If you have never seen The Sting before, my recommendation is to see it immediately. This is such a fun, wonderful movie and it’s another example why 1973 was a great year in movies. The film is very stylish to look at and it gave me the authentic 1930s feeling although I get a feeling the art designer went a little beyond the authenticity. That being said, the production design and the costumes are excellent features of this movie. But not only is this film stylish, it also has a deep plot. Credit goes to director George Roy Hill for making this movie understandable and enjoyable for the mass audience. The movie does have a tendency to get overly complicated at times because of all the twists and turns that come out of nowhere-and to great effect. The first time I watched the movie, I fell in love with it but I was completely lost by the ending in the final showdown. My second viewing had me understand what was going on and that is all because of the excellent directing by Hill.

If you only had two words to describe the plot, the best two words to use would be “revenge con.” After all, this story is about revenge but not in the typical violent way. Revenge is got in the way of performing a big con. Anyway, Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman) and Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) are two con men who meet up due to the murder of a mutual friend. Henry is an older, more accomplished con man while Johnny is a young man, but despite his great talent, he can be rash and cocky. They get together to avenge the death of their friend, which was caused by the mob boss, Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw). Featuring a poker game, a fake wire room for horse bets, the involvement of the police, and many twists and turns, this story will take you for a fun ride.

The writing and direction are big reasons why this film was successful, but another reason was the acting. Paul Newman and Robert Redford are not actors I would normally call funny, but here they inhabit their characters with some comedy and it works out perfectly. Newman brings a veteran presence in this movie and as always, he does a magnificent job in the role as Henry. He made Henry a drunk, but a very competent and skilled con man who turns into almost a father figure for Johnny. Robert Redford is a star on the rise and this movie, which nominated him for an Academy Award, helped him achieve stardom. He was very charming here and the way he pulls of his cons make him even more charming. Robert Shaw excels at playing the villain, so its no surprise how well he does as Doyle Lonnegan. Shaw gives the mob boss an aura of menace and if you watch the poker game between Shaw and Newman, you’ll see just how effective Shaw is. Charles Durning plays the intimidating cop on everyone’s trail and does well.

The screenplay, written by David S. Ward, is one of the best screenplays I had the fortune to read. Sure his words were executed flawlessly on screen by the actors, but after all a good movie cannot exist with a bad screenplay. Ward gave his movie excellent dialogue, a fast pace, and many twists that can be complicated. That is where we come into the directing. George Roy Hill directed the 1967 classic, Butch Sundance and the Cassidy Kid (which I haven’t seen yet), but I hear how influential that movie is to modern cinema. This film needed good directing to make the story connect with the audience, and Hill does a magnificent job. This movie could have easily been a mumble jumble of a mess. The beginning scene where Redford performs a con worked beautifully thanks to Hill and the final hour where Newman and Redford had to pretend not to know each other, while taking turns to perform their beig heist on Lonnegan sounds impossible to do, but Hill did a wonderful job in making everything work.

Another part of the movie that adds to the vibrant, fun aura of the movie is the music, which was adapted by Marvin Hamslich. He makes good use of Scott Joplin’s ragtime music. His music faded from popularity by the 1930’s (the decade of this film), but his music still had the perfect kind of tone this movie had. This is another reason why I loved the movie: to listen to the great music.

I very much enjoyed The Sting. It was a very fun movie to watch from start to finish. The movie tended to get a little complicated at times, but the direction of film is why the movie did not lose me. This was superbly written and wonderfully acted. Newman and Redford looked like they were having fun and they have great chemistry together. The movie looked very stylish thanks to the art direction and costume designs. This movie gave off a fun atmosphere and that’s all I wanted. Nominated for ten Oscars and winning seven of them (including Best Picture and Director), this film is a must-see if you want an entertaining movie.

My Grade: A

1973 was a very strong year for movies. I say it’s the best year in movies produced in the modern Hollywood system up to 1973. It’s not the best year of the decade (1976 is just fabulous for excellent movies), but with the likes of American Graffiti, The Sting, and this movie, Serpico, it’s hard not to get excited about the year of film in 1973. I’ll say off the bat that Serpico is an excellent movie. I can hardly call that a surprise given the amount of talent behind the film. The story, based off real-life events, is very engaging and its brutally honest. Just like Mean Streets showed, living in New York City was not exactly all that safe. While Mean Streets covered everyday life in a New York community, this film covers the police and more specifically, police corruption. The film shows that pretty much every cop in the NYPD were corrupt to some degree whether it’s racketeering or paid murder, but one man decided to show honesty and integrity….and nearly pays with his life. This is a very powerful theme and it shows why the movie can be labeled as inspiring. It’s just one of the few things that make this movie a must-see.

