1966--The Year in Review

This, the year of my birth, proved to be a bear. Any one of the top ten could have emerged victorious, but I must confess that Mike Nichols’ debut filming of Edward Albee’s landmark play had an immense impact on me as a child and even further as an adult. It really clued me in to the mature notes that cinema—American cinema, at least–could hit, and I still regard it as a breakthrough for filmmaking, and the single best adaptation of a stage play to film (and also career-best performances by its small cast, including its two superstar leads; it's also nearly the final great film of the black-and-white era and, for some time to come, the last black-and-white film to top my yearly lists). Still, I had to give the director’s award to Ingmar Bergman, as his stunning personal musing on female identity--so stimulating to look at and think about--would remain my favorite of his movies for decades to come. I should add: it kills me that Antonioni's eerily confounding Blow Up couldn’t land but one of my top votes, and that I have, in the past few years, returned to the Academy's chosen film A Man for All Seasons repeatedly for its articulate conclusions about power and faith. But similar feelings brook Robert Bresson's soaring masterpiece following a sanctified donkey named Balthazar and Sergio Leone's epic final entry in his Man With No Name trilogy. With the short films, I strode outside the norm with the second straight Animated Short citation for the Peanuts gang, and the first win for documentarians Albert and David Maysles. As for the very competitive Original Score category, there was really only one ultimate choice: the greatest film score ever composed. NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are only occasionally reflective of the selections made by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka The Oscars). When available, the nominee that actually won the Oscar will be highlighted in bold. 

PICTURE: WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (US, Mike Nichols)
(2nd: Persona (Sweden, Ingmar Bergman), followed by:
Blow Up (UK, Michelangelo Antonioni)
A Man for All Seasons (UK, Fred Zinnemann)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Italy, Sergio Leone)
Au Hasard, Balthazar (France, Robert Bresson)
Masculin Feminin (France/Sweden, Jean-Luc Godard)
Closely Watched Trains (Czechoslovakia, Jiri Menzel)
The Round Up (Hungary, Miklos Jancso)
Seconds (US, John Frankenheimer)
The Battle of Algiers (Italy/Algeria, Gillo Pontecorvo)
Andrei Rublev (USSR, Andrei Tarkovsky)
Cul de Sac (UK, Roman Polanski)
Lord Love a Duck (US, George Axelrod)
Daisies (Czechoslovakia, Vera Chytilova)
The Shooting (US, Monte Hellman)
The Pornographers (Japan, Shohei Imamura)
Tokyo Drifter (Japan, Seijun Suzuki)
Fahrenheit 451 (UK, François Truffaut)
The Endless Summer (US, Bruce Brown)
Morgan! A Suitable Case for Treatment (UK, Karel Reisz)
Young Torless (West Germany, Volker Schlöndorff)
The Professionals (US, Richard Brooks)
Hunger (Denmark, Henning Carlsen)
A Man and a Woman (France, Claude Lelouch)
Harper (US, Jack Smight)
Is Paris Burning? (US/France, Rene Clement)
La Guerre est Finie (France, Alain Resnais)
The Rise of Louis XIV (France, Roberto Rossellini)
Made in USA (France, Jean-Luc Godard)
Seven Women (US, John Ford)
Alfie (UK, Lewis Gilbert)
The Velvet Underground and Nico (US, Andy Warhol)
What's Up Tiger Lily? (US/Japan, Woody Allen and Senkichi Taniguchi)
Fantastic Voyage (US, Richard Fleischer)
The Fortune Cookie (US, Billy Wilder)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (UK, Richard Lester)
This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse (Brazil, José Mojica Marins)
The Plague of the Zombies (UK, John Gilling)
Django (Italy, Sergio Corbucci)
The Wild Angels (US, Roger Corman)
Our Man Flint (US, Daniel Mann)
King of Hearts (UK/France, Phillippe de Broca)
Chappaqua (US, Conrad Rooks)
Thunderbirds Are GO! (UK, David Lane)
Mondo Topless (US, Russ Meyer)
War of the Gargantuas (Japan, Ishiro Honda)
Dracula, Prince of Darkness (UK, Terence Fisher)
The Oscar (US, Russell Rouse)
Manos: The Hands of Fate (US, Harold P. Warren))



ACTOR: Richard Burton, WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (2nd: Paul Scofield, A Man for All Seasons, followed by: Per Oscarsson, Hunger; Clint Eastwood, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; Rock Hudson, Seconds; Jean-Pierre Leaud, Masculin Feminin; Donald Pleasence, Cul de Sac) 



ACTRESS: Elizabeth Taylor, WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (2nd: Bibi Andersson, Persona, followed by: Chantal Goya, Masculin Feminin; Vanessa Redgrave, Morgan! A Suitable Case for Treatment; Anouk Aimée, A Man and a Woman; Liv Ullmann, Persona; Lynn Redgrave, Georgy Girl)

