Young Americans (1967)

Kimberly Lindbergs — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 03:24:47 +0000

The Young Americans (1967)

From my latest piece at the Movie Morlocks …

“In 1968 five documentary films were nominated for an Oscar but you’d never know that from looking at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences website. The site claims to feature a complete list of all the Oscar nominees and winners, but on the official web page for the 41st Oscar ceremony there are only four nominees listed instead of the customary five. James Blue’s A FEW NOTES ON OUR FOOD PROBLEM, Harry Chapin‘s THE LEGENDARY CHAMPIONS, David H. Sawyer‘s OTHER VOICES and Bill McGaw’s JOURNEY INTO SELF all receive credit but the original Oscar winning documentary of 1968 is suspiciously absent.

Despite the website snub, the fact remains that YOUNG AMERICANS took home the award for Best Documentary that year but director Alexander Grasshoff was forced to return his Oscar a few months later due to one of the Academy’s most notorious blunders. Thankfully the documentary still exists even if it has been forgotten by the Academy and it remains a fascinating relic from a decade that I too often categorize as “swinging” and “groovy.” I must point out that there’s nothing swinging or groovy about YOUNG AMERICANS. In fact, it’s an extremely square film but it offers audiences a unique and undeniably conservative look at American culture in the sixties that is as revealing as it is deceiving.”

If you’d like to read more about the film that helped kick-start the popularity of “show choirs” in America leading to the current success of the television show GLEE, just follow the link.

- Scanning Life Through the Picture Windows: Young Americans (1967) @ TCM’s Movie Morlocks blog

I’ve also posted a video featuring a performance from the Young Americans TV special that aired in 1969. Fair warning – this will hurt your ears and possibly melt your brain but it is a lot of fun to watch!

Movies in Comicolor

Kimberly Lindbergs — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 02:54:27 +0000

Last week I neglected to share a link to a recent Movie Morlocks post I wrote discussing Movie Love. This interesting ’50s era romance comic was aimed at a female audience and featured romantic films adapted into comic books. It also contained background stories on particular actors and little tidbits of information that many classic movie fans should appreciate. There’s more about this interesting comic (including more sample pages!) at TCM’s Movie Morlocks blog.

- Movies in Comicolor at TCM’s Movie Morlocks

Girls WIll Be Boys

Kimberly Lindbergs — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:37:44 +0000

Dame Diana Rigg in THEATRE OF BLOOD (1973)

Last week I compiled a lengthy list of some of the most interesting examples of female actors who have portrayed men (or dressed in male clothing) for a particular role at the Movie Morlocks. It was inspired by the recent Oscar nominations for Glenn Close and her costar Janet McTeer in ALBERT NOBBS (2011). The piece (which I secretly subtitled: “A Brief Visual History of Actresses in Male Drag”) includes silent film stars such as Gloria Swanson and Louise Brooks as well as Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, Veronica Lake, Julie Andrews, Ingrid Thulin and Diana Rigg just to name a few. To read more about these talented gender defying women just follow the link below.

- Girls Will Be Boys @ TCM’s Movie Morlocks Blog

Ben Wheatley’s KILL LIST (2011)

Kimberly Lindbergs — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:06:22 +0000

If you happen to keep track of my activities at MUBI.com you might have noticed that I shared a list of my ‘Top 10 Favorite Films of 2011′ there. The list is alphabetical but if I rated the film’s from best to worst, Ben Wheatley’s KILL LIST (2011) would fill the top spot at number #1. But it’s not just my favorite film of the year, it’s also one of the best horror films I’ve seen in a decade. Wheatley’s made a brilliant movie that I absolutely love so I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to write about it for Cineaste. My write-up goes into plot details that you might want to avoid until you’ve actually seen the film. It’s somewhat of a personal piece where I expand on themes and ideas that I took away from the movie. You can find my review here:

- WEBTAKES: Kill List by Kimberly Lindbergs

KILL LIST is a very special film and I have to applaud IFC for distributing it in the US. They’re also responsible for releasing another great horror film that I’ve championed in the past, LEFT BANK (2008). Both KILL LIST and LEFT BANK would make for one terrific double feature. They’re two of the smartest, most original and unsettling thrillers that I’ve seen and I don’t say that lightly. Very few new horror films spark my imagination the way that KILL LIST has and I hope the film will reach a wider audience. At the moment it’s getting a limited screening in NY and LA but it’s also available on-demand if you have cable TV access and you can currently watch it at Amazon.com.

I’ve also compiled some of my favorite images from the film into a Flickr gallery that you can find here.

Spy Games: The Looking Glass War (1969)

Kimberly Lindbergs — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:08:26 +0000

The second installment of my ongoing Spy Games series is now available at the Movie Morlocks and this time I’m focusing my attention on Frank Pierson’s neglected John le Carre adaption, THE LOOKING GLASS WAR (1969). I first saw THE LOOKING GLASS WAR when I was just a kid. A lot of the film’s more subtle points went completely over my head but I immediately understood that I was watching a spy film with an anti-war message that really appealed to me. But that wasn’t the only reason that I liked the film. I found its slow build-up and measured approach utterly engrossing and I was particularly impressed with the film’s lead, the handsome and enigmatic actor Christopher Jones. Jones only appeared in a handful of films during the ’60s but he was utterly mesmerizing in every one of them. He was pigeonholed as the successor to James Dean and that’s understandable but Jones had his own kind of charisma that was grounded in the ’60s counterculture where he flourished. He wore his hair longer than most actors at the time and he was often shirtless, which made him incredibly sexy to both women and men but his timeless appeal was more than just skin deep. Jones was a talented actor and he seemed to get lost in every role that he took. While I was watching THE LOOKING GLASS WAR again I was taken aback by how damn good he was in the role of Leiser, a Polish hustler who gets caught up in Britain’s cold war games. A brief excerpt from my post about Christopher Jones:

“Jones is somewhat of an enigma. He was a hugely popular up-and-coming actor in the ‘60s but he made a lot of enemies when he walked away from Hollywood in 1970 after appearing in David Lean’s undervalued masterpiece, RYAN’S DAUGHTER (Yes folks, I’m one of those weirdo’s who believes RYAN’S DAUGHTER is a masterpiece). By most accounts Jones suffered from a serious dependency on drugs and alcohol and he treated the women in his life abhorrently. But his story has yet to be written and at the moment it’s a swirling mass of half-truths, myths and rumors so I try to keep this in perspective whenever I come across the actor’s name online or in print.”

You can find my full write-up about THE LOOKING GLASS WAR at the Movie Morlocks by following the link below,
- Spy Games: The Looking Glass War (1969) @ TCM’s Movie Morlocks

Favorite Older Films Seen in 2011

Kimberly Lindbergs — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:57:40 +0000

I was recently asked to compile a list of my ‘Favorite Older Films Seen in 2011′ for the Rupert Pupkin Speaks blog run by Brian Saur. I was happy to oblige because I saw a lot of great films last year and although I wrote about most of them, there are a few that I neglected to mention and compiling a list gave me the opportunity to rectify that. Brian’s also posted his own list and collected lists from a bunch of other folks including some of my favorite film bloggers like Jeremy Richey as well as people like Lars Nilsen who programs ‘Weird Wednesdays’ at the Alamo Drafthouse. I highly recommend making some time to check out all the lists. I guarantee you’ll come across two or three (or four or five…) films that you’ve never heard of before and the enthusiastic write-ups should make you eager to give them a look.

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists

Kimberly Lindbergs — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:35:51 +0000

My fellow film writer and net buddy Elisabeth Rappe (who writes for Film.com) recently invited me to join the Alliance of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ). I was touched by Elisabeth’s generosity and honored to be accepted into an organization that purposes to “support work by and about women – both in front of and behind the cameras.” If you’d like to find out more about the Alliance of Women Film Journalists and the work they do please visit their website @ awfj.org

The Fantastique World of Orson Welles

Kimberly Lindbergs — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:09:00 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to watch the often forgotten and neglected horror anthology THREE CASES OF MURDER (1955), which features Orson Welles in a segment titled Lord Mountdrago. It’s assumed that he directed some of the dream sequences in the film but after finally seeing it for myself I’m convinced that he had a much bigger hand in the making of the movie than he’s been credited for. It’s an interesting companion piece to CITIZEN KANE because the character of Lord Mountdrago resembles Charles Foster Kane and the direction is often very Wellesian. It’s a bold claim but I stand behind it and I’d like to delve deeper into the topic in the future when time allows. My flimsy blog post at the Movie Morlocks this week (cobbled together very quickly) doesn’t do the film or Welles much justice but I do point out Welles’ apparent interest in the fantastique at this point in his life. He was trying to make OTHELLO while he was in the UK but he found himself making and acting in a few supernatural tales as well including the Irish Ghost story RETURN TO GLENNASCAUL, which I’ve discussed before. Hope to share more on this topic sooner or later in the meantime follow the link below to read more about THREE CASES OF MURDER.
- Three Cases of Murder and One Uncredited Director @ TCM’s Movie Morlocks

Winter A Go-Go (1965)

Kimberly Lindbergs — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:30:26 +0000

Linda Rogers in a promo shot from WINTER A GO-GO (1965)

It’s cold outside and like a lot of people I’ve got a case of the post holiday blues but I also have a cure. Make your way over to the TCM Movie Morlocks blog where you can find my latest post titled “Ski Buffs and Ski Babes on the Go-Go in the Snow-Snow!” I share my take on Richard Benedict’s silly ski-themed teen movie, WINTER A GO-GO (1965) and if that title doesn’t put a smile on your face you probably shouldn’t be reading Cinebeats.

- “Ski Buffs and Ski Babes on the Go-Go in the Snow-Snow!” @ TCM’s Movie Morlocks

I also created a Flickr gallery of images from the film that you can find here.

Spy Games

Kimberly Lindbergs — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 23:53:00 +0000

This week I’m debuting a new on-going monthly feature at the Movie Morlocks called SPY GAMES. As my regular readers know, I’m extremely fond of spy films – particularly ’60s era spy films! – and I’ve written about them often. This year is the 50th anniversary of the quintessential ’60s spy, James Bond, so I decided to celebrate the occasion by devoting some of my time to writing about espionage films every month during 2012. It will be fun for me and hopefully it will be fun for readers as well. In the meantime you can whet your appetite by exploring the “Spies & Secret Agents” archives here at Cinebeats. You can also mosey on over to the Movie Morlocks and read about some of the upcoming events being planned for James Bond’s 50th anniversary.

- Spy Games: James Bond at 50 @ TCM’s Movie Morlocks blog