This picture takes place in New York City in the late 1960’s-early 1970’s. Frank Serpico’s (Al Pacino) profession is a NYPD officer, and his motto is to become a good cop. The problem is that no one else wants to be a good cop. He refuses to extort money from the local criminals unlike his colleagues. Because of that, he is alienated from everyone else on the workforce. He is constantly put in life-threatening scenarios, and nothing seems to get done when he goes to the highest authorities. He refuses to be like everyone, despite all the danger, in hopes that one day corruption will end.

This movie relies upon some heavy acting by Al Pacino, and he certainly rose to the task. This movie also proved that Pacino was capable of becoming a powerful leading man. He impressed everyone in The Godfather, but Pacino proves he is no fluke with his incredibly powerful, believable role as Frank Serpico. I really thought Pacino was Frank every time he appeared onscreen. I love how Pacino can make himself disappear in roles so easily, and that’s why he is one of the greatest actor’s of all-time. I also loved the physical transformation Pacino takes throughout the film. He gradually grows lots of hair and a beard, and it’s a very noticeable transformation. I thought that was really cool to point out.

This film was directed by the great Sidney Lumet. He directed the 1957 classic 12 Angry Men and that movie kept him on the map. He, once again, brought his master direction techniques to this film. He was able to get the best out of Pacino and was able to give the film more of a personality. He definitely tackled the issue of police corruption very well. Police officers actually said what happened in this film was an accurate description of what really went on during the police force, and that’s still a very scary thought.

I also liked the location authenticity of the movie. This movie was filmed in actual locations of the city, and it felt like I was in 1973 New York. It’s interesting to see how these movies featuring New York in the 70’s proves how much the city changed with compared to 2016. That being said, I always love being in New York; past and present. The film was filmed in every neighborhood except for Staten Island.

Overall, I really, really liked Serpico. I would rank this film as my favorite film of 1973. I cannot think of a complaint to give the film. It feature solid, fluid direction by Sidney Lumet. The acting, led by the legendary Al Pacino, is perfect. I loved the story and the way the tricky issues were handled. It was shocking to see how bad police corruption got. So bad that they were willing to kill Frank Serpico just to keep his silence. That scene where there was a drug bust and his fellow detectives put him into the line of fire was very saddening and powerful to watch. I also liked the music, which was composed by Mikis Theodorakis. This movie is a classic and I can easily recommend it to those who love good movies. If you want to know why Al Pacino is such a big movie star, just check out Serpico.

My Grade: A+

People who know me very well know that I am a huge Martin Scorsese fan. Along with Steven Spielberg, Scorsese is probably my favorite all-time director. He made so many memorable classics that are worth watching over and over again with films like Taxi Driver and Goodfellas. However, I’m sad to report that Mean Streets is not one of those classics. At least not for me. It was a very well-received movie, but after watching it two times I couldn’t figure out why people were over the moon about the film. It’s not a bad film, but it is mostly boring. The acting is great and there are several fun scenes, but this is one of Scorsese’s lesser efforts. I can’t hold it against him because this film is his first feature project he had a say in. As a young filmmaker, this film shows he was still learning his craft. That being said, he manages to introduce the world to his style of directing and although I’m not the biggest fan of the movie, its still a solid movie debut for a first-time director.

Charlie (Harvey Keitel) feels like he does not have much of a future. He works as a small-time hood for his uncle in the mean streets of New York City’s Little Italy. His job is to collect payments and to reclaim debts. However, he doesn’t have the personality to succeed in this role because he is way too much of a nice guy. His uncle disapproves of the people he hangs around with: his lover with an epilepsy problem and a crazy friend always in debt named Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro). Johnny’s troubled soul finds near-catastrophic problems for everyone, and these problems escalate after Charlie and Johnny Boy failed to escape to Brooklyn.

One thing that really worked in this movie’s favor is the acting. I cannot be surprised because there are two actors here whom went on to have amazing careers and quite frankly, one of them is ranked among the all-time greats. Of course, I’d be talking about Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. Harvey Keitel made his character very believable and I felt like he was such a nice guy. He stuck by his friends despite constant pressure from his uncle, the leader of the local mafia. He really gave a deep, heartfelt performance that relies upon traditional values such as love and religion. De Niro, quite possibly, may delivered the best performance in the film. I loved his crazy, energetic performance. The man even started fights because that was just who he was. This performance shows what kind of future De Niro had in store for him.

