Questions on Joe Buck from Midnight Cowboy (spoilers)

I'd answer but I'm walking here.

quote:

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Without the likes of MidnightCowboy, Easy Rider, and Bonnie and Clyde... 1970s cinema -- probably the Apex of the medium -- does not happen.

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Midnight Cowboy was definitely rough to watch back then. I remember leaving the theater and people were genuinely disturbed by that movie.

The 70s though, had a few more good ones than just those three although I'm not sure I would consider it the apex decade ... that may well go to the 30s especially given 1939.

Still ...

Top 50

1. The Godfather
(1972, Francis Ford Coppola) (Marlon Brando, Al Pacino)

2. The Godfather part II
(1974, Francis Ford Coppola) (Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro)

3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
(1975, Milos Forman) (Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher)

4. Apocalypse Now
(1979, Francis Ford Coppola) (Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall)

5. Chinatown
(1974, Roman Polanski) (Jack Nicholson, John Huston)

6. A Clockwork Orange
(1971, Stanley Kubrick) (Malcolm McDowell, Patrick MaGee)

7. Star Wars
(1977, George Lucas) (Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford)

8. Jaws
(1975, Steven Spielberg) (Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss)

9. Taxi Driver
(1976, Martin Scorsese) (Robert DeNiro, Jodie Foster)

10. The Deer Hunter
(1978, Michael Cimino) (Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken)

11. Annie Hall
(1977, Woody Allen) (Woody Allen, Diane Keaton)

12. Network
(1976, Sydney Lumet) (Peter Finch, William Holden)

13. Rocky
(1976, John G. Avildsen) (Sylvester Stallone, Carl Weathers)

14. Patton
(1970, Franklin J. Schaffner) (George C. Scott, Karl Malden)

15. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
(1977, Steven Spielberg) (Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr)

16. M*A*S*H
(1970, Robert Altman) (Elliot Gould, Donald Sutherland)

17. The Exorcist
(1973, William Friedkin) (Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair)

18. American Graffiti
(1973, George Lucas) (Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss)

19. The French Connection
(1971, William Friedkin) (Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider)

20. Mean Streets
(1973, Martin Scorsese) (Harvey Keitel, Robert DeNiro)

21. Aguirre, the Wrath of God
(1972, Werner Herzog) (Klaus Kinski) (Cecilia Rivera)

22. Blazing Saddles
(1974, Mel Brooks) (Gene Wilder, Cleavon Little)

23. Last Tango in Paris
(1972, Bernardo Bertolucci) (Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider)

24. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(1974, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones) (G. Chapman, Eric Idle)

25. The Rocky Horror Picture Show
(1975, Jim Sharmon) (Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon)

26. Serpico
(1973, Sydney Lumet) (Al Pacino, Tony Roberts)

27. Young Frankenstein
(1974, Mel Brooks) (Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle)

28. Deliverance
(1972, John Boorman) (Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight)

29. Barry Lyndon
(1975, Stanley Kubrick) (Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson)

30. National Lampoon's Animal House
(1978, John Landis) (John Belushi, Tim Matheson)

31. Alien
(1979, Ridley Scott) (Tom Skerritt, Sigouney Weaver)

32. The Sting
(1973, George Roy Hill) (Robert Redford, Paul Newman)

33. Dog Day Afternoon
(1975, Sydney Lumet) (Al Pacino, John Cazale)

34. Five Easy Pieces
(1970, Bob Rafelson) (Jack Nicholson, Karen Black)

35. The Conversation
(1974, Francis Ford Coppola) (Gene Hackman, John Cazale)

36. Halloween
(1978, John Carpenter) (Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis)

37. The Last Picture Show
(1971, Peter Bogdanovich) (Timothy Buttons, Jeff Bridges)

38. Nashville
(1975, Robert Altman) (Henry Gibson, Barbara Baxley)

39. Saturday Night Fever
(1977, John Badham) (John Travolta, Karen Gorney)

40. McCabe and Mrs. Miller
(1971, Robert Altman) (Warren Beatty, Julie Christie)

41. All the President's Men
(1976, Alan J. Pakula) (Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford)

42. Dirty Harry
(1971, Don Siegel) (Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino)

43. Grease
(1978, Randal Kleiser) (John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John)

44. Manhattan
(1979, Woody Allen) (Woody Allen, Diane Keaton)

45. Scenes from a Marriage
(1973, Ingmar Bergman) (Liv Ullman, Bibi Andersson)

46. Badlands
(1973, Terrence Malick) (Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek)

47. Coming Home
(1978, Hal Ashby) (Jon Voight, Jane Fonda)

48. Cries and Whispers
(1972, Ingmar Bergman) (Harriet Andersson, Kari Sylwan)

49. Carrie
(1976, Brian De Palma) (Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie)

50. The Conformist
(1970, Bernardo Bertolucci) (Jean-Louis Trintignant, Dominique Sandra)

Damn strong list.