The Movie Bloggers Roundtable is a feature where I join up with four esteemed movie bloggers and we share our thoughts on a certain subject. Everyone on the panel will share their thoughts and feelings on the topic of the day and then we share them with you. The panel may change from post to post and hopefully we will get a wide range and interesting mix of opinions and perspectives.

Today’s roundtable discussion is inspired by my pal Ruth over at FlixChatter (one of the absolute best movie blogs around). It’s a question that I found incredibly intriguing and it had me thinking on it for several days afterwards. It deals with the different decades and the movies that defined them. Joining me for this roundtable is Zoe from The Sporadic Chronicles of a Beginner Blogger, Michael from It Rains…You Get Wet, Cindy from CindyBruchman.com, and Richard from Kirkham A Movie A Day. Now I can easily say that I LOVE THESE BLOGS and if you haven’t been frequenting their sites you should. So lets get to this week’s question:

What has been the greatest decade for movies?

Keith (Keith & the Movies)

I had this question in mind for a later date, but after reading Ruth’s post I just had to talk more about it. This is really difficult because every decade has had its own flavor and has contributed to the world of cinema in different ways. I have a personal affection for the 1980s mainly because those were my teen years and so many of those films nurtured my love for cinema. But was it the greatest decade for movies? I don’t know. I think arguments could be made for almost every decade. But after sloshing it around for a while my pick is the 1950s.

The 1950s were an interesting time for movies. We were beginning to see a genuine shift in how movies were being made and how stories were being told. At the same time the decade still held on to some of the things that made the 1940s so special. The 50s gave us big screen debuts from all-time great performers like Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, and Audrey Hepburn. It gave us Hitchcock’s best including “Rear WIndow” and “Vertigo”, Kurosawa’s masterpiece “The Seven Samurai”, arguably the best musical ever made “Singin’ in the Rain”, and I could go on and on. The number of true cinema classics that found their genesis in the 1950s is astonishing.

More personally the 1950s also delivered some of my favorite movie trends. Science fiction and creature features were a staple throughout the decade with fun movies like “Them!”, “The Thing from Another World”, and “Godzilla” just to name a few. The late 50s also gave birth to the French New Wave, a movement that has influenced some of cinema’s greatest directors even today. Masters like Truffaut and Chabrol laid the foundation for the run of great New Wave classics that would come through the 60s. This just skims the surface of what made the 1950s great and it’s hard to find a decade any better.

Zoe (The Sporadic Chronicles of a Beginner Blogger)

So I have been thinking of the best decade for movies and I have to say, that after all the scratching, weighing up and contemplating that I have done, I am going to give it to 2000-2009. The sheer magic that was wrought in cinema during that time is simply staggering. There are amazing titles, some of the best performances of all time, and technology had so much advanced that it really made all the difference in the world. Granted, things like The Godfather, The Green Mile, Saving Private Ryan, the Indiana Jones movies, the original Star Wars trilogy, etc. came from other decades, but in terms on consistency the 2000s get it. Hands down.

Michael (It Rains…You Get Wet)

Easily, it’s the 70s. A particular span of time that proved to be one of the most tumultuous for many in the latter half of the 20th century. A decade filled with economic downturns, disillusionment, and the realization that things really could get a Hell of a lot worst. And did. The timing for film couldn’t have been better, though. For all of its crises and missteps, corruption and loss of idealism, the Me Decade heralded some of the absolute best cinema this country had to offer for the period.

The uncertainty and controversy, which followed the waning years of the Vietnam War, aroused an atmosphere that prompted directors and producers to reflect so distinctly upon the eyes of movie audiences. Prompted seemingly from watershed moments, crossroads, and/or deflated dreams, nothing could hold the tide back. It shouldn’t surprise that the era’s off-beat and imaginative comedies, challenging dramatic themes, and the stellar crime films of the period have rarely been surpassed.

From the big and important films (The Godfather, Chinatown, Jaws, Star Wars) to the small and decidedly underestimated (Halloween, The Long Goodbye, The Driver, Sorcerer), this decade had it all…and in spades. Cast back on us via celluloid, in movie houses by filmmakers who’d tasted the same bitter tea the era had served up. Lastly, though the decade did not invent or even introduce the character of the anti-hero, that protagonist certainly came into its own during this distinct ten-year stretch.

