Flashback 1970: My top 10 favorite movies from 50 years ago

Here I go again with another one of my best of/top ten lists looking back decades prior. I've already done 2010, 2000, 1990, and my favorite year for movies (probably) 1980 -- which leads me to a tougher nut to crack -- 1970. I've made no secret about my deep affinity for films of the 1970s. Their brooding cynicism is much more my speed than the colorful 80s or self-aware snark of the 90s.

And yet, the first year of the decade is easily my least favorite (when it comes to movies).

Chalk it up to hangover from the 1960s -- a mixed bag of a decade when it comes to exciting cinema. The end of the decade produced a hell of rally, with films like Bonnie & Clyde and Easy Rider blowing off the doors of the Hollywood establishment.

But the real new Hollywood era didn't kick in proper until the 1970s, and the there was only a little bit of the counter-culture on supply in the first year. After all, this is a year when a biopic about a maniacal WWII era general (albeit an excellent one) was the year's biggest movie.

All of this is a roundabout way of me saying that this isn't the strongest list and I actually struggled to get to a full 10 faves, but here we go...

10) The Honeymoon Killers - A deeply weird and darkly funny movie featuring an unforgettable lead performance by character actress Shirley Stoler. Apparently based on a true story, this black & white B movie follows a couple's adventures defrauding and murdering unsuspecting women. On the surface it may seem a little stilted but then the jarring violence jolts you and you recognize the film is onto something more.

9) The Ballad of Cable Hogue - A kindler, gentler entry in director Sam Peckinpah's filmography. It's another western -- but Cable Hogue is no gunslinger -- he's an amiable loser played to perfection by a very hirsute Jason Robards. A charming, episodic little movie that demonstrates Peckinpah was capable of more than just button-pushing pyrotechnics

8) Darker Than Amber - A hard to find, very entertaining gem. An old school mystery yarn with lots of authentic Florida atmosphere. Starring one of the more underrated leading men of the era -- Rod Taylor -- giving a bad ass performance in this, exemplified by a final fight scene which feels like one of the most brutal, realistic bouts of fisticuffs I've ever seen in a movie.

7) The Bird with the Crystal Plumage - The movie that made a name out of Italian horror maestro Dario Argento. It's less obtuse and features less supernaturalism than some of his later masterpieces, but many of the hallmarks of Argento's signature style are all here. The plot doesn't necessarily hold together, but visually it's a dreamy stunner.

6) The Landlord - A thoughtful and resonant look at race and gentrification from the great director Hal Ashby. Beau Bridges makes a surprisingly good leading man in this comedy-drama about an affluent white man who inserts himself into the lives of his black tenants. Scene-stealing performances from Lee Grant and Louis Gossett, Jr., and some searing insights about white fragility 50 years early.

5) Joe - Another movie that may have been ahead of its time. Think of it as a biopic of a Trump supporter on the darkest timeline. In a remarkable performance, Peter Boyle plays a bitter, bigoted psychopath whose hatred for the counter culture takes a violent turn. Like the next film on this list, this movie was championed by some for the wrong reasons.

4) Patton - This massive hit, which won George C. Scott a Best Actor Oscar (and he infamously refused to accept it) at first glance is a big, bold, flashy war film celebrating the iconic general's World War II exploits, but it also a character study of an egomaniac with an addiction to conflict. Smart viewers will pick up on the character's ambiguities and flaws, others can enjoy this for what it is, a stirring, epic war film.

3) Five Easy Pieces - A moving drama featuring one of Jack Nicholson's great leading man performances. He plays a well-to-do young man (with concert pianist abilities) who has tried to remake himself as a blue collar average joe. But when he drawn back into his old life and family conflicts, his veneer (forgive me) comes to pieces. A sensitive and quietly sensational movie.

2) Beyond the Valley of the Dolls - Director Russ Meyer's crowning achievement -- a sexy, bizarre and unrelentingly silly romp that mocks everything the 60s represented. Oddly enough it was co-written by the late film critic Roger Ebert and it has some of the most brutal tonal shifts I've ever seen in a movie, but it's wildly entertaining and in on the joke. A can't miss.

1) M*A*S*H - It's not even close. This irreverent anti-war comedy is what made Robert Altman famous and it's easy to see why. Its dated sexism aside, it's a sharply funny send up of the hypocrisy and absurdity of war, and it has darker shadings too in the form of grisly surgery scenes (the film is a about a medical unit in the Korean War). The movie made unlikely stars of Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould and kicked off one of the most remarkable runs a director has ever had.

PAST TOP 10 FAVORITE LISTS
1974 #1 movie - The Godfather Part II
1975 #1 movie - Nashville
1976 #1 movie - Taxi Driver
1977 #1 movie - Star Wars
1978 #1 movie - The Deer Hunter
1979 #1 movie - The Jerk
1980 #1 movie - The Shining
1984 #1 movie - Ghostbusters
1985 #1 movie - Fletch
1986 #1 movie - Blue Velvet
1987 #1 movie - The Untouchables
1988 #1 movie - Coming to America
1989 #1 movie - Batman
1990 #1 movie - The Grifters
1994 #1 movie - Pulp Fiction
1995 #1 movie - Heat
1996 #1 movie - Fargo
1997 #1 movie - Boogie Nights
1998 #1 movie - The Big Lebowski
1999 #1 movie - Eyes Wide Shut
2000 #1 movie - Nurse Betty
2004 #1 movie - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2005 #1 movie - A History of Violence
2006 #1 movie - Casino Royale
2007 #1 movie - There Will Be Blood
2008 #1 movie - The Wrestler
2009 #1 movie - Inglourious Basterds
2010 #1 movie - The Social Network