Head. Bob Rafelson, 1968.
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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #544, included in America Lost and Found: The BBS Story box set, released 2010. English language. Runtime approximately 85 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Head reminds us that The Monkees were not an emulation of The Beatles in general but of the film Help! specifically. Head surpasses individual episodes of The Monkees, but also bests Help! in many ways as Help! relies on stupendous music and some heart warming set pieces to compensate for an otherwise tedious watch. Like The Beatles’ precedent, Head makes hay of a youthful fanbase’s naïve understanding of psychedelia to disguise a series of unrelated skits as a trippy experience. While Help! dawdles around an absurd plot that absolutely begs for Mike Meyers, the superior direction of Head focuses on legitimate and timely social criticism softened with love beads and Lennonesque wordplay.
All members of The Beatles and The Monkees looked and spoke beautifully in the late 1960s, but the movie camera liked Ringo best among The Beatles, and similarly Micky Dolenz carries most of the acting and screen time in Head. Musical pieces show conclusively that Dolenz, Nesmith, and Tork play their instruments with ease, expertise, and panache and I can’t believe we’re still indulging that stupid discussion.