AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

morpheusatloppers I first saw this movie in a British seaside flea-pit - on the strength of just the title - when I was 13. It enchanted me so much, I traveled back there every night for the rest of the week, just to see it again and again.Despite being very much a "New York Movie", it's themes are universal and as a young lad of 13, I REALLY identified with the 19-year-old hero (Americans are less mature than we Europeans).At that time, I only knew F.F.C. as the director of "Finian's Rainbow" (a VERY different project) and of course, he had yet to do "American Graffiti" (ANOTHER of my Top Ten).I have this masterpiece on VHS and the soundtrack album (in mono) on vinyl and they STILL stand up today. I think people who dislike this movie are expecting another broad relationship comedy - but the comedy is very SUBTLE, obviously being lost on those who see it as just another "Young Man's Awakening" movie.But that aside, this is a charming, VERY Sixties look at teen-angst from the viewpoint of a central character who has JUST LEFT the bonds of home (so many feature ones who are still STUCK there). And as one who would shortly leave an English small town for life in London, at the HEIGHT of the "swinging" era ('67-'72) this movie was LITERALLY a life-changing experience for me.And few of my Top Ten movies can claim THAT.

joeykulkin71 I remember the day I bought the movie for $2 in Bennington, Vermont. I was in a bad mood that day. I read on the back of the VHS box how this was FFC's master's thesis at UCLA and thought that it could be a cool viewing. I watched it later that day and it changed my mood to great, and it became my favorite movie.Some of the sequences and lines and maddeningly dizzy and dizzyingly mad. The names and objects and places Bernard gives to initials is wonderful. Barbara Darling dancing up in that cage in the underground club! The music (Darling Be Home Soon is a masterpiece)! The cinematography! The deliverance of sexy lines! (Hair?! You collect, hair!?"). Del Grado's poetic musings on life (funny where they got him ...). The views of 1966 New York City, pre-World Trade Center. I've seen it about 50 times always trying to figure out the theme, and I still haven't come up with one, although, Bernard goes from a milk-spilling virgin to a maturing lad who finally opens his eyes to life and stops spilling milk.That $2 VHS copy is gone. I wish I could find another copy, or, one on DVD.It's the most dizzy, maddeningly wonderful sexy piece or cinema I've seen, or ever will experience.So is there a way to find love with a woman like Amy Partlett with streaks of Barbara Darling that run through her veins? (And no, I don't collect hair, and stopped spilling milk years ago).

Alan J. Jacobs This is pretty much a lousy unfunny movie, but it's got Karen Allen and Rip Torn and Geraldine Page and is directed by Francis Coppola. The movie moves, and makes absolutely no sense. There is no way to relate to the totally geeky kid who stars in this flick. However, much of it was filmed outdoors in New York City in 1966, and for those of us who live here, the difference between then and now is stark, and makes the flick worth watching. For example, the kid roller skates to work, and one scene is quite extended and rolls through lots of familiar Manhattan streets. The most shocking scened is when he goes past Penn Station, which no longer exists. At the moment when the film was shot, the front facade of Penn Station was still standing, and behind it, Madison Square Garden was rising.I froze that frame to stare at it. I couldn't believe that such a moment in architecture actually existed, leave alone be preserved on film. The scenes in Central Park are fascinating to compare the brown and yellow grass/dirt of yesteryear with the verdancy of today's park. The park was on a downward cycle at that time, later to be saved by the Central Park Conservancy.It's wild and raucous and dopey, but it shows a great deal of creativity with settings and a camera that moves with or against the actors. It's skillful and fascinating and utterly meaningless, but it's history.

preppy-3 You probably never heard of this film--there's a good reason why.19 year old Barnard (Peter Kastner) is on his own in NYC and obsessed with girls. He's extremely attracted by a beautiful, but cruel, actress named Barbara Darling (Elizabeth Hartman) while sweet, nice Amy Bartlett (Karen Black--supposedly her film debut)likes him. Then there's his domineering parents (Rip Torn, Geraldine Page) and his holier than thou landlady named Miss Thing (Julie Harris!).As you can tell this is not an ordinary coming of age tale. Great acting by everybody, but this film is very much a product of its time. It's very strange, very quirky and throws in psychedelic images, drugs, sex, horrible fashions and hairdos with fast inter cutting and voice overs--basically, a good example of 60s independent, extremely low-budget films. Looks nothing like a Coppola film.I didn't really like it. With the exception of Amy, all the characters were annoying, the comedy was very cruel at times and the flashy camera-work really wore me down. A big bomb when it was released and how often do you hear Coppola gloating about this one? Worth seeing just for the cast (Black is so young!) but don't except much. A must for 60s fans and Coppola completists.