Richard (Kirkham A Movie A Day)

So, the cynical side in me wants to believe that Keith selected me because of my clearly expressed view contained in my on-line moniker and Avatar. My ego wants to believe that I was asked because my writing on-line about movies from different time periods has been interesting enough to make it appear that I might make some insightful comments. The movie lover in my soul however knows that I’ve been asked to speak for the greatest decade in movies because of my passion. I cannot disappoint any of those selves or my friend Keith, the greatest decade of movies ever was the 1970s. If I were more knowledgeable about foreign language films, the 50s could have snuck in here or if I limited myself to the sheer quantity of great films than it might be the 30s. There are however a couple of different characteristics that I would use in defense of the 70s as the greatest decade.

I don’t think any other decade has the range of styles and subject matter that the seventies did. In 1970 “Airport” was a best picture nominee. It was a soap opera melodrama with a single unique idea, disaster, at it’s heart. Ten years later, “Apocalypse Now” was a best picture nominee and the distance traveled between those two styles of film is daunting. The studio film had given way to the movie brats of film school and their highly personalized view of cinema. In 1971 “Fiddler on the Roof” was a best picture nominee and it was as much “Tradition” as you can get. Back to 1979, and another musical is nominated for best picture, “All That Jazz”, which is a meta picture about a filmmaker, making a movie and a musical simultaneously and it is autobiographical. The mindsets between these bookend years could not be more different. In the center of the decade were films that made genre films acceptable mainstream fare; pictures like “The Exorcist”, “Star Wars” and “Superman”. The greatest film of the 1970s also changed how movies were exhibited, marketed, exploited and analyzed, “Jaws” changed everything. With the exception of the movie studios being divested of their theater chains, the box office returns and audience reaction to “Jaws” did more to change the movie business than the addition of sound. It also happens to be the greatest picture made since the 1930s.

I can’t imagine any decade could match the quantity of movies from the 1930s, after all the Dream Factory was cranking them out like cars on an assembly line. Pound for pound however, 1975 could match up against 1939 very well. The degree of autonomy that directors and writers had in the 1970s may never be seen again except in the new world of You Tube and VOD. Those are the places that movies like “Taxi Driver” or “The Conversation” would have to end up. Too many opinions from too many directions mean that more recent films will never be as raw. In the 70s, Science Fiction films could explore ideas without having to have gargantuan budgets. Off beat characters could be the focal point of a story, and everybody was OK with that. In later decades, if a character was unique in some way, that would be the marketing strategy. In the 70s, everybody just expected the characters to have character.

If you consider the firepower of 1970s films, no other decade comes close to the quality of movies made in a ten year period. Look at someones list of ten greatest movies of all time, I’d be surprised if a third of them did not come from that decade: The Godfather, Jaws, Star Wars, Rocky, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather Part II, Taxi Driver, Network, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien, The Exorcist. If your list is specialized to a genre, Gangster Films, Cult Movies, Sports Films, Science Fiction, somewhere on those lists are at least two movies that were made in the 1970s, and for some lists it would be more than half. Stars still mattered in the seventies and the list of actors and actresses who made their biggest marks in the 70s is a long one. If this were a boxing match, in my view it would be like one of those Mike Tyson fights in the early part of his career, a knockout in the first or second round. The winner and undisputed heavyweight champion of movie decades, the 1970s.

Cindy (CindyBruchman.com)

It’s obvious to me that the 1990s were the best years in film. Drama defined the decade because of the contributions of Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Robert DeNiro, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, and the Coen Brothers.

Tom Hanks. He owned the decade. Sure, there were mediocre choices like That Thing You Do! in 1996 or in 1992, as Jimmy Dugan in A League of Their Own. He managed to put his personal stamp on the film with the memorable phrase, “There’s no crying in baseball!”
But consider this blockbuster list:
1990, Bonfire of the Vanities
1993, Philadelphia (Best Acting Oscar)
1993, Sleepless in Seattle
1994, Forrest Gump (Best Acting Oscar)
1995, Toy Story
1995, Apollo 13
1998, Saving Private Ryan
1999, The Green Mile
1999, Toy Story 2

Many would say Saving Private Ryan is THE best war film. His ability to represent the common man with simplistic charm reminiscent of the great Jimmy Stewart. Jimmy only won one Oscar in 1940 with The Philadelphia Story. Of course, Tom Hanks greeted the new century with strong performances but it was the 1990s where he became the legend his is today.

