My Nominations: The Dirty Dozen. You Only Live Twice. Dragon Gate Inn. Bonnie And Clyde.
I only have four nominations for this category this year, a year in which character drama was more popular than action and comedy movies. The Dirty Dozen has war games aplenty, with the recruits going through various scrapes in their training before the final attack and escape. While there isn’t anything groundbreaking, the action comes thick and fast, thanks to an extensive stunt team including Ken Buckle – a Bond veteran, Gerry Crampton (Raiders Of The Lost Ark), and Rick Lester, a man who was once in line to take over from Sean Connery as Bond. Speaking of Bond, You Only Live Twice was the series most action heavy movie to that point, with ninja’s scaling down volcanoes, helicopter battles in the sky, and all manner of fist fights – performers including Peter Fanene Maivia (WWE legend and grandfather of The Rock), Tex Fuller (Brazil), and K.H Wallis (pilot of Little Nellie). Ying-Chieh Han (The Big Boss himself) provides the thrills in Dragon Gate Inn while Mary Statler (Paint Your Wagon), Bob Harris (Commando), and Lucky Mosely (Walker, Texas Ranger) among others provide the carnage in Bonnie And Clyde.
My Winner: You Only Live Twice
Which film of 1967 do you think has the best Stunts. Which stunts or stunt performers would you like to recognise? Let us know in the comments!
The category this year was again divided into two – Best Original Score, and Best Original Song or Adaptation Score which makes less than zero sense. I’ll pick my winner from each of the Official categories, but for My Nominations I’ll be merging them.
Official Nominations (Original): Thoroughly Modern Millie. Cool Hand Luke. Doctor Dolittle. Far From The Madding Crowd. In Cold Blood. (Adapted): Camelot. Doctor Dolittle. Thoroughly Modern Millie. Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. Valley of The Dolls.
Bernstein won for Thoroughly Modern Millie, an suitably light and jaunty soundtrack which is reminiscent of the theme for TV series Bewitched and immediately evokes light and fluffy ideas of single women shopping and giggling. It’s not terrible, it’s just not great. Ironically, this was to be his only Oscar win. Schifrin’s soundtrack for Cool Hand Luke is clearly stronger, being poignant and sad, perfectly suited to the actions on screen. Merging lonely guitars with traditional big string surges, harmonica, and speedy news report-esque fills, it’s an oft forgotten work which transcends the time in which it was written. Bricusse’s soundtrack for Doctor Dolittle sounds like a cross between a cartoon from the 30s-50s and an old weepy romance. There are beautiful moments which float along, but the whole package lacks than big hook or two to tie it all. Similarly, Bennett’s work on Far From The Madding Crowd is quite lovely, acting as a strong emotional piece to the film itself, but again (narrowly) loses out when searching for the ever elusive killer theme. Jones’s soundtrack for In Cold Blood instantly grabs you and drags you along on a heart-pumping ride. Merging light Jazz moments with rushing, galloping drums, it is an archetypal theme for a thriller.
My Winner: Cool Hand Luke
My Nominations: Cool Hand Luke. Far From The Madding Crowd. In Cold Blood. You Only Live Twice. The Graduate. The Jungle Book.
I add three films which really should have received official nominations.George Bruns’s score for The Jungle Book may be overshadowed by the songs written for the movie, but there is still enough in the incidental pieces to warrant a nomination. The same can be said for Dave Grusin’s score for The Graduate. Finally, John Barry’s score for You Only Live Twice is likely his finest work in the Bond Universe, merging oriental flavours with the more familiar Bond tones and themes to create something striking and memorable.
My Winner: You Only Live Twice
Let us know i n the comments what film of 1967 you feel has the best soundtrack!
Official Nominations: Camelot. Bonnie And Clyde. The Taming Of The Shrew. Doctor Dolittle. Thoroughly Modern Millie. Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner.
Another unsurprising win for Camelot given the competition it was up against.
My Winner: Camelot
My Nominations: Camelot. Bonnie And Clyde. Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. You Only Live Twice. Casino Royale. Wait Until Dark.
Three new movies make it to my list, with You Only Live Twice being one of the most visually ambitious and memorable Bond movies, and a movie whose scope in sets remains almost unrivaled today. Casino Royale has its own look and feel apart from the main Bond series, and Wait Until Dark uses its central set wisely to twist the nerves and heighten the claustrophobia – it could be your home!
