The Usual Choices
American Graffiti (George Lucas)
Badlands (Terence Malick)
The Exorcist (William Friedkin)
Mean Streets (Martin Scorsese)
The Sting (George Roy Hill)
But how about...
Paper Moon (Peter Bogdanovich)
What's not to like? Father & daughter con artists in Great Depression era dustbowl America. Totally endearing, very funny, a little bit of sadness, a little bit of swearing, some violence, great old cars, Jack Benny on the radio, an inevitably corrupt sheriff, bootleg whiskey. Heartwarming but never cloying, Tatum is cute, Ryan is not as smart as she is, and Madeline is the support act who threatens to steal the film. Not Great Art for sure (thank you Jesus), but a chunk of Americana which you can watch again and again with complete pleasure.
...and what about...
The Friends of Eddie Coyle (Peter Yates)
Not a real fan of kitchen sink / warts 'n' all realism in films (that's the job of a documentary), the appearance of Bob Mitchum in this lifts it up to the level of "Crime & Relationships" drama. With a face like a longserving bootscraper, Bob goes about his petty dealings, bemoaning how the underworld has changed (y'know...the rise of punks; the rise of drugs; no respect; no loyalty; gettin' so a guy can't make a dishonest buck...etc). We have no attachment to the man until we go home with him and meet his wife. A story of a small man who is out of his time.
...not to mention...
The Day of the Jackal (Fred Zinnemann)
A study of sheer ruthlessness and professionalism, TDotJ takes its time in telling the "A Job in the Life of a Political Assassin" story. Showing us the assassin's many chores (spray-painting a car in a forest; target practice on watermelons; being hetero or homo when necessary; makeup & forgery; dispassionate killing) brings us closer to a level of interest in the character without actually becoming attached. We never wish him success; we don't even want him to escape his comeuppance. But we do want to see him do some more of his stuff. Suspenseful...naturally, but also surprisingly fascinating.
...and one personal unmentionable...
Jonathan Livingstone Seagull (Hall Bartlett)
The Quest for Meaning, as enacted by scavenging birds. Watch Jonathan the Gull reject materialism and conformity; be mortified by his banishment from the flock; be uplifted as he transcends into a higher order of seagulls and learns that the secret of life is to be "True to Yourself"; melt in wonderment as Jonathan discovers compassion, respect and forgiveness, leading to the ultimate lesson: Love is the path to Freedom.
Never in all of filmdom has there been a more ridiculous load of goody-goody guano dumped onto a self-help-seeking public. And they wonder why Jonestown happened. This gets my vote as the stupidest movie ever made.
P.S. Neil Diamond does the soundtrack. Do yourself a favour: turn the sound off and beakread.
My Top 10 Films of 1973
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| "I want a Happy Meal. Now." |
#02 A Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (Peckinpah)
#03 A Mean Streets (Scorsese)
#04 A- The Day of the Jackal (Zinnemann)
#05 A- The Long Goodbye (Altman)
#06 A- Don't Look Now (Roeg)
#08 A- The Exorcist (Friedkin)
#09 A- Scarecrow (Schatzberg)
#10 A- Bang the Drum Slowly (Hancock)
Overflow: More A-/B+ Films
#11 A- Charley Varrick (Siegel)
#12 A- The Three Musketeers (Lester)
#13 B+ Harry in Your Pocket (Geller)
#14 B+ Theatre of Blood (Hickox)
#15 B+ Badlands (Malick)
#16 B+ The Sting (Hill)
#17 B+ The Optimists of Nine Elms aka The Optimists (Simmons)
#18 B+ Sisters (De Palma)
#19 B+ Nothing But the Night (Sasdy)
#20 B+ Sleeper (Allen)
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> B The Last Detail [just too Jack]
> B The Way We Were [very soft-romantic; very non-bloke]
> B Papillon [not harrowing enough and Steve McQueen should always have teeth]
> B American Graffiti [my high school years were nothing like this; neither were my father's]
> B The Seven-Ups [great car-chase, fellas]
