May 25, 2021

Running out of time to say much this morning, and I have two Mlog posts to write. So I better get started on those. I rented these two movies because they were a pair on Edgar Wright's list of double features. 

Mlog time! 

**SPOILERS**

A HARD DAY’S NIGHT

1964

Directed by: Richard Lester

Written by: Alun Owen 

Watched: 5/22/21

Each time I go to write one of these, I pull up the plot summary on Wikipedia, and it’s always very good. Okay, this movie is a day in the life of the Beatles with one exception: Paul is looking after his ne’er-do-well grandfather. Paul’s grandfather sews disquiet among otherwise harmonious groups. The Beatles have a series of sets they need to play on live television, and in between each set they get up to some hijinks – often because of things Paul’s grandfather has said. Each Beatle gets separated from the rest for a little bit and has his own spotlight for a second. In the end, they lose Ringo for a while, before finding him and getting him back to the studio right in time to go on. 

I liked this movie okay. The songs were good and the little set pieces tended to be funny. If it wasn’t put together so smoothly, you might think it was the kind of thing a few friends decided to put together in a weekend. The ideas are light and held loosely. It was happy-ish. 

Rating: ★★1/2 

HEAD

1968

Directed by: Rob Rafelson

Written by: Rob Rafelson, Jack Nicholson

Watched: 5/24/21

This movie, like A Hard Day’s Night, is a musical comedy but it’s the Monkees instead of the Beatles. It’s also like a psychedelic sketch show through movie-making history. We see the Monkees walking through a backlot, in a WWI-style trench, jumping off a bridge, dying in the desert, hoovered up by a giant vacuum, what else? Belly dancers. There are cowboys and Indians, a kissing contest, a surprise birthday party, a factory, and a mysterious black steel box. Apparently, the Monkees and Jack Nicholson, and Rob Rafelson came up with the ideas while doing a lot of weed and/or acid. It’s cool, though. There are a lot of interesting little tricks while the Monkees act more or less deadpan, like they’re always in a dream. 

I liked this movie, especially the beginning (and then it comes back in the end), where Micky runs through the red ribbon – the opening ceremony – of a suspension bridge and hurls himself off of it. As he’s flying through the air, tumbling and turning weightless, he looks like the only Gap ad to ever feature a suicide. When he hits the water, he does not die. But it does look like a suicide, and maybe it represents how the Monkees, with this movie, intend on pissing off their fan base, essentially committing suicide. I also liked the trenches scene, where the four were blasé about the gun shots and cannon shells. One of them was tired of wearing his helmet and another recommended that he keep doing it anyway. The kissing contest scene was surprisingly gross. A lovely lady goes around and kisses each of the monkees one right after another (maybe twice). I mean, there’s obviously much more body fluid swapping than that on the internet, but the scene still struck me as especially gross. Don’t kiss people like that! 

This movie was interesting, and it mostly kept my attention. Plus it lets you know early on that it isn’t going to make much sense overall. And then it doesn’t make much sense overall. 

Job done. 

Rating: ★★★