B+ |
Reviews from 1979
★ = Full-Length Review / © = Capsule-Length Review / ★ = Blog Review (New Window)
© The Brood Dir. David Cronenberg. With Art Hindle, Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar B+
★ Tim Dir. Michael Pate. With Piper Laurie, Mel Gibson, Alwyn Kurts, Pat Evison C
More Grades from 1979
Unreviewed titles I have seen recently enough to grade
Agatha Dir. Michael Apted. With Vanessa Redgrave, Dustin Hoffman, Timothy Dalton C
Chapter Two Dir. Robert Moore. With James Caan, Marsha Mason, Joseph Bologna C–
The Great Santini Dir. Lewis John Carlino. With Robert Duvall, Michael O'Keefe D+
Kramer vs. Kramer Dir. Robert Benton. With Dustin Hoffman, Justin Henry, Meryl Streep B
The Rose Dir. Mark Rydell. With Bette Midler, Frederic Forrest, Alan Bates B
Starting Over Dir. Alan J. Pakula. With Burt Reynolds, Jill Clayburgh, Candice Bergin C+
The Tempest Dir. Derek Jarman. With Heathcote Williams, Karl Johnson, Toyah Willcox B
Wise Blood Dir. John Huston. With Brad Dourif, Amy Wright, Dan Shor, Harry Dean Stanton B
Yanks Dir. John Schlesinger. With Richard Gere, Lisa Eichhorn, Vanessa Redgrave C–
Also from 1979
The memories are fading, but they're somewhere in my brain
Fetching
The Seduction of Joe Tynan Dir. Jerry Schatzberg. With Alan Alda, Meryl Streep
Stalker Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky. With Aleksandr Kaidanovsky, Anatoly Solonitsyn
Feh
Norma Rae Dir. Martin Ritt. With Sally Field, Ron Leibman, Beau Bridges, Pat Hingle
Flotsam
"10" Dir. Blake Edwards. With Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews, Bo Derek, Sam Jones
Still to Come from 1979
Ten Most Enticing Prospects:
The Black Stallion Dir. Carroll Ballard. With Kelly Reno, Mickey Rooney, Teri Garr
Breaking Away Dir. Peter Yates. With Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern
The Marriage of Maria Braun Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder. With Hanna Schygulla
My Brilliant Career Dir. Gillian Armstrong. With Judy Davis, Sam Neill, Wendy Hughes
Nosferatu the Vampyre Dir. Werner Herzog. With Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, Bruno Ganz
Siberiade Dir. Andrei Konchalovsky. With Natalya Andreychenko, Sergey Shakurov
Tess Dir. Roman Polanski. With Nastassja Kinski, Leigh Lawson, Peter Firth, John Collin
Thriller Dir. Sally Potter. With Colette Laffont, Rose English, Tony Gacon, Vincent Meehan
Vengeance Is Mine Dir. Shohei Imamura. With Ken Ogata, Mayumi Ogawa, Mitusko Baisho
Woyzeck Dir. Werner Herzog. With Klaus Kinski, Eva Mattes, Wolfgang Reichmann
Further Research:
1941 Dir. Steven Spielberg. With Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, John Belushi, Lorraine Gray
...And Justice for All Dir. Norman Jewison. With Al Pacino, Jack Warden, John Forsythe
The Amityville Horror Dir. Stuart Rosenberg. With James Brolin, Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger
The Bell Jar Dir. Larry Peerce. With Marilyn Hassett, Julie Harris, Anne Jackson
Best Boy Dir. Ira Wohl. Documentary about the filmmaker's mentally handicapped brother
Being There Dir. Hal Ashby. With Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas
The Brontë Sisters Dir. André Téchiné. With Isabelle Adjani, Marie-France Pisier
Bye Bye Brasil Dir. Carlos Diegues. With José Wilker, Betty Fario, Fábio Júnior
La Cage aux folles Dir. Eduardo Molinaro. With Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Serrault, Michel Galabru
Caligula Dirs. Tinto Brass & Bob Guccione. With Malcolm McDowell, Peter O'Toole, Helen Mirren
Camera Buff Dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski. With Jerzy Stuhr, Malgorzata Zabkowska
The Champ Dir. Franco Zeffirelli. With Jon Voight, Ricky Schroeder, Faye Dunaway, Jack Warden
