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Harold and Maude I saw once and liked it but it’s not something I thought about much.

ET I watched a ton as a kid and it’s hard to argue against iconic Spielberg movies.

My Summary:

Seen 7 out of 12 (8, if we include the HM).

Nothing from my list has come up yet.

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Ha! The fact that I initially read it as "boring", until I read your reply, makes it all the more funny

Well put and sums up my feelings. Also consider it mid-tier Speilberg.

eternal spotless mind : not a fan, but good to see it on the list.
rosemary baby : this was my third following the pianist and Chinatown that impressed me with Polanski talent at the time. kinda feel underwhelmed like knife in the water. maybe sometimes I need to rewatch it.
harold maude : one of the classic titles that I (still) have zero interest at.
ET : my experience kinda fragmented with this one, even when it like a compulsory title for tv holiday program. as a kid i dont remember to watch it fully but chances I have fractured memory with that little creepy one and some iconic spectacles. watch it again lately from a to z... the magic just not work and everything was off-putting, kinda. and the kids just annoying.

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Technically, "boring" has a second meaning that works, too.

And social commentary!


This is also my first one. I'm surprised I had it at #11, when I usually had it hovering around the 20s. Sometimes you can over-watch, and sometimes there's movies you haven't seen in so long it kinda disappears. I've seen "Harold and Maude" at least 5 times. Loved it every single time and never thought the age disparity was weird.


Hal Ashby is probably one of the most underrated directors in the 70s. Besides "Harold and Maude", I'd urge people to check out The Last Detail and The Landlord.

I've seen 9 films so far. And by 9, I'm not referring to having seen 9/12 films from this list. What I mean is, I've only seen 9 films in general. I have some catching up to do.

In all seriousness, loving the list so far. Hopefully, some films from my list will make it on here.

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Wholeheartedly agree. "The Last Detail", "Being There" and "Coming Home" are all must sees from Hal. But..didn't care for "Shampoo"

Nice to see E.T. on here. Picking a favorite Spielberg is no easy feat, but it may be mine. It's an ideal mix of my favorite things about his movies: wonder, whimsy, sentimentality and of course comedy with insults like penis breath. Oh, and the John Williams score is just magical.

I haven't seen Harold and Maude, but I watched E.T. sometime early last year and gave it a 9.5. I don't watch it very often since I prefer other Spielberg films, but I'm not gonna deny its great story and direction. Ever see the original audition for Elliot? Amazing. I am SO glad this kid would replace Jack Nicholson in Doctor Sleep. Great job.


E.T. was obvious, but I never would have guessed the other.

I would have put Braveheart on my top 100 list too.

E.T. was #21 on my list. I did like it more as a kid (I still fondly remember my E.T. T-shirt), but I still think it deserves to be ranked as one of the top movies, as one of the first movies to make us care about an extraterrestrial and one of the most moving film scores of all-time (John Williams, of course).

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Boldly going.

list stats:
Williams 1 - 0 Morricone

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Raul, you're not alone in your opinion of this...

I really wanted to like this movie, really I did! But I mostly hated it.

No I didn't hate it for the obvious reason. I did not object to the story idea of an 80 year old woman having a romance with a 20 year old kid, (though he looks more like 14) I actually liked the story idea, it had a lot of potential.

I liked Ruth Gordon in this, she's always a favorite of mine. I liked the look of the film too: (the way it was filmed, the on location scenes, the editing...it was all well done.) I liked the actress who played the rich kid's mom, Vivian Pickles (cool name!). I thought she brought lots of juice to her role, ha.

Even the three girls who showed up for blind dates, were well cast and each actress made the most out of their limited screen time. I liked everyone except for the drip dry Bud Cort who plays the young Harold. Crap was he boring and so annoying! Talk about no personality and zero screen presences. He played the role like a zombie, which made it hard for me to care about him at all.

I kept hoping he would wipe that vacant, dumb-ass look off his face and come out of his clam shell...but he never did.

Then I kept thinking how great this would've been if the movie had a spirited, impish actor with a dark side, say like Malcom McDowell. Malcom was a young actor at the time and had three years earlier made a film about another disfranchised, rebellious youth in the controversial movie, If....(1968)

As far as the message of the film goes, that life should be enjoyed to the fullest by being a free spirit, sure that's a great idea. But...Maude certainly disapproves that idea at the end of the film, doesn't she.

One interesting thing about this movie, it's a product of it's time and endorses the old hippy slogan 'if it feels good just do it'. Are Maude and Harold free spirits? No, they're both selfish, self centered people, who hurt people around them.