My Winner: You Only Live Twice.
Which movie of 1967 do you think has the Best Art Direction? Let us know in the comments!
Official Nominations: In The Heat Of The Night. Bonnie And Clyde. Doctor Dolittle. The Graduate. Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner.
As mentioned in my Awards summary post, this year marked a major shift in US culture, and in the movies which viewers wanted to see. There is one obviously out of place film here while every other entry deals with tougher stuff, from racism to violence to sexual taboos, all mirroring the shifting landscape of the time. Four of these films are superb, while Doctor Dolittle is a light, fluffy, yet still enjoyable piece – a very strong year. Doctor Dolittle went notoriously over budget and wasn’t well received critically or commercially, which makes it an extremely strange choice for Best Picture nominee – it’s almost as if The Academy just had to throw a musical in there to try to cling on to the past, or have something a little brighter amidst all of the chaos. Why they didn’t go for The Jungle Book if that was the case, remains a mystery – the story goes that Fox executives lavished Academy members with gifts in order to recoup losses and gain some positivity for the film. Nevertheless, some of the songs are fun, the locations and animals are pretty, and the performances are okay, but it is entirely out of place alongside the other features.
Official winner, In The Heat of The Night, is a timely piece given the subject matter and the race relations crisis in the US at the time. A startlingly frank and mature piece, the film deals with racism face on and doesn’t shy away from any controversy, featuring a number of iconic quotes and scenes. One of the first films to deal with an African American in a true position of power, in an honest fashion, it has a great script and fantastic performances – a worthy winner. Also dealing with racial issues, and also starring Sidney Poitier is Stanley Kramer’s Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner – ostensibly a comedy, but a revealing one given the subject matter of interracial marriage which was still illegal in many States of the US in 1967. A fine film with fine performances, it feels a little dated now and much of the comedy is too soft and of its time to hit the mark with current audiences. An altogether more fiery relationship can be seen in Bonnie And Clyde, ironically a film which does not feel as dated given the period depicted. A taboo blasting film, one which spoke to a younger generation of movie -goer, touching upon sex and violence in ways never depicted on screen before, and with two searing performances by its leads, it remains a classic, fast paced drama, filled with vitality. The final nomination also spoke to a New Generation of post-adolescents and depicting that hope of a lifetime for may – to be seduced by an older woman. Although it was handled in a humourous fashion, the writers discuss sex, seduction, infatuation with both youth and experience in a way that had never been seen before. Luckily the script is tight and the direction strong, and it is so filled with iconic moments that critics couldn’t fail to be charmed. Hoffman and Bancroft lead the strong cast, helping to make this my winner.
My Winner: The Graduate
Mrs Bouvier!!
My Nominations: The Graduate. Bonnie And Clyde. Cool Hand Luke. In The Heat Of The Night. The Dirty Dozen. The Fearless Vampire Killers. Wait Until Dark. You Only Live Twice.
Three of the official winners come over to my list of nominations, joining a mixture of action, horror, drama, and comedy. Cool Hand Luke missing out on an official nomination always seemed like a strange snub,especially given its successes in other categories and with it being up against Doctor Doolittle. Cool Hand Luke is as iconic a 60s movie as any other you could name, and another which taps into the new wave of rebellion and desire for change which was sweeping the nation. Iconic moments, performances, and dialogue along with a good soundtrack and story which is both tragic and hopeful, it’s one which remains fresh and relevant today. Packing in the action and bringing together a ragtag group of outlaws and rebels to undertake a dangerous mission a la The Seven Samurai is the always enjoyable The Dirty Dozen – a film packed with stars which follows one of my favourite movie tropes – the identification of a select group, their training, and their mission – and its one of the best of its type. Polanski continues a fine run of form with The Fearlesss Vampire Killers, one of the original modern horror comedies which blends satire with farce, and animation with dreamlike fairytale visuals.Keeping on the horror side is an underrated one which apes Hitchcock more successfully that most which try – Terence Young’s Wait Until Dark. Featuring some of the most tense moments committed to film, it’s a shame this one is lesser known but inevitable that it will be remade, though who could top Hepburn, Arkin, and Crenna? My final nomination, and a controversial choice, is one of my favourite James Bond films – You Only Live Twice. Action packed, filled with great music and one liners, some of the best Production Design and set pieces in the series, strong bad guys, girls, and gadgets, it’s my selfish pick for the Best Film of 1967.
