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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2022 22:04:04 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. Agreed! I also think, much as Julie Newmar is my favorite Catwoman, Lee Meriwether was a hoot in this in that role (it might be closer to a tie between the two honestly).
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2022 22:07:52 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. My favorite Hayley Mills film! Yeah, I find it very rewatchable actually. Great overall cast too, particularly liked Frank Gorshin in addition to Mills.
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Post by commond on Dec 4, 2022 18:43:23 GMT -5
I managed to watch one of the Brazilian films I was interested in -- Barren Lives by Nelson Pereira dos Santos. It was a key film in the 1960s Brazilian Cinema Novo movement, a socially conscious film movement heavily influenced by Italian Neo-Realism and the French New Wave. The film tells the story of a hungry, poverty-stricken family in the Brazilian northeast, a dry area plagued by drought and famine. It was based on a famous novel by Graciliano Ramos, which is considered one of the most important works in Brazilian literature. From what I understand, the literary techniques used in the novel sound far more effective than the cinematic techniques used to tell the story on screen, but it was a decent film, albeit slowly paced with little in the way of story or plot. It features a great performance by the family's dog, however the dog is a major character in the novel and parts of the story are told from the dog's point of view, which is obviously extremely difficult to capture on film. The major achievement, cinematically, is capturing the unrelenting heat of the sun. The storytelling takes for granted that you've read the novel, which presumably, many intellectuals in Brazil had. Not a film I'd go out of my way to recommend, but a part of world cinema that I was unaware of until just recently.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 14, 2022 20:46:38 GMT -5
Well it seems like two weeks between posts is going to be the new normal. But... 1967. Cool Hand Luke - Oh Man. Let's just start out super strong. I really love this movie and think it's likely the best "prison movie" ever. Easily one of the most quotable films ever with a brilliant script by Donn Pearce and Frank R. Pierson. Paul Newman is just excellent as inmate Luke Jackson, who is just a born misfit, as are George Kennedy and Strother Martin. The inmates are a Who's Who of actors who would go on to bigger roles. One of the great, relatively early anti-establishment films. Sometimes nothin is a real cool hand. Bonnie and Clyde - Just a huge film both critically and at the box office. It's actually been a really long time since I've seen this one. But I know it well enough to comment. Again this is definitely a "New Hollywood" anti-establishment film. The film was definitely important for upping the ante of violence in films and a glorification of criminals that would have been impossible in earlier times. Just don't look at it for any real truth about Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. The direction and acting are excellent. And it absolutely remains an "important" film historically. In the Heat of the Night - Man 1967 was a great year. At least at the top. A huge critical success this is another great and important film. One of the first A-list films to show the dirty part of the South in all it's, then very current, infamy. Excellent performances by Sydney Poitier and Rod Steiger. The scene with Tibbs being slapped by and then slapping Edicott was particularly daring at the time. Great theme song by Ray Charles and Quincy Jones also. The Dirty Dozen - One of the quintessential man movies. A huge box office success that was largely critically reviled it has since been reevaluated with other films like The Magnificent Seven as being much better than was recognized at the time. Lee Marvin is excellent (even though he hated the film). Just an all-time supporting cast that is honestly too deep to even begin to list. This one, along with The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape made Charles Bronson in to a super-star. My Dad always said it was okay for a man to think about shedding a tear when Jim Brown is shot. The Producers - We'll throw this here as it debuted in Pittsburgh in 1967 but didn't release wide until '68. Mel Brooks' directorial debut is just a great comedy. Yes, Zero Mostel is doing broad schtick. That's what they were going for. Gene Wilder is brilliant (and was always at his best with Brooks). A box office sleeper and met with mixed reviews this is another film that has grown in respect as the years have gone by. It's an amazing effort for a first-time director. And, really, is there anything funnier than Springtime for Hitler? Point Blank - I'm a huge fan of Donald Westlake's (Richard Star) Parker novels. And, no, Parker has never been appropriately put on screen. But this is by far the best attempt. It is just a crackerjack thriller and if anyone could ever have done justice to Parker it would have been Lee Marvin. Another film that ratcheted up the violence as the Hayes Code disappeared. Very nice early film by director John Boorman. The Jungle Book - The last animated Disney film before Walt's death he had a significant hand in its development. I honestly love this movie. It was a favorite of mine as a kid when it was re-released in 1978. It's not, by any means, Kipling's Jungle Book. But it's a great romp and has, in my opinion, the best songs of any Disney animated film prior to the renaissance era. Yes, the use of Xerography is noticeable. But man, the Sherman Brothers (and Terry Gilkyson) killed on those songs and having Phil Harris and Louis Prima was just the icing on the cake. So what's my favorite film of 1967? There are a lot of great films here. My favorite would not be my pick as best film of '67. But I love it far more than any other. And that's The Dirty Dozen. Though Cool Hand Luke is pretty close. 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; The Graduate (I don't like Dustin Hoffman very well), In Cold Blood, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Hombre (been a LONG time), Bedazzled (I need to see this one again), Death Rides a Horse (I need to see this one again too). As usual 1967 in film for those as need a look.
