mllefoo

I'd vote Star Wars simply because I detest Woody Allen, and always have. He's an irritating little gnat of a man who probably has talent, but I just can't stand to look at him, let alone watch any of his movies all the way through. I never could figure out why he was such a sex symbol in the 70s. No accounting for That 70s Taste In Sex Symbols.

Star Wars was a good film with a lot of flaws, and probably didn't deserve an oscar win, but the Academy doesn't get things right ever. If it did, Peter O'Toole would have more than an honorary oscar for lifetime achievement (their version of the booby prize).

Wannabe

The American Film Institute (AFI) 100 greatest American movies of all time, as selected by a blue-ribbon panel of leaders from across the film community.

15. STAR WARS (1977)

31. ANNIE HALL (1977)

64. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977)

I think we have a winner.

wm lopez

Saturday Night Fever

Supermallet

This is the same panel that didn't even put 2001: A Space Odyssey in the top 10. I'm really gonna trust them about which movies are better.

Hokeyboy

Well, the Academy of Motion Picture Sciences feels otherwise... but I wouldn't judge by either. Annie Hall's a better film, Star Wars is a more entertaining crowd-pleaser, and Mulholland Drive leaves them both grasping at the sack.

Rivero

I'm guessing 99.9% of the people who clicked on Star Wars share that trait.

Numanoid

What a snob.

Groucho

I wouldn't go that far, but that's the reason I asked people to specify if they hadn't seen both films. I've encountered more than a few Star Wars fans who are boycotting Annie Hall because it beat their beloved film out for Best Picture. What would be interesting if somebody came in who had seen Annie Hall but not Star Wars.

From some of the responses in this thread, it seems that there are people voting against Annie Hall not because of the film itself, but because of their personal feelings about Woody Allen. To be fair, however, I'm sure there are also some voting against Star Wars because of how they feel about George "Luca$."

jough

Annie Hall, of COURSE.

But that doesn't mean that Star Wars isn't a great movie... for what it is.

rushmore223

Just for the record, I have seen all the films on the list except Julia.

Not about sour grapes, or getting back at a movie for beating another movie, just face it, many like Star Wars better, and it isnt fair to discount those opinions just cause they don't agree with you.

Obviously alot liked Annie Hall more too, wouldnt be surprised if the ballots sent in at Oscar time back in the day looked much like our poll. It only takes one more to win, and nobody will ever know how close the actual contest came.

But get off the High Horse. If someone votes one way, dont bash it.

Groucho

Well, I think that we would just like to hear more from the Star Wars voters as to why the film was better. Other than "Woody Allen is creepy" or "I haven't seen Annie Hall."

mllefoo

I base my opinion on the type of films I like. For example, I detest most romantic comedies, and adore science fiction/fantasy.

Supermallet

But you do know that Annie Hall isn't a typical romantic comedy, right? Have you seen it?

I find it odd to avoid a movie just because it falls into a certain genre. The genre won't determine the quality. There's at least as much crap sci-fi/fantasy as there are crap romantic comedies.

Iron_Giant

To this day I cannot believe AH beat SW for best picture.

I watched the show live as a 16 year old, and I have believed that Hollywood is biased.

But, that whole generation has grown up and are now voting for the awards themselves, that is why LOTR won so many awards. Without SW, LOTR may not have won Best Picture or director.

Supermallet

I'm not going to argue that Hollywood isn't biased, but, biased towards what? Woody Allen, who never goes to awards shows and basically does whatever he wants? I doubt they'd be biased towards him. Now, they may have been biased against Star Wars, and some may have voted for Annie Hall just to take a vote away from Star Wars, but I'm willing to bet a good majority of them voted for Annie Hall because of its cinematic excellence, and not because it wasn't Star Wars.

NEUMANN

I have seen Annie Hall Several times and own the DVD,the bottom line is,i got all the jokes and they did'nt make me laugh,still a good movie with some keen insights to relationships,but is it better then Star Wars,no friggin way,i saw both of these at a theatre in 1977(i was seventeen) and annie hall was a clever but not that funny romantic comendy,star wars transported me back to a childhood i had recently lost(anyone that has been seventeen knows what i am talking about lol) when i went to star wars in 1977 i watched the movie and it was like i was 10 years old again,the outside world lost all meaning to me and i was transported to a galaxy far,far away. Now i am not a Trekkie or star wars freak and star wars has lost a little bit as time goes by,but i will never forget sitting in the theatre in may of 77 with wide eyes and a grin on my face(this by a 17 year old that knows everything lol) and being swept up in this long ago galaxy. Annie hall never had that affect on me even in later years when it would relate more to my situation in life,movies are about escapism and very few movies make you forget your troubles for 2 hours like star wars did.

