Winners indicated (*). Films I still need to see include Looking for Mr. Goodbar, A Special Day, The Last Wave, House, Abigail's Party, 21 Up, The Deep, Black Sunday, The American Friend, Oh God!, The Duellists, Fun with Dick and Jane, High Anxiety, Providence, and Rolling Thunder.
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| Close Encounters of the Third Kind |
BEST PICTURE:
Annie Hall
Close Encounters of the Third Kind*
Eraserhead
New York, New York
Star Wars
BEST DIRECTOR:
Woody Allen, Annie Hall
George Lucas, Star Wars
David Lynch, Eraserhead
Martin Scorsese, New York, New York
Steven Spielberg, Close Encounters of the Third Kind*
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| The Goodbye Girl |
BEST ACTOR:
Woody Allen, Annie Hall
Robert De Niro, New York, New York
Richard Dreyfuss, The Goodbye Girl*
Fernando Rey, That Obscure Object of Desire
John Travolta, Saturday Night Fever
BEST ACTRESS:
Shelley Duvall, 3 Women
Diane Keaton, Annie Hall*
Liza Minnelli, New York, New York
Kathleen Quinlan, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Gena Rowlands, Opening Night
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| Annie Hall |
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
John Cassavetes, Opening Night
Jackie Gleason, Smokey and the Bandit
Alec Guinness, Star Wars*
Jason Robards, Julia
Clemens Scheitz, Stroszek
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Joan Blondell, Opening Night
Melinda Dillon, Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Teri Garr, Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Vanessa Redgrave, Julia*
Sissy Spacek, 3 Women
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| That Obscure Object of Desire |
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Equus
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Julia
Saturday Night Fever
That Obscure Object of Desire*
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Annie Hall*
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Goodbye Girl
The Late Show
New York, New York
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| New York, New York |
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
A Bridge Too Far
Close Encounters of the Third Kind*
Eraserhead
New York, New York
Suspiria
BEST FILM EDITING:
Annie Hall
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Eraserhead*
Sorcerer
Star Wars
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| Star Wars |
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
A Bridge Too Far
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Spy Who Loved Me
Star Wars*
Suspiria
BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
"East Bound and Down", Smokey and the Bandit
"New York, New York", New York, New York*
"Nobody Does It Better", The Spy Who Loved Me
"Stayin' Alive", Saturday Night Fever
"Tomorrow is Another Day", The Rescuers
Additional Categories
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| Suspiria |
BEST ART DIRECTION:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
New York, New York
The Spy Who Loved Me
Star Wars
Suspiria*
BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
Julia
New York, New York*
Star Wars
Suspiria
The Turning Point
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| Eraserhead |
BEST MAKEUP:
Eraserhead
Star Wars*
Suspiria
BEST SOUND (MIXING AND EDITING):
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Eraserhead
Sorcerer
Star Wars*
Suspiria
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Spy Who Loved Me
Star Wars*
Updated: 5/3/15
Alec Guinness in Star Wars, that's got to be his career defining role, nice pick.
ReplyDeleteThe original score for Star Wars has seldom been matched, I think G Lucas said at the time that John Williams' work on the film was one of the few things that exceeded his expectations.
Suspiria soundtrack is pretty damn good as well that year.
Thanks. Suspiria's score is easily my runner-up to Star Wars. They're both brilliant.
DeleteI love the Guinness win, but Duvall losing!?!?!?!
ReplyDeleteEraserhead is my winner this year. That movie was one of the first films to make me look at film as a whole in a very different light.
Duvall... for The Eagle Has Landed? I haven't seen it! Missed it because IMDb has it listed in 1976. I'll have to check it out.
DeleteGreat winner! It's my #7. :)
UGH, and I just saw that you didn't see The American Friend! I wish you had. Bruno Ganz is my undisputed winner this year in Lead Actor. Such a breathtaking, controlled, tense and marvelously layered performance.
ReplyDeleteGah, sorry about that. I'll be sure to give it a look when I get a chance. At least I can come back and update my ballot. Until I finish these years for the most part, I don't mind editing my picks. :)
DeleteLOL, no...Shelly Duvall!!!! I'm so sad she loses, although I understand the love for Keaton.
DeleteAt least Duvall wins a Fisti(?). :)
DeleteFor me, the best film of 1977 is Eraserhead which is truly one of the most fucked up films I had ever seen in my life. I still haven't recovered from that first viewing of that film.
ReplyDeleteI love that film, so no argument from me. I was close to nominating Lynch for Best Director, but I did at least give him a win for his editing work on the film.
DeleteI have to admit how happy I am that your picks aren't all Star Wars. I've always felt that Close Encounters was far superior. That's a great film.
ReplyDeleteSorry man. Know how you feel about Star Wars. I didn't mean to give it 5 awards, but I think it deserves each win. Glad you dig Close Encounters. That's on my top 100 list. Star Wars isn't.
DeleteWhat a thin year. I know Star Wars blew up and was the story of the year but perhaps it's my indifference to Sci-Fi I've never been very fond of the film, although it's certainly the best of the trio. There is actually no film from this year that I could say I love unabashedly though there are some good ones. However to me Annie Hall is not one of them, I'm variable on Woody Allen films and this is one I can't stand.