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Post by tartanphantom on Dec 14, 2022 22:50:27 GMT -5
So what's my favorite film of 1967? There are a lot of great films here. My favorite would not be my pick as best film of '67. But I love it far more than any other. And that's The Dirty Dozen. Though Cool Hand Luke is pretty close.
Oh yeah? Well I can eat fifty eggs...
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 14, 2022 23:37:27 GMT -5
So what's my favorite film of 1967? There are a lot of great films here. My favorite would not be my pick as best film of '67. But I love it far more than any other. And that's The Dirty Dozen. Though Cool Hand Luke is pretty close.
Oh yeah? Well I can eat fifty eggs...
What we have here is…failure to communicate.
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 15, 2022 8:35:56 GMT -5
I checked my IMDB list of favorite movies because I couldn’t remember if I had Dirty Dozen or The Producers as my favorite for 1967. I’m not surprised at all to find that I couldn’t choose between them. Nor am I surprised that I actually have a three-way tie!
The Dirty Dozen The Producers Spider Baby
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2022 8:56:53 GMT -5
I am a fan of The Jungle Book. 101 Dalmatians is probably my favourite Disney film, but if it did not exist, The Jungle Book would be on the list.
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Post by commond on Dec 15, 2022 18:59:33 GMT -5
Cool Hand Luke and The Dirty Dozen are tops in my book.
Some of the top foreign films from 1967 aren't my favorite from each director -- Le Samourai and Belle de Jour, I'm looking at you. I'm an outlier in that respect, though. I used to know a guy who raved about the incredible set-pieces in Tati's Playtime, and they are incredible, but I prefer his earlier work. Mouchette is probably my second favorite Bresson film, and I really loved Demy's The Young Girls of Rochefort, which is almost as good as Umbrellas of Cherbourg but much lighter. I apparently thought very highly of the Czech film, Marketa Lazarova, though I remember very little of it now. Taking a glance at the trailer, it must have been because of the cinematography. Also making my list from a decade ago were In Cold Blood, Titicut Follies and Samurai Rebellion, but I've killed a lot of brain cells since then. Titicut Follies is a documentary about the inmates at a prison for the criminally insane. In Cold Blood is a Richard Brooks adaptation of a Capote novel that, from memory, is shot in a documentary style, and Samurai Rebellion is obviously a samurai film.
I've never watched Bonnie and Clyde the whole way through.
If I were to watch any of these films tomorrow, it would probably be The Dirty Dozen, so I'll go with that.
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 16, 2022 0:10:56 GMT -5
I forgot about Tati’s Playtime. That’s probably the best movie I’ve only seen once.
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Post by berkley on Dec 19, 2022 23:01:50 GMT -5
I haven't looked through the 1967 list yet but I can tell you what my favourite movie from that year was when I was a kid: Casino Royale. I loved this so much I thnk I counted around six times that I saw it on tv as a youngster, roughly from the ages of perhaps 7 to 12. It's a comedy somewhat in the What's New Pussycat? vein, sharing some of that film's cast (e.g. Sellers, Andress), and isn't usually rated too highly by critics, but I liked it even more than I did Pussycat back then. I remember when I first started reading books and articles about movies, I was flabbergasted to discover that it wasn't universally acclaimed as a comedy classic. One of the all-time great original soundtracks, too, from Burt Bacharach.