My Winner: You Only Live Twice.
Do you agree with my picks? What is your favourite film of 1967? Let us know in the comments!
3. A View To A Kill (from A View To A Kill) – Duran Duran
Glorious stuff, 80s transcended, and probably the band’s best song. This one has the Bond blasts, a fast, rock oriented sound, and most importantly it has the melodies. The video is good fun too. I see that I’m picking a lot of Roger Moore film songs in the top end of the list, but then I grew up in the Moore era and many of his films my favourites. This one is super catchy and evokes plenty of moments from the film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV4UqmbzIq4
2. Live And Let Die (from Live And Let Die) – Paul McCartney and Wings
Moore again, and McCartney partners with George Martin once more for another hit. I do feel the Guns N Roses version of this is vastly superior, but credit to the writers for creating this in the first place of course. The film always creeped me out when I was young, what with all the skulls and voodoo stuff, and the song was also able to send shivers up and down my spine. Those Bond blasts serve a duel purpose then – they are clearly supposed to call back the Bond themes of old, but are also clearly designed to scare – many moments of the song are just off enough to disturb the listener. The main riff is excellent, the song is filled with beautiful slow moments, there is a hell of a lot of chaotic moments too as instruments race and collide with one another. It’s a fantastic song all round, worthy of much more than simply being remembered as a Bond song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=784k3EEuZYA
Number 1. You Only Live Twice (from You Only Live Twice) – Nancy Sinatra
It has been slightly sullied by Dickhead of the Century – Robbie Williams, but even his worthless mitts couldn’t truly taint this slice of perfection. My favourite Connery Bond movie has a flawless theme which opens with some of the most gorgeous strings ever recorded. The song has an ever so slight oriental feel, Sinatra gives it the full frontal performance, the guitar copies the string melody, the lyrics are possibly the best in any bond song, and it’s one of a handful whose melodies are sublime throughout. It’s elegant, epic, and just the right length. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcIl_6amBvU
There you have it, my top 3 Bond songs. I’ll write a summary post showing my picks in a single post, but for now feel free to leave your thoughts on my picks in the comments below!
Jimmy Bond strikes back in the 10th Bombd film based around the notorious notion that Double No Seven is killed and returns as a SPECTRE. Rodegjer Waters takes time off from the stage to regain his perception of the British Super Agent Jamie Bond. This action sees our heroine take to the skies of Europe, namely China, as he tried to hunt down the celebrity mastermind known as Blojob. Baldy Job has being causing various mischieves and Miss Chiefs, and even the odd Misschievy around the land, namely Earth, for nigh-on 8 cycles, and The FBI have had enough and can’t stands no more. They send Bond to incubate Bobsleigh’s gang THE SPOOKS, who are majorly Asian. ME SO HORNY!. Of course, Sean Rogery is a Kiltsman and doesn’t have the Eastern face. He needs a Green Card to enter and so he takes a wife. His wife is promptly dead. He then does an angry and kicks some ninja children. He then does a despair and inserts a bullet into his skull mush via his PPP gun weapon. Q does a despair. Threepenny does a despair. It is despair. In an enlightening twist though, God (who owns the FBI as per Janis Ian) decides that James De Bond should get a rear entry and squirts him back to earth dressed in the skins of a China. Bon is now suitably disguised and can join the bad guys and take them down from the inside. He disc covers that Bloff has been conducting his terrors from the inside of a giant hurricane. He has a bridge in his hurricane which opens and whoever was standing on it falls into a pool of lava where sharks are swimming, and the sharks shoot acid covered piranha snakes at them. That was a good bit, and quite excitement! Anyhoo, Bond (with the help of his Little Willy) evacuates into the hurricane with a bunch of Samuria, cuts up the place, stops a rocket from crashing into the sea and making a thing happen, and he finally gets his hands on Bowlfull. I won’t ruin the ending, but basically everything happens and the film ends. This is likely to be my most favourite Blonde film out of all of off them, and it is in my top ten too! 11 points!
Best Scene. When Bond is applying himself onto his wife who doesn’t want none of it, so he turns her round and puts his poison all over her mouth and/or lips. She dies and he quips ‘Sorry love’. Ha!
The Spac Hole 
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