1974: Movies Sorted By Tier
Submitted by jim on Tue, 10/18/2005 - 12:08
Tags:
Loved
The Four Musketeers
... While quite a bit darker than The Three Musketeers, I think I might slightly favor this movie, making it one of the few sequels that is better than the original (or at least less campy, in this case). Of course, they shot it all as one movie and then split it, so I'm not entirely sure it counts. The cast is uniformly terrific, even Charton Heston (I'm obviously not a fan of his, but I think Richelieu may be his best role). I must again plug the The Complete Musketeers on DVD. Fabulous restored widescreen presentation, fascinating "making of" special.Really Liked
Blazing Saddles
Cockfighter
... Warren Oates is terrific as a cockfighter that takes a years-long vow of silence, to be broken only if he wins the coveted "cockfighter of the year" medal. You read that right. It is hard to look past this being a rooster snuff film, but it certainly does an effective job transporting you to a seedy Old South underworld while neither glamorizing it nor condescending to it. The cockfights themselves are grimly, nauseatingly hypnotic. Oates' fiancee is us; disgusted at our own knotted feelings for this character.The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
... The first two-thirds of the movie impresses with it's ability to conjure up all kinds of backwater creepiness and death-by-inbred-maniac foreboding. The makers of the The Blair Witch Project should buy Tobe Hooper flowers for the shaky handheld work, the documentary look, the weird hanging figurines and talismen, and the well-placed human tooth. Unfortunately once the final act--and the incessant screaming--commences, this loses a bit of steam for me. I still looked on in horrified fasination, but some of the tension drained away. Still, quite a remarkable entry for 1974, and happily not really a slasher picture, even if it is a progenitor of that dreck-filled genre.Young Frankenstein
Glad I Saw
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
... Felt a bit dated, but certainly worth it for Walter Matthau, the always-fantastic Robert Shaw, and what has to be one of the top final five seconds of any movie. I wouldn't go so far as to call it "gripping" or "riveting", but I think it's mostly the datedness and perhaps the pacing that keep me from using such superlatives. There's one scene that would have truly have had me on the edge of my seat:Spoiler: Highlight to viewI might have believe the passengers on the runaway train were truly in danger, except for that woman who slept through the whole ordeal; I knew she had to wake up and say something funny when it was all over.Guilty Pleasures
- None Yet
Could Have Missed
- None Yet
Should Have Missed
- None Yet
El Sucko Grande
The Man with the Golden Gun
Unranked (Awaiting Rewatch)
Benji
Chinatown
The Conversation
Death Wish
The Godfather: Part II
The Longest Yard
Murder on the Orient Express
The Towering Inferno
Cloned From:
Have you heard the story about the tagline for "Cockfighter"? Apparently, Roger Corman was having trouble selling the picture (for obvious reasons), and there was a point where someone in his organization proposed the following tagline:
"He came into town with his cock in his hand, and what he did with it was illegal in forty-nine states."
Priceless.
:-) I did see that. It was a bit disappointing that that's the only bit of trivia on the IMDb page, as I was hoping to learn a bit more. I suppose if I took a moment to venture beyond IMDb's manicured garden I could dig stuff up...
In august, I saw Cassavetes' A Woman Under the Influence which is so far the best 1974-movie I have seen. It even tops The Godfather, Part II. Just thought I'd make you aware of this cinematic treasure... :)
I'll add it to my "to see" list, thanks!