March 25 - March 31:
Ski Party (1965)
Frankie Avalon, Dwayne Hickman, Deborah Walley, Yvonne Craig
It's a beach party movie, only on the slopes! Not only do they find numerous opportunities to run around in swimsuits (the indoor pool), the film ends at the beach! This film is rendered amazing by the fact that James Brown and his Famous Flames show up out of nowhere (he says they're the ski patrol), along with three St. Bernards with kegs around their necks that say "Vodka Martini," "Whiskey Sour" and "Anything We Can Find," and proceed to sing "I Got You (I Feel Good)." We're also subjected to Lesley Gore singing "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" on the bus to the ski lodge as if she was one of the college kids, although you never see her again after that. Mysterious!
Muscle Beach Party (1964)
Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello
We're on a beach party bender! This one has Frankie ditching Annette for a rich Italian widow who wants to set him up with a singing career. Don't worry, his friends shame him into seeing what's important in life before he can become a gigolo and he and Annette reunite. "Little" Stevie Wonder belts out two numbers.
It Happened at the World's Fair (1963)
Elvis Presley, Gary Lockwood, Vicky Tiu, Joan O'Brien
I always get weepy in Elvis films, even the upbeat ones, and this one is definitely upbeat. Pilot Elvis and his gambling-addicted business partner lose their plane because of dummy's gambling debts and hitch a ride to the Seattle World's Fair because that's where the truck is headed. Gambling Boy gets mixed up with criminals and Elvis has to save his sorry butt, while simultaneously taking care of adorable little Sue-Lin, whose uncle never showed up to take her back home after the Fair (he'd been in an accident, but he was okay in the end) and juggling a new girlfriend. The numerous World's Fair shots are magical.
The Velveteen Lounge Airport Film Festival, featuring a triple feature of Airport, Airport 1975 and Airport 1977 (1970, 1975, 1977)
Dean Martin, Charleton Heston, Jack Lemmon, Karen Black and too many other stars to name
Believe it or not this was actually research for a film project we're working on, but Zach came up and we binged on the incredibly cheesy Airport films. I LOVE these movies! The all-star casts, the ridiculous situations, George Kennedy. I'd watch them even if I wasn't working on a project. Airport 1975, in which flight attendant Karen Black has to keep the plane aloft until help can arrive, is my favorite, even though the first film features the incredible Dean Martin.
March 11 - March 17:
The Endless Summer (1966)
Bruce Brown, director and narrator
I loved this documentary about two California surfers traveling the world, following the summer season and searching for the perfect wave. They find it in Cape St. Francis, South Africa. It made me wistful, both because at heart I'm really a beach bum and because I so clearly live in the wrong era and was born about 20 years too late. This is one I really need on DVD.
March 4 - March 10:
Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961)
Deborah Walley, James Darren
I think Deborah Walley is my favorite Gidget. I love this film! It has it all: surfing, technicolor Hawaii-in-the-'60s ambiance, clothes, a mambo sequence and tikis! It also features fabulous character actors like Carl Reiner and Peggy Cass. It rocks!
Gidget Goes to Rome (1963)
Cindy Carol, James Darren
It's kind of weird how many different Gidgets there were, yet your mind just sort of makes the adjustment. It's no Gidget Goes Hawaiian, but I really enjoyed this one, too. It makes you really want to visit Rome and the sequences at the pretentious party with the "international set" and the fashion show are not to be missed. Jessie Royce Landis, as the kids' hands-off chaperone with more wigs than I have bras, is fabulous.
Harum Scarum (1965)
Elvis Presley, Mary Ann Mobley
Elvis does the Middle East! In this one he plays an American movie star who's in the Middle East to premiere his latest picture. He's kidnapped and ordered to use his martial arts skills to kill an Arab king. If he fails in his mission a bunch of people will be killed, including two orphaned children. This is Elvis, so naturally he saves the king AND gets the girl, in this case the incredibly dumb princess.
Click here to see what we watched in February and early March 2007
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Click here to see what we watched in December 2006 and early January
Click here to see what we watched in November 2006
Click here to see what we watched in October and early November 2006
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Click here to see what we watched in April and early May 2006
Click here to see what we watched in March and early April 2006
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