Head: The Monkees and jack nicholson

[tpfkabi]

i wandered if any of you had seen Head. it is a film starring the Monkees and the source for their amazing song, The Porpoise Song (which was used in Vanilla Sky and on the soundtrack). Jack Nicholson was actually a co-screenwriter on the film. i'm guessing it's kinda like the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour.

http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:21796

[The Perineum Falcon]

I bought it for my sister for her birthday last year after my girlfriend at the time told me it was out of print.
It didn't make any sense, but that's a given. I can't really say I was too impressed or entertained by it either, but I could've just been tired at the time.

[Mesh]

Fairly entertaining and has a neat circular narrative style that makes it worthwhile.  David Jones does a Nilsson song, I think—that was nice.  Also, a cameo by Frank Zappa.  It's a mildly fascinating movie.

[Stefen]

I dived into the America: Lost and Found boxset last night and I'm going to watch them all in chronological order and this one was first.

When I hear the Monkees, I automatically think fabricated band ala the boybands of the early 90's and 00's. I didn't really understand what they were doing in this boxset. I don't know if I still do, but this movie was nothing like what I was expecting. I was expecting something sweet and innocent made for teenage girls of the era but it was pretty much the complete opposite.

It's a dark and twisted movie. It doesn't have anything resembling a plot. It's pretty far out there. In the very beginning it features footage from that famous execution from the Vietnam war. You know the one...



Right then and there I knew I was in for something other than what I was expecting. Why did it feature that? I don't know. An anti-war protest? Is it just a dark way of mentioning the title of the movie? Don't know.

Is it good? Not really. I mean, it doesn't have a plot so it's impossible to call it good or bad. It has a certain playful dark edge that I found appealing. I think I liked it a lot more because I had a different idea of what it was supposed to be before I watched it and it really surprised me. It has some interesting editing and it's pretty much a time capsule of the period (late 60's), which I'm a big fan of. It's funny at times. Very slapsticky, which is okay. It's really unlike anything I have ever seen. It's just one big giant experimental mess.

My knowledge of The Monkees prior to this was limited to Davy Jones on The Brady Bunch. That's all I knew of this group. I figured them as a joke. A cash in with no talent, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the music in this.

I haven't seen the Beatles movies (other than the anthology, but that doesn't count). Are they the same way? As far as I know, they were pretty innocent. Just like I thought this was supposed to be.

[classical gas]

You haven't seen 'Yellow Submarine'???  The Simpsons did a nice spoof of it when Lisa goes to the dentist.  

I don't think of the Beatles as very innocent, but I'm not real sure what you mean by that.  I think John Lennon was a heroin addict for some time (also, quite the activist...I think he was on Nixon's 'list'), but again, that might not be what you're talking about.  I've never seen 'Head', but it sounds like it might be similar to 'Magical Mystery Tour'.  I think Spielberg actually cited that as an influence, somehow, but i could be wrong.  Their films prior to that are pretty silly, but entertaining.  

[Jeremy Blackman]

That Monkees movie is explained pretty well in this episode of Sound Opinions:

http://www.soundopinions.org/shownotes/2011/021811/shownotes.html

[Stefen]

You haven't seen 'Yellow Submarine'???  The Simpsons did a nice spoof of it when Lisa goes to the dentist.  

I don't think of the Beatles as very innocent, but I'm not real sure what you mean by that.  I think John Lennon was a heroin addict for some time (also, quite the activist...I think he was on Nixon's 'list'), but again, that might not be what you're talking about.  I've never seen 'Head', but it sounds like it might be similar to 'Magical Mystery Tour'.  I think Spielberg actually cited that as an influence, somehow, but i could be wrong.  Their films prior to that are pretty silly, but entertaining.  

I don't consider the Beatles innocent, either. Especially not Beatles from 1966-1970. But every time I would see a scene from A Hard Days Night it just seems like it's aimed at teenage girls. That's what I mean by innocent. I thought a movie about the Monkees would be aimed at teenage girls as well, but Head was pretty dark. Some parts of it would probably make a 13 year old girl cry.

[Pubrick]

weren't you paying attention in simpsons class? not about yellow submarine but about the monkees.. marge's shrink explained the monkees pretty well in the episode about her fear of flying, we begin with a flashback, little marge is on the school bus when a girl notices her Monkees lunch box:

Girl: Ew! You like the Monkees?  You know they don't write their own songs.
Marge: They do so!
Girl: They don't even play their own instruments.
Marge: No...no!
Girl: That's not even Michael Nesmith's real hat.
Marge: Aah!
[back in the present]
Shrink: Kids can be so cruel.
Marge: But it's true.  They didn't write their own songs or play their own instruments.
Shrink: The Monkees weren't about music, Marge.  
They were about rebellion, about political and social upheaval!

[socketlevel]

It's funny I had a dream about this movie last night.

I really like it, and how they make fun of the fact they were totally fabricated. Great social/political commentary in it as well.

[classical gas]

You haven't seen 'Yellow Submarine'???  The Simpsons did a nice spoof of it when Lisa goes to the dentist.  

I don't think of the Beatles as very innocent, but I'm not real sure what you mean by that.  I think John Lennon was a heroin addict for some time (also, quite the activist...I think he was on Nixon's 'list'), but again, that might not be what you're talking about.  I've never seen 'Head', but it sounds like it might be similar to 'Magical Mystery Tour'.  I think Spielberg actually cited that as an influence, somehow, but i could be wrong.  Their films prior to that are pretty silly, but entertaining.  

I don't consider the Beatles innocent, either. Especially not Beatles from 1966-1970. But every time I would see a scene from A Hard Days Night it just seems like it's aimed at teenage girls. That's what I mean by innocent. I thought a movie about the Monkees would be aimed at teenage girls as well, but Head was pretty dark. Some parts of it would probably make a 13 year old girl cry.

Yeah, I actually thought that you meant the movies and not the beatles themselves right after the first edit to my post.  I didn't want to edit it again, so I left it alone.  So for what it's worth, I eventually knew what you meant.  It's just a knee jerk reaction when I think someone is associating the beatles with teen idols.  my bad

[Neil]

^  I know this isn't where this conversation was meant to head, but they're not merely teen idols, but they definitely were that.  As Hobbes might say, a person is whatever the people in the collective group consider them, their ''Price'' if you will.  No one gives a shit whether or not they all drug problems etc but the importance is what other people thought of them too.  As much as they tried to fight it, for every "true fan" you probably had 3000 screaming 13 year old girls.


Brilliant simpsons reference P

also, i know really want to see this film.  Thanks for letting me know that this exists. 

[Jeremy Blackman]

As much as they tried to fight it, for every "true fan" you probably had 3000 screaming 13 year old girls.

Someone needs to fight for the legitimacy of the opinions of screaming 13 year old girls.

[Stefen]

xixax and 13 year old girls sitting in a tree F-U-C-K-I-N-G K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage then comes, well, not a baby in a baby carriage for sure. We could never be parents.

Amazon has the America: Lost & Found boxset on sale for $67 right now. HALF OFF. It's a steal. Worth every penny.