Not at all. The songs I like by him aren't even in the movie, but it makes very little difference when I hear a song I like. I can separate and not let it distract me, despite it being a part of the movie and experience. I think a movie can be just as effective without any music. I don't even notice, since I'm concentrating on the characters, including the corona of the one listening. (First pun NOT intended in my internet history).

I didn't like E.T. either, and I've seen it twice recently.



I watched this first run at the movie theater and like most people who saw it back in 1982 I really liked it. Then a few years ago I decided to re-visit this old favorite, only I found out I no longer cared for it.

So then I watched this yet again. If anything my opinion solidified that this is Spielberg's cash cow...The product placements in the film are heavy and so is the syrupy sentimentally. I like sentimentally when a movie earns it, here the overpowering score and Spielberg's close up reaction shots, tells the audience just what they should feel. I couldn't escape the duel feeling that I was being manipulated by the movie and that the film existed to sell products.

I did like the movie at times, but never bought into the story, too many plot holes. First we have intelligent aliens who can build a spaceship and travel from a nearby star system. They're apparently xenophobic because as soon as humans arrive they flee. They flee so quickly that they leave behind a crewman. If they're so scared of first contact then why land in a patch of woods right by one of the largest cities in the world? Maybe the aliens could've just shut off some of those bright lights that make their ship lite up like a Christmas tree.

So then E.T. is separated and alone, does he hide in the woods waiting to be rescued, no he heads down to a housing area where 1000s of people are. But you know E.T. has the power to levitate himself high off the ground, so why didn't the ship just hoover in the air and he could have safely floated up to it? Hmm?

Oh, the main theme of the movie is E.T. Phone Home...we hear that over and over E.T. Phone Home. E.T. Phone Home....But wait! don't the other aliens in the spaceship already know that E.T. is stuck on Earth???

The two kid actors: Henry Thomas (Elliot) & Drew Barrymore (Gertie) were good, though Elliott gave me a headache in the living room/IC unit, when he's screeching at the doctors to stop.

Dee Wallace was good in this, but she's one bad movie mom! She lets underage teens smoke in her house. She then leaves a grade school age Elliott home alone when she believes he has a fever. And at one point she even leaves little Gertie, who's about 4 years old home. I'm calling child protection services and reporting her

Harold & Maude placed at #27 on the MoFo '70s List while E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial was #37 on the MoFo '80s List and #21 on the MoFo Sci-Fi List.

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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

I'm not a Bud fan, but McDowell would be to rebellious to play this part, even though I'm a fan of his. Bud was bland, but his personality did change after meeting Maude, but I liked that he didn't become overjoyed, loud, over-expressive like most movies do to manipulate the sensibilities of the audience, taking two polar opposite approaches (ala Michael Corleone in "The Godfather", which people love to emphasize why the acting job and movie were great).



How were they selfish? Bud and Maude actually avoided hurting people (by avoiding the military). They didn't kill anyone. They didn't cheat the system. As for Maude's end, she was 80, she had enough. I'm sure people thought, "Why not stick around for Bud" but everyone has their own path, and the movie (and director) have a non-conformist view on life, but I think it's simple. It's my life, I'm the one who has to take the hits, etc., it's a very short life or long life (depending on your outlook) and each person should go their own way. It's like the euthanasia discussion. Should I have to suffer for years so I don't make others uncomfortable when they have to go to my funeral and think about all the regrets. That happens anyway, only 1% quicker, and with less pain for both sides - no one wants to see someone suffer the end of their life. It's not like she had 50 years to live.


P.S. - I also couldn't stand Elliot in the hospital. Dude, they're the doctors, and you're getting on my nerves. Definitely a cash-cow, but that's what I think of Spielberg. We had this movie (and Jaws, despite only having a few handfuls) and his movies were only good to me as a kid. I think he's the worst thing that ever happened to movies.



Very glad you mentioned all the product placements and the over-use of pop trivia. The 80s was like one big arcade. The biggest cultural decline I can think of, especially considering the greatness of the 70s film/movie/humor.

I've seen Malcom McDowell play roles that weren't rebellious, I think he would've rocked this movie. I mean what ever happened to the actor who played Bud?
Bud was a totally ass wipe to his mom. Both were self centered and didn't care to respect anyone around them, especially Bud. And then Ruth

The only ones of McDowell's I remember is "...If" and "Clockwork Orange".. I'm sure he did other roles before 1971, but sometimes one movie is so definitive that a completely different role would be unbelievable. It's like when Jimmy Stewart is in "Flight of the Phoenix - you know he's going to do the right thing, so the personal conflicts are meaningless, because you're just waiting for him to agree with the paper airplane designer.


Back to "Harold and Maude" - How would you advise them to live?