Wednesday, May 29, 2013

The 1973 Longlists!

All right, you late-night fans of cinema and the Silver Screening Room. Here it is: the long-awaited (?) longlists for the 1973 Retro Hollmann Awards!


And So It Ends: Best Picture, 1973

Here it is: the last of my look back at the 1973 Oscars. And, of course, I'm ending as they did, with Best Picture of the Year.

"Oh, I'm so glad. The winner is The Sting." Can you spot the winner?

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Single Ladies, Married or Not: Actress, 1973

Studies show that this category is most popular amongst my followers. Well, ok, not really studies. And not really followers (although, if you do have a favorite category, let me know!). I guess me. This category is most popular amongst me.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Road to Farewell

Three more Oscar categories to report on, then two days of Retro Hollmann Awards. And then the flashback to 1973 will be...done.

I cut myself off after 64 films, a number I finally hit today. At first, I thought, "No, go for 70," but illness robbed me of two days' viewing, then there were work obligations and parties to attend, and I didn't want to bleed into June. Oh, I know -- many busier than I have watched more films in even less time. But they're not me, nor I them, so here we are -- 64 films from 1973:

...And Now the Screaming Starts! 
Ash Wednesday
Black Caesar
Black Mama, White Mama
The Candy Snatchers
Charley Varrick
Chloe in the Afternoon (aka Love in the Afternoon and L'Amour l'apres-midi)
Cleopatra Jones 
Coffy
The Day of the Jackal
A Delicate Balance
The Devil in Miss Jones
Dillinger
A Doll's House 
Don't Look Now
Electra Glide in Blue
Enter the Dragon
Executive Action
Five on the Black Hand Side
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
Goodbye, Uncle Tom (aka Farewell, Uncle Tom and Addio, Zio Tom)
The Gospel Road 
Heavy Traffic
The Hireling
Jeremy
The Last American Hero 
The Last of Sheila
The Long Goodbye
Magnum Force
Mean Streets
Night Watch 
O Lucky Man!
Scarecrow 
The Seven-Ups
Sisters 
Sleeper 
Soylent Green
Sssssss!
Theatre of Blood
Trick Baby 
Wattstax

Tune in all week long as complete our journey through time...and reveal our next blast to the past at the end.

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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Monday, May 20, 2013

Not My Cuppa: Supporting Actor, 1973

In order to be nominated for an Academy Award, you have to show up on enough ballots in a Number One slot. Number One. As in, win or lose, you have to be someone's favorite of the year. I always have to remind myself of this when I look at the Supporting Actor fields. I especially have to think about it when I see some of the winners.

Grr....

Friday, May 17, 2013

You Spoil Us, Really: Director, 1973

What the hell, 1973? Is this why we get nominees like Alejandro Gonsalez Inarritu and Paul Haggis and Alexander Payne? Did 1973's vortex of visionaries spoil the rest of the Academy Awards for all time?

The winner, George Roy Hill

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Two Uniforms, a Con Man, and a Pair of Middle-Aged Sadsacks: Actor, 1973

The five men nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role all walked away with an Oscar -- in different years, of course, and some in different categories. Only for Jack Lemmon was it this year, this category.



Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Tell It Again: Adapted Screenplay, 1973

I find this to be one of the hardest categories to adjudicate. Since we're talking previously-published works, there's reasonable doubt as to what belongs to the original author, and what belongs to the adaptor. I'm familiar with none of these books, so I have no inkling of the writers' fidelity to their source materials. How much is their own dialogue? What plot twists did they invent? What was thrown out to accommodate the world of cinema?

Friday, May 10, 2013

70s Prom!: Original Song, 1973

On Twitter recently, I characterized the nominees of Best Original Song for 1973 as being selected by a high school prom committee. In the case of "The Way We Were", this was obviously true: I mentioned that it was the "theme" of my parents' prom. Which, come on, high schoolers of 1977. You're eighteen years old. What the hell memories could possibly be lighting the corners of your mind? Nookie behind the bleachers? Buying beer for your freshman buddies because you're eighteen, it's the 70s, and things are CAH-RAZY? Let's get real here.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Heads Up!

At the end of the week, I'm beginning another edition of my Oscar Flashback series, followed by my Retro Hollmann Awards. We've previously looked at 1964, 1974 and 1975. This year, I'm hoping to try a few more of these (possibly three?), in an attempt to celebrate significant anniversaries. We're starting with the 40th Anniversary of The Exorcist, Live and Let Die, The Way We Were, and more as we take an Oscar Flashback to...

1973

Join me this Thursday as we begin our journey with the nominees for Best Original Score.

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