The Usual Choices
Chinatown (Roman Polanski)
The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola)
Dark Star (John Carpenter)
The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper)
But how about...
Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks)
I know that everyone prefers Blazing Saddles over this, but I just don't get it: this is better made, better plotted and better acted; the jokes are funnier; the homage to horror in this is more affectionate and respectful than the homage to westerns is in that; and, most importantly, I don't have to listen and wince to the "n" word being bandied about. And no fart jokes; just boob jokes - obviously a more sophisticated comedy styling. No, Young Frankenstein may not have made the money that Blazing Saddles did, but it is infinitely more rewatchable. And, in a comedy, that really is saying something.
...and what about...
Juggernaut (Richard Lester)
Why the hell did this die at the box office and disappear into obscurity? Okay, so it's not really action-packed, but it's about bomb-disarming, so a race against time, complete silence, cut the red or the blue wire, whoops..., y'know: suspense. And it's set on an ocean liner with a thousand hysterical passengers aboard. And it's got a great cast: Richard Harris + Omar Sharif + David Hemmings + Anthony Hopkins + Shirley Knight + Ian Holm. And director Richard Lester injects a bit of humour into the proceedings (like Hitchcock did). What more do you want? What more do you need? Talk about fussy.
...not to mention...
Murder on the Orient Express (Sidney Lumet)
I know it's Artistically incorrect of me, but I love all-star casts. Starting with Grand Hotel in 1932 and continuing right through to (as I write) 2014's The Grand Budapest Hotel, the "more stars than there are in Heaven" approach to casting is immediately impressive. While I know it can just be a celluloid version of "Where's Wally (or Waldo)" at times, when it's combined with great production values, an intriguing storyline and a strong lead performance to keep it together (and MotOE has all these virtues in spades), it can be a genuinely affecting movie experience. Maybe not Art, but definitely Fun.
...and one personal unmentionable...
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper)
I hate this film. I never found it frightening, just revolting. Just like I turn my head when I have a blood test and keep looking straight ahead when I drive past the scene of an accident, this movie makes me shut my eyes: violence & pain & suffering voyeurism is surely, surely, a ghastly pleasure. I even read somewhere that this was the granddaddy of a new film genre called Torture Porn. Now, just linger on that label for a moment... Torture...Porn. Enjoyment from watching the agony of others. Hey, maybe I am frightened after all. Of you.
My Top 10 Films of 1974
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| The new cyclist laws have brought about some fairly extreme responses from motorists. |
#02 A The Godfather Part II (Coppola)
#03 A Young Frankenstein (Brooks)
#04 A Thieves Like Us (Altman)
#05 A- The Conversation (Coppola)
#06 A- The Parallax View (Pakula)
#07 A- Murder on the Orient Express (Lumet)
#08 A- Juggernaut (Lester)
#09 A- The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (Sargent)
#10 B+ Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (Scorcese)
Overflow: More A-/B+ Films
#11 B+ Where the Lilies Bloom (Graham)
#12 B+ The Sugarland Express (Spielberg)
#13 B+ The Cars That Ate Paris (Weir)
#14 B+ Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell (Fisher)
#15 B+ The Longest Yard (Aldrich)
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> B Lenny [well done, just not engagingly so]
> B Zandy's Bride [not as bad as its rep; also not as good as its potential]
> B Conrack [teaching is not like this because kids are not like this]
> B Callan [if you love the TV show, like I do...it's okay]
> B Swallows and Amazons [old-fashioned British kids adventure story...Baden-Powell would have approved]
> B Black Christmas [a perfectly acceptable psychological slasher flick]
> B Dark Star [a fun indie cult film for unemployed space nerds]
> B- Blazing Saddles [horse-punching & campfire farting: that's it]
> B- Earthquake [watch some stars die horribly, then wish there were more]
> B- The Towering Inferno [see above]
> B- The Great Gatsby [just read the book and be done with it]
> C Herbie Rides Again [I am not a car person]
> C The Odessa File [a conspiracy thriller with no thrills]
> C The Man With the Golden Gun [bad Bond, bad]
> D Death Wish [remember: fascism is a bad thing]
> D Airport 1975 [total crap, but you knew that]
> D It's Alive [proof that not all babies look like Winston Churchill]
> E The Night Porter [repugnant S&M impersonating Art]
> E Huckleberry Finn [this musical is to Mark Twain as Harum Scarum is to Elvis]
"Ah!..Sweet Mystery of Life...": 1974 Films I Apparently Still Need to See
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Kotcheff); The Beast Must Die (Annett); California Split (Altman); Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (Clemens); Claudine (Berry); Cockfighter (Hellman); Deadly Strangers (Hayers); Deathdream / Dead of Night (Clark); The Four Musketeers (Lester); Homebodies (Yust); The Island at the Top of the World (Stevenson); Madhouse (Clark); Man on a Swing (Perry); The Marseille Contract / The Destructors (Parrish); Phantom of the Paradise (De Palma); Stardust (Apted); The Super Cops (Parks); Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (Cimino); Vampyres (Larraz); A Woman Under the Influence (Cassavetes)
Best Performances of 1974
Ellen Burstyn (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore)
John Cazale (The Godfather Part II)
Robert De Niro (The Godfather Part II)
Gene Hackman (The Conversation)
Dustin Hoffman (Lenny)
Jack Nicholson (Chinatown)
Al Pacino (The Godfather Part II)
Gena Rowlands (A Woman Under the Influence)
But how about...
