settima

RingoStarr

200 Motels (Tony Palmer + Frank Zappa, 1971)

Mar

23

200 Motels (1971)

Ringo Starr dressed up like Frank Zappa, with Frank Zappa dressed up like Frank Zappa in the background. Both wear identical blue jeans and turtleneck sweaters and sport the same shoulder-length hairstyle and moustache/goatee combination. DP: Tony Palmer.

I'm sure the people at home would be interested to know why such a large force as you is all dressed up like Frank Zappa. Tell us Larry, whats the deal?

– Rance Muhammitz speaking to Larry The Dwarf

Yellow Submarine (George Dunning, 1968)

Apr

28

Clean Comedy Day

Yellow Submarine (1968)

A Blue Meanie pirouetting on a blossoming flower that pushes itself up into the sky. The sky is white while the flower and clouds are multicoloured.

A Gen X-er, I grew up in a completely different world where so many films and TV that kids watched – if watched with today's eyes — were not particularly kid-oriented at all. I fondly remember Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) and reenacting the Black Knight scene in the school grounds. Yul Brynner as a faceless, rampaging cyber cowboy in Westworld (1973)? Sure, bring it on! Not that the official kid's movies were “clean”. Did you spot the chicken decapitation in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)? Well, you will now.

“Once upon a time, or maybe twice, there was an unearthly paradise called Pepperland. 80,000 leagues beneath the sea it lay, or lie. I'm not too sure.”

– narrator

Alright, I'll keep it clean and suggest a dose of Yellow Submarine. A fantastic adventure starring The #Beatles (well, their likeness mostly) who are summoned to save utopian, music-loving #Pepperland from the music-hating Blue Meanies. Trippy fun, and lots to discover the older you get.