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 19, 2022 23:16:42 GMT -5
I haven't looked through the 1967 list yet but I can tell you what my favourite movie from that year was when I was a kid: Casino Royale. I loved this so much I thnk I counted around six times that I saw it on tv as a youngster, roughly from the ages of perhaps 7 to 12. It's a comedy somewhat in the What's New Pussycat? vein, sharing some of that film's cast (e.g. Sellers, Andress), and isn't usually rated too highly by critics, but I liked it even more than I did Pussycat back then. I remember when I first started reading books and articles about movies, I was flabbergasted to discover that it wasn't universally acclaimed as a comedy classic. One of the all-time great original soundtracks, too, from Burt Bacharach. I love the 1967 version of Casino Royale. I used to watch it pretty regularly but I haven’t seen it in quite a few years.
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 21, 2022 2:50:11 GMT -5
Catching up a bit again. Can't match Slam's pace. 1965.
I've got a pretty different list from Slam. Just haven't seen most of those films. And I do think Thunderball is about the point of me losing interest in Bond. I have seen 11 films from the year of varying quality.
For my money, the best is The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. A good subdued spy film with versimilitude. Given this is a comic forum, I feel like I should have seen more love for A Charlie Brown Christmas. Definitely a childhood staple. Planet of the Vampires is Mario Bava's spacefaring epic. I appreciate any pre-Trek movies that seem to feature the basic setup of a Starfleet-like force, e.g. this and Forbidden Planet. I think I saw Commond mention Alphaville. I don't know Godard well, but I do know movies where computers gain sentience and start taking things over well. The Sound of Music rounds out my top 5.
Runner-up is The 10th Victim. Another Italian science fiction film, and the earliest film I've found in the violent televised game drama, a la Rollerball or Hunger Games. I saw That Darn Cat as a child, but don't recall it. And I enjoy the Ipcress File well enough.
Not a great year for film, from what I've seen.
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 21, 2022 3:04:53 GMT -5
1966. A great year, but I feel like I've got a mostly different set of movies from Slam here.
Top spot goes to one of my all-time favorite black comedies, The Wrong Box. Michael Caine, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Peter Sellers. A tontine where the last living person gets the inheritance. A mis-delivered box. One of the best movies ever, but nobody has seen it.
Next in the genre of sci/fi films directed by foreign auteurs, I think Truffaut did a great adaptation of Fahrenheit 451.
The apocalyptic mockumentary The War Game makes my #3.
On the subject of subdued spy thrillers, I appreciate Hitchcock's Torn Curtain.
The one movie of Slam's to make my top 5 is The Professionals. A great prototype for The Wild Bunch.
Great year, so lots of honorable mentions.
Just missing the cut is another foreign auteur sci/fi(ish) flick, The Face of Another. Also close and in a similar vein is Seconds. Then it's about time to start admitting the great films are good. I do like Au Hasard Balthazar, though we aren't quite on the same wavelength. Persona went right over my head, but I have some appreciation for the craft. I don't know if I fully appreciated Closely Watched Trains or The Shooting. The latter I should try again, this time putting aside my expectations of the western genre.
And yeah, Batman is great. A Man for all Seasons is great. It's a good year. Turning to my childhood, I appreciate How the Grinch Stole Christmas and It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.
The only film I haven't mentioned yet is The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. Been about 8 years. Thought it was fine. Probably owe it a rewatch.
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 21, 2022 3:11:17 GMT -5
1967.
If you look to the pattern of my other entries, my #1 film won't surprise you.
Kobayashi's other great samurai epic, Samurai Rebellion easily takes the top spot. Then the Jungle Book. I like my Disney musicals. Then two with Sidney Poitier, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and In the Heat of the Night. Can't have a year without any sci/fi entries, so Quatermass and the Pit rounds out my top 5.
Plenty of honorable mentions. Bonnie and Clyde just missed the cut. Le Samourai. And hey, David Lynch's first film, the unsurprisingly weird short, Absurd Encounter With Fear. From childhood, I love Doctor Dolittle.
Not to dump on anybody else's childhood favorite films, but I have no love whatsoever for Casino Royale.
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