Influential 1960s Movies Streaming Now
Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, and the French New Wave. Plus, a mini-review of Promising Young Woman.
We’ve done the 1980s, we’ve done the 1970s, and now it’s time for us to recommend the best 1960s movies streaming now. The streaming services don’t always do a good job of representing films from before 1980, but we have found three diamonds for you to visit or revisit this weekend. Plus, read our review of the new movie Promising Young Woman.
Shoutout to all the DYLA readers! If you missed our top 10 movies of 2020 post last week, check that out. We can’t wait to spend 2021 talking about movies with you guys!
Billy recommends…
Cleo from 5 to 7 (streaming on HBO Max)
Agnes Varda profiles a woman dealing with the anxiety that comes with pending biopsy results and creates a commentary on the intense pressure to exist in society. Varda was one of the few women shaping the French New Wave era of cinema and brought in the soul it needed. This feels like an extension of her experience. Exist in this world and create similar feeling art, but being as talented (probably more talented) as so many others, a photographer, and a woman can bring a necessary lens to an era of film that in modern day feels so saturated. Shame on us for almost burying this legendary filmmaker.
Our main character Florence “Cleo” Victoire simply exists in this story. Not much happens except observing her journey while she tries to find distractions from her newly found awareness of death. She is able to find these distractions easily in most spaces. Cleo is a B pop star with some hits. That combined with her beauty can naturally bring distractions from every direction. Initially these distractions are welcomed.
The sickness has brought an awareness that she did not previously have or acknowledge. Her sudden clarity has made it abundantly clear how selfish people are towards her everyday. Any attempt to voice her anxiety is immediately shot down with many variations of “don’t worry about it, you’ll be fine.” Creating a desire for any interaction that brings some sort of authenticity into her life.
She is able to find this randomly jaunting through the park in a man who is going to be leaving for war soon, bringing another perspective of mortality into the conversation. I’ll end here with a quote from Roger Ebert who describes the ending interaction in such a beautiful way: “He doesn't know of her day's health worries, but he has worries of his own, and Varda's dialogue allows an emotional bridge to exist between them. Then Cleo is told her test results with almost cruel informality by her doctor. Then she and the soldier talk a little more. If you want to consider the differences between men and women, consider that what Antoine says here was written by a woman, and many men would have found it out of reach.”
Drew recommends…
Cool Hand Luke (streaming on Netflix)
For a relatively simple and unpretentious story, Cool Hand Luke contains a surprising amount of depth that has elevated it to classic status over the last 50-plus years. This film about a relaxed and defiant man, played by the great Paul Newman, sent to a harsh Florida prison camp instantly became an anti-establishment favorite during a time when protests over the Vietnam War were kicking into high gear. It’s also a movie packed full of religious symbolism, with its very own Christ-figure at the center of the frame throughout.
As Luke, Newman provides one of my favorite performances ever, and that’s no hyperbole. With his tremendous star presence he easily constructs Luke’s myth as the other prisoners begin to admire this “free spirit” and put their hopes in him. However, Newman is also skilled enough to demonstrate Luke’s flawed humanity at the same time. It’s a quiet, yet charismatic performance, with Newman knowingly flashing those blue eyes and bright smile. It’s a pleasure to see a one-of-a-kind movie star exist so effortlessly on screen in one of his greatest roles.
When Cool Hand Luke came out in 1967 it was one of a few movies (Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate) that signaled the arrival of New Hollywood, a movement led by maverick filmmakers that rebelled against the studio system. The non-conformist themes of Cool Hand Luke display this neatly, making it an instant classic for 1960s viewers that were eager to go their own way. It remains an early example of an anti-hero movie, but Roger Ebert put this idea into perspective in his review from 2008: “I think he's more of a willing martyr, a man so obsessed with the wrongness of the world that he invites death to prove himself correct.”
However you want to view Luke, there’s no denying the film sees him as a sacrificial lamb. Crucifixion symbols abound in Cool Hand Luke, including the final shot. At one point, Luke plays a melancholy song called “Plastic Jesus” on his guitar, and near the end of the movie he has his Garden of Gethsemane moment. These are things I didn’t notice when my dad first showed me this movie (one of his favorites) in high school, but supply new appreciation with each rewatch.
Even if you aren’t looking for anything deeper than a great 60s prison movie, Cool Hand Luke has its share of iconic lines and moments. “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate” is one of the most recognizable movie quotes in history. The 50 eggs scene is unforgettable as well. The late 60s sparked an explosion of some of the best American movies ever, all the way through the 70s. Cool Hand Luke was right at the forefront, “a natural-born world-shaker” in the mold of its main character.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (streaming on Amazon Prime)
Can you make a movie with more nonchalant cool than this? While The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was not revered in its day, it certainly got the last laugh over time. It has become one of the most influential films of all-time (just look at just about any Western made afterwards, or the career of Quentin Tarantino), and the ultimate Spaghetti Western.
Back in the 1960s, the Spaghetti Western -- a subgenre of low budget Westerns produced in Italy -- was seen as low art. Clint Eastwood was slumming it when he went out to Italy to make what would come to be known as the Dollars Trilogy -- A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Sergio Leone, the Italian director of all three movies, made Eastwood a true-blue movie star and an iconic anti-hero. Over the years, critics and audiences have come to recognize the Spaghetti Western as an indispensable part of movie history.
One of the unique parts about the Dollars Trilogy is that you don’t necessarily have to watch them in order, but the best is The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, in which three gunslingers race to find buried Confederate gold during the Civil War. Eastwood’s grizzled, poncho-sporting cowboy is known as the Man with No Name. Little backstory is given to this mystery character, which makes him all the more intriguing. Leone and Eastwood’s American West is godless and morally compromised at every turn. Thrillingly, the characters in these movies are not divided into white hats and black hats.
At least half of the coolness factor of this trilogy is owed to Ennio Morricone’s epic score. The music of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly has been so ripped off over the decades that you forget how triumphant it is to watch and listen to it with fresh eyes and ears, especially the final Mexican standoff in the graveyard. The images, sound, and action are all so perfectly aligned and in sync with one another. It’s no wonder they are still trying to make movies as cool as this.
Recent Release Mini-Reviews
Promising Young Woman (in theaters and on demand now)
Drew: Promising Young Woman might not be flawless, but this sharp-elbowed revenge thriller is a daring and stylish leap. First-time filmmaker Emerald Fennell (Killing Eve) directs Carey Mulligan in the story of a woman so damaged by a past tragedy that she turns the tables on predatory men on a near-nightly basis. I won’t give away any more of this film’s shocks and surprises, but suffice it to say, people will be talking about this one.
Mulligan has been one of the more underappreciated actresses of the last decade, but she sinks her teeth into this juicy part. There are more familiar faces in the cast, but this is Mulligan’s show from start to finish. Despite an uneasiness in tone from a script that could’ve used a little more refining, this movie takes off in the home stretch. The last act left me breathless. Promising Young Woman has a righteous fury boiling (just barely) underneath a glossy surface. - 4 out of 5 Apples
Links
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Zendaya is everywhere these days -- HBO’s Euphora, Spider-Man movies, her upcoming Netflix awards contender Malcolm and Marie -- so GQ gave her the cover profile this month.
The Frances McDormand movie Nomadland, one of the biggest contenders for Best Picture this year, will debut February 19 on Hulu, the same day it releases in theaters.