Boy Howdy's Last Tango: Top Ten Eyeball Kicks
You're probably as tired of Ten Best lists as we are; after all, they do suck.
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"Bog Hdwdyh Last Tango: Top Ten Eyeball Kicks
You're probably as tired of Ten Best lists as we are; after all, they do suck. And the reason they suck is simply that they're forcing you to swallow somebody else's subjective verdict according to critical/ aesthetic standards that're dubious when you can make "em out at all. Like this or that young cineaste alerts us all to the minutest structural inaccuraces in Billy Jack and you gotta wonder whether he/she's copped his/her criticalese from Andrew Sarris or Pauline Kael. There are exceptions, but generally CREEM's standard for judging movies is as sheer entertainment: did it keep you awake, will you get leg cramps, would you tell your friends to go see it. The following are movies we've been telling everybody to go see all year, the listmakers" last tango — we engaged several confreres" lists in the final tally. Thanks to Ed Naha, Vince Aletti, and our staff here. — Ed.
(In Alphabetical Order)
AMERICAN GRAFFITI - Well we've said it before and we'll say it again. You can't go home anymore. So don't try. Go to the nearest theater and see this movie (if it's still showing.)
CHEERLEADERS — Just what we always wanted to know about what goes on behind Amorosa High's locker room doors.
DAY FOR NIGHT - Starring Francois Truffaut, direct by Francois Truffaut, screenplay by Francois Truffaut. And what do you think it's about? It's about making a movie and it's reviewed in this issue.
NIGHTWATCH - Starring Liz Taylor, Laurence Harvey, an abandoned house, two dead bodies, and an overdose of spine-tingling suspense.
OKLAHOMA CRUDE — Faye Dunaway as a ferocious loner who reluctantly accepts her father's (John Mills) and George C. Scott's' help to ward off the big oil company from swallowing her wildcat oil rig. A social commentary masquerading as an entertaining wellmade movie, directed by Stanley Kramer.
PAPER MOON — The epic story of a young man and his dog is replaced by the epic story of a young con man and his (perhaps) illigitimate daughter. Peter Bogdanovich has succeded in making the depression of the 1930s even funnier than the depression of the 1970s.
THEATRE OF BLOOD - Starring Vincent Price, Diana Rigg, and lists from Rosedale Park to The Lower East Side had this on their top ten. Sorry we didn't ask you too, cause then it would have been unanimous.
THE HARDER THEY COME - Starring Jimmy Cliff and the reggae music that started us talking. A good story, too, about an independent Jamaican singer whose murder rap makes him a star. With songs by Toots & The Maytals, Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker ("The Isrealites"), and others.
THE LAST OF SHEILA - Watching this movie is a lot like playing Clue. James Coburn hosts a murder mystery party for the seven suspects and his wife Sheila's murder. Some of the suspects include Raquel Welch, Dyan Cannon, Richard Benjamin, and James Mason. A real stumper.
WALKING TALL - Joe Don Baker carves his club out of a hunk of wood from his pa's logging camp and beats the shit out of everyone who doesn't understand the meaning of law and order. Walking Tall is based on. the life of Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser, who was still living to serve as "advisor" for this movie. Joe Don is our hero and also the movie's, as fine performances by the supporting cast attest. This is the real Billy Jack.
Worst Movie of the Year (Or one from "73 not to watch on television): Lady Ice
BEST PERFORMANCES Jeannie Berlin in The Heartbreak Kid; George C. Scott in Oklahoma Crude; Joan Havkett in The Last of Sheila; Jane Fonda and Delphine Seyrig in A DolTs House; Peter Boyle in Steelyard Blues; Fats Domino and Little Richard (is that cheating? - Ed.} in Let The Good Times Roll; Michelle Phillips in Dillinger; Sheree North in Charley Varrick; and Joe Don Baker in Walking Tall
Worst repeat-of the year (or do we need a version of a version?): Dillinger Most misused talent (Or just because you're in politics it doesn't mean you can act): Ex-police commissioner Nichols in Detroit 9000.
The Cleanest Dirty Movie of the Year: The Erotic Adventures of Zorro.
And The Chicken Joke of the Year award goes to Imogene Coca in Ten From Your Show of Shows and Richard Pryor in Watts tax.
