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Post by coke & comics on Nov 13, 2022 13:40:57 GMT -5
For 1964, Dr. Strangelove gets my vote as one of the best comedies ever. I am not generally a horror fan, but can make an exception for Kobayashi. So Kwaidan gets #2. Then we'll go with Dr. Strangelove played straight with Fail-Safe. After that I'm inclined to look to science fiction for Last Man on Earth but also love Seven Days in May. Good year for paranoid political thrillers, serious or otherwise.
Plus Marnie, My Fair Lady, Masque of the Red Death, Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Robinson Crusoe on Mars, Culloden, Mary Poppins, Goldfinger, etc.
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Post by commond on Nov 13, 2022 19:59:03 GMT -5
1962's Pitfall is the directorial debut of Hiroshi Teshigahara, director of Woman in the Dunes, and the first of his collaborations with novelist, Kobo Abe. It's a little rough around the edges, but enjoyable nonetheless. The plot centers around the exploitation of coal miners in Kyushu and employs a mix of social commentary and surrealism, similar to the work of Shohei Imamura. Unlike a director like Ozu, whose films explored idealized family values, Teshigahara's generation were determined to show the ugly side of Japanese society. Teshigahara's later collaborations with Abe are based on novels Abe wrote, while this one is based on a teleplay, but it's a decent springboard for their work together.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 25, 2022 14:23:07 GMT -5
After some delay, on to 1965. For a Few Dollars More - The second of Leone's "Dollars" trilogy. I think this one gets unfairly forgotten as the middle child between Fistful of Dollars (the eldest child) and The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (the overachieving youngest child). But having seen all three pretty recently, I honestly think I like this one the best. There's more polish than in Fistful and it doesn't feel nearly as bloated as GB&U. And I honestly think this may be Lee Van Cleef's best ever role as Col. Douglas Mortimer. And Eastwood ups his game to keep up. So...I may have telegraphed something there. Thunderball - Is this the beginning of the end of quality Bond films? Or is it the first bad Bond film? It is, at the very least, a mixed bag. Connery is starting to show his age, but is still generally suave. The villains are fine, if uninspired. The underwater scenes are well choreographed, though they may go on a bit too long. What it all adds up too is a decent action spy film, but not a patch on the earlier entries. The Sons of Katie Elder - Not a great film, but a good, reliable, old-fashioned western that I'll watch if it's on. I'm always a sucker for John Wayne and Dean Martin together. It was clear with the coming of the Leone westerns and the rise of Peckinpah that the days of this type of film were numbered. But this is a fine entry. And that Bernstein score is a doozy. The Hill - Excellent Sidney Lumet directed drama starring Sean Connery as a prisoner in a British military prison in the Libyan desert struggling against sadistic prison guards. There's not a lot of story here. But it's a quality character study that has been unjustly overlooked. Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! - One of those exploitation films that absolutely transcends all expectations. Russ Meyers directs one of the great low-budget films of all time. The dialogue puts most movies to shame. The exploration of gender roles was far ahead of its time. Tura Satana and Haji are absolute revelations and reportedly both added significantly to the film. This is one of those films where the outcome is orders of magnitude beyond the sum of the parts. So what's my favorite film of 1965? Not a hard choice. It's For a Few Dollars More, giving Leone and Eastwood two years in a row. As usual (maybe more than usual) there are many films I've either not seen or not seen in far too long. Including; most of the big foreign language films; Chimes of Midnight; The Spy Who Came in from the Cold; and many more As usual 1965 in film for those as need a look. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2022 14:31:37 GMT -5
That Darn Cat! was one of my favourites as a kid, not only because it was the first thing I saw Frank Gorshin in, outside the Batman series, but because it’s just a fun tale that makes use of cats, the coolest pets on the planet. What’s not to like?
