I’ve been itching to do this one for a while! Now the time is here, and I’ve had a devil of a time starting. The very real and terrifying reason is, I turn 50 in a month! Thankfully, reminiscing over fifty years of the best in film, has made it much more entertaining turning half a century!

So! The Rules for this game: For each year of my life, I’ve chosen ten of the best films. MY best films of course, films I grew up on, films I memorized and can still quote today. Most are good, some are great. A few are possibly terrible. But all of them have had a deep impact on my life as a self-proclaimed movie snob!

So here we go! 1973: Not the best year for movies, my birth year. But I managed to eek out a top ten list.

1. The Exorcist: Number one movie in America in ’73 and one of the scariest movies of all time.
2. Serpico: This one is more of a recent watch for me. Sydney Lumet directs Pacino – perfection.
3. Charlotte’s Web: I must have watched this animated classic every Thanksgiving (or whatever holiday it aired on) I looked forward to it, and sang along to the Sherman Brothers’ snappy toons lead by the effervescent Debbie Reynolds! Shout out to Paul Lynd as Templeton the Rat.
4. Disney’s Robin Hood: Sticking with animation, I am SO pleased this one happened on my year! Both of my brothers and I were obsessed with this movie as kids, and we quote it endlessly. Every single moment of Peter Ustinov as Prince John and Terry Thomas as Sir Hiss, his Snake advisor is gold. It’s definitely mediocre 70s Disney fare, but there are miles of quotable fun to be had.
5. The Three Musketeers: Long before Kiefer, Oliver, Charlie and Chris, there was Oliver Reed, Frank Finlay, Richard Chamberlain and Michael York. Heard of them? Not the first film version of the tale, and certainly not the last, it is definitely one of the best!
6. Papermoon: At 10 years old, Tatum O’Neil becomes the youngest person ever to win an academy award in this father-daughter road-trip movie starring herself, dad Ryan and everyone’s favorite Madeline Kahn.
7. Enter the Dragon: Bruce Lee’s last film and one of the most consequential action movies, let alone martial arts films, of all time.
8. Jesus Christ Superstar: Its fitting that the first musical on my list is also the first musical I was ever in. Superstar was a singular spark in my life. The movie, though slightly odd to me then, is really brilliant and still holds up for us Superstar nerds.
9. American Graffiti: Long before Ronnie was Richie and an award winning director, before Harrison was Solo and Indy, even before Richard hunted sharks, they all met on the set of this little wonder of a film under the direction of one George Lucas.
10. The Sting: And we arrive at the Big end of the year Oscar bait movie of 1973. Noted for simultaneously pumping up Paul Newman’s sagging career and rekindling interest in the Ragtime music of Scott Joplin, The Sting was both a critical and commercial success. For me, I remember my dad endlessly playing “The Entertainer” on the piano in the basement. He doesn’t know many songs, but he has that one memorized.

That’s my first 10! 1973 is a wrap. Stay tuned for the next 49 years!