History of The Nerd Part I #14: Decade of the Nerd: The 70’s part 2

This week I continue with my argument that the 70’s gave birth to the big, fat, crying, angry baby we know as nerdom. The films of the 70’s redefined the movie industry and breathed new life into what many considered a dying art form. Yes, people were crying out the doom of the movie industry even back then, but then again they had reason to. Before the 70’s, Hollywood ran on the “studio system”, the system where demigod studio executives micromanaged everything from which stars should marry whom to which gaffer should be shot in the head and thrown down a river. The “studio system” collapsed, though, and from the ashes arose a new Hollywood that was desperate to find new blood. Between the hippy movement, the civil rights movement, and the “I want to rock out to Zepplin and get high” movement, restrictions on language, adult content, sexuality, and violence had loosened up allowing a new wave of experimental film makers to enter the scene and make their mark. These new filmmakers, nicknamed the “Movie Brats” were less concerned about entertaining an audience of mindless zombies and more concerned with fucking them up in the head. For Christ sake there was a 12 year-old girl masturbating with a cross in The Exorcist. That shit would never even make it past the ratings board today. Not only did these movies push the boundaries of human taste, endurance, and understanding, but they made (and continue to make) a butt load of money. Who were these rogues? They were and still are, the greatest directors to ever exist. Today we focus on Three legendary directors and their top movies.

Francis Ford Coppola: The Godfather (1972), The Godfather II (1974):

Francis Ford Coppola started his career making low-budget movies with “The King of the B’s”, filmmaker Roger Corman. He made a name for himself when he received an Oscar for writing the movie Patton and, spurred on by this success, he received the job to create The Godfather. Coppola nearly lost out on The Godfather, though. The original choice for director was Sergio Leone, director of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Thank God that fate was on Coppola’s side because the Godfather would go on to win three Academy Awards, Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor, Marlon Brando. It launched the careers of Al Pacino and James Caan, made over $133 million (adjusted for inflation, over $568 million) and is widely considered one of the greatest films ever made. Unfortunately, the movie made every Italian American think they have ties to the mob and forced the general public to be annoyed by assholes who do Marlon Brando impersonations.

The Godfather II changed the way sequels could be done. Not only was it a sequel it was also a prequel. Two Characters from different generations, set in different time period told a parallel story of the Corleone crime family. The Godfather II continued the story of the first movie, but also added depth and scope to the original. Not a small feat by any standard or measurement. The film doubled the previous movie’s Academy take with 6 Oscars. It won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, and Best Supporting Actor, Robert De Niro. (Nerd Fact: Francis Ford Coppola also directed The Conversation in 1974 which was also nominated for Best Picture. This was only the second time in Hollywood history that one person was nominated for two movies for Best Picture in the same year.)

Francis Ford Coppola not only left a legacy with his movies but also with mentoring another famous director, George Lucas. He even produced his first two movies: THX 1138 and American Graffiti.

George Lucas: THX 1138 (1971), American Graffiti (1973), Star Wars (1977):

If you are reading this article you already know about George Lucas. You know that he looks like a Wookie and he is either the guy who created your childhood or the guy who later raped it — or you’re like me and he’s both. He is both loved and hated in the popular geek society; but to be fair, without Lucas you would have never been a geek in the first place. He gave us more good shit than bad. His first movie, however, was bad shit;just different from his current bad shit.

THX 1138 was a movie that had a bald Robert Duvall fornicating with a bald Maggie McOmie against a white background. Then the viewer usually falls asleep or turns the DVD off. It is that exciting. The studio even asked for their money back when they finally saw the film. Needless to say it wasn’t a success.

Following the abysmal failure of THX 1138, Lucas’ friend and mentor, Francis Ford Coppola, bet Lucas that he couldn’t do a fun movie, the kind of movie that had viewers. This film would be American Graffiti. American Graffiti was a box office success making 92 times the amount of its budget and is a personal favorite of mine. This made George Lucas an instant millionaire four times over. This film launched damn near half the careers of actors in Hollywood including: Richard Dreyfuss (Close Encounters of the Third Kind), Ron Howard (Happy Days), Harrison Ford (Duh!), and Cindy Williams (Laverne & Shirly). The most important thing  the movie did was make Lucas enough money to make Star Wars. 

Star Wars… ‘nuff said.

Lucas would hang his directing hat after Star Wars and got better writers and directors for his other ideas. The Empire Strikes Back was written by Lawrence Kasdan and Leigh Brackett and was directed By Irvin Kershner. Raiders of the Lost Ark was written by Lawrence Kasdan and was directed by Steven Spielberg. If only he stuck to this winning formula for the Star Wars Prequels, maybe he wouldn’t be known as the rapist of childhood memories.

Steven Spielberg: Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977):

There will never be another director like Steven Spielberg again. He is the maker of dreams and the creator of art. The most amazing thing about Steven Spielberg is that he really seems to enjoy movies and filmmaking. Even the old bearded man of today has eyes that dance at the thought of his first love: movies. Not bad for a college drop out.

His first theatrical feature film was The Sugarland Express. Despite having a title that suggests pornography or jazz music it received critical praise. However, it had a limited release and did poorly at the box office, proving that critics do not matter.

His next movie would make Steven Spielberg a household name (even in non-Jewish ones). Jaws had a fake looking shark, was plagued with rewrites, and was nearly shut down due to delays and budget overruns. No one could have foreseen the $470 million world wide that it ended up making (adjusted for inflation 1.9 billion). Jaws was nominated for Best Picture, but lost, fittingly, to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. It did will for Best Film Editing, Best Sound, and Best Original Score. After the country literally went insane for killer fish projects, many more were thrown at Spielberg. He was asked to do King Kong and Superman, but he turned them all down to do a movie about little green men.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind was in many ways Spielberg’s passion project. Even though the movie was released in 1977, the movie was in the works for a little over three years. It was a critical and financal success making a total of $132 million domestically (adjusted for inflation, over $400 million). It was nominated for 9 Academy Awards, but only won one because the Academy is pretentious and hates movies that don’t have anything to do with Nazis. He would finally get his Oscar for Schindler’s List and another for Saving Private Ryan, both of which featured Nazis. Never let anyone tell you that Spielberg doesn’t learn from mistakes.  

Well, I only scratched the surface of great 70s directors and films. I haven’t even mentioned the works of Roman Polanski, Martin Scorsese, and Stanley Kubrick. With the creation of videogames, computer technology, and contribution to film I believe that everyone would agree with me that the 70’s was truly the decade of the nerd. And this, my friend, is an arguable fact that you can take to the bank, or your local party. Might as well bore women with something TRUE! Until next time!