My kind of year: westerns, science fiction and some cool foreign films.
(1) Blow-Up
Like all of Michelangelo Antonioni’s films, the pacing is
slow, but every image on the screen is packed full of meaning. A fashion
photographer thinks he snapped a picture of a crime... or did he?
(2) Fahrenheit 451
French director Francois Truffaut makes an English language
film based on a science fiction novel by an American writer (Ray Bradbury)
starring an Austrian actor (Oskar Werner). The opening credit sequence, narrated
over zooms of TV aerials (no written words, of course) and the final scene
(which I won’t describe, in case you haven’t seen it) are unforgettable.
There’s some good stuff in between, too.
(3) Who's Afraid of
Virginia Woolf?
This movie broke all kinds of taboos about language and
presented two of Hollywood’s most glamorous stars, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard
Burton, as frumpy hostile intellectuals. Mike Nichols’ first film starts funny
and turns tragic.
(4) A Man and a Woman
(Un homme et une femme)
One of my favorite romantic films, with a musical score that
always makes me feel good.
(5) Seconds
Frightening science fiction film about a man who gets a
second chance at life with a new identity and the face of Rock Hudson.
(6) Fantastic Voyage
The inspiration for numerous health education videos, the
silly premise of shrinking down humans to explore inside a human body is still
lots of fun.
(7) El Dorado
Howard Hawks loved his 1959 movie Rio Bravo so much that he basically remade it this year. Again,
John Wayne plays the leader of a group of men protecting a Western town against
a villainous rancher and his gang. Robert Mitchum takes Dean Martin’s role as
the lawman turned town drunk, Arthur Hunnicutt replaces Walter Brennan as the
old geezer, and James Caan stands in for Ricky Nelson as the young whippersnapper.
I think Rio Bravo is better, but this
one is still above average.
(8) What's Up, Tiger
Lilly?
If you can’t afford to shoot your own movie, buy someone
else’s and add new dialogue. In his directorial debut, Woody Allen redubs a
Japanese gangster movie and adds original scenes to create a farce about the
search for the world’s best egg salad recipe.
(9) The Good, the Bad
and the Ugly
The final collaboration between director Sergio Leone and
actor Clint Eastwood, this movie demonstrates Leone’s masterful editing between
extreme long shots, extreme close ups, and everything in between, and features
the iconic score by Ennio Morricone.
(10) The Russians are
Coming, the Russians are Coming
Alan Arkin is delightful as a Soviet naval officer whose
submarine has gone aground off the coast of a New England island. This Cold War
comedy features a great cast including Carl Reiner, Brian Keith, Eva Marie
Saint and Jonathan Winters.
Who knew 1966 was a good year for movies??
ReplyDelete3. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – I agree that the movie broke taboos about language and movie stars. I didn’t see the movie until early-mid ‘80’s. Even then I was jolted by the rotten characters played by Hollywood’s most elite and glamorous stars. I wonder if Liz and Burton related these characters to the ways they may have tortured each other in their famous tumultuous relationship.
4. A Man and A Woman – I will have to see this movie again. I remember liking the movie. But the only thing that stands out to me as that catchy score.
6. Fantastic Voyage – OMG is that’s not a TBT! I remember watching it with my parents at a young age. I can’t count how many Saturday afternoons I spent watching Fantastic Voyage. So much fun and so campy.
8. What’s Up, Tiger Lilly – Truthfully, I had forgotten about this movie. I got the title mixed up with What’s New Pussycat? Tiger Lilly is a very unique film. But, it is one of his “earlier, funny films.”