Critics Club III: Film of the Year 1973

[Neon Ignition]

The UK enters the ECC this year which will later become the EU, bet that works out well!
We also see this list of films release for your belated judgment:


1973






What was your Film of 1973 and what are your thoughts on the year in film in general?

[Neon Ignition]

Last few hours on this one

[Atticus]

The Wicker Man is one of those films I took years to finally see. It actually came free with a newspaper and I eventually saw it. As soon as Howie's plane leaves the mainland and the song Corn Rigs kicks in and the landscape starts to change that was it, I was hooked. And unlike Howie, I'd have allowed myself to be seduced by the island and it's temptations

[QualityChimp]

Thanks for this, Supes Neon Ignition.
What a great year! This would make an amazing week of films!

Godzilla Vs. Megalon is amazing.
It's not massively regarded by most G-Fans, but it was my in.
A kid at school in the year above and I loved talking to on the bus always enthused about Vic Reeves' Big Night Out and suggested I watch the Godzilla films afterwards which followed in a "Creature Feature" season.
I started watching the film on the Saturday morning and I was hooked.
So many elements that appealed to me like models towns, model towns getting mashed up, robots, shlocky dubbing and a giant monster tag-team showdown at the end.
It's my favourite Godzilla film and probably always will be.
"JET JAGAAAAAA!"


Soylent Green has always stuck with me. Not because of the punchline, but how we get there.
I love the class divide of the poor and the wealthy and how there's almost a serfdom about it. The homes of the elite usually include concubines who are referred to as "furniture" and serve the tenants as slaves.
It's also a decent mystery, pulling us and Heston's cop character along.
I've always been interested in dystopian films, seeing how we got there to how we get out.
This is set in the far-off year of 2022!


Live and Let Die isn't my fave Bond, but is a great introduction for Moore.
Apart from the amazing title song, Moore's Bond was a suave womanising badass who looked kick-ass with his Magnum.


Westworld I'm also a big fan of. Michael Crichton has a penchant for writing about technology gone unchecked and leading to problems, usually in a theme park, but this is his first feature film (after made-for-TV "Pursuit") as director and I think he does a good job. It's almost a film of two halves, with a jovial tone in the first half, with the odd cutaway to behind-the-scenes as things start to go "worng". I had a copy of a Starburst annual and used to love looking at the posters and screenshots of all the sci-fi films.


I didn't vote for the previous Bruce Lee films, but I love Enter The Dragon, because although Lee is amazing in it, it's got so much more going on from the phenomenal Lalo Schiffrin score, to the ensemble cast of kung-fu badasses. Oh and it's ridiculously quotable.
I remember the nunchuku scene being banned for years until ITV accidentally showed the uncut version one late night.
Naturally, that was the moment my VHS decided to chew up the tape!


High Plains Drifter isn't my fave Clint Western, but he's made so many great ones, it's unfair to dismiss.
It's been a while since I've seen it and it's due a rewatch.


Don't Look Now is such an interesting film that you can look at from various angles. It's a straight-up horror if that's your thing, but it also addresses grief and loss in an interesting way too. The use of colour (especially red!) is a motif used throughout and something to look for on subsequent viewings. It's got such an oppressive vibe to it, though, with the weird psychic sisters and beautiful Venice by day becomes a claustrophobic labyrinth by night. Oh, and that ending...


Yeah, The Wicker Man is such a great experience. You just get a feeling throughout of "What the hell is going on here?! Are they all nuts?" Then the ending and, yup, they're nuts.
It's hard finding a shot that not the ending. Even the DVD cover has it, like the cover of Planet of the Apes, giving away the twist!


Finally, I chose The Exorcist, which is decent, but I actually thought the scariest bit was where the drawers move.
I think I enjoy reading about the making of the film more than watching it, although there are some interesting images throughout.

[CMcK]

Woah that’s a LOT of outstanding films for one year. I’m going to pick Don’t Look Now as my top pick though. Great casting with the leads at the top of their game. The location also adds a lot to the film being somewhat familiar as a top tourist attraction but really changes to something else at night. As QC points out it can be viewed from differing perspectives probably depending on the mood of the viewer. A real classic.

Got to mention Soylent Green though. That whole style of 70s SF is right up my street and something I wish we still had in production these days.

[wakka]

Lovely post [MENTION=10111]QualityChimp[/MENTION]. I’ve been lazy with this thread and the last.

[QualityChimp]

Lovely post [MENTION=10111]QualityChimp[/MENTION]. I’ve been lazy with this thread and the last.

Thanks, pal!
I sometimes think I should be on a film fan forum more than a games one!

Let's hear your thoughts, if you get time.

Exorcist fans, behold!

Embedded Tweet

[JazzFunk]

I got greedy. O! LUCKY MAN, GORDON'S WAR, HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER and THE WICKER MAN.

THE LAST DETAIL would've been on there, it's been one of my Top 10ers for years but I rewatched it a few months back and didn't like it as much, kind of went off it a teeny bit even though it's brill and you all should watch it once for a grand blast of vintage Jack.

1973 was a watershed year. I'd say THE EXORCIST would've probably been the most notorious and infamous movie event of that year.

They re-released it in cinemas during the Halloween period in 1998 and I remember seeing it and appreciating it loads more. Not my fave movie but very well made and incredibly powerful.