1960 ... What a Year!

Moving on to another decade (or does the decade start at '1' ... it think it does, but who cares?).

1960 ... what a year!

Another stellar year with a handful of all-time greats. Which ones made the top 3? Which ones are bubbling under, so to speak?

Before we celebrate the dawn of the '60s (or not), let's refresh our amnesiac minds with a crash-course in non-cinematic 1960:

• Jacques Picard (Jean-Luc's great-great-great-massively great grandfather) and Don Walsh reach down to touch the Mariana Trench … OK, they don't actually touch it, but you get the idea.
• CERN particle accelerator begins operation. Geekdom rejoices.
• Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Almarhum Tuanku Muhammad, 1st Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, dies in office. He is replaced by Hisamuddin Alam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah, Sultan of Selangor.
• Brazil has a new capital, creatively named Brasilia.
• First TV broadcast in New Zealand, sowing the seeds for "Flight of the Conchords".
• Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah, Sultan of Selangor and 2nd Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, dies in office. He is replaced by Tuanku Syed Putra, Raja of Perlis.
• Cassius Clay wins first pro fight. Bees and butterflies rejoice at the impending fame.

Meanwhile on the big screen, these films would fail to break in to The Bru's Top 3 Films of 1960 in 2011:

• Peeping Tom, in which man realises that cameras are more effective than penises.
• Village of the Damned, in which an Aryan invasion from outer space shows that all children are evil and must be terminated immediately.
• The Virgin Spring, in which a great idea is sown to be harvested and pissed on by Wes Craven more than a decade later.

Good films. In fact, The Virgin Spring is a great film. Alas, 3 must be chosen. 3 was chosen. 3 is presented:

3- Spartacus (dir: Stanley Kubrick, wri:Dalton Trumbo)

Kubrick's most un-Kubrickian film saw him reunited with Kirk Douglas in the epic that ends all epics. And before anybody says "I am Spartacus" or "I am Spartacus" or "I am Spartacus" (try the last one without sounding like Ron Burgundy), please remember the amazing choreography of the battle scenes and the ensemble of some of the greatest actors of all time. Sure it has dated, but there's no denying that this is the greatest swords-and-sandals epic ever made. Do you eat oysters?



2- Psycho (dir: Alfred Hitchcock, wri:Joseph Stefano)

Only for the first hour. The first hour of Hitchcock's most famous film (perhaps the most famous horror film of all) is the second best film of 1960. The remaining 45 minutes or so does not merit inclusion in this list. If it were an hour-long film, Psycho would have certainly be the number one film of 1960, of the decade, and maybe, of all time. If you haven't seen it yet, stop watching when the car disappears. You'll know when.



1- The Apartment (dir: Billy Wilder, wri: Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond)

Billy Wilder's best film (hi, Jon!) is also his and Diamond's best script collaboration. I could go trigger happy with my superlatives, but I will spare you. I simply lesbian this film too much.



1960 ... what a year!