I think that most people that dont think star wars is that great where born in the mid 70's or later and had seen other movies that lessened the impact of star wars when they finally saw it. but believe me in the May of 77 no other movie had ever been made or prepared me for what i was about to witness,and thats what movies are all about

wendersfan

Reading all these posts about how Annie Hall is a great movie, but Star Wars is a cultural phenomenon (irrespective of their relative filmic qualities) amuses me. I know it's hard to imagine now, but at the time, Annie Hall was something of a popular phenomenon. It was a very popular movie, Allen was as much a celebrity in 1977 as someone like Tom Cruise is now, and for a while, the "Annie Hall look" was all the rage in women's fashions. Now a film like that, with it's references to Marcel Ophuls and Marshall McCluhan, would be marginalized and only be shown in art theaters, but 27 years ago it was as mainstream as you could get.

Supermallet

Movies are escapism only as much as any other art form. If Annie Hall didn't make you forget your troubles, well, maybe it wasn't supposed to. That doesn't make it less valid as a film than Star Wars.

NEUMANN

No annie hall was not meant for you to forget about your troubles,its just that when i saw it i just thought it was a clever slightly amuseing comedy,but it didnt make me laugh while star wars amazed me,i dont know what else to tell you i just like star wars much better then annie hall,i know you might find that hard to believe but thats just the effect the two movies had on me,one i would think about for years the other i never really think about ever, when i think of great moments in the history of my movie watching the cantina scene and death star(from star wars) scene are forever etched in my memory while the lobster scene and coke scene(from annie hall) where quickly forgotten by me they where in my opinion quaint little light comedy peices,that and nothing more.

Not to say that annie hall is a bad movie,i will not say it because it would not be true,all i can tell you is i liked star wars much,much,much more than annie hall

Supermallet

No, I don't find it hard to believe, and that's a perfectly valid opinion. It just sounded like you were saying Star Wars was better than Annie Hall because it was more escapist.

jekbrown

Woody is an idiot. Star Wars all the way. I agree with SD also, ESB not winning the award is the true injustice. ESB is, to this day, the best film set in space.

j

NEUMANN

To tell you the truth my love of movies is due in a big part to escapism(to become involved in them and forget about life for a couple hours) and star wars did that better than most any of them, but it is not the real reason that i like star wars better than annie hall,simply put star wars had much more of an effect on me (thinking about it,reading the books,talking to friends about it ect...) for years and years,Annie Hall was a good movie that i really did not think about that much after seeing it and never really discussed it with people and it just never came close to having the effect that star wars had on me,so it was a no brainer for me to pick which movie i liked more,it was never even close

wendersfan

This post has caused me to re-evaluate my previous fondness for The Empire Strikes Back. I can now state with certainty that I no longer like any of the Star Wars movies.

Supermallet

I was going to respond to that post, but you did it better.

jough

I'm a huge Star Wars fan, but I have to be honest when I say I'm surprised that Star Wars was even nominated for Best Picture. It's a lot of fun, and I love it and grew up with it, but it's a schlock genre drive-in b-movie - and it was intended to be so - to be fun and insignificant like the sci-fi serials of Lucas's youth. It had a fairly big budget but made tonnes of money, was a huge popular (if not critical) success, and will likely last for decades to come.

That it became a cultural phenomenon, a huge blockbuster, and then got nominated for Best Picture - I mean, who would've seen *that* coming?

Then you have Annie Hall, a low-budget comedy (they tend not to win Oscars for Best Picture) written and directed by someone totally outside the usual Academy hot-list, starring Allen himself who would never be confused as a "leading man" and Diane Keaton (who got a lot of attention for her work in the Godfather films prior to Annie Hall) in an unlikely romance.

It's still surprising that it won - but when I look back on Oscar's past, I still think that's one that they got right.

Now, Return of the Jedi may have won Best Picture (as a cumulative award) had it been a better movie.

Star Wars is a great swashbuckling adventure - complete with sword fighting, high-speed chase scenes, and heck, the hero even gets to swing across a downed bridge while carrying the girl (an archetypal sequence in its genre). It had thrills, laughs - it's a RIDE.

I wouldn't compare Star Wars with LotR as much as I would with Pirates of the Caribbean.

How come Star Wars fans aren't up in arms that *it* didn't win Best Picture this year? It had way more in common with Star Wars than LotR did.