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.

Retro Review: Psycho (1960)

Fifty years.

For fifty years, countless films have tried to emulate its formula with varying degrees of success. For fifty years, its scenes have been dissected to the point where they became separate entities. For fifty years, the screaming close-up shot of Janet Leigh's face has become the de facto cover photo for every book about horror film. For fifty years, reviews, articles, and theses have been psychoanalysing the Freud out of it. With its ubiquitous existence in the film canon, what can I write that hasn't been written already? Nothing, really. But I'm going to anyway.