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The Monkees movie 'Head' showing at The Bell House; post-screening discussion with Kurt Loder and others

by Bill Pearis

Head

The Monkees made their motion picture debut in the 1968 film, Head, which took the TV pop icons into seriously whacked-out psychedelic territory, courtesy screenwriter Jack Nicholson and director Bob Rafelson (Five Easy Pieces) and threw their teenybopper rep into the fire. A parody of the entertainment industry and anything else they could think of, Head was a flop, but has grown in status over the last 44 years. It holds up quite well.

The Bell House will hold a screening of the cult classic on Thursday, September 20 with a post-show discussion featuring veteran rock journalist Kurt Loder, author/podcaster Julie Klausner, Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield, and Monkees historian Eric Lefcowitz. Tickets are on sale now.

If you can’t make it to this screening, a newly-restored print of Head was included with the Criterion Collection’s America Lost and Found: The BBS Story box set that compiles the films of BBS Productions that includes such late-’60s/early-’70s classics as Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Last Picture Show and more. If you just want the individual movie, you have to still settle for the 1998 pan-n-scan Rhino DVD.

Trailer for Head is below.

‘Head’ trailer