The Year in Movies: 1964

 

1964

Number of Movies I've Seen: 11

Number of Movies from my original top 365:  1

Oscar Winner:
NEXT POST! (2 in a row!)

Box Office Winner:
Mary Poppins - (Pictured above) Julie Andrews is a treasure. Legend has it that she only got this role because the producers of the movie in the next post thought she wasn't famous enough for a lead role. Walt Disney knew better and Andrews won Best Actress at the Academy Awards for playing the title role in her debut film (a feat I'm pretty sure has never been done since and will not likely ever be repeated). As for the story..... eh..... it's okay (I always need a romance which this film is clearly lacking), but film is surely quite magical and none of it brings you down from the flabbergasting performance at its center.

My Top Ten:
1. NEXT POST!

2. Mary Poppins 

3. 7 Up - This is the first film in the "Up" series and the only one not directed by then assistant director Michael Apted. On its surface 7 Up is pretty simple: A filmcrew interviews a group of British seven-year-olds from slightly diverse backgrounds on what their future will look like. What separates this series from other "slice-of-life" documentaries is that Apted would return every 7 years to catch up with the children (63 Up was released last year, but still isn't available in the US). Watched in concert with the other films, this series is one of the most powerful movie experiences I have ever had. The interviewees lives have such surprising and sometimes heartbreaking twists and turns, and the viewer learns that our futures are not written in stone.

4. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - I discovered this movie as it was listed as a powerful influence on Damien Chazelle for the movie La La Land (which you will absolutely see on this blog). It is definitely something different. I liked it, but I do feel I lose something in musicals with subtitles.

5. Band of Outsiders - I admit that I have quite a bit of work today catching up with "French New Wave". I dug this one from Jean-Luc Godard as he riffed on '40s Hollywood noir and would, in turn, have Tarantino and company riff on his riffs.

6. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - Another from Kubrick that didn't quite do it for me. I get it, I just don't get the overwhelming love for it...

7. Three Outlaw Samurai - Very interesting Japanese "noir"-like tale. I watched this one after reading that Rian Johnson told all of his actors to watch it before filming The Last Jedi.

8. Goldfinger - Solid Connery-era Bond.

9. The Incredible Mr. Limpet - Don Knots turns into a fish or something like that. I don't really remember much about this one, but I think I dug it as a kid.

10. A Fistful of Dollars - My first spaghetti western (I know...). It is going to take a heck of a movie to break me from my disdain for bad 60s/70s dubs. This one wasn't it.