Director Sidney Lumet passed away after battling lymphoma at age 86. He made some great movies such as:

12 Angry Men (1957)

Serpico (1973)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Network (1976)

[Sidney Lumet Dies]

Great director.RIP Sidney.

He is my favorite director. I'm sad to hear he's past, but he left behind some great movies. And a great book, "Making Movies."

WOW! So sad. RIP Sidney. What wonderful films he made!

RIP. Brilliant director, great films.

I watched THE WIZ in his honor.

RIP Sidney

The early / mid-70's was a great period for American film, and Lumet made some of the best during that time.

I remember going to Westwood to see Dog Day Afternoon. Back then it was typical for a film to open in an exclusive or limited engagement, before going city wide. The reaction during the "Attica!" moment was as electric in the theatre as it was in the film.

I often think of that now because my neighbor is an artist who designed the iconic title logo with the illustration of Pacino used on the movie poster that can still be seen on the DVD cover today.


Lumet was still doing vital work in his 80's when he made the 2007 film Before The Devil Knows You're Dead.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-04-10 21:05 by loog droog.

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loog droog
The early / mid-70's was a great period for American film, and Lumet made some of the best during that time.

So true! And then came Spielberg and Lucas who basically turned the U.S. cinema into cheap entertainment for pre-teens... Jaws, Star Wars...
Movies became an excuse to sell zitty kids "merchandising"

Another aspect of Lumet's great talent is he filmed the city of New York like no other. He loved that city...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-04-10 18:46 by dcba.

Yup. Early to mid 70's cinema is now viewed as a bit of a 'Golden Age' during which more chances were taken rather than scripts written by committees and too many corporate fingers micro-managing the film's outcome due to considerations for market demographics, and, sadly, political correctness.

There is a good book, title?, Easy Riders and Raging Bulls about this period.

Lumet's book mentioned above is a good read too.

dog day afternoon one of my all time favorites

The Offence-Brutal,harrowing and brilliant.
Possibly Connery's best ever performance.

'The Offence' was excellent but even better I think was 'The Hill' also starring Connery.
'Running On Empty' was powerful too.

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dcba

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loog droog
The early / mid-70's was a great period for American film

So true! And then came Spielberg and Lucas who basically turned the U.S. cinema into cheap entertainment for pre-teens... Jaws, Star Wars...
Movies became an excuse to sell zitty kids "merchandising

EXACTLY SPOT ON!!!!!

BTW, DON'T FORGET THE "VERDICT", one of S.L.'s BEST films EVER with Paul Newmam....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-04-11 11:22 by CrissCrossMind.

On behalf of us Rod Steiger fans, I'll nominate The Pawnbroker. Once seen never forgotten.

Can't believe no one's mention The Hill - also one of Sean Connery's best ever performances and the film he made after Goldfinger to earn him greater acting credibility. There was also another Connery film in 72 - The Anderson Tapes about an improbably heist on an entire block of millionaire's flats.

..."Twelve Angry Men" one of my all-time favourites...
R.I.P. Sidney.

["I can hear the Bullfrog calling me..."]

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Thricenay
On behalf of us Rod Steiger fans, I'll nominate The Pawnbroker. Once seen never forgotten.

That a great one. I remember as a kid watching the Oscars when Dog Day Afternoon was nominated, and all they showed were the 'Attica' clips....and I felt like I was missing out on something because I was too young to see it. Years later, I finally watched it and it remains my favorite film of the 70s.

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Silver Dagger
Can't believe no one's mention The Hill - also one of Sean Connery's best ever performances and the film he made after Goldfinger to earn him greater acting credibility. There was also another Connery film in 72 - The Anderson Tapes about an improbably heist on an entire block of millionaire's flats.

Tseverin vaunted it after I went on about 'The Offence' but you're right Silver The Hill is fantastic. You can feeeeeeeel the pain as they run up n down the Hill.

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deadegad

There is a good book titled Easy Riders and Raging Bulls about this period.

Yeah it's by Peter Biskind, a very interesting critic/historian of 60's/70's U.S cinema.

OT but I think people like David Fincher try to bring back mature audiences into theaters. A film like "Zodiac" is totally deprived of the gimmicks movies made for teens are full of...
(btw "Zodiac" flopped at the box office) ><