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 25, 2022 14:36:50 GMT -5
That Darn Cat! was one of my favourites as a kid, not only because it was the first thing I saw Frank Gorshin in, outside the Batman series, but because it’s just a fun tale that makes use of cats, the coolest pets on the planet. What’s not to like? I haven't seen it since I was a kid. So well over 40 years. It's actually fairly well reviewed, so I should get around to watching it again some day. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 25, 2022 16:12:31 GMT -5
I watched the original version of That Darn Cat just a few months ago, and I was very pleased with how well it holds up.
I rent a room in San Dimas, and the granddaughter of the people I rent from visits sometimes, and I usually end up watching one or two Disney films with her. We’re a lot more likely to watch more recent Disney films, but I can sometimes persuade her to watch one of the older films. She liked That Darn Cat a lot more than any other Disney film made before 1990, and it’s just about the only one that she actually sat through the whole thing getting bored.
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Post by commond on Nov 25, 2022 18:03:43 GMT -5
1965 isn't as strong a year as others. Along with a Fistful of Dollars, Pierrot Le Fou is one of my favorite Goddard films. I like Alphaville as well, but not as much as Breathless, Contempt or Pierrot Le Fou. Red Beard is one of my favorite Kurosawa films. The War Game is pretty horrific/chilling. I really like the The Ipcress File too, which I think a lot of folks around here would like. Other than that, I ain't got a lot.
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 25, 2022 21:11:24 GMT -5
I checked my IMDB list, and I have two movies listed for 1965. What’s New Pussycat and Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! So it was a great year for movies with Pussycat in the title!
I’ve seen What’s New Pussycat a couple of times since I made my list. I still like it. When it’s good, it’s brilliant. Paula Prentiss especially steals every scene she’s in. But it has some slow patches and some of the gags fall flat. So I don’t think if it as one of my top favorites anymore.
Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! still holds up remarkably well. It’s always as fresh and wonderful as the first time I saw it. I always cry when Boom-Boom dies.
I’ve seen most of the films mentioned so far, and there’s some really good movies for 1965. One standout that hasn’t been mentioned yet is the Japanese film Fugitive from the Past. I saw it for the first time over the summer. It’s really something!
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 25, 2022 22:13:42 GMT -5
Scrolling through “1965 in film,” I see Cat Ballou! Definitely a contender! I rewatched it a few months ago and I love it as much as ever.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 25, 2022 22:54:19 GMT -5
Scrolling through “1965 in film,” I see Cat Ballou! Definitely a contender! I rewatched it a few months ago and I love it as much as ever. I’ve probably only seen it once and it was eons ago. |
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Post by commond on Nov 27, 2022 19:28:10 GMT -5
A found an old Best of the 60s film ballot I made a decade ago. It's scary how many of these films I've forgotten about. {Spoiler for length}
100. Miss Muerte aka The Diabolical Dr. Z, Jesus Franco
99. Kill Baby, Kill, Mario Bava
98. The Honeymoon Killers, Leonard Kastle
97. Carnival of Souls, Herk Harvey
96. Seconds, John Frankenheimer
95. Splendor in the Grass, Elia Kazan
94. The Train, John Frankenheimer
93. Naked Kiss, Samuel Fuller
92. The Dirty Dozen, Robert Aldrich
91. The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales, Rogelio A. Gonzalez
90. Night of the Living Dead, George A. Romero
89. Faces, John Cassavettes
88. Teorema, Pier Paolo Pasolini
87. Cleo from 9 to 5, Agnes Varda
86. A Coachman, Kang Dae-jin
85. The Shop on Main Street, Jan Kadar & Elmar Klos
84. The Wild Bunch, Sam Peckinpah
83. My Night at Maud's, Eric Rohmer
82. Kes, Ken Loach
81. Les Tontons flingueurs, Georges Lautner
80. L'Armata Brancaleone, Mario Monicelli
79. Mother Joan of the Angels, Jerzy Kawalerowicz
