TOP 10 LISTS FOR THE 70S:

1970:

1. THE CONFORMIST (Bernardo Bertolucci)
2. PERFORMANCE (Nicolas Roeg/Donald Cammell)
3. FIVE EASY PIECES (Bob Rafelson)
4. TRASH (Paul Morrissey)
5. LA RUPTURE (Claude Chabrol)
6. CLAIRE'S KNEE (Eric Rohmer)
7. DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE (Frank Perry)
8. SERENE VELOCITY (Ernie Gehr)
9. THE INHABITANTS (Artavazd Peleshian)
10. HOSPITAL (Frederick Wiseman)

Runners-up: THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE (Sam Peckinpah), LE CIRCLE ROUGE (Jean-Pierre Melville), HUSBANDS (John Cassavetes), INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE SUSPICION (Elio Petri), THE LANDLORD (Hal Ashby),  THE SPIDER'S STRATAGEM (Bernardo Bertolucci), WHY DOES HERR R RUN AMOK? (Rainer Werner Fassbinder) 

1971

1. TWO LANE BLACKTOP (Monte Hellman)
2. MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER (Robert Altman)
3. LA REGION CENTRALE (Michael Snow)
4. KLUTE (Allan J. Pakula)
5. TWO ENGLISH GIRLS (Francois Truffaut)
6. BORN TO WIN (Ivan Passer)
7. TAKING OFF (Milos Forman)
8. THE BEGUILED (Don Siegel)
9. NOSTALGIA (Hollis Frampton)
10. YOU AND I (Larisa Shepitko)

Runners-up: BLAISE PASCAL (Roberto Rossellini), DEEP END (Jerzy Skolimowski), THE HOUSE IN THE WOODS (Maurice Pialat), HOW TASTY WAS MY LITTLE FRENCHMAN (Nelson Pereira dos Santos), THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (Peter Bogdanovich), LITTLE MURDERS (Alan Arkin), PIONEERS IN INGOLSTADT (Rainer Werner Fassbinder), PUNISHMENT PARK (Peter Watkins), REMINISCES OF A JOURNEY TO LITHUANIA (Jonas Mekas), SWEET SWEETBACK'S BADASSSS SONG (Melvin van Peebles), W.R.: MYSTERIES OF THE ORGANISM (Dusan Makavajev)

1972
1. SOLARIS (Andrei Tarkovsky)
2. AGUIRRE (Werner Herzog)
3. THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS (Bob Rafelson)
4. FAT CITY (John Huston)
5. THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE (Luis Buñuel)
6. ULZANA'S RAID (Robert Aldrich)
7. THE GODFATHER (Francis Ford Coppola)
8. ACROSS 110TH STREET (Barry Shear)
9. FELLINI ROMA (Federico Fellini)
10. OUT 1: SPECTRE (Jacques Rivette)

Runners-up: CABARET (Bob Fosse), GANJA AND HESS (Bill Gunn), IMAGES (Robert Altman), INTIMATE CONFESSIONS OF A CHINESE COURTESAN (Chu Yuan), LUDWIG, REQUIEM FOR A VIRGIN KING (Hans Jurgen Syberberg), THE PIED PIPER (Jacques Demy), PLAY AS IT LAYS (Frank Perry), UNDER THE FLAG OF THE RISING SUN (Kinji Fukasaku), WE WON'T GROW OLD TOGETHER (Maurice Pialat)

1973:

1. THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE (Jean Eustache)
2. BADLANDS (Terence Malick)
3. MEAN STREETS (Martin Scorsese)
4. DON'T LOOK NOW (Nicolas Roeg)
5. THE LONG GOODBYE (Robert Altman)
6. THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE (Victor Erice)
7. SCENES FROM UNDER CHILDHOOD (Stan Brakhage)
8. THE LAST DETAIL (Hal Ashby)
9. THE GREAT ECSTASY OF THE WOODCARVER STEINER (Werner Herzog)
10. LA GUEULE OUVERTE (Maurice Pialat)

Runners-up: ALLONSANFAN (Paolo & Vittorio Taviani), THE CRAZIES (George A. Romero)  , ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE (James William Guercio), LA GRANDE BOUFFE (Marco Ferreri), THE HARDER THEY COME (Perry Henzell), PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID (Sam Peckinpah), SERPICO (Sidney Lumet) SLEEPER (Woody Allen)

1974:
1. CELINE AND JULIE GO BOATING (Jacques Rivette)
2. FEAR EATS THE SOUL (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
3. LANCELOT DU LAC (Robert Bresson)
4. EUREKA (Ernie Gehr)
5. UNE PARTIE DE PLAISIR (Claude Chabrol)
6. ALICE IN THE CITIES (Wim Wenders)
7. THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (Tobe Hooper)
8. MES PETITS AMOUREUSES (Jean Eustache)
9. BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA (Sam Peckinpah)
10. THE TRAVELLER (Abbas Kiarostami)

Runners-up: CHINATOWN (Roman Polanski), DERSU UZALA (Akira Kurosawa), FEMALE TROUBLE (John Waters),  THE GODFATHER II (Francis Ford Coppola), KARL MAY (Hans Jurgen Syberberg), THE MYSTERY OF KASPAR HAUSER (Werner Herzog), NADA (Claude Chabrol), THE PARALLAX VIEW (Allan J. Pakula), THE PHANTOM OF LIBERTY (Luis Buñuel), RABID DOGS (Mario Bava), STAVISKY (Alain Resnais),  TEXT OF LIGHT (Stan Brakhage), THIEVES LIKE US (Robert Altman)

