Showing posts with label Films of the 1960s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Films of the 1960s. Show all posts
Thursday, November 10, 2022
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Munster, Go Home! (1966)
I really liked "The Munsters" when I was a kid. I liked it so much, I even watched the disastrous 80s reboot. But would you believe that up until a few days ago, I didn't even know there was a Munsters movie? In fact there are two.
"Munster, Go Home!" was made just a few years after the show was cancelled with almost all of the original cast. In it, Herman finds that a distant relative has died and he has inherited a large English estate and become a Lord. The Munsters go to England to be fish-out-of-water because, you know, they're not British. Other relatives who missed out of their inheritance conspire to get rid of the Munsters by scaring them off. Scare tactics obviously don't work, as the Munsters like that sort of thing. There is also a scheme to counterfeit money and the entire plot comes to a head at a hot rod race for reasons I didn't understand.
My first notable observation from this movie was the difference created by the absence of canned laughter. The TV show was the golden age of fake audience laughter, it was so intertwined in the fabric of the show you can't imagine The Munsters existing without it. And yet, in this movie, jokes and gags are followed by silence and it's almost disturbing, the stark contrast. I hate to say it, but the result made me think, "Is The Munsters actually not funny?"
One thing I did find funny that I really never registered when I was a kid was the running gag where Marilyn, the beautiful normal person in the family, is seen by the others as homely. Amongst the slapstick and gags, this is a nice, subtle, wry element.
The other thing I noticed, only now is the acting of the actress who plays Lily, Yvonne De Carlo. Even within a very "big" show like The Munsters, she is the most animated, the most exagerated. Everyone else is in a talkie, Yvonne is in a silent film... an extreme silent film. The thing is though, when I tried to find an example online to prove this assertion, I find all available clips are from the TV show and her acting suits the TV show perfectly. What makes the movie different? Well, if you ever watch "Munster, Go Home!" take a look.
Thursday, August 18, 2022
Re:View - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Jay watches "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" for the first time and I am there for it. Or is it "here for it." What's the millennial clickbait wording? I don't remember these things.
My review of this movie from 2012 here. I don't really have any update to it. The "infectious" line is true, it really grows on me. And I emphasize the score... more specifically, "The Ecstacy of Gold" has become one of my favorite songs in any movie.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Movie Review: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966)
Candy manufacturer Willy Wonka once said, "The suspense is terrible. I hope it'll last." Sergio Leone's style could be described this way. Gun fights are naturally un-cinematic - they're over in a second or two. So what Leone does is extend the silence before the fight, drawing out the tension like a blade and then drawing it out some more.
Ennio Morricone's score is perfect - it's opera meets comic book. He doesn't just write a great score, he creates music with a sound unlike everything else that had come before. It's an orchestra, it's hyena yells, anvil clanks, gutteral yelps and electric guitar. It's fantastic and it's totally unique.
I liked this movie the first time I saw it but at 3 hours, I didn't like it enough to want to watch it again. But it's infectious - the whole style gets in the bloodstream. It's extreme closeups of fat, sweaty faces, wide panoramas, hands inching towards guns... and of course the music.
8/10.
Candy manufacturer Willy Wonka once said, "The suspense is terrible. I hope it'll last." Sergio Leone's style could be described this way. Gun fights are naturally un-cinematic - they're over in a second or two. So what Leone does is extend the silence before the fight, drawing out the tension like a blade and then drawing it out some more.
Ennio Morricone's score is perfect - it's opera meets comic book. He doesn't just write a great score, he creates music with a sound unlike everything else that had come before. It's an orchestra, it's hyena yells, anvil clanks, gutteral yelps and electric guitar. It's fantastic and it's totally unique.
I liked this movie the first time I saw it but at 3 hours, I didn't like it enough to want to watch it again. But it's infectious - the whole style gets in the bloodstream. It's extreme closeups of fat, sweaty faces, wide panoramas, hands inching towards guns... and of course the music.
