1973 Movies
OSCARS Won/Nominated
IMDB Top 250
IMDB Top 250
Charlotte's Web
Dir: Charles Nichols and Iwao Takamoto Voices: Debbie Reynolds, Paul Lynde, Henry Gibson I grew up with this movie, and even when I was a child, I knew there was something unique and special about it. We all know the story, where Wilbur the Pig is helped by a spider in his barn who writes words in her web as a way to make him famous and save him from the slaughter. The slaughter part is what makes it special. The darkness of life on the farm is palpable here and the animators don't shy away from it. With all the whimzy of talking animals comes the fear of death. I didn't think of it that bluntly back then, but it is certainly there, and it makes this one good. Plus...Paul Lynde as Templeton heading through the fairgrounds with all the food is one of my most cherished childhood memories of film. B |
Don't Look Now
Dir: Nicholas Roeg Stars: Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die This movie is gorgeously filmed and wonderfully acted...but I feel very unsatisfied. It is very Kubrickian/Polanskian/ Lynchian but it is all style with little payoff for me. This movie follows a couple who lost a daughter to a tragedy. The wife meets a seemingly-psychic blind woman who talks about said daughter, and the man begins to unravel with uncertainty and dread. But it never really made the anticipation and worry worth it. I equate this film to a wonderfully-stylistic "Blair Witch Project"...all build up and complete disappointment at the end. Champions of this film talk about how the style and mood make it this kind of brilliant masterpiece. I disagree. It just makes it pretty. C+ |
Enter the Dragon
Dir: Robert Clouse Stars: Bruce Lee 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die In these days of The Matrix, Kill Bill, and Zhang Yimou films, this film just feels incredibly cheesy to me. I know now where Balls of Fury got its source material. This feels like a third rate Bond film, and the “hi-yah” feels really silly. I can't pretend to know of the context of what this film and Bruce Lee meant to the filmgoers of 1973. But I can only comment on what it is now...and it is simply borderline ridiculous. C+ |
OSCARS
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The Exorcist
Dir: William Friedkin Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Max Von Sydow, Linda Blair, Jason Miller 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die I am not a religious man, but I can say that this is still the scariest movie I have ever seen...and the craftsmanship that comes along with providing those scares is extraordinary. Even the early scenes, when this poor girl is being poked and prodded in order to find out what is causing her outbursts, the use of subliminal imagry, score, and editing makes you so uneasy and sympathetic that when the shit hits the fan in the bedroom, your heart aches while you are terrified beyond your worst nightmares. The scares are so visceral and using a child as the scare focus has never, and I'm confident in saying will never, be topped. Regan is simultaneously one of the most frightening villains of all time and one of the most tragic victims of all time...making your emotions do uncontrollable backflips in your head. Never gets old and never gets easier. A DVD |
OSCARS
Best Original Song
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Robin Hood
Dir: Wolfgang Reitherman Voices: Peter Ustinov Again...just one of those middle-of-the-road offerings from Disney back in the day, that I grew up with, and remember most fondly through the fact that its cast of characters populated the early days of the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. It is kind of fish in a barrel by plugging random forest creatures into the famous roles of the Robin Hood legend and hit the ground running. Its pleasant and fun...but not as magical as some of the stuff Disney churned out in the decades before. B- DVD |
OSCARS
Best Actor
Best Adapted Screenplay |
Serpico
Dir: Sidney Lumet Stars: Al Pacino 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Now I understand the iconic role of Pacino's Frank Serpico. Pacino plays this 70s NYC cop who is out to whistleblow on all the corruption with an intensity and vulnerability that injects near unbearable tension and excitement into the film. Serpico is an idealist, and as a cop, wants to protect and serve with honor and honesty. You can see how disgusting he considers the bribes and corruption that all of his surrounding officers are partaking in. His moral dilemma is exquisitely powerful because to not support his fellow cops means they won't support him when crime shows its ugly face. So powerful and exciting. A |
Sleeper
Dir: Woody Allen Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die This is one of the earliest Woody Allen affairs, but it is still, by far, his most outlandish, ridiculous farce. When he got older, he focused on relationships and nihilism. Here, he is just out to skewer society by mocking its inevitable future...or at least how Allen sees it. His Miles Monroe wakes up from cryostasis from a bunch of government rebels to find a world full of Orgasmatrons, confessional robots, and severed nose worship. Some of the jokes are great fun. Some are so outrageous that they border on just dumb. Still...there is a lot of good times to be had with this one. B DVD |
Soylent Green
Dir: Richard Fleischer Stars: Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson Forget the iconic, overacted, final reveal utterances that most of us recognize from this film. It is a ridiculous tag to an otherwise wonderful science fiction fable about a dystopian world where the Greenhouse Effect and overpopulation has put a stranglehold on the human race and its ability to feed itself. The world this film gives us is scary, exciting, and totally believable. To watch Heston traipse through the city as he investigates a CEO murder gives us such wonderful little nuggets of truth that really elevate the film. When a jar of strawberry preserves is treated like one of the most precious commodities you could imagine, in a believably sad way, the dystopic story is firing on all cylinders. B+ DVD |
The Spirit of the Beehive
Dir: Victor Erice 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die It took me a bit after this film was over to really understand what it was about. I was confused because it seemed to be just a young girl, who saw the original Frankenstein movie, who has been told by her sister that the monster's spirit lives in a small farmhouse out in the wilderness. I watched the film as if that was all it was about, and I was a bit bored. It wasn't until post-film reflection that I realized it was kind of a Pan's Labyrinth film...only this little girl's horrors that she is trying to escape were not war. I realized this when I remembered how her father was filmed with ominous camera angles and she imagined her father as the monster himself. When it all came together in my brain...it was quite haunting. B |
OSCARS
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The Sting
Dir: George Roy Hill Stars: Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Eileen Brennan 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die IMDB #99 This film is not too different from George Clooney's Ocean's 11 movies. It has a big cast, a big con, and most of the movie is concerned with just looking and sounding great, with smirking, fun-loving characters But what the sting has going for it is it's stars...Paul Newman and Robert Redford as the con men and Robert Shaw as the mark. I especially liked the Norman Rockwell-esque interludes with "The Entertainer" constantly playing as the soundtrack. Fun heist movie with some of Hollywood's biggest legends. B DVD |
Westworld
Dir: Michael Crichton Stars: Yul Brenner, Richard Benjamin, James Brolin I have been knee-deep in the new HBO Westworld series and I kind of dub Peter Fonda's Futureworld. This film, whoich kicked it all off, if fine, but it is pretty rough around the edges. What it has going for it is its concept is solid, and that kitchy 70s Sci-Fi feel never gets old. That being said...Crichton is a better writer than he is a director, and the lack of ANY motivation of Yul Brenner's man in black, other than killing Richard Benjamin, makes it more JAWS like than the nuanced feel of Futureworld and the new show. Still...it's a hoot. B- |