Steven Spielberg. His relationship with Tom Hanks in films has served them both well. Not only is Saving Private Ryan arguably the best war film which is a Spielberg masterpiece, Spielberg gets the credit for the best film ever made with Schindler’s List. That’s a subjective claim, but no one would disagree that Schindler’s List is one of the finest films in the history of film making. It happened in the 1990s. What else did Steven Spielberg put out that decade? Two personal favorites are Jurassic Park from 1993 and Amistad in 1998.

Speaking of directors and actors teaming up, how about Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro in the 1990s? The best gangster films combined with strong acting in DeNiro’s career:
Martin Scorsese Robert DeNiro
1990, Goodfellas 1990, Goodfellas
1991, Cape Fear 1991, Cape Fear
1993, The Age of Innocence 1993, This Boys Life
1995, Casino 1995, Heat 1997, Wag the Dog

Other explosive directors that created iconic drama in the 1990s were Quentin Tarantino and The Coen Brothers. Look what they did during the decade:
Quentin Tarantino Coen Brothers
1992, Reservoir Dogs 1990, Miller’s Crossing
1994, Pulp Fiction 1991, Barton Fink
1997, Jackie Brown 1996, Fargo
1998, The Big Lebowski
If you disagreed that Schindler’s List wasn’t the best film of the decade, then you probably think along with a million other critics that Pulp Fiction was the best film of the decade. If you are a Coen Brothers fan, then you probably are a cult follower of the Dude and drink White Russians as a token of homage. I know that’s when I was snookered with Jeff Bridges as an actor.
Finally, if the above reasons doesn’t convince you, here are more random films from the 1990s that I personally favor:
L.A. Confidential, Mission Impossible, Being John Malkovich, Rushmore,Contact, Sense and Sensibility, Elizabeth, Dogma, Last of the Mohicans, Dances with Wolves, Sling Blade, The Piano,
Star Trek: First Contact, and Run Lola Run.

Are you convinced now that the 1900s was the best decade in film-making history?

So what is the consensus?

I want to thank Zoe, Michael, Richard, and Cindy for participating in this third Movie Bloggers Roundtable. You have heard our thoughts, now we want to hear yours. Do you like the feature? More importantly, which decade do you think is the best and why? There are a ton of good defenses for each. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

It’s vacation week! It will be a slow week in terms of content on Keith & the Movies because I’m taking a few days off with the family. I’ve got a couple of things written up that I may post during the week, but if not I’ll be back next Monday. So have a great week. I know I will. Any time I have away with my family is a good time.

Just think of the wild assortment of movie characters that you have seen over the years. Is it any surprise to see that some of them needed a psychiatrist? That is my focus in today’s Phenomenal 5. When putting this together I was surprised at the number of movie psychiatrists that came to mind. It was truly painful to leave a couple of them off, but that is the name of the game. Obviously with so many I wouldn’t consider this the definitive list. But I gladly call each of these movie psychiatrists phenomenal.

#5 – Dr. Malcolm Crowe (“The Sixth Sense”)

Dr. Malcolm Crowe was an accomplished and honored child psychiatrist. But all of his confidence is shattered after a tragic incident involving a former patient. Months after the tragedy he reluctantly begins treating a 9-year old boy whose case is very similar to that of his former patient. The two develop an almost therapeutic relationship that is tender, compelling, but also opens things up to some real eerie suspense. Crowe is a fantastic character and a shining example of what M. Night Shyamalan is capable of. Now if only we could see that side of him again.

#4 – Dr. Leo Marvin (“What About Bob”)

One of my favorite comedies of the 1990s was “What About Bob”. Bill Murray plays a happy-go-lucky man battling all sorts of different phobias. You name it, Bob probably fears it. He is passed on to Dr. Leo Marvin, a psychiatrist who is getting a lot of praise for his work and his successful new book. The problem is he never had a patient like Bob. Bob obsesses over his new doctor to the point of secretly following Dr. Marvin as he vacations with his family. Bob just never goes away and throughout the movie we watch him drive the doctor he loves insane. Richard Dreyfuss is fantastic in the role of Dr. Marvin and his wacky chemistry with Murray is undeniable.

