1975 DONE! Year #21: 1963

So, we've been on a bit of a 60's/70's run here...1964, 1972, 1967, 1975, 1963. The movies we watched from 1975 were Dog Day Afternoon and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I would have to agree with our readers, however, that Rocky Horror Picture Show would have also been a fine selection. That being said, let's see how our movies fared against the 1975 Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest...

First we watched my selection Dog Day Afternoon, a film neither of us has seen before. Based on a true story, it starred Al Pacino and his Godfather brother John Cazale as bank robbers who run into a comedy of errors when the botched robbery becomes a media circus. It turns out Pacino needed the money to get his "wife" (a man) a sex change operation, but the whole scene eventually ends in tragedy. We thought it was very well made and the acting was great, but Kim felt it dragged on a little at the end. Like Cuckoo's Nest, it did a great job of making a seemingly serious situation very humorous.

Then we watched Monty Python, a film both of us had seen many times. What a funny movie. For anyone who has never seen this film, please go watch it. You will be laughing your socks off. It's basically about Arthur, King of the Britians, and his troop of Knights who are given a quest from God to seek the Holy Grail. Very quotable film...in fact, for your response posts, please post your favorite Monty Python line. Mine would have to be "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!" Kim's is when they are about to throw the Holy Hand Grenade and King Arthur shouts "One...Two....Five!" But there are so many others!

Looking back, this may be the best set of 3 films we have watched thus far. Every movie was fantastic in its own way. Cuckoo's nest definitely deserved the Best Picture, but Dog Day was no slouch, and Monty Python may be the most re-watchable movie ever. Good times.

We move on to 1963, a year that pales in comparison to 1975. The Best Picture that year was *sigh* Tom Jones. Yikes, this was a strange film. I guess it was a comedy, but that's still up for debate. Kim liked it, but agrees with me that it really had no semblance of plot and just didn't make any sense! I wrote in my original review, "I felt myself shaking my head during most of this movie for one reason or another..." Kim found it "entertaining" and "wacky" I am not even going to try to explain what it's supposed to be about, because that would be a lie. I gave it a 2.5, Kim gave it a 3.4, giving it a lowly 5.9. In retrospect, Kim may have given it too low a score, but I wouldn't have. That all being said, let's see what we picked from this year.

Adam: How the West Was Won (vetoed by Kim, 2/5 used)
Kim: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

This year was slim pickens. No wonder Tom Jones won Best Picture. My pick, How the West Was Won, was a very shaky pick on my part to begin with, and Kim bailed me out with a veto. She picked Mad World because it's a comedy with many famous comedians from the time, and I was satisfied with that.

In addition to your favorite Monty Python quote, can anyone find a good movie from 1963? Did anyone like Tom Jones, How the West Was Won, or It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World? As you know, we'd love to hear from you!

1967 FINALLY DONE! Plus Year #20: 1975

So, as many of you already know, we're preparing for a big change in our family. Thus, over the past month, our movie challenge has taken a bit of a back seat to Baby Watch 2010. This may become even more evident in the weeks and months to come, post birth. We are still fully planning on completing our challenge, but it just may take a little bit longer than we expected, so bear with us. While you are waiting, please enjoy my younger brother Cory's challenge he recently began where he is rebuilding his iTunes music catalog, one CD at a time. Very interesting stuff, you can check it out here. Ok, now what you've been waiting for.

1967 was the year of Sidney Poitier's In the Heat of the Night as Best Picture. Great Great movie. We put it up against The Graduate (Kim's pick) and Bonnie and Clyde (my pick).

We first watch Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft steam up the TV screen in the coming of age film The Graduate. It was basically about Hoffman graduating college and not knowing what to do with his life, when Bancroft, an older woman who was family friends with his parents, seduces him. They begin a turbulent relationship, further complicated when Hoffman falls in love with Bancroft's daughter. Whew, that movie was oozing with hormones and sexual tension. Even to this day, this is not a movie for the kiddies, but back in the 60's, this movie must have been only whispered about. It must have begun a film revolution of exploring and depicting sex on a whole different level, that we now find common among movies today. We both thoroughly enjoyed it, as the acting was fantastic and the plot unfolded very well. And on a funny note, even though I had never seen this movie before, the ending rung very familiar . Ah.

Then we watched Bonnie and Clyde, starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the ill-fated outlaw couple. This was basically a "based on true events" account of the terror Bonnie and Clyde, along with their gang, brought to the mid-west in the 1920s. They mainly robbed banks, but had to commit some murders along the way. Their eventual demise will blow you away, which was depicted really accurately in the movie. This movie did for violence what the Graduate did for sex. These days, we take violence and blood and guns for granted in the movies, but back in the day, they really didn't show that kind of stuff except for in war movies. Well, this film helped change all that, and it really paved the way for the violence you saw in later movies, such as the Godfather. We enjoyed this movie a lot, as well, and if you are interested in the story of Bonnie and Clyde, go out and rent it. Oh, and Gene Wilder makes his on screen debut, with a rather comical 5 minute cameo.

We watched 3 excellent movies for this year, In the Heat of the Night, The Graduate, and Bonnie and Clyde. All are worth watching. But as much as we loved In the Heat of the Night, we both liked The Graduate slightly better and both feel it should have won Best Picture, but not by much.

Ok, now onto our new year 1975, the year of another EXCELLENT Best Picture. Considered by many as one of the greatest films ever, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is going to be one hard movie to top. It is vintage early Jack Nicholson, and one of the reasons he's my favorite actor. This movie had it all- humor, tragedy, drama, action, and a "deaf and dumb" indian. The movie is about what happens when you put Jack Nicholson into a mental institution - total insanity. Louise Fletcher plays a perfect evil nurse, she really is pretty scary! This is definitely a movie you should see at least once in your life. I gave it a perfect 5, Kim posted a 4.825, giving it an impressive 9.825.

Publish Post

So, what movie's will we be watching for 1975?

Adam: Dog Day Afternoon
Kim: Monty Python and the Holy Grail

I bet you're all smiling at Kim's pick. What a great pick! She really needs no explanation for that one. As for my pick, Dog Day Afternoon is a movie I've never seen before and looks like it has the potential to be very interesting. But that's really it.

Ok, which movie from 1975 do you like best? Cuckoo's Nest, Holy Grail, or Dog Day Afternoon? Any other picks from 1975? It's your turn!