100 Favorite Films To Recommend Part 5: The 1960s

Luis A. Mendez

Boricua. Floridian. Theist. Writer. Critic. Oscar Predictor. Godzilla Fanboy. Member Of The Critics Association Of Central Florida And The Puerto Rico Critics Association.

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16 Responses

  1. The thing that’s so remarkable about The Parent Trap is that it manages to be about something (a few somethings, actually) while still being completely charming and fun. Great addition!

    That having been said I was actually kind of hoping you wouldn’t mention The Apartment so I could chime in and say “but The Apartment”.Report

  2. Saul Degraw says:

    This lists almost completely ignores the great European and Asian cinema of the 1960s. You had the French New Wave, Feilini, Passolini, Kurosawa, the last years of Ozu, etc.Report

  3. For 1968 , I’d choose 2001, A Space Odyssey, Still one of the best, most intelligent, fullest of sense of wonder SF films ever made.Report

  4. Slade the Leveller says:

    I came up with these 10 for my favorites:

    The Magnificent 7
    One, Two, Three
    Lawrence of Arabia
    Lilies of the Field
    A Hard Day’s Night
    Help!
    The Sand Pebbles
    Cool Hand Luke
    Planet of the Apes (could be interchangeable with 2001)
    Take the Money and RunReport

  5. Dark horse suggestion for 1966: The Fortune Cookie

    Like The Apartment, it’s a Billy Wilder film with Jack Lemmon, but it’s also the first Lemmon-Matthau movie. It stars Lemmon as an NFL sideline cameraman that gets flattened by a player running out of bounds and Matthau as his shyster brother-in-law. Cynical and hilarious, but almost forgotten these days.Report

  6. Kolohe says:

    What do you think of the Jeff Bridges version of True Grit compared with the John Wayne one?Report

    • Jaybird in reply to Kolohe says:

      I know you didn’t ask me, but…

      I think the Jeff Bridges version was better. You read the book, right? The book was dark (and funny (but dark)) as hell. The John Wayne version of the movie failed to capture the darkness.

      Like, here’s the scene where Rooster gets drunk and falls off his horse:

      Listen to the music. It’s funny! Ha! John Wayne is drunk! He fell off his horse!

      Now check out Jeff Bridges in a similar scene (also drunk, also gets off his horse haphazardly):

      Holy shit. That’s dark as hell.

      I’d say that the John Wayne version of the movie is more “fun” (I’ve seen it a half dozen times thanks to cable television) but the Cohen Brothers did a better job of capturing the book.

      Like, if I saw the John Wayne version and then went out to lunch, I’d talk about the cool stuff that happened and the funny stuff and John Wayne.

      After seeing the Jeff Bridges version, you go out to eat and you talk about existence.Report

  7. I’d like to thank you for NOT including The Graduate on your list. I don’t know your own feeling about the movie, but for me it’s…..not my favorite.Report