Raines, Cristina

Nashville

This 1975 film sits near the top of any list of the best films of the 1970s, perhaps in the top five and, in some people's minds, at the pinnacle itself. Robert Altman, at his most Altmanesque, spins together plot strands involving two dozen people over the course of one particularly busy weekend in Music City, USA. Though several of the story lines deal with country-western stars--played by Henry Gibson, Ronee Blakley and Karen Black--the plot also deals with the country scene's wannabes, the business people who pull the strings and the operative for a mysterious presidential candidate who is trying to get the de facto endorsement of some of the country stars by having them appear at a rally for him. (The unknown but rocketing presidential aspirant was eerily echoed the next year, when Jimmy Carter came out of nowhere to win the presidency.) Blakley is heartbreakingly fragile as a Loretta Lynn-like singer on the verge of total mental meltdown, while Lily Tomlin is outstanding as a housewife-gospel singer who has a dalliance with a randy folk-rock cad, perfectly played by Keith Carradine (who won an Oscar for his song "I'm Easy"). The cast also includes Jeff Goldblum, Scott Glenn, Keenan Wynn, Shelley Duvall, Geraldine Chaplin (hilarious as a fatuous British TV journalist), Barbara Harris, Michael Murphy, and Ned Beatty, with cameos by Elliott Gould and Julie Christie as themselves. Next to Mean Streets, perhaps the most influential film of the decade. --Marshall Fine

North Shore

The dialogue is laughable, and the plot is by the numbers. But if you're a surfer (or an armchair surfer), this ultra-silly movie may prove hard to resist. It's the one about the kid from Arizona (Matt Adler), who's surfed only on artificial waves in that landlocked state, coming out to spend his last free summer hitting the serious water of Hawaii. He falls in with a mystical surf guru (Gregory Harrison), one of those surf-Zen masters obsessed with the cosmic significance of hanging ten, but he's also tempted by the flashier stunts of the younger surf crowd. Oh, and the Arizona kid also gets romantic with the prettiest girl on Oahu (Nia Peeples), which precipitates trouble with her resentful native family. If the story's no winner, the surfing action is excellent, with many real-life surfers contributing their talents. For shredders, a guilty pleasure. --Robert Horton

The Duellists

First film by director Ridley Scott barely got released in this country in the mid-1970s, but stands up, despite the rather noticeable accents of its stars. That's because Brooklynite Harvey Keitel and Westerner Keith Carradine are playing a pair of officers in Napoleon's army--oops! The plot centers on Carradine insulting Keitel and Keitel demanding vengeance. But every time they get into the middle of one of their duels, war breaks out or something else happens to interrupt. Keitel, however, is too pig-headed to let it drop and dogs Carradine over the course of 20 years. Strong performances otherwise and amazing cinematography, as well as a cast that includes Albert Finney, Edward Fox, and Tom Conti. --Marshall Fine

The Sentinel

The Sentinel

Nightmares

Fans of the Tales from the Crypt series and The Twilight Zone should appreciate this early-Eighties anthology of horror tales. "Terror in Topanga" is the tale of a woman terrorized by a maniac when she just has to make a trip to the store for some cigarettes. "The Bishop of Battle" is notable for a very young Emilio Estevez as a teen whose obsession with video games gets the better of him. There's a definite nostalgia factor as he hustles other kids for money on the Paleozoic-era arcade games (listening to punk rock like Black Flag and Fear on an early-model Walkman the whole time). Perhaps the strongest segment involves B-movie stalwart Lance Henriksen as a priest who gives up the clergy and leaves his parish. While traveling across the desert, the hapless padre is pursued by a mysterious black Chevrolet pickup that systematically demolishes his car (shades of Spielberg's Duel). "Night of the Rat," rounding out the quartet, is just that; the story of a family who has a problem with a really big rat. While this little collection of tales tends to telegraph its punchlines well in advance, it still offers up a satisfying chill or two by way of its pacing and suspense, and with a bit more gore than the usual made-for-cable fare. --Jerry Renshaw

Silver Dream Racer [Region 2]

Nashville

This 1975 film sits near the top of any list of the best films of the 1970s, perhaps in the top five and, in some people's minds, at the pinnacle itself. Robert Altman, at his most Altmanesque, spins together plot strands involving two dozen people over the course of one particularly busy weekend in Music City, USA. Though several of the story lines deal with country-western stars--played by Henry Gibson, Ronee Blakley and Karen Black--the plot also deals with the country scene's wannabes, the business people who pull the strings and the operative for a mysterious presidential candidate who is trying to get the de facto endorsement of some of the country stars by having them appear at a rally for him. (The unknown but rocketing presidential aspirant was eerily echoed the next year, when Jimmy Carter came out of nowhere to win the presidency.) Blakley is heartbreakingly fragile as a Loretta Lynn-like singer on the verge of total mental meltdown, while Lily Tomlin is outstanding as a housewife-gospel singer who has a dalliance with a randy folk-rock cad, perfectly played by Keith Carradine (who won an Oscar for his song "I'm Easy"). The cast also includes Jeff Goldblum, Scott Glenn, Keenan Wynn, Shelley Duvall, Geraldine Chaplin (hilarious as a fatuous British TV journalist), Barbara Harris, Michael Murphy, and Ned Beatty, with cameos by Elliott Gould and Julie Christie as themselves. Next to Mean Streets, perhaps the most influential film of the decade. --Marshall Fine

The Duellists [Region 2]

First film by director Ridley Scott barely got released in this country in the mid-1970s, but stands up, despite the rather noticeable accents of its stars. That's because Brooklynite Harvey Keitel and Westerner Keith Carradine are playing a pair of officers in Napoleon's army--oops! The plot centers on Carradine insulting Keitel and Keitel demanding vengeance. But every time they get into the middle of one of their duels, war breaks out or something else happens to interrupt. Keitel, however, is too pig-headed to let it drop and dogs Carradine over the course of 20 years. Strong performances otherwise and amazing cinematography, as well as a cast that includes Albert Finney, Edward Fox, and Tom Conti. --Marshall Fine

The Duellists