> B The Paper Chase [aka The John Houseman Show]
> B- Baxter! [occasionally-moving story about a teenager with lousy parents, a speech impediment and a breakdown]
> B- The Last of Sheila [one of those all-star-cast-murder-mysteries which is not as good as Agatha's]
> B- The 14 [a British Kitchen-Sinker which wholeheartedly promotes the virtues of contraception]
> B- Soylent Green [the spin-off cookbook was more plausible]
> B- A Delicate Balance [strangers are easy; family is hard]
> B- The Hireling [an Arty sexual repression film]
> B- The Wicker Man [a tree-hugger's horror movie]
> B- The Iceman Cometh [it's a filmed play, not a movie]
> B- Emperor of the North Pole [unusual & interesting subject but too padded out]
> C Kid Blue [peculiar Western which is anti-establishment, anti-Fascist, anti-commercialism and anti-successful]
> C The Golden Voyage of Sinbad [takes far too long to get to the good stuff]
> C Hitler: The Last Ten Days [appropriately earnest but Alec can't help slipping into parody]
> D Lost Horizon [I didn't even like it when it was songless]
> D A Touch of Class [rape jokes, anyone?]
> E Alvin Purple [Australia is so sorry]
> E Jonathan Livingstone Seagull [A Personal Unmentionable]
"Ah!..Sweet Mystery of Life...": 1973 Films I Apparently Still Need to See
Blume in Love (Mazursky); Cinderella Liberty (Rydell); The Creeping Flesh (Francis); Dillinger (Milius); England Made Me (Duffell); Enter the Dragon (Clouse); High Plains Drifter (Eastwood); Jeremy (Barron); The Last American Hero (Johnson); The Legend of Hell House (Hough); O Lucky Man! (Anderson); Oklahoma Crude (Kramer); Payday (Duke); The Pyx / The Hooker Cult Murders (Hart); Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (Cates); Vault of Horror (Ward Baker); Walking Tall (Karlson); Your Three Minutes are Up (Schwartz)
Best Performances of 1973
Linda Blair (The Exorcist)
John Houseman (The Paper Chase)
Glenda Jackson (A Touch of Class)
Jack Lemmon (Save the Tiger)
Jack Nicholson (The Last Detail)
Al Pacino (Serpico)
Barbra Streisand (The Way We Were)
But how about...
Gene Hackman in Scarecrow
I always liked Gene when he did comedy. Sure, I appreciate the angry, violent performances (The French Connection; Unforgiven) but he is such an underrated comic actor (Young Frankenstein; All Night Long). In Scarecrow, he combines both personas beautifully. Looking after #1; dreaming about a career in car-washing; wearing everything he owns to avoid theft and disease; in possession of a mercurial temper; needing nobody but wanting somebody - Gene is not a quirky character. He is a whole man, all scars, flaws and virtues.
...and what about...
Walter Pidgeon in Harry in Your Pocket
Like Robert Mitchum in The Friends of Eddie Coyle, you develop a certain affection for Walter Pidgeon in HiYP without approving of his lifestyle or ethics. A veteran cocaine-sniffing pickpocket (Wow! What would Mrs Miniver say?), Walter elicits respect by simply being dignified, artful and anti-violent, taking great pride in teaching his eager student the crafts and tricks of the trade. One of Fate's playthings, Walter inevitably becomes the sad old man that he was always going to be. Look at his eyes: a beautiful acting vignette.
...not to mention...
Sarah Miles in The Hireling & Katharine Hepburn in A Delicate Balance
1973 was a lousy year for Lead Actress performances. Four of the Oscar nominees were merely okay, and the winner (Glenda Jackson in A Touch of Class) was awful. The best lead female performance for the year was given by Tatum O'Neal in Paper Moon, but let's face it, you can get away with a lot by just being cute. My alternate award is a close call between Sarah Miles (lonely rich war widow with mental problems) and the Great Kate (control-freak matriarch who tries to stabilise a gaggle of troubled friends and family). Both highly dramatic roles and both actresses are very good; just not outstanding. I give the nod to Sarah because Kate will win at least two other alternates in her time. Sadly, there is worse to come...