ReplyDeletePicture:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind-Winner
Julia
New York, New York
Opening Night
Star Wars
Julia's good but too fragmented and the dour tone, and in my opinion the miscasting of De Niro in the lead, of NY, NY negates its high quality production. Opening Night has great performances but is messily constructed and Star Wars while revolutionary at the time feels like nothing more than a big amusement ride with charming players. So I'm going with the imperfect but well made Close Encounters for the win.
Director:
John Badham-Saturday Night Fever
Richard Brooks-Looking for Mr. Goodbar
John Cassavetes-Opening Night
Martin Scorsese-New York, New York
Steven Spielberg-Close Encounters of the Third Kind-Winner
Spielberg's skill at moving the action along even when a suspension of belief is necessary keeps the slightly overlong Encounters involving.
Actor:
Richard Burton-Equus
Art Carney-The Late Show
Richard Dreyfuss-The Goodbye Girl-Winner
Roy Scheider-Sorcerer
John Travolta-Saturday Night Fever
Not a terribly strong year, though its good to see Burton back on his mettle, but between Close Encounters and Goodbye Girl Dreyfuss was able to best show the breath of his talent far more than any one else.
Actress:
Anne Bancroft-The Turning Point
Diane Keaton-Looking for Mr. Goodbar
Kathleen Quinlan-I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Gena Rowlands-Opening Night-Winner
Simone Signoret-Madame Rosa
If the nominations were for musical performances alone then Liza Minnelli would have made my list, in that aspect she's brilliant in NY, NY but Francine Evans is such a doormat for most of the film's running time that cut her from the list.
I find Diane Keaton charming and lovable so it's strange how much I dislike Annie Hall and her in it however the same year she was very impressive in the sad and depressing Mr. Goodbar. I enjoyed Turning Point though all the love heaped on it at the time was out of proportion with the value of the picture and while I found Shirley MacLaine shrill Anne Bancroft's performance is much better, she makes Emma's insecurities very relatable. Quinlan is very touching in Rose Garden and the broken down Signoret magnificent in Madame Rosa, she's my runner up. Opening Night may be somewhat diffuse but Gena Rowlands certainly isn't, her scene where she performs a play totally sloshed without the audience ever knowing is worth the prize alone.
So glad to see Spielberg's film - really grew on me after a couple of additional viewings last year - win, and it's awesome to see New York, New York get some recognition. I've loved Star Wars since I was a kid, so I'm biased on those films. I really like Opening Night as well. Rowlands is brilliant, and I LOVE that you also go with Dreyfuss for Best Actor. His performance isn't a popular win, but I think he's pretty great in that role. Oh, and Kathleen Quinlan's nomination might be my favorite on your ballot. She'd probably be my runner-up, actually, with Rowlands a close #3.
DeleteSupporting Actor:
ReplyDeletePeter Firth-Equus
Alec Guinness-Star Wars-Winner
Jackie Gleason-Smokey and the Bandit
James Mitchell-The Turning Point
Maximillian Schell-Julia
I really liked the way Schell created a whole character in such a short time in Julia but the only one who even came close to Guinness's work was the showboating Gleason. There is no way to play the role but at top volume but Jackie is so charismatic he never seems to go too far, still Guinness owns this category.
Supporting Actress:
Joan Blondell-Opening Night-Winner
Teri Garr-Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Vanessa Redgrave-Julia
Diana Rigg-A Little Night Music
Martha Scott-The Turning Point
The Oscar was as good as Vanessa's the moment Julia was released and I won't complain that a woman of her immense gifts has the award but I never quite understood why it was given for this picture. She does the most she can with the role but the part is more an ethereal ideal than a person. Both Garr and Scott add sharp support to their films and the Divine Dame Rigg emerges from the wreckage of Night Music along with Hermione Gingold with a clever and wise performance. But it's the great Joan Blondell, stepping in when Bette Davis bowed out at the last minute, in her last really strong part that is my choice. She's just brilliant, how she was bypassed in favor of Leslie Browne and Quinn Cummings for a nod is unfathomable.
These categories are really weak, but there are a few great performances this year. Guinness' win seems like such an obvious choice, though there's really no other. Redgrave isn't a clear winner for me, and Blondell is a fantastic choice. I wouldn't put Cummings ahead of Blondell obviously, but I don't really mind her nomination. She was fine in the film, and she really benefited from a weak year.
DeleteI saw listed in the films you haven't seen yet 21 Up. Have you seen the first two, 7 Up or 7 Plus Seven or any of the others in the series? I highly recommend the whole series. What a fascinating document they are.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any of the Up films yet, and I forgot to list the other films in their respective years. They're on my watchlist, though.
DeleteMay I suggest you look at Looking For Mr. Goodbar? :D
ReplyDeleteOriginally nomed for best supp actress, Tuesday Weld, and best cinematography ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj_m7IFOWP8
Thanks, I'll definitely check it out at some point, and I'll update this post if necessary. I just didn't get a chance to see it before I posted these. ;)
Delete