25. Neil Young - After the Goldrush

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Neil Young - After the Goldrush

The plaintive vocals and deliberate tempo sets a tone that's a little weary, a fitting allegory to the Woodstock generation that a few years prior believed they could change the world overnight, only to have the luster of their idealism fade as the Vietnam war continued its downward spiral, and the culture war escalated into bloody confrontations at Kent State and Jackson State. Yet Young's lyrics have a tendency to become stridently hopeful at unexpected times, as if to reiterate that it's not naive to believe you can change the world, it's only naive to think it would be easy.

This is exemplified by the albums best track and thematic core, Don't Let it Bring You Down, where Young starts by setting a squalid scene of an "old man lying by the side of the road", ignored by passersby and left to the elements, he ends up dead by morning. The initial refrain of "Don't Let it Bring You Down" at this point could be interpreted as cynical apathy, but later versus, when he sings "Blind man walking by the river at night with an answer in his hand. Come on down to the river of sight where you can really understand." reveal what (I think) is the intended interpretation: Don't lose faith, things will "turn around". He uses this formula throughout the album alternating the "bring downs" (Southern Man, Tell Me Why) with the "uplifts" (Till the Morning Comes, I Believe in You).

The consensus among rock critics (according to Acclaimed music, which compiles reviews from numerous sources and combines them) is that this is the best album of 1970. While that validates it's inclusion on my list, I think I need to explain why I don't rate it higher...

Not every track on the album works for me. The tone of the album is consistent throughout and the lesser songs don't interrupt the flow, but they certainly don't stand on their own, either. Particularly the album's highest charting single, Only Love Can Break Your Heart. I find the lyrics a little trite, and when the piano thunks out a dirge-tempo waltz with easy rhymes on the downbeat, I can't help but think of Sesame Street's Prairie Dawn playing the song for a muppet pageant. Another miss for me is another of the album's most popular songs, Southern Man. Even though I sympathize with the sentiment (the history of racial intolerance in the South is an easy target), I find the tongue clucking a tad sanctimonious.

On Deck for 1960

Movies in my NetFlix queue this month:

Spartacus - This is one of those classics that I somehow never got around to seeing. It's directed by Stanley Kubrick and features Kirk Douglas.

The Apartment - The year's best picture winner is a Billy Wilder comedy featuring Shirley MacLaine. It's another classic I hadn't gotten around to seeing yet.

Inherit the Wind - I saw this movie years ago, and I don't remember it very well. If anything, I remember it being talky and pedantic (that it is to say, directed by Stanley Kramer). But this impression doesn't reconcile with it's popularity and high rating on IMDb, so I think it deserves a refresher viewing.

The Time Machine - I'm a sucker for science fiction. I'm also a fan of the special effects of George Pal.

Purple Noon - I'm particularly looking forward to seeing this one. I've never read the Patricia Highsmith novel from which this is adapted (The Talented Mr. Ripley), but I loved the Anthony Minghella version.

Virgin Spring - I always like Ingmar Bergman films. I'm also intrigued by the fact that this is the inspiration for Wes Craven's shock/gore film The Last House on the Left.



Testament of Orpheus - The third film in Jean Cocteau's Orpheus trilogy (conveniently spaced in ten or twenty year increments so I could watch them in the same calendar year). I never get tired of Cocteau's distinctive otherworldly mood.



Never on Sunday - I was really impressed with Night and the City last month. Director Jules Dassin was on quite a streak with his fourth fantastic movie in four consecutive years (1947 - Brute Force, 1948 - The Naked City, 1949 - Thieves' Highway, 1950 - Night and the City). This film is a departure from those noir films and might not have caught my attention if it wasn't for my recent Dassin obsession.

Can-Can - I always try to put a musical on my queue each month. This one has several things going for it: it was the second highest grossing film of 1960 after Ben Hur; it features songs written by Cole Porter; it features Frank Sinatra singing those songs; and it stars Shirley MacLaine so it would make a good double feature with The Apartment.

Primary
Jazz on a Summer's Day - I always try to put a documentary on my queue each month, too. This month, I couldn't narrow it down to just one. Primary is a political documentary following John F. Kennedy's campaign for the Democratic nomination for President in 1960. Jazz on a Summer's Day is a concert film of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival featuring Louis Armstrong. Both films are in the National Film Registry.