Another thing I liked is the realism Scorsese tried to portray in the film. He grew up in the area so it was cool for him to make this movie on a more personal level. Growing up in Little Italy was not always fun, according to Scorsese. The movie often shows that it was not all fun and games. I liked how he attempted to add some honesty to this picture. Another thing that I liked is the soundtrack. The use of rock songs, and only rock songs was something rare in cinemas at this time. But films were increasingly taking this route of using rock music as their soundtracks. It’s common nowadays, but it was almost a revelation back in the day.

Despite some good intentions and more of an intimate picture, I personally did not feel like Mean Streets was a great movie. It has some good moments such as that entertaining bar fight scene, but I felt bored more often than not. Remember, Scorsese is one of my favorite directors but I felt underwhelmed with his first motion picture he had a say in. I liked the acting, the music, and the overall effort Scorsese put into the film. I felt I learned a little more about life in Little Italy. I understand many people love this film, but movies are subjective. It was not a great film, but it is certainly better than many other first-time directorial efforts. All we need is just a little experience and seasoning, and we will be in good shape.

My Grade: C+

Seeing the reviews for American Graffiti from the old-timers make me want to relive my childhood and teenage life all over again. There are memories created that will never die but it makes you long for those memories. Of course, I’m not an old man and my childhood culture isn’t the same culture set in this film. This is the generation of my parents and they know about this culture even better than I do, but the message is the same. It’s all about remembering the times you had when growing up. The year this film took place is 1963, and boy was everything so different when compared to today. Everyone back then listened to the radio, cruised amongst the highways looking for women to pick up, hung out at the local drive-in restaurant, and so forth. People either went to college or just found a local job and set out cruising. Gosh life was so simple back then! This film authenticity was created with the driving force of director and screenwriter’s George Luca’s attempt to show what it’s like to grow up in such a world. The film took awhile to come into fruition because studios felt scared of this film and the lackluster results of 1971’s THX 1138, but it was worth it because Lucas brought his childhood back to life and made me dream about living this kind of life. Lucas, after the instant success of this film, became a household name.

The film has a variety of characters with interconnected stories. Everyone has their own story, but each character fits into the whole scheme of things. It was a very hard task to pull off, but Lucas did a great job in getting me to care for these characters. There are the two best buddies, Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve (Ron Howard) who have gotten into a wonderful college, but on the night before they leave for school, Curt has second thoughts about college. He decides to spend his night pursuing a woman he heard about on the radio who drives a white T-Bird. Steve spends the night trying to make up with his girlfriend Laurie (Cindy Williams) after he tells her they should see other people while he is at school. Meanwhile, there are two other friends who have their own adventures. John (Paul Le Mat) is forced to drive around a little girl, Carol (Mackenize Phillips) as he seeks out a hot rod racer Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford) to race. And the nerdy Terry (Charles Martin Smith) borrows Steve’s car but gets in trouble when he picks up a girl.

I loved the casting choices Lucas made. There are no big names (for 1973), and some of these names would go on to have spectacular careers and this film gave birth to the careers of future Oscar-winners. This is Harrison Ford’s first film role as he was studying a career in carpentry at the time. Ford would later make a big name for himself in Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Richard Dreyfuss used this film to shed his identity as a child actor and he does it very well. This role may have gotten him his famed role in Jaws. Little people remember that Ron Howard used to be an actor before he became a very famous director, but this movie shows that he knew how to act. Paul Le Mat was great as guy who tries to show off how tough he is, but he cannot because he has a strong heart. I loved his character’s interactions with the 12-year-old Carol who was a very funny character herself. Maybe that is what softened his heart. But I liked how Lucas made his characters representations of his younger self. For example, the Terry character is a resemblance of Lucas his freshman year in high school where he came across as nerdy and had terrible luck with girls.

This film was made on such a cheap budget, that a musical score could not be produced. However, Lucas used his artistic license to gather a great collection of old rock’n’roll to use on the film. He used great music from the likes of the Rolling Stones and Bill Haley and the Comets. That made me appreciate the film more because of its use of music. The music also gave flavor to its authenticity because this is the kind of music people listened to back in this time period. The use of Wolfman Jack (a very famed L.A DJ) showed how much he and radio meant to the people of this era.

American Graffiti is a very good film that shows how life was like for teenagers in the early 60’s just when rock music was coming to dominate the airwaves. My dad saw this film when it was released and he says it is one of his favorite movies and it’s an accurate representation of an era that has disappeared except for everlasting memories. Thanks to a energetic soundtrack and believable characters, I was able to understand each character. That being said, sometimes it feels like this film is too experimental. I’m not all too big on experimental films, but luckily Lucas found away to turn this into a very good film. Not my favorite film with growing-of-age films, but it’s still worth a watch. Especially to see early acting from the likes of Harrison Ford and Richard Dreyfuss.

My Grade: B+