An appreciation of "Head," the Monkees movie

I don't own many DVDs (relatively speaking). The movies I want to own are the ones that I know I'll be revisiting often. "Head," the 1968 film starring the Monkees is one of them.

Many people will probably stop at that last sentence. They might agree that the Monkees' TV program was pleasant fluff, entertaining to tweens, perhaps, but not of any value. And besides -- wasn't it basically a ripoff of "Help?" and "A Hard Day's Night," anyway? Wouldn't a Monkee movie just be more of the same?

One would think so, but "Head" turned out to be something totally different. Individually, the Monkees were more than ready to shed their bubblegum "Pre-fab Four" image, and "Head" was how they were going to do it.

The film is a stream-of-consciousness series of surrealistic vignettes that not only strip away the teenybopper image of the group, but examines what young people considered to be the core issues in 1968. Police brutality and authoritarianism are lampooned, as well as the pervasiveness of the media (remember, this was the age of Marshall McLuhan) and how it distorts reality.

Eastern philosophies come into play, and the absence of causality is a major plot point. At the very least, "Head" is a time capsule of late 1960s attitudes, culture and fashion. But it's more than that.

A segment leading into an anti-war skit begins with news footage of South Vietnamese General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong prisoner in the street. The sight of this very real execution pulls the viewer up short -- it's not played for laughs. The murder is meant to shock and it does. And it colors what follows and the rest of the film as well. This is not a movie for preteens.

And the music is more sophisticated, too. Here's a good example from the opening. "The Porpoise Song," a Gerry Goffin/Carole King composition is quintessential psychedelica.




"Head" also has the strangest supporting cast of any movie. In addition to the Monkees, there's also Victor Mature playing, well, Victor Mature. Annette Funicello parodies the kind of roles she was famous for, and football great Sonny Liston appears as an odd version of a football player.

Bob Raphelson and Bert Schneider, who produced the Monkee's TV show, produced the movie, along with their friend Jack Nicholson (who also makes a very brief cameo). Terri Garr's in "Head," along with Dennis Hopper, and character actors Timothy Carey and Vitto Scotti.

And if the woman dancing with Davy Jones in "Daddy's Song" looks familiar, there's a reason. It's Toni Basil, who not only appeared the film but did the choreography (yes, the same Toni Basil who sang "Micki" in the 1980's and choreographed "That Thing You Do" in 1996).



And that really was Frank Zappa, offering his critique of Jones' number at the end.



 Some of what "Head" is about remains locked into 1968. But not everything. Consider this quote from an industrialist/scientist giving the Monkees a tour of a state-of-the-art factory.

Leisure, the inevitable byproduct of our civilization. A new world, who's only occupation will be how to amuse itself. The tragedy of your times, my young friends, is that you may get exactly what you want.

The trailer doesn't do the film any justice, but since it wasn't released until 1971 it didn't really matter. No one knew what "Head" was about, everyone had moved on from the Monkees, and from the aesthetics of the late 1960's in general.



It's a movie that yields additional insights and surprises every time I watch it, which is why it's a DVD I own. And truth to tell, sometimes when I take a jaundiced look at the world around us, I have to wonder if perhaps we aren't living in that new world, who's only occupation is how to amuse itself.

- Ralph

What's on my list

OK, Ken (and you, too, gentle reader). Here's what sitting in my Netflix cue as of February 23, 2007.

1. Little Miss Sunshine – When the movie first came out, the reviews suggested it might appeal to my skewed sense of humor. A recommendation from my daughter who shares a similar outlook clinched the deal.

2. Woman in the Moon – I was reading an article about Fritz Lang, and saw a citation for this film. That's all I needed to explore further. Woman in the Moon (1929) is Lang's other science fiction movie, and by most accounts has a story that's surprisingly sophisticated for the time.

3. Lawrence of Arabia – Incredibly, I've never seen this film all the way through. I've only seen clips in various documentaries about movies, and viewed parts of it while channel surfing. Just filling another gap in my knowledge (and looking forward to a great viewing experience).

4. The Navigator – I've always admired Buster Keaton. I haven't seen this film, but I have watched his more famous pictures such as Steamboat Bill, Jr. I admire his inventiveness and his ability to perform astounding physical comedy seemingly without effort -- I also seem to be one of the few that like his work in the 60's beach movies.

5. Garden State – I'm a big fan of Scrubs, so I was automatically interested in Zack Braff's first film outing. Friends whose opinions I respect also recommend the film, so into the cue it went.

Looking at the lists side by side, it looks like Ken's trumps mine in variety and depth.

Ken – what say we revisit this topic in a month or so and see how the lineups change?

- Ralph

What's on your list?

With the Academy Awards on the way, everybody's talking movies. It seems only right that Ralph and I should stick our oar in as well.

A lot of writers like to take this time of year to roundly berate the Academy for it's lack of judgment in past Oscar awards. It's an easy exercise -- just pick your favorite movies that didn't win "Best Picture" and contrast them with the undeserving winner. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. Here's a good example.