8/10.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Movie Review: The Longest Day (1962)
The Longest Day (1962)
"We are witnessing something which historians will always say is completely improbable... and yet it is true."
The "Longest Day" depicts the events of D-Day from all sides (German, British, French, American) and at every level (civilians, soldiers, generals, soldiers, medics) and on all five beaches. Stars Richard Burton, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, John Wayne within a cast of thousands.
I was told that "The Longest Day" was a fantastic movie but had not given watching it high priority because I assumed that a movie from 1962 and starring John Wayne was bound to be laden with old Hollywood war cliches. I couldn't have been more wrong.
That realism is the goal is evident from the outset. Scenes depicting Americans end only to give way to scenes of the British. When those end, the focus turns to the Nazis - depicted as intelligent military men and speaking in actual German with subtitles at the bottom of the screen. Next the French Resistance, speaking French, again with subtitles. The movie has the audacity of not just introducing a cast of characters, but listing their name, rank and country at the bottom of the screen as they do it. Instead of just "based on true events", the movie attempts to be accurate down to the real individuals and demands that viewers hold them to that standard.
Although there are innumerable storylines, the viewer gets the sense that there is only one storyline. The story is the day. The story is history unfolding. The constant changes of context from one group at one location in one aspect of battle, to another group at another location in another aspect of battle, gives the movie a sense of urgency and modernity. The vast number of characters/real people and situations depicted almost give it a documentary feeling. There are shots in this movie that involve so many men and so many explosions that you feel it must be actual footage of the landing. There is a long, continuous shot during the fight in Ouisterham that is as startling and amazing as you will see in any movie.
Perhaps my opinion is skewed by the day I watched it. Nevertheless, I found it as intense and adrenaline filled as any movie I've seen. The film does the only thing a war movie should do - and the thing that every great war movie ("Glory", "Saving Private Ryan") does - it strives for absolute realism, knowing that the reality of war is more exciting, more intense, more depressing, and more horrible than any fiction.
9/10.
"We are witnessing something which historians will always say is completely improbable... and yet it is true."
The "Longest Day" depicts the events of D-Day from all sides (German, British, French, American) and at every level (civilians, soldiers, generals, soldiers, medics) and on all five beaches. Stars Richard Burton, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, John Wayne within a cast of thousands.
I was told that "The Longest Day" was a fantastic movie but had not given watching it high priority because I assumed that a movie from 1962 and starring John Wayne was bound to be laden with old Hollywood war cliches. I couldn't have been more wrong.
That realism is the goal is evident from the outset. Scenes depicting Americans end only to give way to scenes of the British. When those end, the focus turns to the Nazis - depicted as intelligent military men and speaking in actual German with subtitles at the bottom of the screen. Next the French Resistance, speaking French, again with subtitles. The movie has the audacity of not just introducing a cast of characters, but listing their name, rank and country at the bottom of the screen as they do it. Instead of just "based on true events", the movie attempts to be accurate down to the real individuals and demands that viewers hold them to that standard.
Although there are innumerable storylines, the viewer gets the sense that there is only one storyline. The story is the day. The story is history unfolding. The constant changes of context from one group at one location in one aspect of battle, to another group at another location in another aspect of battle, gives the movie a sense of urgency and modernity. The vast number of characters/real people and situations depicted almost give it a documentary feeling. There are shots in this movie that involve so many men and so many explosions that you feel it must be actual footage of the landing. There is a long, continuous shot during the fight in Ouisterham that is as startling and amazing as you will see in any movie.
Perhaps my opinion is skewed by the day I watched it. Nevertheless, I found it as intense and adrenaline filled as any movie I've seen. The film does the only thing a war movie should do - and the thing that every great war movie ("Glory", "Saving Private Ryan") does - it strives for absolute realism, knowing that the reality of war is more exciting, more intense, more depressing, and more horrible than any fiction.
9/10.
Monday, May 14, 2012
IMDB 250 7.3 - Harakiri (1962)
Harakiri (1962)
"The greatest delicacies taste of nothing when eaten alone."
