The Godfather Part II (1974)

We watched this directly after The Godfather and I do not recommend following our lead. Not only is it a LOT of time in front of a screen, but it makes this feel like a letdown rather than the extremely good film that it is.

The most riveting portions of this movie are Vito's origin story. After he's marked for death as a young boy in his small Sicilian town, he's sent to the states on his own. He's a quick-thinker with a strong sense of justice who eventually becomes known as the guy who can help. As a juxtaposition to that rich storyline, Michael's rise (or descent?) in the "now" feels dirty rather than triumphant. I was rooting for Vito and mourning for Michael -- I basically wanted to stay in the flashbacks.

In short: it's a decent follow-up to a magnificent film.

A-

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

Four men hijack a subway car, holding its riders hostage, and demand a million dollars to release them unharmed. The overriding principle of the storytelling here seems to be "tell 'em what they need to know only when they need to know it" and this holds true for the characters too. The person we get to know best is Garber (Matthau) -- a lieutenant for the Transit Police. And, boy, I love this guy. Like, when he finds out that the Japanese businessmen he's been dismissively mocking as he's been guiding them on a tour can understand English, he just absorbs the information with a "huh" look and moves on with what needs to get done.

Not as flashy as modern-day thrillers, but that's why I like it. The action we get is appropriate and believable, the comic moments feel natural, and the danger is tangible. Though there're some gross moments with Mr. Grey, one of the hijackers, I also thought those scenes worked and made sense for his background.

A-

Airport 1975 (1974)

The star power is up a bit from the 1970 installment (Charlton Heston, Myrna Loy, Linda Blair) and so is the action, but it's still only marginally entertaining. The fact that Heston thought he could make a tucked-in yellow turtleneck work might've been the most compelling thing here.

C-

Where the Lilies Bloom (1974)

After their father dies, four kids try to fulfill his dying wish of keeping the family together. To do this, they have to keep his death a secret -- which gets more difficult with each passing day. 

Though not particularly well-made, this is a good family film. It covers the importance of hard work and family while also tackling the hard truth that even loving parents are not infallible.

C+

Black Christmas (1974)

Earlier this month, I watched the remake of this film so I thought I should see the original in hopes that it's a lot better than the new one. Good news: it is better. Bad news: not by much.

Right before Christmas break, a sorority house is receiving progressively-more-unhinged crank calls. Until one of their sisters goes missing, however, they hadn't bothered to report it. The police get involved as does the father of the missing girl, and -- all the while -- there's a killer picking off the sisters without anyone noticing.

In a word: ok.

C+

Blazing Saddles (1974)

Had to sit in the front row as I left buying tickets way too late, but it was still fun to see this in the theater, especially in the wake of Wilder’s recent passing. Doesn’t age particularly well, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still a whole lot of laughs to be had.

The one piece that doesn’t work at all is Mel Brooks’ womanizing and profoundly stupid governor -- it’s lazy and a waste of film.

C+

A Woman Under the Influence (1974)

Gena Rowlands plays a mother of three who’s clearly losing it.  Her husband’s not helping matters as he almost seems to get off on her loony instability.

It’s a loud, shrill, repetitive annoyance.

D

The Longest Yard (1974)

Yet another "ooh -- I love this movie, so my teenage son who's never seen it will probably love it too! Let's watch it!" experiments. Reasons this experiment didn't go too well: 1) I don't love it as much now as I did when I first saw it 20 years ago 2) My son will, apparently, never love it and I don't really blame him.

It's far darker and quite a bit less funny than I remember. Burt Reynolds is a washed-up football player who everyone knows fixed a big game. He's thrown in jail after stealing his girlfriend's car and making fools of the local police force by leading them on a ridiculous (and rather boring) chase. The inmates don't like him because of his ballplayer disgrace and the warden doesn't like him because he won't play ball -- literally.

Of course he redeems himself and becomes one of the guys. Of course he winds up playing ball. Unfortunately, the big game that serves as the film's finale is shot confusingly and actually looks like some cheesy '70s-era college game outtakes. What a mess.

I used to have it listed as a B+, but it's getting downgraded.

C+

Claudine (1974)

Struggling single mother of six children (ranging in age from 18 to about 6) allowing herself to be wooed by a charismatic garbage man, against her initial better judgment.

This is a pretty decent representation of just about everything it tackles -- and it tackles quite a bit: opposition from children to a parent's new love interest, America's welfare system, militancy, teen pregnancy, deadbeat fatherhood, etc. I was especially impressed with the lesson in how our government's handouts can actually stand in the way of change for the better in the lives of its recipients (and, no, I'm not opposed to welfare).

But the film's impressive range of topics is also its big weakness. It felt rather scattershot -- is this a comedy? A romance? A political screed? I never really got the whole story of any one topic and then the ending felt rushed and slapsticky.

C

The Wicker Man (1974)

Cop spends some time on a remote island investigating the reported disappearance of a young girl. The locals -- from the missing girl's mother down to the children -- go out of their way to make his job extremely difficult. It doesn't help matters that the officer is a goody-two-shoes religious man and the island is actively pagan. And, apparently, "lots of naked" is movie shorthand for pagan. The nudity might have been shocking if there were less of it -- but there was so much that it actually became rather boring.

So. If you were the cop and it was obvious to you that no one WANTS you to figure out what's going on, despite the fact that everyone is, quite obviously, in the know except for you, what would you do? Pretend as though you were satisfied and shake hands all around and leave only to return as soon as possible with loads of backup? Me too. What does this cop do? He threatens everyone and warns them that he'll be back and they'll all be sorry and blah-blah-blah. He's the investigation equivalent of the buxom idiot running up the stairs instead of out the front door when the knife wielding lunatic is chasing her.

Really unique -- but also terribly pretentious.

D+

Harry & Tonto (1974)

Widower's long-time apartment is torn down and he needs to find a new place for himself and his cat. Almost plays like someone's boring home/vacation movies - everyone's too low-key and the main character's just like every old guy with stories I've ever met. Not really worth following him around.

D+

Lenny (1974)

Extremely well acted linear look at Lenny Bruce's nowhere beginning, his ride to the comedy circuit top, and his flattening crash and death. I gotta admit…the guy ain't funny to me; but that doesn't mean that I don't sympathize with his cause. It also doesn't mean that I give a damn about his personal life. As a first-amendment crusade, the story's interesting. But the relentless focus on the seedy real-life behind his celebrity only weakens his worthy message.

C

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

You just gotta feel sorry for Albert Finney - there he is trying so hard to be a finicky and cute Poirot and audiences say, "well, I guess that's pretty good." Then in 1989, along comes David Suchet in the television Poirot series and it's quite clear to all how silly the Finney interpretation is. Ah well, poor Al.

As for the rest of this buffet of walk-ons, the intro with the clippings of the Armstrong case was mesmerizing and got my hopes up high. Way TOO high, it turns out. The remainder of the film was just plain formulaic. Since I haven't read the Christie novel, I have no idea whose fault that is: Christie’s or the filmmaker’s. Well, actually, I believe that the filmmaker is always at fault, even if the source material itself is as predictable as a Roadrunner cartoon. I mean, who forced them to FILM it?

C-