“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.”Yellow Submarine (George Dunning, 1968)
Apr
28
Clean Comedy Day
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.
– 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.
uk
“I'm strange, all right! I'll show you just how strange I am!” The Damned [These Are the Damned] (Joseph Losey, 1962)
Mar
19
National Automatic Door Day
An 11-year old boy, Henry (Kit Williams), opens a featureless door in a rock surface for a drenched King (Oliver Reed). DP: Arthur Grant.
An American tourist visiting Dorset is tricked by a prostitute, then falls victim to a youth gang controlled by volatile con King – a still very green Oliver Reed at his meanest. The trickster is King's sister, who confides in the American hoping to escape her brother's incestuous advances.
– King
The couple elopes to a nearby island, closely followed by King and his gang, where they find a group of #children, all contently living in an underground lab, with #AutomaticDoors only they can control.
They are the damned.
Accident (Joseph Losey, 1967)
Feb
1
Car Insurance Day
Anna (Jacqueline Sassard) on the backseat of a car, her head tilted back. DP: Gerry Fisher.
A car accident.
“Shirley my dear, would you mind sitting somewhere else? Body odor offends me.”The Anniversary (Roy Ward Baker + Alvin Rakoff, 1968)
Jan
10
National Houseplant Appreciation Day
Dear Mrs. Taggart (Bette Davis) takes a moment during the anniversary to water her many many houseplants in her winter garden. DP: Harry Waxman.
Someone is watering houseplants for National Houseplant Appreciation Day (USA)
– Mrs. Taggart