1. Chinatown Directed by Roman Polanski
Written by Robert Towne
The fool's journey as film noir.
2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail Directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones
Written by Gilliam, Jones, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, and Michael Palin
Years of inept quotation by teenage geeks with fake English accents can't smother the mad comic genius of this movie. It still makes me laugh.
3. The Conversation Written and Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
'70s cinema in a nutshell -- it's got paranoia, guilt, a lone wolf locked into an uneasy relationship with the system, and Gene Hackman.
4. Lenny Directed by Bob Fosse
Written by Julian Barry
A tragedy filled with comedy. Sometimes Dustin Hoffman's performances of Lenny Bruce's routines are funnier than the originals.
5. California Split Directed by Robert Altman
Written by Joseph Walsh
Next time someone tries to tell you that Hollywood always fucks everything up, remind them that Spielberg wanted to direct this one.
6. The Godfather Part 2 Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Written by Coppola and Mario Puzo, from Puzo's novel
A short history of America.
7. A Woman Under the Influence Written and Directed by John Cassavetes
I'd call it the decade's greatest feminist film, except it's too complex, too real, to be contained by any ideology.
8. Phantom of the Paradise Written and Directed by Brian De Palma
A gloriously cracked movie: The Phantom of the Opera meets The Picture of Dorian Gray meets Faust meets The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This is why God put Paul Williams on this earth.
9. Young Frankenstein Directed by Mel Brooks
Written by Brooks and Gene Wilder
Both a loving tribute to the Frankenstein films of the '30s and the funniest picture Mel Brooks ever made. N.B.: Some of the jokes are lifted directly from Son of Frankenstein.
10. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia Directed by Sam Peckinpah
Written by Peckinpah and Gordon Dawson, from a story by Peckinpah and Frank Kowalski