The MoFo Top 100 of the 1970s: Countdown

Rosemary's Baby is 10 times better then The Tenant, a lot more watchable. Polanski's acting is bad and the movie goes on for to long. Rosemary's Baby is an horror masterpiece in which we care more for the main character and that Ruth Gordon and her husband are way creepier then those in The Tenant.

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I do not speak english perfectly so expect some mistakes here and there in my messages

What's so cliché about SNF?

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Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019

I watched Saturday Night Fever at Cricket's urging (congrats, Cricket!) and thought it was a good film overall, but just very empty. Like Fantastic Planet, it was on the rough draft of my ballot, but ultimately got axed.

Haven't seen The Tenant.

My List:
25. Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1 point, not on the countdown)

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The character of the guy who fell of the bridge, this character from beggining to end.

The guy from the ''poorest'' part of the city finishing up in the ''richest'' part of the city.

The stereotypical italian familly is portrayed, no nuances.

In what way did you find Saturday Night Fever 'empty', Miss Vicky?

It's a sixties film, so you can still watch it.

I'll definitely have to watch The Tenant at some point. Saturday Night Fever doesn't really tickle my fancy though.

The characters didn't have much substance to them. I'm not sure if that was for lack of development or if they were intentionally made to seem soulless, but that's how they came across to me.

Damn it. Fixed.

Haven't seen The Tenant either.

Really? I thought Travolta's character was expertly crafted as a very real and relatable human being who represents kind of all of us in a way, he knows his life will never go anywhere. Everyone around him is happy to work a normal job, enjoy going out with their friends, sticking within their own neighbourhood, and are content with this all their life. But he wants something bigger, he tries to act intelligent even though he isn't, he wants to impress and become a star, but knows that realistically due to both his intelligence and the constraints that society puts on people in terms of education, class and other factors, it's unlikely he will make it. He perfectly captures a tragic character who I can't help but feel sorry for, and there are many scenes when I was close to tears for his character. The ending is beautiful and seems real to me, at least.

I agree with Miss Vicky when she says she found it empty. I liked the music quite a bit but I just couldn't relate to any of the characters and the film itself just isn't that interesting. It's not a bad film, and it deserves to be on this list for reasons already mentioned, but I'm not a fan.

The Tenant is quite decent. I like the mood of the film but Polanski's acting is weak and during the last 30 minutes or so, the film kind of becomes hilarious.

Just a little aside about the last two: Siskel & Ebert had a couple of extreme opinions-

Roger Ebert, in his review, calls The Tenant an "Embarrassment".

Saturday Night Fever was Gene Siskel's favorite movie.

Not really important; I just found it a little interesting.

I haven't seen (or in fact even heard of) The Tenant. I'm not sure it is the sort of film I would really like, but I'll try to get around to it along with everything else.

Saturday Night Fever I have seen and I think it has a lot going for it. I think the ending is odd, that's what I have against it and why it didn't make my list.

I can definitely see why cricket has Boogie Nights and Saturday Night Fever both in his top ten. They're very similar films, stylistically it's obvious, with them based at similar times (late 70s, disco era) and featuring memorable soundtracks, but also in terms of the main character who seeks stardom and find themselves become increasingly discontent at the lives they live. I still don't understand how you guys don't find it human or relatable, but everyone's different I guess

I don't think The Tenant is embarrassing, but it is definitely second tier Polanski for me, pretty forgettable, and the weakest movie he made in the decade. It feels like Polanski very self consciously and too lazily making a "Polanski movie", or at least what some segment of the critics and populace thought that was, which was fun for me at the beginning and for a rare scene here and there...then it just degenerates from winking silliness and some genre fun into tedium. I will watch Rosemary's Baby (a masterpiece) and Repulsion fifty and ten times each before I would think to pop in The Tenant again.

But, it clearly has its fans, including a voting block here on MoFo.

The Tenant was on seven ballots, two people had it in their top ten (a sixth and a tenth place vote). Saturday Night Fever was also on seven ballots, and its two top tens were a third place (from cricket) and a fourth (from mojofilter).

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Damn straight.

Although, if Isabelle Adjani wasn't in it, The Tenant mightn't have even made my list. She was so it did.

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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

I'd imagine that when the list is over I would have seen 50-60% of these. Now, I'm not so sure.

I based my list entirely on stuff that I own. Then I remembered a pile of discs I hadn't catalogued yet ...

I'll live.

I was thinking beforehand I'd have seen about 65% of films to appear, maybe even higher. Only seen 3 so far, but these bottom sections are always unpredictable.

I've seen 4 so far, which isn't particularly good, but I plan on keeping up with the list a little bit. I have Logan's Run ready to watch for instance.

I think, at the end, I will have seen a solid 60+% of the films on the list. It's always fun to have some unseen films left for the future.