To see the intro to this project, as well as links to other decades, click here. 33) “Suicide is Painless,” from M*A*S*H (1970) In 1973, there were two movie musicals which feature a scene with Jesus at the Last Supper. In Godspell, which is a silly but honestly pretty faithful adaptation of Matthew, Jesus gives… Read More Listen to America: The 1970s
To see the intro to this project, as well as links to other decades, click here. 27) “America,” from West Side Story (1961) The most illuminating song performances of the 1960s are bookends with dance numbers which, if we’re being honest, outshine the songs themselves. In the case of “America,” the signature song from West… Read More Listen to America: The 1960s
To see the intro to this project, as well as links to other decades, click here. 20) “S’Wonderful,” from An American in Paris (1951) The first Best Picture winner in color since Gone with the Wind, An American in Paris likewise hearkens back to what weary viewers might have seen as a simpler time. After… Read More Listen to America: The 1950s
To see the intro to this project, as well as links to other decades, click here. 9) “Go Down, Moses,” from Sullivan’s Travels (1941) Writer-directors throughout movie history are rarely good at just shutting up and letting the work speak for itself, and Sullivan’s Travels is proof that even the best of them can stumble… Read More Listen to America: The 1940s
To see the intro to this project, as well as links to other decades, click here. 1) “The Broadway Melody,” from The Broadway Melody of 1929 (1929) One of the ironies of Hollywood in the talkie years is that the Californians spent years in thrall to the New Yorkers. Hollywood would not overtake truly overtake… Read More Listen to America: The 1920s and 1930s
This is Listen to Britain, Humphrey Jennings’s short documentary combining popular British music with images of homefront Britain in the midst of World War II. (I’m linking via YouTube, but there is a version in much better visual and especially audio quality on the Criterion Channel for subscribers.) I don’t typically spend a lot of… Read More Listen to America: 75 Movie Song Performances Which Illuminate American Cinema
The Sight and Sound poll invites more than a thousand real critics (i.e., not me) to submit their top ten films to be compiled as part of their decennial results. There will be a new Sight and Sound poll this year, which I’ve been indecently excited about for the past three or four years now,… Read More My Sight and Sound 2022 Ballot (It’s Not Real, I’m Just Jealous and Want to Participate)
Steven Hyden introduced his five-albums test more than a decade ago as a third way to judge a band, short of its popularity or its critical acclaim. While this one is not meant to stand on its own—for example, he’s not sure that either Bob Dylan nor the Rolling Stones had made five great albums… Read More The Five-Movies Test or: Which Director Has Had the Best Stretch of Consecutive Feature-Length Films in English?
Dir. Jim Henson. Starring the Muppets, Diana Rigg, Charles Grodin My ten favorite gags in The Great Muppet Caper, which has been one of my favorite movies since the mid-1990s. (I’ll save you some suspense. “What color are their hands now?” is not going to make this list.) 10) No respect for the British Society… Read More The Great Muppet Caper (1981)
Dir. Clarence Brown. Starring Mickey Rooney, James Craig, Frank Morgan I enter ninety percent of the movies I watch with an almost a ludicrous amount of optimism. I want them to surprise me and move me; at least once a week, I think to myself as I start a movie, “Maybe this will be the… Read More The Human Comedy (1943)
Seeing Things Secondhand 