This episode, “The Best Films of 1978,” was taken from the cut down edit that was shown on Ebert Presents At the Movies on Aug. 26, 2011. This episode is available in its full, unedited form at the IMDb.
Of all the special shows they did, this is my favorite because they actually predicted movie theaters being dominated by so many blockbusters. Nowadays we get more sequels. superhero films, modern animated films, more high concept films, and more movie franchises. We barely go to see small, serious films in theaters these days. Now we find them on streaming services like Amazon or Netflix.
Out of all the topics they talk about on the show, the rise of the blockbusters is by far the most relevant. In 1981, they covered the same topic again, this time focusing on Raiders of the Lost Ark, Superman II, Stripes, and other summer blockbusters. And it still wasn’t enough. Over the years, probably starting with the box office failure of The Right Stuff, they began to criticize the press for reporting the opening weeks grosses. But they (the press) don’t care at all.
My list
Superman
The deer hunter
Days of heaven
The wild geese
Dawn of the dead
Interiors
Heaven can wait
Blue collar
Grease
Animal House
Halloween
House calls
Autumn sonatas
The medusa touch
Interesting that they talked about the hits of the year as well. Thought the idea of the show was not to do that. I guess they felt it was a way to show the way the box office was going. As to the big hits, the one I didn’t like was Jaws 2, which was an inferior sequel to the classic original.
This episode, “The Best Films of 1978,” was taken from the cut down edit that was shown on Ebert Presents At the Movies on Aug. 26, 2011. This episode is available in its full, unedited form at the IMDb.
Of all the special shows they did, this is my favorite because they actually predicted movie theaters being dominated by so many blockbusters. Nowadays we get more sequels. superhero films, modern animated films, more high concept films, and more movie franchises. We barely go to see small, serious films in theaters these days. Now we find them on streaming services like Amazon or Netflix.
Out of all the topics they talk about on the show, the rise of the blockbusters is by far the most relevant. In 1981, they covered the same topic again, this time focusing on Raiders of the Lost Ark, Superman II, Stripes, and other summer blockbusters. And it still wasn’t enough. Over the years, probably starting with the box office failure of The Right Stuff, they began to criticize the press for reporting the opening weeks grosses. But they (the press) don’t care at all.
My list
Superman
The deer hunter
Days of heaven
The wild geese
Dawn of the dead
Interiors
Heaven can wait
Blue collar
Grease
Animal House
Halloween
House calls
Autumn sonatas
The medusa touch
Pingback: Sneak Previews – 1979 – Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews
Interesting that they talked about the hits of the year as well. Thought the idea of the show was not to do that. I guess they felt it was a way to show the way the box office was going. As to the big hits, the one I didn’t like was Jaws 2, which was an inferior sequel to the classic original.