If time permits:

Psycho is definitely the most famous movie from 1960, but I've already seen it several times, and there are several other horror films from 1960 that appeal to me, including:

Peeping Tom - I've only seen two other movies by Michael Powell, Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes, both had impressive color cinematography. The trailer for this one promises more of the same.

Village of the Damned - I've seen so many spoofs and other references to this movie, I feel like I've already seen it. There must be good reasons why this film has endured.

TV Shows in my NetFlix queue this month:

The Flintstones - This animated classic debuted in 1960.

Danger Man - Secret agent drama starring Patrick McGoohan who would follow this show up with his iconic role in The Prisoner.

Although I couldn't find a way to squeeze it into my schedule this month, The Andy Griffith Show was another notable TV debut this year.

Novels I loaded onto my Kindle:

Eight Keys to Eden - A science fiction novel by Mark Clifton. From the reviews I read, I expect it to be somewhat philosophical with a libertarian slant.

Deathworld - Another science fiction novel. This one promises to be more action oriented than cerebral. It's the first of Harry Harrison's Deathworld trilogy.

There's no Kindle edition of To Kill a Mockingbird - what's up with that?

Radio Programs I downloaded:



The Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney Show - By 1960, the Golden Age of Radio was well into it's twilight, but Bing Crosby, who had had a series of radio shows continuously since 1931 was determined to be the last to leave the party. This 20 minute weekday morning program with Rosemary Clooney would be his last. It began in February 1960 and ended in 1962.

1930 Playlist

I put together this playlist for 1930. If I figure out how to upload the audio, I'll do so.

01 - Ring Dem Bells - Duke Ellington

02 - Happy Days Are Here Again - Ben Selvin Orchestra
This song was first recorded by Leo Reisman weeks after the 1929 stockmarket crash. This recording would be the biggest hit of 1930 and would become a hopeful anthem for recovery from the Great Depression. It would be used as a campaign song for FDR in 1932.

03 - Three Little Words - The Rhythm Boys with the Duke Ellington Orchestra
This is nice. The Rhythm Boys were the vocalists from Paul Whiteman's orchestra and included a not-yet-famous Bing Crosby. Here they are singing with the Duke Ellington Orchestra in the earliest recorded Ellington/Crosby collaboration. Considering how prolific and prone to collaboration these two were I was surprised that I can only find a couple other recordings of them together (St. Louis Blues in 1932, and several tracks from a radio show broadcast May 29, 1941).



04 - China Boy - Red Nichols

05 - Georgia On My Mind - Hoagy Carmichael
06 - Stardust - Isham Jones
Both of these songs were written by Hoagy Carmichael. This is the first hit version of Stardust which would become a jazz standard.

07 - Oh, Lady Be Good - Red Nichols
A nice dixieland rendition of the Gershwin classic.

08 - Puttin' on the Ritz - Jan Garber
I like to think this is what the Mos Eisley Cantina Band's version of this Irving Berlin classic would sound like.

09 - Exactly Like You - Louis Armstrong

10 - The Count - Bennie Moten
I don't actually know if this song's title is a reference to the band's piano player, William James Basie.

11 - Happy Feet - Paul Whiteman with The Rhythm Boys

12 - I Got Rhythm - Red Nichols

13 - What Is This Thing Called Love - Leo Reisman

14 - Jungle Nights in Harlem - Ellington, Duke

15 - Tiger Rag - Louis Armstrong
16 - Bessie Couldn't Help It - Louis Armstrong

17 - After You've Gone - Red Nichols
Red Nighols' orchestra again. This time with a different vocalist - Wingy Manone I think.

18 - Mood Indigo - Duke Ellington

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On Deck for 1930

These are the movies in my queue this month:


All Quiet on the Western Front - It's a consensus "film of the year". It won the Best Picture Oscar. It's the highest rated and the most popular film from 1930 on IMDb and the only film from that year in the IMDb 250. It was also the first film from 1930 to be inducted into the National Film Registry, and the only film from that year to be listed on the original AFI 100 years, 100 movies list.

Hell's Angels - This was, at the time, the most expensive movie ever made. The many trials of it's production were well documented in The Aviator. Another WWI fighter pilot movie from 1930 that I would like to see is The Dawn Patrol, but it is not available on DVD.