When peace comes to Feudal Japan, a Samurai finds himself out of work and on the brink of starvation. When he appears at the gates of a fortress and says he wants to invoke the right of "harakiri" (the right of ritualistic suicide) he's obliged. As he insists on stalling the proceedings to tell his own history, the samurai wonder what his motives really are.
"Harakiri" is a tremendous story of poverty, desperation, resentment and revenge. That the story is masterful is no surprise - the writer, Shinobu Hashimoto, also wrote some of Akira Kurosawa's greatest films ("Rashomon", "Ikiru", "Seven Samurai"). It begins slowly with a simple questioning of the main character's motives and very slowly builds suspense as we learn more and more details of his past.
Watching it, I was struck by how it was simultaneously Eastern and "Western". Though the actors are Japanese and the weapons are samurai swords, it particularly resembles the Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone. Note the tracking shot of a man's shadow as he walks across sand. Watch the extreme closeups of a man's sweaty face as he waits for an attack. Note that the drama is in extending the anticipation leading up to the fight rather than the fight itself. Most surprisingly, watch how the conical Asian hat is wielded for dramatic effect EXACTLY like a cowboy hat.
But the film is undoubtedly Eastern as well. It's a classic samurai movie - perhaps the classic samurai movie. And it's amazing how much movies like "Kill Bill" can borrow from a movie made in 1962.
8/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 352.
"The greatest delicacies taste of nothing when eaten alone."
When peace comes to Feudal Japan, a Samurai finds himself out of work and on the brink of starvation. When he appears at the gates of a fortress and says he wants to invoke the right of "harakiri" (the right of ritualistic suicide) he's obliged. As he insists on stalling the proceedings to tell his own history, the samurai wonder what his motives really are.
"Harakiri" is a tremendous story of poverty, desperation, resentment and revenge. That the story is masterful is no surprise - the writer, Shinobu Hashimoto, also wrote some of Akira Kurosawa's greatest films ("Rashomon", "Ikiru", "Seven Samurai"). It begins slowly with a simple questioning of the main character's motives and very slowly builds suspense as we learn more and more details of his past.
Watching it, I was struck by how it was simultaneously Eastern and "Western". Though the actors are Japanese and the weapons are samurai swords, it particularly resembles the Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone. Note the tracking shot of a man's shadow as he walks across sand. Watch the extreme closeups of a man's sweaty face as he waits for an attack. Note that the drama is in extending the anticipation leading up to the fight rather than the fight itself. Most surprisingly, watch how the conical Asian hat is wielded for dramatic effect EXACTLY like a cowboy hat.
But the film is undoubtedly Eastern as well. It's a classic samurai movie - perhaps the classic samurai movie. And it's amazing how much movies like "Kill Bill" can borrow from a movie made in 1962.
8/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 352.
Monday, April 23, 2012
IMDB 250 7.2 - High and Low (1963)
High and Low (1963)
When a wealthy businessman receives a call that his son has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom, he and his wife panic and agree to pay the money. A few minutes later, their child walks into the house after a day of playing. The kidnapper has taken the wrong boy but insists on the ransom anyway. The family must decide whether to pay the ransom or risk the life of someone else's child.
As a big Akira Kurosawa fan, it's interesting to seem him make a film set in fairly modern times (modern in the 1960's when it was made). There are suits, thin ties, cocktails and cardigan sweaters. It's almost Kurosawa meets "Mad Men". But the theme is still just as classic: will an ordinary man sacrifice all his wealth and possessions to save someone's life? Feeling pressure from his wife, the police and his business partners, it's still the decision of a single man and his conscience.
Where the film weakens is when it strays from this intriguing sociological experiment. The question of the ransom is only a third of the movie - the other two thirds is dedicated to finding and capturing the criminals. The film transforms into a 1960's police procedural drama. Although well crafted and with significant twists and turns in the case, it's still quite a let down, particularly as there are currently a hundred "CSI" and "Law and Order" shows running around the clock doing essentially the same thing. This movie gets a pass for doing it first, but still, it's not the same.
6/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 351.
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