Quentin Tarantino curates 'Swinging Sixties' movie series for TV

Quentin Tarantino, the video-store clerk who became a generation-defining filmmaker, will host a series for the Sony Movie Channel (Optimum Ch. 396), coinciding with the July 26 release of his latest film, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." 

Tarantino's film, set in 1969, stars Leonardo Di Caprio as a television actor, Brad Pitt as his stunt-double and Margot Robbie as doomed starlet Sharon Tate. Tarantino's film series, scheduled for July 21-25, is titled "The Swinging Sixties" and will feature 10 films that directly influenced his new project. Each showing will include segments of Tarantino speaking with film historian Kim Morgan. (More information can be found at sonymoviechannel.com.) 

Like Martin Scorsese, Tarantino is famous for his encyclopedic knowledge of movies, so it's no surprise that his list contains many lesser-seen titles. Here's a quick guide to what the two-time Oscar-winner will be showing. 

BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE (1969) Paul Mazursky's comedy-drama, about two sexually inquisitive couples (Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Dyan Cannon and Elliott Gould), captures the adventurousness and ambivalence of its era. 

CACTUS FLOWER (1969) Walter Matthau, Goldie Hawn and Ingrid Bergman star in this comedy about a man, his mistress and his sham marriage. It's based on a French play that has been adapted many times, including by Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston in "Just Go With It" (2011). 

EASY RIDER (1969) Surely this counterculture landmark, starring Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda as hippie bikers on a spiritual quest, needs no introduction. Tarantino's take on it should be fascinating. 

MODEL SHOP (1969) Jacques Demy's first English-language film, following his international success with "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," stars Gary Lockwood as a man who, on the eve of being drafted into the Army, falls for an erotica model (Anouk Aimée). 

GETTING STRAIGHT (1970) Elliott Gould is a college student trying to steer clear of politics in this little seen title from Richard Rush, an undersung director whose credits include the hippie classic "Psych-Out," the hit comedy "Freebie and the Bean" and the acclaimed drama "The Stunt Man." 

THE WRECKING CREW (1969) How many people remember the Matt Helm franchise, starring Dean Martin as a swingin' secret agent? This fourth and final entry in the series features Sharon Tate as a beautiful-but-bumbling type, while Elke Sommer plays a seductress. 

HAMMERHEAD (1968) Another espionage-action movie, starring Vince Edwards ("Ben Casey") as an American agent and Peter Vaughan as a villain with plans to thwart NATO. Viewers will have to assume Tarantino has his reasons for picking this obscurity. 

GUNMAN'S WALK (1958) Not a '60s film but a '50s Western, with Tab Hunter as the hotheaded son of a former gunslinger (Van Heflin). Directed by Phil Karlson (see also "The Wrecking Crew"). 

ARIZONA RAIDERS (1965) Another Western, this one starring war hero-turned-actor Audie Murphy as a Confederate soldier who has a score to settle with Quantrill's Raiders. 

BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA (1959) During World War II, a Navy submariner (Cliff Robertson), is captured by the Japanese. The film includes footage of the actual Battle of the Coral Sea, fought during May 4-8, 1942.