1975:

1. JEANNE DIELMAN (Chantal Akerman)
2. BARRY LYNDON (Stanley Kubrick)
3. WELFARE (Frederick Wiseman)
4. THE TRAVELLING PLAYERS (Theo Angelopolous)
5. NASHVILLE (Robert Altman)
6. THE STORY OF ADELE H. (François Truffaut)
7. THE PASSENGER (Michelangelo Antonioni)
8. F FOR FAKE (Orson Welles)
9. MIRROR (Andrei Tarkovsky)
10. ANATOMY OF A RELATIONSHIP (Luc Moullet/Antonietta Pizzorno)

Runners-up: DEEP RED (Dario Argento), FEAR OF FEAR (Rainer Werner Fassbinder), FOX AND HIS FRIENDS (Rainer Werner Fassbinder), THE HOLY MOUNTAIN (Alejandro Jodorowsky), INDIA SONG (Marguerite Duras), JAWS (Steven Spielberg), LOVE AND DEATH (Woody Allen), THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING (John Huston),  NIGHT MOVES (Arthur Penn), NUMERO DEUX (Jean-Luc Godard)


1976:

1. THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE (John Cassavetes)
2. TAXI DRIVER (Martin Scorsese)
3. MIKEY AND NICKY (Elaine May)
4. KINGS OF THE ROAD (Wim Wenders)
5. THE TENANT (Roman Polanski)
6. THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (Nicolas Roeg)
7. CHINESE ROULETTE (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
8. CARRIE (Brian De Palma)
9. EDVARD MUNCH (Peter Watkins)
10. DUELLE     (Jacques Rivette)

Runners-up: ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (John Carpenter), BREAKFAST (Michael Snow), THE INNOCENT (Luchino Visconti), THE MARQUISE OF O (Eric Rohmer), THE MIDDLEMAN (Satyajit Ray), MR. KLEIN (Joseph Losey), TABLE (Ernie Gehr),  TAKE THE 5:10 TO DREAMLAND (Bruce Conner), THE WEDDING SUIT (Abbas Kiarostami), YAKUZA GRAVEYARD (Kinji Fukasaku) 

1977:

1. THE DEVIL, PROBABLY (Robert Bresson)
2. OPENING NIGHT (John Cassavetes)
3. ERASERHEAD (David Lynch)
4. KILLER OF SHEEP (Charles Burnett)
5. THE AMERICAN FRIEND (Wim Wenders)
6. STROSZEK (Werner Herzog)
7. THREE WOMEN (Robert Altman)
8. ANNIE HALL (Woody Allen)
9. PADRE PADRONE (Paolo and Vittorio Taviani)
10. SUSPIRIA (Dario Argento)

Runners-up: LE CAMION (Marguerite Duras), DOG'S DIALOGUE (Raoul Ruiz), GOD TOLD ME TO (Larry Cohen), A GRIN WITHOUT A CAT (Chris Marker), THE LAST WAVE (Peter Weir), MAN OF MARBLE (Andrzej Wadja),  ONE WAY BOOGIE WOOGIE (James Benning), THE PERFUMED NIGHTMARE (Kidlat Tahimik), SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (John Badham), SORCERER (William Friedkin), VALSE TRISTE (Bruce Conner)

1978:

1. IN A YEAR OF 13 MOONS (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
2. LES RENDEZVOUS D'ANNA (Chantal Akerman)
3. HALLOWEEN (John Carpenter)
4. DAWN OF THE DEAD (George Romero)
5. ALEXANDRIA...WHY? (Youssef Chahine)
6. GATES OF HEAVEN (Errol Morris)
7. THE DRIVER (Walter Hill)
8. WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN? (Karel Reisz)
9. ANIMAL HOUSE (John Landis)
10. AMERICAN BOY (Martin Scorsese)

Runners-up: DAYS OF HEAVEN (Terrence Malick), GERMANY IN AUTUMN segment (Rainer Werner Fassbinder), INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (Philip Kaufman)

1979:
1. THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
2. STALKER (Andrei Tarkovsky)
3. REAL LIFE (Albert Brooks)
4. ALIEN (Ridley Scott)
5. OVER THE EDGE (Tim Hunter)
6. THE BROOD (David Cronenberg)
7. THE WARRIORS (Walter Hill)
8. APOCALYPSE NOW (Francis Ford Coppola)
9. VENGEANCE IS MINE (Shohei Imamura)
10. A PERFECT COUPLE (Robert Altman)
 
Runners-up: ALL THAT JAZZ (Bob Fosse), BLOODY KIDS (Stephen Frears), CAMERA BUFF (Krzysztof Kieslowksi), CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER (Joan Macklin Silver),  CHRIST STOPPED AT EBOLI (Francesco Rosi), DRILLER KILLER (Abel Ferrara), THE MEADOW (Paolo & Vittorio Taviani), MESSIDOR (Alain Tanner), SAINT JACK (Peter Bogdanovich),  THE THIRD GENERATION (Rainer Werner Fassbinder), WINTER KILLS (William Richter)