1968: Odd and Odder

Before I begin on our 2 selections from 1968, I forgot to give all you fine readers our overall score for Oliver! I gave it a 4, while Kim gave it a 4.275 (she's very specific in her scores hehe), totaling a very respectable, but not exceptional 8.275. OK, let's get to the picks!

The first movie we watched was Kim's pick, The Odd Couple. Kim has seen it before (and enjoys it thoroughly), but I had never seen it, thus I will give you my take on it. I thought this was a very clever, funny little film. Jack Lemmon (whom I love from the 1960s best Picture The Apartment) and Walter Mattheau had excellent chemistry. They bounced off each other like that old video game pong, which by the way since I'm such a nice guy can be played here . It had some good ole fashioned slap stick comedy, but it also contained sophisticated humor, which as you know I can truly appreciate. It may not have been your typical Best Picture type, but it was quality stuff.

Then we watched my film. Whew. 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was an odyssey alright. I had watched it in high school, but I think we skipped through scenes back then, so much of what we just watched was new to me. And Kim realized as well how little of this movie she had previously seen. But seriously, this movie needs an attached user guide or something. Certainly very interesting and completely ahead of its time (nice call by Kubrick - a moon landing one year before the apollo), but this movie is whacked. It's filled with crazy symbolism and hidden themes and practically zero explanation of anything. First you got the monkeys, and boom then you're on the moon, and wham then you're heading to Jupiter, and then kapow you're in this white room. It's like whoa. And in between all that, like practically nothing happens, but it's all still something. It's basically up for you to decide what everything means. We did enjoy the HAL 9000 - he was about as creepy as a monotoned small circular red light could be. So yeah, good times.

Oliver!, The Odd Couple and 2001 were all very very different kinds of movies. It's hard to say for sure which we enjoyed the most. But we're both picking The Odd Couple, and here is why. We were able to just sit back, relax and enjoy The Odd Couple. It was a nice, lighthearted comedy that didn't require much thought. Certainly, if you're in the mood for a big production Musical, go with Oliver! and if you're in the mood to be provoked/confused, 2001 is your choice for the night.

Well, we've selected our next movies - and there was a little bit of drama - so stay tuned!