Get Smart (1965) – Mr. Big, Diplomat’s Daughter, and School Days

In the 1960s, spies were everywhere! They were in novels, comics, on the big screen, and had spread to television. Created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, Get Smart debuted on 18 September, 1965 and introduced us to CONTROL’s agent 86, Maxwell Smart (Don Adams). Filled with goofy gadgets, like the shoe phone, Smart is…

Over Sea, Under Stone (1965) – Susan Cooper

I found this book on a list of fantasy series. I had never heard of it, and while it claims to be a young adult series, the main characters are all children, it’s a damned entertaining ride, and sets up the adventure that will sprawl over five novels. Simon, his sister Jane, and younger brother,…

Moonrise Kingdom (2012) – Wes Anderson

The framing, the quirky characters, the details, the whipsmart dialogue and its delivery. Every time I watch a Wes Anderson film that one becomes my new favourite until I watch another one. I love how he tells his stories, how his characters interact, and all the little moments, styles, and touches that make a Wes…

Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) – Ishiro Honda

Godzilla is back! But he almost takes a backseat to the rest of the story, which sees an expansion of the Godzilla universe by bringing in aliens, flying saucers, and seeing the return of Rodan and King Ghidorah. When a new planet, Planet X, is discovered in orbit around Jupiter, a joint Japanese/American mission is…

The Man With The Golden Gun (1965) – Ian Fleming

The twelfth James Bond novel, and thirteenth book, The Man With The Golden Gun, was published posthumously in 1965 after Ian Fleming’s death in ’64. The story picks up about a year after the events of You Only Twice. When we were last with 007, he was suffering amnesia and had taken up a quiet…

The Beach Girls and the Monster (1965) – Jon Hall

Sometimes bad is bad, but sometimes, sometimes it’s so bad it’s good, and I had a great time with this title which is the next one featured in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies. Filled with a swingin’ beach soundtrack, this one ended up being delightful, and had me laughing out loud as a dangerous…

Die, Monster, Die! (1965) – Daniel Haller

There are more mad scientist films to explore as I dig deeper into DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book, and Die, Monster, Die! is the next one up. Which is weird, because I didn’t really notice a scientist in the film. Based very loosely on H.P. Lovecraft’s Color Out of Space, the film plays…