Don't forget ... The Sting

Cinephiles and Oscar historians know it, sure, and probably know it well. But those who don't obsessively gobble up films like this writer downs Ezekiel 4:9 bread might not be as familiar with 1973's Best Picture winner, The Sting.

Which is weird, because it's got poker*. Sure, it's not Texas Hold 'Em, but cut these guys some slack. The movie's set in 1930s Chicago. If memory serves, Texas Hold 'Em wasn't invented until, like, 1941. In Minnesota, I think**.

*And the poker clip here is just the start of the sting, so don't worry about spoilers.

**That's not even remotely true. Here's Wiki's take.



Oh, right, about the movie: The Newman/Redford vehicle is endlessly entertaining, clever, and takes the audience on a ride with it. It's not BIG like some of the other '70s legends, and it's not action-packed like many of its gritty crime contemporaries. It doesn't even much feel like a '70s film, just a timeless story about a pair of con men playing a deserving sucker (a pre-Jaws Robert Shaw).

Really, it's an early version of today's smart guys vs. big money movies -- movies like, say, this one. And who doesn't like those, at least when they're done well*?

*A: Weirdos.

Plus, ya gotta love the Scott Joplin ragtime music, even if it isn't exactly timely for the 1930s.