For a more interesting exercise in movie criticism, I'm going to let you take a look at my Netflix queue's top 5 movies -- what I picked, and why it's on the list. So, for February 22, 2007, here it is:

1. The Lavender Hill Mob -- I've had a taste for classic comedies lately. I really enjoyed Preston Sturges' Sullivan's Travels and Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three. I thought I'd give this old favorite a spin. And anything with Alec Guinness can't be bad.

2. The Battle of Algiers -- OK, I've had this sitting by the DVD player for weeks now. I know it's an important film, with prescient insights into our country's current Middle Eastern mess, but it looks like a real downer. I'm just not in the mood for it...

3. The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes -- Three episodes from the classic Granada TV adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. Purely comfort food.

4. Casino Royale -- I'm a Sean Connery 007 guy all the way, but I've heard good things about this...

5. Children of Men -- This hasn't been released on DVD yet, but I'm anxiously awaiting it. I'm always game for a well-done vision of an apocalyptic near future.

That's what's on my list -- your turn, Ralph.

Ken

Dust-catching DVDs

Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, Wal-Mart -- all of them prominently feature DVDs in their consumer electronics fliers. So now the time has come to tie together our threads on collecting and shopping together.

How many DVDs do you really need to own? Personal question, true, but one not everyone asks. Some of my friends want to own every movie they see. Even after several years, they're still in the accumulation phase of collecting. Sure, they've got hundreds of movies, but how many get viewed more than once or twice?

These are collections that are stuck in the accumulation phase, with a list of titles that's wide but shallow. Do you really need to own Steve Martin's "Pink Panther" or Jim Carrey's "Fun with Dick and Jane?" Sure, they're both on sale now at Target but, really, how many times to you expect to revisit these gems?

While there are some DVDs I consider important to own, it’s a fairly small list. For a title to enter my collection, it has to be something I know I'll want to view in whole or in parts at least ten times or more. It should also be something that's not readily available. For everything else, there's Netflix.

And that's where collecting and gift buying come together. Unless you know your intended gift recipient is really burning for a copy of "Geisha," (another title on sale in said Target flier), a gift subscription to Netflix might be a better choice. As we move more towards Web 2.0 (more on that another post), the tradeoff between owning something of marginal interest and being able to access it when needed will continue to grow in importance when considering a purchase.

I'm glad I own the Kino release of "Metropolis." I've revisit it with some frequency, and I continue to find new insights with each viewing. "Pirates of the Caribbean?"

I can wait three days for the Netflix envelope to arrive.
- Ralph

DVD PS3 Q-list

Suggestions for DVDs to watch while waiting in the PlayStation 3 que.

There's several ways to go here. One thought would be to bring movies with the longest running-times to help pass the time. Just sticking to theatrical releases, there's "Napoleon" (235 min) if you want to do serious cinema. Or try "1900" (333 min.) if you want to add color and sound. Of course there's the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, the "Star Wars" movies and so on which can all help pass the time.

Another thought (and a little more in line with the gamer's demographic) would be use that time for a season retrospective of your favorite TV series. How about the complete "Babylon 5"? Or one of the Star Trek series, or something similar. An interesting viewing experiment might be to do a complete run of "24" -- playing each program in its corresponding hour. See if your powers of reason match Jack Bauer's after staying awake for 20+ hours.

Or you could have a filmfest of videogame-based movies to get you in the mood for your new purchase (and maybe arouse the fighting spirit necessary to make it through the frenzied mob of fellow shoppers).

"Resident Evil," perhaps, or "Mortal Kombat." "Lara Croft, Tomb Raider," or maybe "The Last Starfighter" if you're really old skool. You could try "Super Mario Bros." or "Street Fighter" if you wanted to make it a real stink-fest (with appropriate MST3K-style commentary).

And let's not forget the top-selling DVD of all time based on a video game -- Pokemon.

- Ralph

Vindicated -- again

Denon gave a presentation for their new products this past week that Ken and I were able to attend. One of their showcase items was their new DVD player, the DVD2930C. To demonstrate the quality of the signal, they did an A/B comparison. They connected the 2930C and a Blu-ray player to the same receiver, feeding into the same flat-panel display. They then flipped back and forth between the two sources, showing the same scene from the same movie, "The Fifth Element" -- a perennial favorite for video demos.

The challenge for the audience was to determine which was the Blu-ray and which was the DVD. After moving back and forth a few times, most of the A/V professionals in the room could tell the difference.

Denon made their point. With a top-notch DVD player, you can come very, very close to the picture quality and detail of Blu-ray. And they helped make the point we made back in our 9/11/06 post, "'Better' Best Be Better". Pros couldn't immediately spot the difference between high-quality DVD output and Blu-ray. Is it any wonder that the average consumer can't see what all the fuss is about?