78. In Cold Blood, Richard Brooks
77. Titcut Follies, Frederick Wiseman
76. Inherit the Wind, Stanley Kramer
75. The Exiles, Kent MacKenzie
74. Sword of Doom, Kihachi Okamoto
73. Red Angel, Yasuzo Masumura
72. Rosemary's Baby, Roman Polanski
71. Samurai Rebellion, Masaki Kobayashi
70. A Fugitive from the Past, Tomu Uchida
69. Stolen Kisses, Francois Truffaut
68. Mandabi, Ousmane Sembene
67. The Profound Desire of the Gods, Shohei Imamura
66. If, Lindsay Anderson
65. Once Upon a Time in the West, Sergio Leone
64. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Karel Reisz
63. Last Year at Marienbad, Alain Resnais
62. Aimless Bullet, Yu Hyun-mok
61. Macario, Roberto Gavaldon
60. Subarnarekha, Ritwik Ghatak
59. Elmer Gantry, Richard Brooks
58. The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Pier Paolo Pasolini
57. Gamlet, Grigori Kozintsev
56. Beregis Avtomobilya, Eldar Ryazanov
55. Charuluta, Satyajit Ray
54. La Guerre des boutons, Yves Robert
53. Late Autumn, Yasujiro Ozu
52. Two Women, Vittorio De Sica
51. The Naked Island, Kaneto Shindo
50. Rocco and his Brothers, Luchino Visconti
49. Closely Watched Trains, Jiri Menzel
48. Dairy of a Chambermaind, Luis Bunuel
47. Yearning, Mikio Naruse
46. The Barefooted Young, Kim-Ki-deok
45. The Organiser, Mario Monicelli
44. Fists in the Pocket, Marco Bellocchio
43. This Sporting Life, Lindsay Anderson
42. The Hustler, Robert Rossen
41. Il posto, Ermanno Olmi
40. The Misfits, John Huston
39. End of Summer, Yasujiro Ozu
38. Vivre sa vie, Jean-Luc Godard
37. The Red and the White, Miklos Jancso
36. Breathless, Jean-Luc Godard
35. Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick
34. The Leopard, Luchino Visconti
33. Wild River, Elia Kazan
32. Red Beard, Akira Kurosawa
31. La Dolce Vita, Federico Fellini
30. The Saragossa Manuscript, Wojciech Has
29. Mouchette, Robert Bresson
28. A Taste of Honey, Tony Richardson
27. I am Cuba, Mikhail Kalatozov
26. The War Game, Peter Watkins
25. The Battle of Algiers, Gillo Pontecorvo
24. An Autumn Afternoon, Yasujiro Ozu
23. Mamma Roma, Pier Paolo Pasolini
22. Jules and Jim, Francois Truffaut
21. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, Mikio Naruse
20. Le Mepris, Jean-Luc Godard
19. The Young Girls of Rochefort, Jacques Demy
18. Women in Love, Ken Russell
17. Marketa Lazarova, Frantisek Vlacil
16. The Great Silence, Sergio Corbucci
15. The Insect Woman, Shohei Imamura
14. A Man For All Seasons, Fred Zinnemann
13. The Cloud Capped Star, Ritwik Ghatak
12. 8 1/2, Federico Fellini
11. Andrei Rublev, Andrei Tarkovsky
10. L'Avventura, Michelangelo Antonioni
9. Z, Costa-Gavras
8. Pierrot le fou, Jean-Luc Godard
7. Persona, Ingmar Bergman
6. The Manchurian Candidate, John Frankenheimer
5. The Sorrow and the Pity, Marcel Ophuls
4. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Jacques Demy
3. Woman in the Dunes, Hiroshi Teshigahara
2. Viridiana, Luis Bunuel
1. Au hasard Balthazar, Robert Bresson |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 2, 2022 15:39:01 GMT -5
Moving on to 1966. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - Sergio Leone finishes out the "Dollars Trilogy" with what is frequently regarded as his best film. Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef are back joined by Eli Wallach. I can't say enough about the main cast...particularly Eli Wallach who steals the show as Tuco. Eastwood is still iconic as Blondie and Van Cleef is appropriately menacing as Angel Eyes. Leone does his magic as does Ennio Morricone (the theme is one of the best ever). It's a truly great film, though over the years I've pretty well decided I prefer For a Few Dollars more, simply because TGTB&TU feels a bit bloated. I also think that Van Cleef was slightly better as Douglas Mortimer and had more layers in that role than as Angel Eyes. But, damn, I love Tuco. Battle of Algiers - Italo-Algerian film that reconstructs the titular battle during the Algerian War of Independence. This is a deeply cynical film that doesn't flinch at looking that the brutality of war from both the French and the Algerians. Still one of the deepest looks at the effects of colonialism and the struggle of a people to be free. Batman - I've mentioned a number of times that the Batman TV show is the number