Oh, this is one of those Frankie Avalon/Annette Funicello movies — they’re allegedly what led to the downfall of Western Civilisation — because kids in the 60s watched these movies and went “fuck this shit!”

If I understand things correctly. I’ve never seen one of these movies myself.

*gasp*

That must be Frankie and Annette… the opening titles for this are kinda like a TV series, so I’m going to go ahead and guess that this is part of a series of films with the same characters?

That’s a nice radio.

Such jinx.

I watched a couple of Carry On films a few years back — they’re sex farces from the UK from the 70s — and I had no idea that these beachy movies were going to have basically the same vibe.

Bad boys!

I’m guessing this is a recurring joke? He shifted over from the sidecar to the bike to not be left behind, but HA HA

So this must be even more of a movie series than I had assumed — recurring characters and jokes, I guess?

This is very, very silly.

Wow, it’s really… er… involved? That is, some of these gags are totally incomprehensible — the movie really assumes that you’ve seem the previous movies, I think. It doesn’t explain or recap anything about anything.

I kinda like that.

Frankie Avalon seems like a total dork, but Annette Funicello kinda seems too cool to be in this kind of movie?

I quite enjoyed the first two thirds of this — it’s relentless, and the stupid gags just keep on coming. It’s not until they try to add more drama and plot that you get bored enough to start thinking about what you’re watching: This is a music movie about pretty young people on the beach — and absolutely all the actors are white. I think. At least I can’t remember even somebody in the background not being white, and that’s just a kinds disgusting statement to be making in 1965.

But the main problem is that the third act is painfully boring, of course.

Beach Blanket Bingo. William Asher. 1965. ⚂

Should you put your towel on your head while showering?

Anyway, this looks great! I really haven’t seen that many movies by Vincente Minnelli — that I can remember. I mean, I probably saw a bunch as a child, but I haven’t seen more than a couple since starting to get back into watching movies about a decade ago…

So I’m hoping this movie’s gonna be awesome so that I can start watching all of his films. Or something.

It’s a fun concept — it’s about a woman running an answering service?

You can tell that Minnelli isn’t American by the way he has women… *gasp*… talking… TO EACH OTHER!!!

Heh heh.

Oh, Dean Martin’s in this? I haven’t really seen many movies with him either…

It’s the cops!

It’s the crooks!

It’s the gay neighbour!

Anyway, I love Judy Holliday here — I’m not familiar with her much, but she plays this slightly over the top, somewhat out of control character with such aplomb — it’s breathtaking. And very funny.

This was apparently her last movie — she died just a few years later.

Where 7th Ave meets Broadway.

The lighting in this movie is so… I mean, it’s extremely artificial, but in a wonderful way. Look at the shadow in the middle of that guy’s face…

Oh, Method actors…

Those cops!

I feel like Minnelli might be making fun of musicals…

It’s a pretty odd movie — it’s so unfocused. I mean, the point of the movie is the romance between Holliday and Dean, but it’s not really focused on that and doesn’t really adhere to the story beats you’re expecting. It’s so… knowing… and seems to delight more in just watching Holliday being silly on the screen instead of moving the plot forward. Which explains the 125 minute running time.

But it really is delightful.

Bells Are Ringing. Vincente Minnelli. 1960. ⚅

I don’t know quite what made me buy this bluray, but that’s not unusual. It’s on Criterion, so perhaps I just clicked “buy” at random…

Anyway, this is a very 70s American indyish movie (but apparently released by Warner Brothers)? I think I can see some Chantal Akerman influences here, but it really seems very American so far…

I mean, all these dramatic camera angles? (That I’m not sure works.)

And the over-the-top drama… So perhaps there’s no Akerman influence at all, really.

But I’m enjoying the movie so far.

Nice colour.

The cabbie tells it like it is.

The focus on this movie is just odd — the protagonist is usually slightly blurry… is that supposed to be symbolic?

Hey! She’s suddenly in focus! After she got a new hairdo.

Now it’s soft again, so perhaps it wasn’t symbolic.

You tell ’em!

Well, she looks very familiar.

Yum!

Yup, still random shots out of focus…

The story here is pretty normal — young, struggling artist in New York bla bla — but it’s really done in a convincing way. It feels very young and vibrant? I really liked it.

Girlfriends. Claudia Weill. 1978. ⚄