Yellow Submarine

continued

And if you're a stoner, you'll way more than likely be glad you went. Taking its pop culture visual cues from Peter Blake, Salvador Dali, and whoever else came to hand, the movie's landscapes turn into clouds that turn into birds that turn into beasts that turn into women that shimmer, waver, melt, and reform into something else entirely, leaving the viewer only the script's sly wit and painful puns to hold on to.

Of course if you're a moviegoer looking for the latest summer blockbuster, you'll likely be bored stiff because even though the movie opens with an invasion and ends with a rebellion, it's incredibly nonviolent and very little stuff blows up. And if you're a cineaste with a sense of history, you might be disappointed by the film's lack of psychological depth compared with Bergman's contemporary Hour of the Wolf. But if you can turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream, you're guaranteed a splendid experience.   

[Originally published in July, 2012.]