60s – Page 4 – Yesterday's Movies

Night of the Living Dead

October 16, 2015May 12, 2016temporalparadox1 Comment

Before watching the movie:

I am really over zombies as a pop culture phenomenon. They’re here to stay because the only two kinds of enemies you can kill without offending people are Nazis and zombies, and you can justify modern-day or future zombies much more easily than explaining why there are Nazis in orbit around Regulus 9.

I’m more into vampires (kind of surprising, given my politics), but the thing is, I’m kind of attracted to the idea of being a vampire, while nobody wants to be a zombie. People want to be Survivors of the Zombie Apocalypse. I want no part of that scenario. I’m not entirely happy with my civilization, but I like it much better than none at all. Also I’d die in the first ten minutes of the movie.

However, this is the seminal zombie movie, and even Mister Rogers enjoyed it. Like last week’s movie defined vampires in cultural consciousness, this movie invented what we think of as zombies. Without even using that word. It hijacked the word in our culture, and now it means George Romero’s undead monsters. So that has to be of value.

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The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming!

July 10, 2015August 13, 2015temporalparadox1 Comment

Before watching the movie:

I’m pretty sure my father recommended this to me some time ago, but it wasn’t in a comment on the blog and if it was an email, I don’t have it anymore. In going through old comments I realized I’d been remiss in adding suggestions to the list, but I’ve updated it now. As a reminder, any reader can suggest movies to me for review. You don’t even have to be related to me! The regular format of this blog limits it to films I haven’t seen before, but if I get enough suggestions that I have seen, I may be able to put together a Reader-Request Rewatch month.

This appears to be Cold War satire/farce concerning a Soviet boat in distress in American waters and the attempt by an unfortunate officer to try to solicit help in a small town without starting World War III. It puts me in mind of 1941, only I think that was a real invasion. For pretty much no good reason, it’s also got me thinking of The Ship with the Flat Tire and Jaws.

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How to Steal a Million

April 3, 2015April 3, 2015temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

The stars are the headline for this movie. Peter O’Toole is no doubt a scoundrel with class and Audrey Hepburn brings glamour with… playfulness? I’m not as familiar with her type as I should be.

This appears to be a story of an unlikely pairing of people who never expected to be art thieves. Something to do with an art forger who gives his master forgery to an art museum, presumably meaning these two decide to steal it back. I’m predicting a clumsy, snarky heist, but I recognize I’ve built a lot of preconceptions on top of what little I actually know.

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If it’s Tuesday, This Must be Belgium

January 2, 2015temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

This has one of those memorable titles that come up much more often than anything about the contents of the movie. I think I heard some time after coming across the title that this was about a European vacation tour, but not much more. I got the idea that it was a family vacation, and imagined National Lampoon’s Griswold family driving through the continent, when it’s actually a tour group. (Though National Lampoon did do European Vacation, so maybe I just conflated them. I’ve only seen Family Vacation and Christmas Vacation though.)

Anyway, the confusion implied by the title has more to do with the speed of the tour than a series of unfortunate events or interpersonal conflict, though I expect both to follow from it.

The description focuses on Suzanne Pleshette’s character falling for the tour guide, but I’m hoping the actual story is more ensemble-driven with those two having a small plurality, because the situation seems to lend itself to madcap antics in all directions.

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Make Mine Mink

December 20, 2013temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

The synopsis I saw sounds straightforward enough: a band of crooks pretty much have all they need, but enjoy stealing things too much to give it up, so they use what they steal to help the poor. Sounds like Robin Hood as done by eccentric genteel Terry-Thomas. And then the poster complicates things. Is the gang seducing young women out of their fur coats and then running off with them? That’s the best interpretation I can make of it. It’s entirely likely that the artist and marketing manager got carried away with “Terry-Thomas looking like a scoundrel, but with something sexy to catch the eye”.

Still, this looks like it has the potential to be a very different Terry-Thomas from the type I know him to play.

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Who’s Minding the Store?

September 20, 2013temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

What attracts me to this movie is the names. Jerry Lewis, Ray Walston, Agnes Moorehead, and Frank Tashlin (whom I know as a golden age Warner Bros. cartoon director). It occurs to me I haven’t seen any of Ray Walson’s work from before the 90s. Sometime I should track down My Favorite Martian.

I’m realizing now that I’ve chosen another movie that will probably be light on plot. The focus will likely be on getting Jerry Lewis’s character into situations where he can do physical comedy routines. However, it won’t be as tightly fixed on that as a film from the era of Buster Keaton.

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Camelot

May 16, 2013May 17, 2013temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

The more I dig around the edges to get a bearing on what to expect, the more excited I get. This is described on the box as a very witty and literate show, and while I don’t think I’ve heard any of the songs before, the titles I’ve come across sound lovely.

I’m not sure if Vanessa Redgrave had a career renaissance recently or if it’s one of those cases where I just didn’t start noticing her until I noticed her. Still, it’s going to be rather different to see her as a young lady and a love interest, and I don’t think I’ve heard her sing before either. I know Richard Harris both as a singer and an actor. I think. He’s still muddled in my mind with Richard Attenborough, but I’m fairly certain I’ve now got them straight.

For the most part, I’m ready to be swept away, but there’s a voice in the back of my mind going “on second thought, let’s not go to Camelot. Tis a very silly place.”

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The Shakiest Gun in the West

May 9, 2013temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

Don Knotts, as ~~Don Knotts~~ a cowardly dentist moved to the Old West. Hilarity ensues. There’s a woman involved. Is more description necessary?

Oddly, I originally learned of the existence of this movie because it was paired with another I’d had recommended to me in a set that the library had no copies of. Years later, I haven’t seen either movie. Until now, and it’s still not the one I was originally looking for. Someday…

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A Boy Named Charlie Brown

April 25, 2013April 26, 2013temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

I’m a bit unsure about how Peanuts will work as a movie. I know for a fact that there will be sketches gleaned from strips before the plot gets going, but I don’t know if there’s going to be a “movie” enough story when it does. I don’t even know what the plot is, but I have the impression it involves a season of baseball.

It’s unusual for me that this is a well-known franchise, but I don’t particularly expect great performers or direction. Aside from Charles Schultz, the best-known artist associated with Peanuts is Vince Guaraldi, and I’m not even sure if his trio is doing the music for this.
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A Hard Day’s Night

March 8, 2013temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

The easy things to pick up about this movie are that it stars the Beatles, it’s their first film, and they sing some songs in it, probably including “A Hard Day’s Night”. What I have a somewhat harder time figuring out is what sort of plot is involved. I would have thought that, almost forty years later, people would have more to say about what the movie is about than “it’s the Beatles’ first feature film!” I have the vague impression that this is just about what their lives are like, perhaps in early mockumentary style.

The last time I watched a Beatles movie, Yellow Submarine, I was rather disappointed. I expected it to be light on plot and heavy on songs, but I didn’t expect the latter to the degree it was. It sounds terrible to say, but I hope that since this movie isn’t animated, they spend less time being imaginative and more time telling a story.

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