Today I did a rewatch of Mike Nichols' masterful satire of sex and male-female relationships Carnal Knowledge. It holds up incredible well as perhaps one of the greatest films ever exploring the topic of toxic masculinity, in my opinion. It's also a movie that's routinely overlooked when the great films of the 1970s are listed. Film buffs know it and I understand it was a buzzy sleeper hit when it came out in 1971.
But the fact that it's so overlooked (it's streaming on Amazon Prime right now, go see it, but make sure the kids are safely out of sight, it's not a family movie) got me thinking. What are some other flicks from my favorite era of cinema that deserve to be promoted.
Here's 10 off the top of my head:
Prime Cut - A deeply strange and terrible cool action movie starring two great tough as nails leading men -- Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman. Darkly funny with a very weird premise involving sex slaves kept in a barn. Come for Marvin and Hackman macho antics, but stay for a young Sissy Spacek in a scene stealing role as a spunky survivor.
An Unmarried Woman - Although it's written and directed by a man (the great Paul Mazursky) this is a wonderfully observed, deeply feminist film featuring one of the decade's most honest performances (regardless of gender) in Jill Clayburgh who has to suddenly reinvent her life after learning of her husbands infidelities.
Lady Sings the Blues - It's a shame that Diana Ross didn't have much of cinematic career, this film proves that with the right material and director she could have been not just good but great. She totally inhabits the role of Billie Holiday in a performance that should have won an Academy Award. Meanwhile, Billy Dee Williams establishes himself as a sex symbol and Richard Pryor establishes himself as a credible dramatic actor.
Night Moves - One of the great, moody character studies of the era, featuring another unsung Gene Hackman role. It's got a terrific scumminess and cynicism, with a truly shocking ending that is keeping with the period's less earnest aesthetic.
The Candidate - One of the all time greatest movies about politics and the mostly men who control it. Robert Redford has maybe never been better in a leading role as a sincere liberal who sells out to win. He gets to show some of his range here and the movie's commentary still holds up.
The Gambler - I've never understood why this isn't one of the beloved character studies of the decade. It's James Caan at his best as an obsessive, self destructive gambler in this no-holds-barred drama, which is one of writer James Toback's best.
The Driver - A hugely influential although largely unknown minimalist thriller, with a nearly silent Ryan O'Neal as a badass getaway driver. Nicolas Winding Refn brilliantly cribbed the movie for his own Drive, but it still has plenty of flair on its own.
Klute - Jane Fonda's iconic greatness as an actress is often overshadowed by her incredible courageous activism, but don't sleep on her talents. In this chilling thriller in particular she is electric throughout and her big scene at the climax is some of the best acting I've ever seen.
Shampoo - Warren Beatty's sex comedy is also a droll satire on the creeping conservatism of the late 1960s. It might be my favorite Beatty performance and he's got an incredible cast around him. One of those movies that appears to be about nothing at first but then it's actually about everything.
Blue Collar - I know I put this movie on almost every list, but it looms that largely in my mind as one of the most emblematic movies of the decade even if it's not as well known as a Taxi Driver or a Jaws. Dark, authentic and unpredictable. It's what I look for in a movie.
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