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Robert Shaw, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (2nd: Lionel Stander, Cul de Sac, followed by: Eli Wallach, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; John Randolph, Seconds; George Segal, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; John Hurt, A Man for All Seasons; Walter Matthau, The Fortune Cookie) 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Wendy Hiller, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (2nd: Sandy Dennis, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, followed by Vanessa Redgrave, Blow Up; Jocelyn LaGarde, Hawaii; Vivien Merchant, Alfie; Geraldine Page, You're A Big Boy Now; Jessica Walter, The Group)



DIRECTOR: Ingmar Bergman, PERSONA (2nd: Michelangelo Antonioni, Blow Up, followed by: Mike Nichols, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Sergio Leone, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; Fred Zinnemann, A Man for All Seasons; Robert Bresson, Au Hasard, Balthazar; Gillo Pontecorvo, The Battle of Algiers)

NON-ENGLISH-LANGUAGE FILM: PERSONA (Sweden, Ingmar Bergman) (2nd: Au Hasard, Balthazar (France, Robert Bresson), followed by: Masculin Feminin (France/Sweden, Jean-Luc Godard); Closely Watched Trains (Czechoslovakia, Jiri Menzel, won in 1967); The Round Up (Hungary, Miklos Jancso); The Battle of Algiers (Italy/Algeria, Gillo Pontecorvo); Andrei Rublev (USSR, Andrei Tarkovsky); Daisies (Czechoslovakia, Vera Chytilova); The Pornographers (Japan, Shohei Imamura); Tokyo Drifter (Japan, Seijun Suzuki); Young Torless (West Germany, Volker Schlöndorff);  Hunger (Denmark, Henning Carlsen); A Man and a Woman (France, Claude Lelouch); La Guerre est Finie (France, Alain Resnais); The Rise of Louis XIV (France, Roberto Rossellini))



DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: THE ENDLESS SUMMER (US, Bruce Brown) (2nd: The Velvet Underground and Nico (US, Andy Warhol)



ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Robert Bresson, AU HASARD, BALTHAZAR (2nd: Michelangelo Antonioni, Tonino Guarra and Edward Bond, Blow Up, followed by: Ingmar Bergman, Persona; Franco Solinas and Gillo Pontecorvo, The Battle of Algiers; Sergio Leone, Luciano Vincenzoni, Agenore Incrocci. Furio Scarpelli, and Mickey Knox, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly)



ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Robert Bolt, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (2nd: Ernest Lehman, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, followed by: Bohumil Hrabal and Jiri Menzel, Closely Watched Trains; Lewis John Carlino, Seconds; Larry H. Johnson and George Axelrod, Lord Love a Duck)



LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: MEET MARLON BRANDO (US, Albert and David Maysles) (2nd: Snow (UK, Geoffrey Jones), followed by: Outer and Inner Space (US, Andy Warhol); The Devil’s Toy (Canada, Claude Jutra); The Odds Against (US, Lee R. Bobker))


 
ANIMATED SHORT FILM: IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN! (US, Bill Melendez) (2nd: Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (US, Wolfgang Reitherman, followed by: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (US, Chuck Jones); The Pink Blueprint (US, Fritz Freling); Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Double Feature (US, John and Faith Hubley))

BLACK-AND-WHITE CINEMATOGRAPHY: Haskell Wexler, WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (2nd: James Wong Howe, Seconds, followed by: Tamas Somlo, The Round Up; Sven Nykvist, Persona; Ghislain Cloquet, Au Hasard, Balthazar)

COLOR CINEMATOGRAPHY: Carlo di Palma, BLOW UP (2nd: Nicolas Roeg, Fahrenheit 451, followed by: Tonino Delli Colli, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; Conrad Hall, The Professionals; Ted Moore, A Man for All Seasons) 

BLACK-AND-WHITE ART DIRECTION: WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, Seconds, Is Paris Burning?, The Fortune Cookie, The Round Up 

COLOR ART DIRECTION: FANTASTIC VOYAGE, The Rise of Louis XIV. The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Blow Up, Fahrenheit 451 

BLACK-AND-WHITE COSTUME DESIGN: WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, Morgan! A Suitable Case for Treatment, Lord Love a Duck, Andrei Rublev, Mister Buddwing

COLOR COSTUME DESIGN: A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, The Rise of Louis XIV, Blow Up, Daisies, Hawaii



FILM EDITING: WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, Grand Prix, Blow Up, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, A Man for All Seasons



SOUND: GRAND PRIX, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Professionals, Blow Up, Gambit