#3 – Dr. Sean Maguire (“Good Will Hunting”)

Knowing Robin Williams and the assortment of roles he has played over his career, you would think he would be a lot more comfortable playing the patient instead of the psychiatrist. Surprisingly though, he is absolutely brilliant as Dr. Sean Maguire in the 1997 drama “Good Will Hunting”. Williams would go on to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of the caring but aggressive therapist. Will Hunting (Matt Damon) has ran off a number of well-meaning psychiatrists, but when Dr. Sean shows he can take Will’s punishment the lines of communication begin to open up. Williams and Damon share a number of great scenes that drive the film as a whole.

#2 – Dr. Samuel Loomis (“Halloween”)

If you met Dr. Loomis on the streets of Haddonfield, Illinois you would probably think he was the insane one. That is until you saw the trail of grisly murders and terror left by psychotic killer Michael Myers. Dr. Loomis was Michael’s psychiatrist during his 15 years as a patient in Grove Sanitarium. No one knows Michael better than Loomis. When Michael escapes the hospital Loomis uses that knowledge to predict Michael will return to his home town. Boy was he right. Loomis frantically searches the small town while also trying to convince local law enforcement that they have a real problem on their hands. Donald Pleasence is a hoot and he gives Dr. Samuel Loomis a ton of character.

#1 – Dr. Hannibal Lecter (“The Silence of the Lambs”)

Of all the assignments to get as one of your first in the FBI! Agent Clarice Starling is tasked with interviewing the incarcerated Dr. Hannibal Lecter in hopes of gleaning information about a wanted serial killer named Buffalo Bill. Dr. Lecter is a former psychiatrist who had to leave his practice due to problems with cannibalism and some serial killing of his own. Dr. Lecter uses an assortment of creepy mindgames on Agent Starling while at the same time developing a very odd relationship with her. Lecter is disturbing and sometimes downright terrifying. Anthony Hopkins won the Oscar for his performance which is still unsettling and unforgettable.

So there they are. The doctors are in. Which of these psychiatrists would have made your list? Who did I miss? Please take time to share you picks in the comments section below.

It can’t only be reviews, Phenomenal 5 lists, and commentaries, right? Know Your Movies is all about having fun. Here’s how it works: I’ll share a single shot from a movie. It can be extremely serious or completely absurd. After that I’ll provide you with three hints. The rest is up to you. Hop in the comments section and share your guess as well as any thoughts or memories you have on the movie, actor/actress, or the scene itself. It should be a blast.

Today’s image is from a film that is another of my favorites of all time. So here is the shot. Three hints will follow.

Hint 1: Released in 2007

Hint 2: Most of the film was shot in Las Vegas, New Mexico

Hint 3: Nominated for 8 Oscars winning 4

Now head to the comments and share your guess. It’s a great shot that should make it obvious for some. I would also love to hear your thoughts on the film, the scene, or anything else related to it. Now feel free to guess and discuss this modern movie classic.

Could it actually be summer time already??? The spring movie season has come and gone and it could be argued that some of the year’s biggest movies have come and gone. But there are still several interesting and not-so-interesting movies on the summer horizon. So here is how this works: First I’ll talk about the summer releases that I am genuinely interested in and want to spread the word about. These are films I’ll certainly flaunt. I’m also going to pick five releases that are (from my perspective) toilet ready. These I’ll flush. It’s ‘Flaunt It or Flush It’ time again.

FLAUNT ‘EM

“Edge of Tomorrow” (June 6, 2014) – I know Tom Cruise has gained many detractors over the years but I have to say I still really like him when he has the right material. “Edge of Tomorrow” looks like it could be really good science fiction material. It involves alien invasions, a futuristic military, and the real kicker – time loops. But perhaps the cake topper is Emily Blunt who is one of my favorite actresses working today. She’s terribly underappreciated and I can’t wait to see what she brings to the film. There are calls to be cautious, but I think this could be a really good time. My fingers are crossed and my hopes are high that this will be a real treat this summer.

“The Rover” (June 12, 2014) – I’m usually excited anytime I see that Guy Pearce has a new film being released. I was even more excited when I heard his new movie “The Rover” was written and directed by David Michod, the filmmaker who gave us “Animal Kingdom”. “The Rover” is described as a futuristic western set on the outback. The trailer looks rugged and gritty and even Robert Pattinson looks intriguing. This may not be a movie that has found its way onto your radar, but this Australian dystopian crime thriller looks like it could be fantastic and Guy Pearce looks like the perfect lead. I’m onboard.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” (August 1, 2014) – When I first heard that Marvel Studios was doing a movie based on their lesser known Guardians of the Galaxy characters I really thought they were finally overstepping their bounds. I didn’t see any way that the movie could find an audience. But then I saw the trailer and I noticed the tone that writer and director James Gunn was shooting for. Now I’m completely onboard. This thing looks like a blast. A buffed up Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace, Benicio del Toro, Glen Close, John C. Reilly, Michael Rooker. A wonderful assortment of fine actors and a superhero story that goes beyond quirky. Yep, I’ll flaunt it!

