Jimmy Carter has just taken the Oval Office. The single worst aviation disaster in history kills 583 people in the Canary Islands. Looting and disorder rock New York City during a 25-hour blackout. But it's not all bad: the first Apple II and Commodore PET computers go on sale.

It's 1977. I turn 8 years old. My obsessions are: working on my fancy cursive handwriting and learning to use the Force.

It's a high-flying year. Regular Concorde flights between London and New York begin. The space shuttle test vehicle Enterprise makes its maiden flight. Voyager 1 is launched.

The Clash, the Sex Pistols, and the Talking Heads release their first albums. Rock legends Led Zeppelin play their last U.S. concert; soccer legend Pele plays his final professional game. Bill Murray replaces Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live, which I am not allowed to watch. Fantasy Island, Three's Company, and The Love Boat debut, lowering the national IQ by 30 points; thankfully, Soap and All in the Family bring it back up. The miniseries Roots breaks all previous viewership records. The top-rated series are Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley. These are influenced by George Lucas's American Graffiti, and Lucas is about to make another tremendous cultural splash.

The average price of a movie ticket in the United States is about $2.25.

Orlando Bloom was born on January 13, Liv Tyler on July 1. Deaths are too many: Elvis Presley (August 16), Groucho Marx (August 19), Bing Crosby (October 14), Charlie Chaplin (December 25), and Howard Hawks (December 26).

I saw very few of my now-favorite movies of 1977 in theaters at the time, but home video was only a few years away ....

1) Star Wars
Director: George Lucas
Stars: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher
Gross: More than God's net worth
Why a fave?: It dominated the imagination of my childhood like no other movie.

2) Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Francois Truffaut
Gross: About the same as God's net worth
Why a fave?: The big spaceship coming over the mountain still makes me gape in awe.

3) Saturday Night Fever
Director: John Badham
Stars: John Travolta
Gross: $25.8 million
Why a fave?: It makes me feel the groove, baby.

4) Allegro non troppo
Director: Bruno Bozzetto
Stars: The lush animation
Gross: Unknown
Why a fave?: It's like Fantasia on acid, man.

5) Jabberwocky
Director: Terry Gilliam
Stars: Michael Palin
Gross: Unknown
Why a fave?: It's Monty Python meets Tolkien.

6) Annie Hall
Director: Woody Allen
Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton
Gross: $38 million
Why a fave?: It gets New York neuroses just right.

7) High Anxiety
Director: Mel Brooks
Stars: Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman
Gross: $38 million
Why a fave?: "Here's! Your! PAPER!" "That boy gets no tip."

8) Freaky Friday
Director: Gary Nelson
Stars: Barbara Harris, Jodie Foster
Gross: $26 million
Why a fave?: I did see this as a kid, and it was my favorite fantasy before Han Solo came along.

9) Damnation Alley
Director: Jack Smight
Stars: Jan-Michael Vincent, George Peppard
Gross: Unknown
Why a fave?: It tapped into my childhood nightmares about nuclear war.

10) Pete's Dragon
Director: Don Chaffey
Stars: Helen Reddy, Jim Dale, that giant psychedelic dragon
Gross: Unknown
Why a fave?: What kid doesn't dream of having her own dragon?

Did I miss the best film? Give your take, drop a comment.

And yes, I know I failed to mention Eraserhead and The Spy Who Loved Me. I've never seen either film. So there.

(1977 movie info from the IMDB and Wikipedia.)

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