It’s not subtle with its queer identity - it actually states it several times. The “hero” being totally justified in his crimes but still had to play his behind the scenes part because the child abuser said so was a heartbreaking end.
To me they are also much funnier, more gripping and satirical, and I am sure many who he attacks find them very nasty 
Exactly. TLOS is queer on its surface–subtext is suddenly allowed to be text for a hot minute. TLOS could only be made in the early 1970s–along with THE FRENCH CONNECTION, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, STRAW DOGS, THE GRISSOM GANG–all raw, nasty films.
I would add THE STING as well to your 1973 film festival. Not as raw, but a male-male love story. Interesting to compare it to Redford/Newman’s previous outing.
With credits accompanied by Bette Midler singing “FRIENDS.” Sang froid was never froid-ier.
I do not get heartbreak at the end, so much as an assertion that cynical self-preservation and advancement will carry the day in the world as it. Another very 1970s trope. (“Friends” would have been a great end credit song for HUSTLE as well).
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Agreed. I don’t think Ross, Sondheim, and Perkins were aiming for funny.
I find them equally gripping.
Definitely. In the chapter I quoted in my HUSTLE post, the author makes the point that following the rawness of a filmmaker like Aldrich, the next cohort–Ashby, Altman, Penn, etc.–addressed the same reality, but embraced parody, pastiche, and satire as a distancing technique. Johnson follows in this tradition.
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I never need an excuse to watch The Sting!
Oddly, given you mentioned it, a film I came to after falling in love with Hustle as a teenager.
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I found it heartbreaking because he’d done all that, just to be put in the position he was before just with a different overlord.
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As one would expect of a cinephile of your stature, who fell in love with HUSTLE as a teenager.
Now, I understand. Thanks for the clarification. TLOS is a tawdry little film. Such a delight.
Also, thanks for the comments. They have helped me understand what I find so attractive about the movies made during this brief window of cinematic history (DAF prominently included).
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I love TLOS and if I’m honest I don’t like KO. Sorry I just don’t. I know almost everyone here loves it, so most of the time I just be quiet about it. I don’t like Craig with his fake Texas (?) accent as the main character and the overly portrayed other characters. I want it to be more serious.
I watched TLOS for the first time in the eighties on Dutch television, recorded with my first VCR, a Video 2000, and watched it several times, most of the time in the middle of the night to get a more mysterious cruel vipe.
The strange thing is when I bought the Region 1 dvd years ago I could swear that the character played by McShane was the murderer, so sometimes your mind is playing tricks with you and it was a surprise to me that the final was completely different than I remembered. I don’t think there are more than one version with different endings, are there?
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Not quite 73’ but I would include Klute in that rich 70s tapestry. Hustle is a great movie, arguably Burt Reynolds greatest performance and Catherine Denuve is extraordinary in it.
Did a list …
The friends of Eddie Coyle
The Yakuza
The Long Goodbye
Nashville
The Beast Must Die
Day for Night
The Anderson Tapes
Klute
McCabe and Mrs Miller
Sheamus
Night Moves
Play Misty For Me
The Beguiled
The Wickerman
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Getaway
The Killer Elite
Bite the Bullett
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You and I share those two opinions. I did like GLASS ONION more–Johnson seemed to have relaxed a bit, but neither have the visceral power of TLOS, where the characters are so close to the originals. There is no pastiche to diffuse the recognition.
As Mama Rose says: “Sing out, Louise!” No reason to hold back. Our community allows for all opinions, even dissenting ones regarding DAF (we are that welcoming).
Not that I am aware of.
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Great lists @Stbernard and @raylan.givens Thank you.
I had forgotten about THE ANDERSON TAPES (as so many do), and love it–Martin Balsam included. I often cite Lumet’s EQUUS and THE WIZ as two endpoints of 1970s cinema.
Going to Europe, I would add: Leone’s film DUCK, YOU SUCKER!; Antonioni’s THE PASSENGER; Fellini’s FELLINI’S CASANOVA, and Visconti’s DEATH IN VENICE and LUDWIG.
For Peckinpah: BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA.
For Eastwood: THE GAUNTLET–one of his best in my opinion.
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Add MARATHON MAN to the mix. It’s one of the fascinating thrillers of that era and Goldman’s novel is excellent in its own way.
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Forgot to mention Thunderbolt and Lightfoot for Eastwood
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The Yakuza
I love Sydney Pollack´s work, and this one (hadn’t seen it in ages) is wonderful, too: a reflection on duty and responsibility, using the clash of Western and Japanese culture as a framework for a very personal story of entwined history, deeply rooted in tragedy, lost opportunities and betrayal.
These days it would be a simple Liam Neeson/Jason Statham revenge actioner. Back then it was so much more gripping to really have the characters feel the sum of their regrets and the hope for redemption. Dave Grusin´s melancholic score supplies a lot of subtext and mood, Robert Mitchum is fantastic, and Pollack´s grip on the material once again is in evidence: every scene builds on the former, raising the stakes right to the very end.
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The Yakuza is one of my absolute favorite movies. I’ve owned it on a WB made-to-order DVD for years. And the novelization is really quite extraordinary as well. It is written by Leonard Schrader, brother of co-screenwriter Paul Schrader (plus Robert Towne). Schrader lived in Japan for years, so his knowledge of geography and customs is very authentic and really adds breadth to the story.
Between this and the excellent Jeremiah Johnson, I wish Pollack had done more intelligent action-oriented movies.
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You are not alone in that desire. I would add the THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR also holds up.
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Yes, absolutely. A glaring omission on my part. Thanks for the reminder!
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CONDOR is IMO an absolute masterpiece.
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Colossus: The Forbin Project
A computer expert builds a super computer for the US government in order to take over the decisions to be made for defense purposes because the human element is too unsafe and lacking in sensible and reasonable thinking.
But the first mistake they make is underestimate the Russian government which also has built a similar computer.
The second is to make both computers absolutely self-sufficient and unstoppable by sabotage. Soon, “Colossus” (the US computer) demands direct communication with “Guardian” (the Russian computer). And when this is deemed too dangerous and the connection is broken up, “Colossus” applies pressure and demands the connection - otherwise a nuclear missile is fired towards Russia. Which “Guardian” immediately answers by firing a nuclear missile, too.
From now on, a cat and mouse game escalates, with the US computer expert Forbin trying to outwit “Colossus” and “Guardian”. But the artificial intelligence is not only smarter but also efficiently ruthless…
This 1970 movie is a sci fi classic - yet, 55 years later we’re at the brink of a complete rehaul of societal life by AI, and those in charge still think they are smart by allowing and even excitedly implementing AI in every aspect of our lives.
The way “Colossus” ends is such a dire warning - and by the way an absolutely courageous ending which would never be allowed today - that one wonders why people still think everything will come up roses.
“We can coexist in peace but only my terms”, states Colossus. And this is not even a hostile or evil idea for the AI, it is the logical conclusion.
But hey, “Colossus”, “WarGames”, “Terminator”, “Battlestar Galactica” - these are all just kiddie movies, right? Could never happen here.
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