“Boyhood” (July 11, 2014) – Richard Linklater has given us some of the best character studies ever put to film. He is a master of capturing relationships, emotions, and settings while soaking them with an undeniable authenticity. “Boyhood” may be his most fascinating and challenging project. It’s a story about a boy and the evolution of his relationship with his two divorced parents. Linklater started the film in 2002 when his young lead actor was 7 years old. For each of the next 12 years he brought his actors back together to film portions of this movie in order to capture the authenticity of growing up from a child into a young adult. It’s incredibly ambitious and it looks like a personal labor of love.

“Lucy” (August 8, 2014) – In many ways “Lucy” looks like the anti-superhero superhero movie. Scarlett Johansson stars as the title character, a woman forced by a drug mob to do their bidding. But when a particular drug implanted into her system goes haywire, she is endowed with superhuman abilities. The question is how will she use them? This looks like a film loaded with potential. It’s written and directed by Luc Besson which could either be a really good thing (“Leon: The Professional”) or a really bad thing (“Taken 2”). Right now I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt because the early trailer really won me over and Johansson should knock it out of the park.

FLUSH ‘EM

“22 Jump Street” (June 13, 2014) – Yes I understand that the first film in this series found a big audience. I have to admit that I don’t understand why. I tried to watch it, but by the midway point it had milked it’s one big joke dry. Now we are in for more of the same brain-dead humor only now the setting is college instead of high school. Wow, what a major turn. Channing Tatum (an actor that I’m still not impressed with) and Jonah Hill (an actor I’m even less impressed with) are back along with the obnoxious Ice Cube. I have no doubt that this movie will make a bunch of money, but for me it’s a flusher all the way and I’m avoiding it at all costs.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (August 8, 2014) – I have to admit that I thought I was having my leg pulled when I heard they were bringing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles back to the big screen. But then I saw Michael Bay’s name attached and I knew it must be true. To make matters worse, then I saw the first teaser trailer and I knew this would be a flusher. There are so many things that push me away. First off, the CGI turtles look freaky. And then you have Oscar caliber talent like Megan Fox and Johnny Knoxville. I don’t see this thing working in any regard and all of the crappy uninteresting components looks to be enough to snuff out any bit of nostalgia. This is a movie that I could completely do without.

“Think Like A Man Too” (June 20, 2014) – Tell me if you have heard this before – a group of friends head to the wild and raucous land of Las Vegas to sew some wild oats prior to an upcoming wedding. Totally original material, right? That’s what you get from “Think Like A Man Too”. It’s listed as a romantic comedy but there’s nothing in the trailer that looks either romantic or funny. To make matters even worse, the movie stars the loud and utterly obnoxious Kevin Hart, an actor whose shtick is about as entertaining as a root canal. This movie looks about as dopey and unoriginal as anything else we will see in 2014.

“Tammy” (July 2, 2014) – What pops into your mind when you hear that Melissa McCarthy has a new movie? Here’s what I think: It’s Melissa McCarthy playing a goofy and eccentric oddball with a foul mouth and an endless supply of weight gags. Much like so many others in the modern comedy genre, McCarthy has become a one-trick pony and her act does nothing for me. Long gone are her great days from “The Gilmore Girls”. I do think she has some genuine talent but she’s fallen into this lame R-rated comedy rut and “Tammy” just looks like more of the same. No thank you. I’m flushing this one without an ounce of hesitation.

“Step Up: All In” (July 25, 2014) – How on earth is this series still in existence? Has it honestly developed that big of a following? Do people genuinely care enough to warrant movie after movie? Apparently so and it boggles my mind. Yes we are getting yet another “Step Up” movie and there is nothing that makes me think this one will be any better than the others. Look, I understand that it’s all about the dancing and you can’t take the “acting” or even the story seriously, but I need more than these movies provide. I know that somewhere there are people anxiously anticipating this movie. But me, I’ll flush it and pop in a Gene Kelly film instead.