Christ Stopped at Eboli Dir. Francesco Rosi. With Gian Maria Volonté, Paolo Bonacelli
The Driller Killer Dir. Abel Ferrara. With Abel Ferrara, Carolyn Marz, Baybi Day, Harry Schultz
The Electric Horseman Dir. Sydney Pollack. With Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Valerie Perrine
Escape from Alcatraz Dir. Don Siegel. With Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Roberts Blossom
The Europeans Dir. James Ivory. With Lee Remick, Robin Ellis, Wesley Addy, Tim Choate
Fast Company Dir. David Cronenberg. With William Smith, Claudia Jennings, John Saxon
The Frisco Kid Dir. Robert Aldrich. With Gene Wilder, Harrison Ford, Ramon Bieri, Val Bisoglio
The Great Train Robbery Dir. Michael Crichton. With Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland
Hair Dir. Miloš Forman. With John Savage, Treat Williams, Beverly D'Angelo, Annie Golden
Hardcore Dir. Paul Schrader. With George C. Scott, Peter Boyle, Season Hubley, Dick Sargent
H.E.A.L.T.H. Dir. Robert Altman. With Glenda Jackson, Carol Burnett, James Garner
The Jerk Dir. Carl Reiner. With Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Catlin Adams, Mabel King
A Little Romance Dir. George Roy Hill. With Laurence Olivier, Diane Lane, Thelonious Bernard
Love on the Run Dir. François Truffaut. With Jean-Pierre Léaud, Marie-France Pisier
La Luna Dir. Bernardo Bertolucci. With Jill Clayburgh, Matthew Barry, Veronica Lazar
Mad Max Dir. George Miller. With Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Steve Bisley
The Main Event Dir. Howard Zieff. With Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Paul Sand, Whitman Mayo
Monty Python's Life of Brian Dir. Terry Jones. With Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam
North Dallas Forty Dir. Ted Kotcheff. With Nick Nolte, Mac Davis, Charles Durning, Bo Svenson
Old Boyfriends Dir. Joan Tewkesbury. With Talia Shire, Richard Jordan, Keith Carradine
The Onion Field Dir. Harold Becker. With John Savage, James Woods, Franklyn Seales
The Outsider Dir. Béla Tarr. With Andras Szabo, Jolan Fodor, Imre Donko, Istvÿn Balla
Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist Dir. Saul J. Turell. Documentary about the performer
A Perfect Couple Dir. Robert Altman. With Paul Dooley, Marta Heflin, Titos Vandis, Belita Moreno
Phantasm Dir. Don Coscarelli. With Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Reggie Bannister
The Promise Dir. Gilbert Cates. With Kathleen Quinlan, Stephen Collins, Beatrice Straight
Quadrophenia Dir. Franc Roddam. With Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Philip Davis, Mark Wingett
Quintet Dir. Robert Altman. With Paul Newman, Vittorio Gassman, Fernando Rey
Return of the Seacaucus Seven Dir. John Sayles. With Bruce MacDonald, Maggie Renzi
Rocky II Dir. Sylvester Stallone. With Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Carl Weathers
Saint Jack Dir. Peter Bogdanovich. With Ben Gazzara, Denholm Elliott, James Villiers
The Third Generation Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder. With Harry Baer, Hark Bohm
Time After Time Dir. Nicholas Meyer. With Malcolm McDowell, Mary Steenburgen, David Warner
Victoria Dir. Bo Widerberg. With Hans Christian Blech, Erik Eriksson, Christiane Hörbiger
The War at Home Dirs. Glenn Silber & Barry Alexander Brown. Documentary
The Warriors Dir. Walter Hill. With Michael Beck, James Remar, Dorsey Wright, Brian Tyler
When a Stranger Calls Dir. Fred Walton. With Carol Kane, Charles Durning, Colleen Dewhurst
Winter Kills Dir. William Richert. With Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Anthony Perkins, Eli Wallach
Without Anesthesia Dir. Andrzej Wajda. With Zbigniew Zapasiewicz, Ewa Dalkowska
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