Nixon Reelected In Landslide

Jesse Walker now brings us the top films of 1972.

https://jessewalker.blogspot.com/2022/12/pols-and-mobsters-i-have-told-you-my.html

Some--including me--call it a golden age, a time of great openness and experimentation in Hollywood (catching up to what had happened everywhere else a decade earlier).

Here's his top ten.

1. The Godfather

2. The Ruling Class

3. Images

4. The Candidate

5. Sleuth

6. The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie

7. The King Of Marvin Gardens

8. Tomorrow

9. Bone

10. Cries And Whispers

A fine list (and I think I've seen them all).  I might not put them all in the top ten (or twenty), but this is a rare list from Jesse where I won't say of any "this one shouldn't be here."

By the way, can't argue with 1, but 2 is presently at 6.  And 4 is still the best film made about our political system.

Here are the honorable mentions:

11. The Heartbreak Kid

12. Fat City

13. The Getaway

14. Frenzy

15. Bad Company

16. Play It Again, Sam

17. Love In The Afternoon

18. Deliverance

19. The Mechanic

20. Junior Bonner

Once again, a fine list.  Even the films that maybe shouldn't be here are still fascinating.  What a different time it was: 11 is a comedy, but of a kind that's unimaginable today.  Same for 13 as an action film or 15 as a Western.

By the way, 16 reminds us that Woody Allen was (is?) more important as a writer than director.

I'm not sure how many other films of 1972 I could fit in the top ten, or twenty, but here are some I'd at least consider:

1776

Aguirre, The Wrath Of God

The Harder They Come

The Hot Rock (just watched it a few days ago)

Pink Flamingos

Tout Va Bien

What's Up, Doc?

Here are other films of note:

Across 110th Street. Avanti!, Behind The Green Door, Ben, The Biscuit Eater, The Better Tears Of Petra Von Kant, Blacula, Boxcar Bertha, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Buck And The Preacher, Butterflies Are Free, Cabaret, The Carey Treatment, Come Back Charleston Blue, Concert For Bangladesh, Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes, The Cowboys, The Culpepper Cattle Co., Deep Throat, The Doberman Gang, Dr. Phibes Rises Again, Dynamite Chicken, Eat The Document, The Effect Of Gammy Rays On Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, Elvis On Tour, Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask), Fist Of Fury, Fritz The Cat, Fuzz, Get To Know Your Rabbit, Greaser's Palace, The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid, The Great Waltz, Heat, Hickey & Boggs, Hit Man, I Love You Rosa, J.W. Coop, Jeremiah Johnson, Joe Kidd, Journey Through The Past, Kansas City Bomber, Lady Sings The Blues, Last Of The Rest Hot Lovers, Last Tango In Paris, The Life And Times Of Judge Roy Bean, Man Of La Mancha, Marjoe, Napoleon And Samantha, The New Centurions, The New Land, Now You See Him, Now You Don't, The Other, Pete 'n' Tillie, Play It As It Lays, Pocket Money, Prime Cut, Roma, The Seduction Of Mimi, Shaft's Big Score, Silent Running, Slaughterhouse-Five, Snoopy Come Home, Solaris, Sounder, Super Fly, Tales From The Crypt, The Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe, Trouble Man, Ulzana's Raid, The Valachi Papers, Young Winston