Movies Came Out In (1964)
Winner:
My Fair Lady – I have never seen this until recently (watched on TCM). I was disappointed, and surprised this was a winner. To me, none of the songs were super memorable (though I did slightly recognize some). I had to turn on the closed captions to understand what Audrey Hepburn’s character was saying, and Rex Harrison’s character was essentially the same person from Dr. Dolittle. Clocking in at almost 3 hours, this movie/musical is way too long. The plot is a rich snobby professor places a wager with a friend that he can turn a “street girl” into a high profile member of society.
Becket – Watched this recently, and found that it doesn’t hold up well. As a kid, perhaps this would have been a good movie to watch to learn some history (King Henry II versus Thomas Becket in England) and not have to read a stuffy history book. But as an adult, I found the acting/dialogue comical and it wasn’t meant to be. For the historical significance, I’m glad I watched, but that’s about it.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb – Watched recently, but had never seen it before. Kind of interesting given today’s political world climate with Russia, but honestly, I thought this movie was just weird and not too entertaining. For some pop culture reference (like the Simpsons), I suppose it was worth watching. The plot is essentially an insane military general triggers a nuclear war and politicians and military leaders struggle with stopping it (and the aftermath).
Mary Poppins – A classic tale about a magical nanny that helps unite a father with his 2 small children. More fun when you watch with kids though. Never really enjoyed it much until I watched with my daughter.
Zorba the Greek – Just watched recently, and wow what a strange movie. I’m not even sure I could summarize the plot succinctly if I had to. English writer befriends a Greek (Zorba, Anthony Quinn) on the way to Crete, Zorba helps writer with his mining business (huh?), there’s a love interest in town (a widower), she gets murdered, which appears to be acceptable in this town, and later the writer and Zorba are dancing on the beach. So very strange, definitely not my cup of tea.
Brian’s Winner:
Mary Poppins out of this lot, didn’t enjoy this year very much.
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#1964
Ceremony Year (1965) – Movies Came Out In (1964)