ORIGINAL SCORE: Ennio Morricone, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (2nd: Alex North, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, followed by: John Barry, Born Free; Walter Georis, John Blakely, and Gaston Georis, The Endless Summer; Herbie Hancock, Blow Up)

ADAPTED OR MUSICAL SCORE: Ken Thorne, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (2nd: Elmer Bernstein, Return of the Magnificent Seven)



ORIGINAL SONG: “Darling, Be Home Soon” from YOU’RE A BIG BOY NOW (Music and lyrics by John Sebastian) (2nd: “Alfie” from Alfie (Music by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David), followed by: "Born Free" from Born Free (Music by John Barry, lyrics by Don Black); "Django" from Django (Music by Luis Bacalov, lyrics by Franco Migliacci); "Georgy Girl" from Georgy Girl (Music by Tom Springfield, lyrics by Jim Dale); "A Must to Avoid" from Hold On! (Music and lyrics by P.F. Sloan); "Navajo Joe" from Navajo Joe (Music and lyrics by Ennio Morricone); "After the Fox" from After the Fox (Music by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David))

SPECIAL EFFECTS: FANTASTIC VOYAGE, Thunderbirds are GO!, Hawaii

MAKEUP: THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES, The Reptile, Seconds

Film #84: The Taking of Pelham One-Two-Three

I still remember sitting over at my friend Brian Matson's apartment, snacks in hand, as I ran across this movie's opening credits. I'd always remembered the title: The Taking of Pelham One-Two-Three. But somehow I missed this bloodcurdling juggernaut as a free-so-freeeee filmgoing child of the 1970s. But, here, in the 1990s, sitting in my friend's living room, I was struck by one thing first and foremost: the massively bombastic score by David Shire. This was a score that said, in all caps, "HERE'S A MOVIE FOR YA, BUDDY! TRY AND TOP THIS ONE, PAL O' MINE!! BETCHA CAN'T! DOUBLE BETCHA! TRIPLE BETCHA!!!"

Even Brian stuck his head around the corner and said "What the hell are you watching?" I said "I dunno, but it sounds good, don't it??!!" Needless to say, I stayed with it and I've been thanking my lucky stars ever since. If you wanna see an action film that the God's honest roadmap for every other action movie made in its wake, then look no further, Mac. Here we have Jaws fisherman Robert Shaw as ultra-calm Mr. Blue, Garry- Marshall- movie- mainstay Hector Elizondo as kill-krazy Mr. Grey, Home Improvement's barely-seen next-door neighbor Earl Hindman as the shy Mr. Brown, and A Thousand Clowns Oscar-winner Martin Balsam as Mr. Green. (So, do all these Mr. Color names remind you of anything?) Together, these guys hatch a plot to hijack a subway car for...get this...ONE MILLION dollars (hey, stop those Dr. Evil jokes...a million bucks was really a MILLION BUCKS back in 1974).

Mr. Blue contacts the subway authorities, headed by Walter Matthau (in a rare 1970s dramatic role, though he still gets a laugh here and there (like when he insults a group of picture-taking Japanese businessmen who actually know English pretty well). Just as jowly as ever, Matthau acts as a reluctant go-between for the city and the kidnappers, who've given the mayor (an Ed-Koch-like Lee Wallace) one little hour to get their asses moving on this thing. Lemme tell ya, ab-so-lute chaos ensues.

Even if you find '70s movies boring (shame on you if you do), you're gonna love this one. It's about to be remade with snoozearama veterans John Travolta and Denzel Washington in the leads, so see it soon, cause the new version is bound to blow big-time (even if it does co-star the fantastic James Gandofini from The Sopranos). If you do rent it, you'll get to see Ben's dad Jerry Stiller in a supporting role as Matthau's smart-aleck second-in-command. You'll see Matthew's dad James Broderick as a flummoxed subway driver who's let go pretty early. You'll see Woody Allen sidekick Tony Roberts as the mayor's no-shit advisor. You'll see a quick flash of Doris Roberts before she became the mother on Everybody Loves Raymond. You'll see a vast array of then-scuzzy-cool New York locales expertly captured by cinematographer Owen Roizman (who did a few other little New York films like The French Connection, Network, Tootsie, and The Exorcist).

And, most importantly, you'll actually find that--hey, my heart is in my freakin' throat--as the train chugs towards its fate. Yeah, ya don't care about any of the passengers (because they're so annoying--the movie's one fault, or its bravest choice, take your pick). But it don't matter 'cause you'll still never be able to guess what's gonna happen in this head-butt of a movie based on John Godey's best seller, and directed by Emmy-winner Joseph Sargeant. And that title theme--occasionally you'll be able to shake your fanny to it on the dance floor, courtesy of some VERY creative DJs out there. So what's not to like?