Flashback 1978: My favorite movies from 40 years ago

Robert DeNiro in The Deer Hunter

When I think of 1978 I think of disco -- Grease -- a little bit more innocence creeping out amid the malaise and cynicism that followed Watergate. It was also a year that reflected the wake of Star Wars which came out the year before and completely upended commercial filmmaking forever.

Still, there was some great brooding masterpieces that hit theaters alongside the popcorn flicks and it was very hard for me to narrow down my list to ten favorites. I think, in retrospect, it was a very strong year for movies, even if the era in which they hit movie theaters is a bit of a mixed bag.

10) The Driver - Ryan O'Neal effects a kind of steely cool that audiences probably didn't think he was capable of in this stylized crime thriller which not only inspired Drive but helped put action film maestro Walter Hill on the map. Some great car chases and stunt work here, but its the existential battle between O'Neal and the cop tracking him -- played to perfection by Bruce Dern -- that has made this cult film an enduring classic.

9) National Lampoon's Animal House - The crown jewel in John Belushi's tragically short film career has all the best anarchic spirit of the classic early seasons of Saturday Night Live (and also, problematically, it's political incorrectness too). It's a great ensemble piece celebrating thumbing your nose at the establishment, so many mainstream comedies have ripped it off but still has it charms.

8) Dawn of the Dead - The late director George Romero's brilliant satire of consumer culture is also one of the best zombie movies ever made. Delightfully gory and with some solid scares, this film, perhaps more than any other, cemented the zombie genre as a horror staple and burnished Romero's reputation as a serious filmmaker. And kudos for featuring a black hero in the lead.

7) Invasion of the Body Snatchers - Another fantastic horror film, this one a remake of a terrific 1950s parable for communist paranoia. This film, set in late '70s San Francisco is both very funny and truly scary. Donald Sutherland is a perfect sympathetic lead in a world being rapidly taken over by soulless pod people. It's fast-paced, weirdly compelling, and features one of the greatest endings of all time in any genre.

6) Heaven Can Wait -  A surprisingly sweet and straight-forward romantic comedy about a NFL hero who dies prematurely and is reborn in the body of a well-to-do businessman from Warren Beatty that works because it's very earnest and because the performances are so winning across the board (including turns from Jack Warden. Julie Christie, Dyan Cannon and Charles Grodin). I wish they
still made old fashioned whimsical movies like this.

5) Halloween - The John Carpenter blockbuster which birthed the slasher film is still one of best genre movies of all time. Michael Myers is a chilling villain. Jamie Lee Curtis is an empathetic hero. And Carpenter's simple, eerie score is one of the most spine-tingling you'll ever hear. I watch this almost every year in October and it never gets old.

4) Superman: The Movie - This is the film that started it all -- the first legit, big budget superhero movie, featuring big stars like Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman and a wonderful star-making performance by Christopher Reeve in the titular role. The perfect origin story and homage to the mythology of the most beloved comic book hero of all time. Even its dated elements are great fun, and no future Superman movie has been able to top it.

3) An Unmarried Woman - An incredibly forward-thinking women's liberation movie that was ironically written and directed by a man. Jill Clayburgh is sensational as a woman blindsided by a cheating husband and forced to navigate a new personal life that she never bargained for. The performances and dialogue all feel natural and spot-on. This is a movie that has only grown more moving and important today.

2) Blue Collar - The most compelling (and should have been Oscar nominated) performance of Richard Pryor's acting career comes in this film about three auto workers (Harvey Keitel and Yaphet Kotto round out the trio) who get more than they bargained for when they try to rob their union to pay off their debts. It's a gritty, foul-mouthed, overlooked masterpiece from Paul Schrader which is so ripe for rediscovery.

1) The Deer Hunter - A haunting, if albeit wildly historically inaccurate, ballad about the toll the Vietnam war took on the young American men would earnestly volunteered to go fight it. Glacially paced at first for maximum effect and then featuring some of the most harrowing war sequences of all time. This is not an easy viewing experience, but a very powerful one. Stellar performances from a dream cast including Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep and Christopher Walken don't hurt either.

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
1984 #1 movie - Ghostbusters
1985 #1 movie - Fletch
1986 #1 movie - Blue Velvet
1987 #1 movie - The Untouchables
1988 #1 movie - Coming to America
1994 #1 movie - Pulp Fiction
1995 #1 movie - Heat
1996:#1 movie - Fargo
1997 #1 movie - Boogie Nights
1998 #1 movie - The Big Lebowski
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