July 22, 2013

My Five Favorite Films From...1973

Honorable Mention – Bang The Drum Slowly: Wonderful baseball movie. Didn't get me as teary as Brian's Song and nothing gets me quite like the end of Field of Dreams. But DeNiro and Michael Moriarty are great.

5. Magnum Force: The second Dirty Harry film. Not as great as the original (a problem that each film in the series suffered when compared to its predecessor). But it was a solid flick, still a lot of fun to watch. Plus, you get a topless Suzanne Sommers. I first saw this movie when I was 12. It was the highlight of the movie for me.

4. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid: But you have to watch Sam Peckinpah's cut that was released in 1988. If you watch the 1973 release that was butchered by the studio, you are doing yourself a dis-service. One of the great Westerns.

3. High Plains Drifter: This was a pretty good year for Westerns. Eastwood as The Stranger and the vengeance he wreaks on Lago while "saving" them from returning outlaws makes for a hell of a film. It began Eastwood's de-construction of the Western that culminated in Unforgiven.

2. The Sting: Newman and Redford together almost guarantees an excellent film. This caper/comedy is so much fun to watch, and the final con is a thing of beauty. Robert Shaw takes the film over the top, though, as Doyle Lonnegan. Without him I don't think The Sting would work as well as it does.

1. Enter The Dragon: Bruce Lee's last film, he died less than a week before it came out. It's an epic martial arts film, with a last battle for the ages. Throw in Bolo and Han's switchable hand...awesome.

Films I Like But Didn't Make The List: American Graffiti, The Exorcist, The Day of the Jackal, Mean Streets, The Wicker Man, Sleeper.

And no jokers asking where The Devil in Miss Jones is.

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