My Five Favorite Films From...1976

Honorable Mention – Midway: It’s slightly bloated and occasionally inaccurate , but I love military history. And this film is pretty good at depicting how the critical battle in the Pacific theater went down. If you can ignore the stock footage of German planes.

5. The Bad News Bears : If you’re only familiarity with this movie is the tepid re-make with Billy Bob Thornton, you have to go see the original. It ostensibly may be about Buttermaker, Amanda and Kelly Leak, but the real star to me will always be Tanner. His rants wouldn’t make it past the censors these days.

4. Marathon Man : “Is it safe?” A great thriller made even better by the acting of Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier. It’s even more amazing to watch Olivier in this film when you realize he had almost died from dermatomyositis – a degenerative muscle disease – less than a year prior to the film’s release and was suffering through it while making the movie.

3. Taxi Driver: One of Scorcese’s best films. The one that most people think of when they think of Robert DeNiro. And while it builds to an insane climax, the epilogue is what makes it for me. A very thin line exists between being the hero and the villain.

2. The Outlaw Josey Wales: Such a kick-ass western. Another step in Eastwood’s deconstruction of the genre. Not only are the Union soldiers the bad guys, but at the end he avoids fighting the Indians and instead shoots it out with the Red-Legs. And that final fight with Terrill, as he cycles on every empty chamber of his revolvers…classic.

1. Rocky: The Little Film That Could. Stallone held out against making this movie until he got the studio to let him play the role. An iconic movie, probably the best “rags-to-riches” movie in recent memory and, alongside Raging Bull, the best boxing movie ever made.

Films I Like But Didn't Make The List: Silver Streak, Assault on Precinct 13, Network, Noirs et blancs en couleur, The Shootist, The Omen, All the President's Men , The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Carrie, Silent Movie, Robin and Marian

Insane Film I Have To Mention – Sebastiane: What do you do with the historical tale of Saint Sebastian? A captain of the Praetorian Guard and secret Christian, the Emperor Diocletian had him tied to a tree and shot with arrows. Well, if you are Derek Jarman, you turn that tale into a homo-erotic nudity fest on screen. I just don’t see how you can rationally explain a entire Roman outpost constantly walking around in the nude.

Reoccurring Note: As always, my list is not what I consider "the best" films of a particular year. If that was the case, Network would be at the top of the list. These are the films I enjoyed the most. Your mileage may vary.