#Oscars 1978

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

THE HEROES JOURNEY ARRIVES IN JAPANESE CINEMAS IN TRUE SUPER-SEVENTIES STYLE.

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on close-up shots to the first Japanese release movie poster for the American epic space opera film "STAR WARS" (1977), artwork by "Seito," c. 1978.

Source: www.filmonpaper.com/posters/star-wars-b2-seito-artwork-style-japan.

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

November: Oscar Winners

Death on the Nile / Angela Lansbury as Salome Otterbourne

Year: 1978

Designer: Anthony Powell

It's hard to believe Angela Lansbury didn't get an Oscar nomination for her delightfully over-the-top portrayal of the sozzled romance novelist--but at least Anthony Powell got one (and won) for her delightfully over-the-top costumes. This is the outfit in which we first meet Salome, and it really tells us all we need to know about her: she's flamboyant, eccentric, and fond of lavish detail. This is her idea of an evening dress.

[sacredwhores]

Eloy de la Iglesia - Confessions of a Congressman (1978)

[pureanonofficial]

LES MIS LETTERS IN ADAPTATION - Authority Reasserts Its Rights, LM 1.8.4 (Les Miserables 1978)

“There is no longer any Monsieur le Maire here!”

Jean Valjean made no attempt to disengage the hand which grasped the collar of his coat. He said:—

“Javert—”

Javert interrupted him: “Call me Mr. Inspector.”

“Monsieur,” said Jean Valjean, “I should like to say a word to you in private.”

“Aloud! Say it aloud!” replied Javert; “people are in the habit of talking aloud to me.”

[popclture]

Olivia Newton John & John Travolta at the Oscars (1978)

[gameraboy2]

Christmas Eve On Sesame Street (1978)

[sheerunfilteredhubris]

there are only two people that are transmasc around the french revolution and they are lady oscar françois de jarjayes and javert

[justapeperobox]

Serú Girán girlies~

[ecultured]

oscar winner (!!) jamie lee curtis behind the scenes of halloween, 1978

[rolandrockover]

Kiss - Von Phantomen Gejagt

… translates as Kiss chased by phantoms.

Personally, this title could appear a little peculiar to me, considering that the only phantom-like thing I've detected since I've been writing this blog has always been Kiss themselves, who I tend to chase after occasionally. With the small exception of this little infamous cinematic manifestation of the height of her popularity in the 1970's.

So, I've watched Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978) aka Attack of the Phantom (1979) in its entirety three times in my life, beginning with the German theatrical version in 1983. As a seven-year-old, I was of course extremely impressed to experience Kiss, those rock giants, colorful, quirky and pretty much larger than life on the big screen to the strains of their musical extravaganza. In 1992, when I was 16, I longingly got to see the American TV version for the first time on an official VHS tape. The horribly cheap vintage TV movie look and Scooby Doo score it contained, on the other hand, was much less enjoyable.

And 2024, at, ahem, 48? Well, home alone last week, I felt incredibly drawn to the German theatrical version (1). After more than 30 years the time seemed right to finally see this potentially work of art with the right eyes again, with the support of a good bottle of red wine (2). And I have to emphasize, neither of my following two decisions turned out to be a mistake.

Whereby I would like to make my first admission, because Attack of the Phantoms certainly doesn't come across like a mixture of A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Star Wars (1977), as so often unerringly commented on by Paul and Gene, but rather like a light version of Westworld (1973) and Rollercoaster (1977), with a good pinch of The Monkees (1965) and Batman (1966) thrown in. And, big surprise, compared to the latter two, it doesn't come off too badly, too.

Speaking of bad, Devereaux the designated antagonist of this flick basically spends most of his free time in his supervillain headquarters filled with towering supercomputers and costumed robots, the only true equivalent of the Batcave, from which some artifacts were most certainly taken for this fabulous set. And it is from there that he hatches sinister plans against Peter, Ace, Gene and Paul (3).

However, it's not the robots or the fancy computers that are Devereaux's secret weapon, but the drama with which he fights against the script and the rest of the motley nonsense. After the originally intended director was fired for "organizational" reasons, Anthony Zerbe must have become aware of what he got himself into and is obviously trying to play his way out of this mess with his back to the wall and full of anxious urge. What he's doing is actually quite heroic.

And what about the actual heroes, Kiss? Oh yes, they act like some kind of celestial exalted beings who, when they condescend to ordinary mortals, like to speak in riddles. They are superior to us and they simply know more than we do, but they don't want to tell us. They probably just want us to know exactly that and nothing more. But you never really know with them, because sometimes they just fool around.

Apart from that, they prefer to spend their divine existence hanging out with each other, and don't mind an occasional spontaneous scuffle with a pack of albino space werewolves, which seems to be nothing unusual for them at all, because when it turns out their hairy opponents are "only" robots, that's the real surprise for them. I guess that's what kinda makes them tick.

Since I don't see much point in recounting the complete storyline, I could now tell you about the lead actress's fiancé, who has been turned into a mental robot by Devereaux and who, as Devereaux's personal assistant, is really good at taking Kiss personality shots with the camera (and beyond that even developing the prints), but whose fine motor skills really fail when he is ordered to search a cupboard for their superpower-giving talismans (4).

Or Peter's stunt double, who can actually be seen behind the drums during the Black Diamond solo sequence, could of course also be worth mentioning, but is not really significant, because all stunt doubles are given a generous 30% screen time (5), and Gene's double, for example, doesn't even resemble him from behind. And more than enough words have certainly been said about Ace's.