...and one personal unmentionable...
Alec Guinness in Hitler: The Last Ten Days
Despite Hollywood attempts to mock, belittle and ridicule him, and attempts by European gangs to salute, resurrect and commodify him, Hitler remains the ultimate flesh'n'blood super-villain. Both human and inhuman, he was a person whose concept of morality was pure bestial. How can any actor hope to play him and appear real? Clearly a Mission: Impossible, and even the great Sir Alec falls back on cliched mannerisms, grimaces, exaggerated body language and cosmetics. While not an embarrassing performance, it is certainly uncomfortable and ill-fitting. Only Bruno Ganz in Downfall (2004) has conquered the precipice.
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| "These donut cushions do NOT work. My arse hurts like Stalingrad." |
My 10 Favourite Performances of 1973
#01 Robert Ryan (The Iceman Cometh)
#02 Gene Hackman (Scarecrow)
#03 Robert De Niro (Mean Streets)
#04 Madeline Kahn (Paper Moon)
#05 Elliott Gould (The Long Goodbye)
#06 Michael Moriarty (Bang the Drum Slowly)
#07 Robert Mitchum (The Friends of Eddie Coyle)
#08 Tatum O'Neal (Paper Moon)
#09 Raquel Welch (The Three Musketeers)
#10 Walter Pidgeon (Harry in My Pocket)
Overflow: More List-Worthy Performances
#11 Fredric March (The Iceman Cometh)
#12 Scott Jacoby (Baxter!)
#13 Peter Sellers (The Optimists of Nine Elms)
#14 Richard Jordan (The Friends of Eddie Coyle)
#15 Martin Sheen & Sissy Spacek (Badlands)
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> Linda Blair in The Exorcist [she's a kid fer chrissakes; necessary to the plot, but still ethically questionable]
> Glenda Jackson in A Touch of Class [offensive & awful]
> Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger [wants to be an everyman; isn't]
> Al Pacino in Serpico [a hippie who carries a gun...you can't have it both ways]
> Walter Matthau in Charley Varrick [just can't do Walter as a dramatic actor]
> Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were [that's one helluva nose]
And so...onto the annual awards (with a nod of appreciation to Danny Peary)...
The Alternate Oscars for 1973 are:
FILM of the YEAR
GOLD: Paper Moon (Peter Bogdanovich)
SILVER: Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (Sam Peckinpah)
BRONZE: Mean Streets (Martin Scorsese)
LEAD ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Gene Hackman (Scarecrow)
SILVER: Elliott Gould (The Long Goodbye)
BRONZE: Michael Moriarty (Bang the Drum Slowly)
LEAD ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Sarah Miles (The Hireling)
SILVER: Katharine Hepburn (A Delicate Balance)
BRONZE: Margot Kidder (Sisters)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Robert Ryan (The Iceman Cometh)
SILVER: Robert De Niro (Mean Streets)
BRONZE: Walter Pidgeon (Harry in Your Pocket)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Madeline Kahn (Paper Moon)
SILVER: Raquel Welch (The Three Musketeers)
BRONZE: Janice Rule (Kid Blue)
ENSEMBLE or PARTNERSHIP: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Martin Sheen & Sissy Spacek (Badlands)
SILVER: Donald Sutherland & Julie Christie (Don't Look Now)
BRONZE: TBA
JUVENILE: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Tatum O'Neal (Paper Moon)
SILVER: Scott Jacoby (Baxter!)
BRONZE: Linda Blair (The Exorcist)
The Alternate Razzies for 1973 are:
CRAP FILM of the YEAR
Jonathan Livingstone Seagull (Hall Bartlett)
CRAP MALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Alec Guinness (Hitler: The Last Ten Days)
CRAP FEMALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Glenda Jackson (A Touch of Class)