City Girl - I have never been disappointed by a Murnau movie.

Blue Angel
Morocco - I couldn't decide between these two von Sternberg/Dietrich collaborations. Blue Angel is a classic and is more highly-rated and popular, but Morocco is in the National Film Registry, and it's, well, gayer.



Blood of a Poet - I've already seen this Jean Cocteau movie (loved it), but I need a refresher since I'll be seeing the other two films in his Orphic trilogy - Orpheus (1950) and Testament of Orpheus (1960) - later this year (in May and June respectively).

Monte Carlo - I'm a sucker for musicals, even though I wasn't exactly blown away by any of the early talkie musicals I saw last year (Applause, Broadway Melody, or Hallelujah!). Maybe the Lubitsch touch will help.

Animal Crackers - The Marx Brothers' classic.

and if time permits:

L'âge d'or - Before I saw Un chien andalou last year, I had never seen a Luis Buñuel film. I thought the 1928 adaptation, Fall of the House of Usher, where he was the writer and assistant director to Jean Epstein, was fantastic, but I was ultimately disappoint by Un chien andalou. I want to give Buñuel another look, but my expectations are lower this time.

Earth - I've enjoyed a lot of Soviet cinema from this era; Man With a Movie Camera rates as one of my all-time favorite films. The only reason why this film is so low on the list is that I've seen Dovzhenko's Arsenal two years ago and was underwhelmed by it. But this one is considered his best, so I'm curious.

Douglas Fairbanks Does Parkour

This is awesome:



This is my favorite movie scene from 1920, It's from The Mark of Zorro. Douglas Fairbanks does parkour.

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On Deck for 1920

The movies I've added to my Netflix queue this month:


The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - 1920 was the first great year for horror films. I've seen all three (this one and the next two on the list), they're all excellent, and I'm looking forward to rewatching them. This one is easily the most popular (and my personal favorite) film of 1920.

The Golem - James Whale credits this film as an influence on his classic 1931 version of Frankenstein. The stylistic similarities are undeniable.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - I originally saw this in Boulder at Chautauqua's great silent film series. John Barrymore's hamminess is way over the top in this one, but it's still a fun film worth re-watching.

The Mark of Zorro - I've already seen this one once before, too. It's one of Fairbanks' best films. Doug buckles with more swash than usual in this film.

The Last of the Mohicans - This film is in the National Film Registry, and I try to watch as many NFR films as I can.

One Week
Neighbors - Two shorts from Buster Keaton, my favorite silent comedy actor. One Week is also in the NFR.

High and Dizzy - Harold Lloyd also made the excellent comedy short Number, Please? this year which I've seen several times. I haven't seen this one yet.

The Parson's Widow - I was impressed with Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer when I watched his Passion of Joan of Arc a couple of years ago. So I'm interested in seeing this, his earliest film available on Netflix.

Anna Boleyn - Last year's The Doll was unexpectedly good, so I decided to see this early Ernst Lubitsch film as well.

The Penalty - I was also pleasantly surprised by last year's Lon Chaney thriller Victory, so I decided to add this film to the list.

These are the films I will definitely see this month, but I always add a few additional titles to the list just in case I have time to watch more. These two films are on the cusp:

Way Down East - I added this melodrama directed by D.W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish to the list because it is popular and highly rated on IMDb, but I was really disappointed by last year's Griffith/Gish film, Broken Blossoms, so I added it to the bottom of the list.

Why Change Your Wife? - I added this morality play directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gloria Swanson to the list because it is popular and highly rated on IMDb, but I was really disappointed by last year's DeMille/Swanson film, Male and Female, so I added it to the bottom of the list.

Not on DVD

Within Our Gates - I saw this film on a DVD back in 2003 (and wrote a small, negative, review of it here), but that DVD is now out of print. I didn't particularly care for the film when I saw it, but then I noticed it was on the National Film Registry, and I wanted to give it a second viewing.

Movie Highlights of 1959

My favorite movies I saw this month:

Sleeping Beauty

Black Orpheus

Suddenly Last Summer

Ben Hur

Anatomy of a Murder

Compulsion

Our Man in Havana

Pillow Talk

The Mouse That Roared

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