Shelley Duvall in Thieves Like Us
This is Shelley's supreme little-backwoods-girl-from-Venus performance. No eyes are wider; no smile is more innocent; no demeanour is more faux-disinterested. Even her nude bath scene has no heat in it; it's just a wash. And when she is inevitably seduced by the nice gangster, you just know that this will be her first and forever true love, and that it's got disaster written all over it. Robert Altman (director) was right - Shelley is the warm-and-vertical version of Olive Oyl, and here she succeeds in giving another impossible character blood, sweat and tears. A true original actress.
...and what about...
John Huston in Chinatown
For my money, the most genuinely evil character ever portrayed on screen. What he did, what he does, and what he is prepared to do, are all rooted in the absolute corruption of his soul by absolute POWER. This is an indication of what human beings can metamorphose into if fascism, greed and immorality are allowed to fester away unchecked or unchallenged. Huston demands attention by just being; no histrionics, no physicality, just total control of one's existence, and everybody else's. The banality of evil indeed.
...not to mention...
Cloris Leachman in Young Frankenstein
"He vas...my BOYFRIEND!" I savour the absolute perfection of that line delivery every time I see this movie. Cloris just cracks me up in every single scene she is in. Even Gene Wilder knows it's pointless trying to compete with her - he plays straight man as soon as she turns up. Pair and compare this to Cloris' other great movie performance (in The Last Picture Show, natch), and be saddened by the fact that she had to resort to being a side character in the Mary Tyler Moore Show (and marvel at her brilliance in that, too). The woman's range was astounding.
...and one personal unmentionable...
Lee Strasberg in The Godfather Part II
What is it with the pathetic little cough? He never gives it a rest and it's never anything but annoying - it's not convincing; it doesn't add anything to the character; it's not a plot device (the guy gets shot, for chrissakes, so not even an oxygen mask scene)- it's just there. Emphysema? TB? A lump of carrot? Who can tell? And, as the creator of the method approach to acting, it must mean something or else why would Strasberg do it? Between bowings and scrapings to the great teacher, didn't anybody ever think to ask him? I just gotta know.
My 10 Favourite Performances of 1974
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| Bobby was as surprised as anyone when his muff spontaneously combusted. |
#02 The entire cast of Young Frankenstein
#03 Gene Hackman (The Conversation)
#04 John Huston (Chinatown)
#05 Robert De Niro (The Godfather Part II)
#06 Ellen Burstyn (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore)
#07 Shelley Duvall (Thieves Like Us)
#08 Dustin Hoffman (Lenny)
#09 Louise Fletcher (Thieves Like Us)
#10 Diane Ladd (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore)
Overflow: More List-Worthy Performances
#11 Faye Dunaway (Chinatown)
#12 Julie Gholson (Where the Lilies Bloom)
#13 Margot Kidder (Black Christmas)
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> Al Pacino in The Godfather Part II [sacrilege, I know, but I think that Al actually underplays this to the point of near-tedium]
> John Cazale in The Godfather Part II [sacrilege, I know, but I think that John actually overplays this to the point of near-tedium]
And so...onto the annual awards (with a nod of appreciation to Danny Peary)...
The Alternate Oscars for 1974 are:
FILM of the YEAR
GOLD: Chinatown (Roman Polanski)
SILVER: The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola)
BRONZE: Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks)
LEAD ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Jack Nicholson (Chinatown)
SILVER: Gene Hackman (The Conversation)
BRONZE: Dustin Hoffman (Lenny)
LEAD ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Shelley Duvall (Thieves Like Us)
SILVER: Ellen Burstyn (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore)
BRONZE: Faye Dunaway (Chinatown)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: John Huston (Chinatown)
SILVER: Robert De Niro (The Godfather Part II)
BRONZE: Robert Shaw (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Louise Fletcher (Thieves Like Us)
SILVER: Diane Ladd (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore)
BRONZE: Margot Kidder (Black Christmas)
ENSEMBLE or PARTNERSHIP: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Gene Wilder & Madeline Kahn & Peter Boyle & Cloris Leachman & Marty Feldman & Teri Garr & Gene Hackman (Young Frankenstein)
SILVER: Keith Carradine & John Schuck & Bert Remsen (Thieves Like Us)
BRONZE: Gene Hackman & Liv Ullmann (Zandy's Bride)
JUVENILE: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Alfred Lutter (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore)
SILVER: Julie Gholson (Where the Lilies Bloom)
BRONZE: Simon West & Suzanna Hamilton & Sophie Neville & Stephen Grendon (Swallows and Amazons)
The Alternate Razzies for 1974 are:
CRAP FILM of the YEAR
Huckleberry Finn (J. Lee Thompson)
CRAP MALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Lee Strasberg (The Godfather Part II)
CRAP FEMALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Ava Gardner (Earthquake)
