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The Movies of My Life: 1976-1977

The Movies of My Life: 1976-1977

I’ve been sharing a chronological list of the movies of my life.  Not a list of the best films of all time or anything like that, but just a list of films that somehow made the memories that make my life.

1976

The Pink Panther Strikes Again

No shock here. As I have already said, Pink Panther films are a treasure chest of memories for me and my family. Like Young Frankenstein, there were a lot of clips I could have picked for this one. I’ll try to keep myself to two:

. . .

1977

Smokey and the Bandit

Some years it’s easy to narrow things down.  Some years it’s not.  This year, for instance, has at least three contenders in my mind.  I know a great many folks, for instance, who’d go with what was undoubtedly the global impact film of this year: Star Wars.  But this list isn’t about what film was the “best” or anything like that.  No, it’s a uselessly personal statement about which film stirs my memories. I was too young to be impressed by the “phenomenon” of Star Wars.

The other runner-up in my mind is the John Denver and George Burns classic Oh God! — I think that raining-in-the-car scene really stuck with me as a kid.

The winner, though, is Smokey and the Bandit. Seriously. Add up an awesome Trans-Am, a hot Sally Fields, an awesome Burt Reynolds, a foul-mouthed Jackie Gleason (the classic Sheriff Buford T. Justice, who taught us all how to swear just a little bit more effectively), and the best stuntcar jump in film until “My Little Mule” … and you’ve got a happy mix of my childhood memories.

Okay, just one more YouTube clip for fun. This one, um, speaks for itself:

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