one reason that I'm here. This movie much less so as I don't believe I saw it until I was an adult. But it still hits those nostalgia buttons because of the appearance of so many great characters and the general fun of the entire movie. Sometimes you just can't get rid of a bomb. Django - Sergio Corbucci and Franco Nero come busting in to the Spaghetti Western genre with one of the best examples of the genre. For its time it was hyper-violent and that, in part, lead to it being a huge influence on Quentin Tarantino. While Leone remained the master, Corbucci was easily his greatest rival within the genre and Franco Nero became a genre star. El Dorado - And we move on to a traditional western. For all that this is essentially a re-make of Rio Bravo, who wouldn't want to see John Wayne and Robert Mitchum in a western together? Howard Hawks was always a solid director and he was able to convince Harold Rosson to come out of retirement to film it. Is it a great film...no. But who cares? It's John Wayne and Robert Mitchum together. And a young James Caan doesn't hurt. The Professionals - And a hybrid western-action film with an insane cast including Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance, Woody Strode and Claudia Cardinale. Just a super fun action-western. The Endless Summer - I've never surfed. And it's likely I never will because I'm a very poor swimmer. Like...really a bad swimmer. But I still love this film. Just beautifully shot, it makes me want to travel the world looking for the perfect wave. Our Man Flint - By 1966 James Bond had been around long enough to have big budget parodies. This one never fails to make me chuckle, probably because James Coburn is just so damn good as Derek Flint. So my favorite film of 1966? It's definitely The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, giving Leone and company a threepeat. As always there are many films I've either not seen or not seen in far too long. Including; most of the big foreign language films; A Man For All Seasons (been years); The Sand Pebbles (ditto); A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming!; As usual 1966 in film for those as need a look. |
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Post by commond on Dec 3, 2022 19:23:01 GMT -5
Django!
1966 was a huge year -- The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Persona, Andrei Rublev, The Battle of Algiers, and Au Hasard Balthazar are among the greatest films ever made. Persona changed my perspective of what film could be when I was a young colleague student taking film studies classes, and Andrei Rublev and Au Hasard Balthazar were like religious experiences. Balthazar is my second favorite film behind Tokyo Story and one of the most beautiful pieces of work of any medium that I can think of. Andrei Rublev isn't far behind. Tarkovsky and Bresson are two of the true masters of cinema, IMO.
Other films I liked from 1966 are Closely Watched Trains, John Frankenheimer's Seconds, Django, Tokyo Drifter, Red Angel, The Sword of Doom, Melville's Le deuxième souffle, Kill Baby, Kill, Alfie, and A Man for All Seasons.
One film I never got the appeal of is Blow Up. I'd rather watch any of Antonioni's other 60s films.
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 3, 2022 19:40:22 GMT -5
On my IMDB list, I have Andrei Rublev and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as my favorite films for 1966.
But I made that list a few years ago, before I saw Au Hazard Balthasar, Red Angel or Sword of Doom.
These are all great films and I hate to dismiss any of them. But I’ve seen Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? over and over again since 1990, and it’s a great movie completely separate from all the points it gets from being a long-time favorite.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2022 19:40:57 GMT -5
If I put nostalgia aside, the 60s Batman series did featuring some interchangeable plots - and some weaker episodes, particularly in the third season. However, I do believe the movie had a good plot, plenty of action, and was eventful from start to finish. I’d probably introduce someone to that universe via the movie rather than a TV episode.
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