And so I could go on enthusiastically for half the day, but I think I've already put enough into the balance. Of course, one could still interpret a word or two about the final scene and the mysteriously aged Devereaux, who seems defeated, but despite his failure, he also seems to be fulfilled inside and to have found inner peace, as the subsequent counter-shot suggests. Perhaps Anthony Zerbe had finally resigned himself to the fact that this film would rob him of his last chance to win an Oscar. Wouldn't that be meta?

In any case, it's a Kiss world where things are the way they are, and pretty much everything revolves around Kiss and nobody is afraid to say their band name more often than necessary, and we all have the great fortune and pleasure of living in it.

But, there is still one more thing I have to get rid of urgently. Despite all my renewed fascination for this hell of a production, I would be thrilled to see it just once with AC/DC instead of Kiss.

Side Notes:

(1) The German theatrical version differs from the American TV version in some essential ways, which should of course be deciding factors for the film fan to enjoy it to the fullest. Apart from the '78 solo album score, the optimized picture format and color saturation, the better sound, a few extra scenes that honestly escaped my attention, it's above all the flippant dubbing that stands out.

Amongst the illustrious voice actors are the unforgettable Rolf Zacher, and hardly surprising no less than three veterans from the original German Simpsons cast. Reverend Lovejoy, Lenny and Homer himself (albeit only in a tiny supporting role), all of them lent their unmistakable voices to silly Kung Fu, Horror and other Trash films for some cash in the 70s.

Unfortunately, they fight the same battle with the dialog direction as Devereaux does with the unholy script, so that the result doesn't quite come close to dubbing gold, but is still good enough for an unpolished bronze medal. Especially as Ace has been robbed of his Acks! It would be hard to imagine if Rainer Brandt (R.I.P.) had taken up this cause.

(2) I can only say that for me, movies are like a bottle of wine. I can tell the difference between a good bottle and a not-so-good bottle very well, but I occasionally drink both, albeit to different degrees. You just have to know what you're getting into. And ultimately, both lead to a certain goal.

(3) That's right, the alphabetical principle of listing the band members' names alphabetically is carried through the entire film.

(4) But it's actually the super-low swinging beam of his laser pistol that really cracks me up, because it doesn't even have enough power to keep its own beam straight. How could it ever crack the force field of the Kiss talismans?

(5) Whether for the stunts, or as their evil robot doppelganger, or simply as a substitute if someone just didn't feel like it.

Test, test. Firebreathing works.

The Famous Four.

Evil Paul.

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

SCI-FI/FANTASY TAKES JAPAN ON A JOURNEY THROUGH THE ANCIENT VIRTUES OF LOVE, FREEDOM, AND HEROISM.

PIC(S) INFO: Japanese artist Seito adapted the Style A "STAR WARS" (1977) poster for one of the country’s one sheets, creating a Jung-adjacent but wholly unique translation of Luke & Leia.

PIC #3: "STAR WARS" (1977) "Tom Jung Oscars" Original Japanese Hansai B2 movie poster, c. 1978.

Sources: www.starwarsatthemovies.com/blog/2021/3/6/the-story-of-a-boy-a-girl-and-a-universally-recognized-poster & Sci-fi Movie Posters.

[oscarupsets]

Limited choices from critics for this week. Between the 5 Best Picture nominees, one went with Midnight Express, one went with An Unmarried Woman, and I was left surprised no one went with the romantic war drama Coming Home.

I originally watched Midnight Express, mostly because An Unmarried Woman was impossible to find. Not on streaming, no reviews in the archive. Neither of my two local county library systems carried a single copy.

However, I quickly realized that was a terrible decision. Midnight Express was ridiculously boring, the pacing was all off, and the score was all late 70s synth? It didn't fit for Türkiye. The Deer Hunter seemed unmatched.

The Deer Hunter took several months to marinate before I felt like I could go back to it. First and foremost, it's 3 hours long, with much of the first hour dedicated to a wedding scene that does little to advance the plot.

If it wasn't for Christopher Walken's superb acting, I don't think I could have gotten through his scenes. His storyline was a bit too jarring for my tastes, but his acting made it tough to look away. Overall the plot and the message were wildly successful. The movie left me at a loss for words, but also with a need to examine the plot more closely.

The Deer Hunter, along with its co-nominee Midnight Express, suffer from this overdramatized xenophobia that leave a bad taste in my mouth. Both films depict gruesome scenes that were historically inaccurate, even with Midnight Express boasting it was a true story!

An Unmarried Woman wasn't really much more impressive than Midnight Express, but at least I could get through it in one sitting. It's nothing flashy. It almost feels made-for-TV movie with a larger budget, but I didn't hate it. I enjoyed the mundane everyday life of Erica, her ex-husband, and their shared teenager for those 2 hours. I'll probably never think of it again.

Pretty straight forward ceremony for the 51st Academy Awards. Only 3 films took more than one Oscar - The Deer Hunter, Coming Home, and Midnight Express. These 3 also split the Big Five.

Both films were not heavily awarded during the rest of the season, with Midnight Express, Coming Home, and Heaven Can Wait splitting almost all of the Golden Globes.

Michael Cimino won an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a DGA award for direction for The Deer Hunter. Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, and Jill Clayburgh got a bit of recognition from other groups. An Unmarried Woman also made the National Board of Review list for 1978. The Deer Hunter did not.

The Deer Hunter can be found on the major lists we've been following. As for An Unmarried Woman, you won't find it on any list, and you won't find it playing anywhere.

Unofficial Review: Is there even an upset for 1978? If so, I could not find it.

[chaptertwo-thepacnw]

1978

[fawnvelveteen]

Farrah Fawcett at the 50th Annual Academy Awards, 1978.

[disarmluna]

[rrrauschen]

François Truffaut, {1978} La chambre verte (The Green Room)