The Movie Journal

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) 1966’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a searing film based off Edward Albee’s controversial 1962 play of the same name. The movie, which was Mike Nichol’s ( The Graduate) directorial debut, broke many boundaries in the world of cinema. Never before have audiences seen a movie with provocative language and sexual tendencies displayed here. Despite extreme pressure, the film was released to rave reviews from critics and audience alike. The film only has four main characters and really only one location, but the searing, angry dialogue grabs you and keeps you hooked. Modern audiences may think of Aaron Sorkin when taking in every bit of the dialogue. This was also a box office success thanks to the powerful combination of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, perhaps the most publicized couple of the 1960’s. Edward Albee’s play had a successful Broadway run, but people believed it could not be adapted to the big screen because ...

Fantastic Voyage (1966) Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel in the human body? Have you ever thought what the human body would like on the inside? If so, then Fantastic Voyage might just be the film for you. The film is a really fascinating look at what the filmmakers perceived the human body to look like in the 1960’s. But on the whole, this movie is a wonderful, original science-fiction film ripe with some unique ideas. I really loved the premise of the film. I found the idea of humans being shrunk so they can explore the inside of the human body and stop disease is a very cool and rather unique idea (at least at the film’s release date). While I found this to be an enjoyable film on the whole, I was not particularly fond of the visual effects. Believe it or not, the film actually won an Oscar for the visual effects. But 49 years after the film’s release, they look very outdated and sometimes downright lame. When first released, the film was heralded for ...

A Man for All Seasons (1966) My blunt response for 1966’s A Man for All Seasons is that it’s a great movie. The Academy voters seemed to agree with me back then because it was the Best Picture winner at the Academy Awards that year. The movie appealed to me because of a variety of reasons. I love the history background, and I learned some things about a time period I’m not too familiar with. Quite frankly, not many people know much about the events during the 15th and 16th centuries, and the topic of this movie is a major event. The film is about a man named Sir Thomas More who died because he believed in his principles on how to live a Catholic life, and unfortunately those principles clashed with the ideas of England’s ruling figure, King Henry VIII. I also loved the performances in the film, especially from Paul Scofield who delivered an immense, emotional performance as More. Like all films trying to recapture the time period, I loved the look of the film. They seemed to have...