Head (Bob Rafelson, 1968)

6/10
1968 curio starring the Monkees, written and produced by Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson. There isn't a plot to speak of - the four are thrown into a bunch of mostly surrealist sketches that last for about 5-10 minutes apiece, and then they're awkwardly segued into another. Music numbers abound, as well as cameos (Sonny Liston and Frank Zappa to name but two) and Help!-esque self-aware digs at the bands' commercialism and phoniness. The lazy stabs at the establishment, Vietnam, drugs, etc prefigure Rafelson and Nicholson's work with Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces, but this is generally a mess. There are a couple of moments of inspiration, particularly the psychedelic opening under water sequence and a wild concert scene towards the end.
Predictably the film was something of a career killer...other Monkees movie projects were cancelled and their record sales took a dive thereafter. Kind of fascinating in a "what were they thinking" kind of way now, though.