It's been an Odd Day's Night

#10- The Odd Couple and #11- A Hard Day's Night
Suggested by Sweeneyville reader Mike Bingham

Seeing as how I have yet in my short life to see anything by playwright Neil Simon, I knew I had to see one of his movies for this project, so I chose The Odd Couple. And seeing as how I gave my dad the movie A Hard Day's Night for Christmas last year, it's only fair that I borrow it and enjoy it for my own benefit, as any great gift to a family member should ultimately be used :)


The Odd Couple
Overall: 9/10
Deductions: is there really such a thing as an 8 bedroom apartment?!
Bonus Points: great theme song, Piglet plays poker, loved when Felix "tells off" Oscar towards the end :)


I guess the one thing Neil Simon is known for in his is writing are the amazing dialogues, and rightly so. The dialogue in this film was so funny and never missed a beat. Walter Matthau and Tony Curtis were perfect foils of each other and watching them interact was incredibly entertaining. I mean, you know they are gonna drive each other absolutely nuts, but watching it unfold is a real treat. Plus Felix makes OCD fun, doesn't he? Who sends a suicide telegram? Who calls their wife who just threw them out to get her meatloaf recipe? Only Felix. So if you ever wonder about your own obssessive-compulsive habits, watch this movie and see where you fall on the scale. Are you an Oscar or a Felix? Personally, I think I'm a Osclix. Right in the middle.





A Hard Day's Night
Overall: 8/10
Deductions: British accents a little mumbled, (is my hearing going out?) George looks like the wolfman (I'm sorry, but the good looks wagon passed him by), and, SERIOUSLY, EVERYONE SMOKED IN THE 60's- EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON.

Bonus Points: Music show director was also in Start the Revolution Without Me (NO WAY!), his super hairy v-neck sweater was soooo groovy, loved the "very clean" escaping Grandpa. His entrance through the floor at the end was classic.

Verdict: If you like The Beatles, you will like this movie. And if you like the music of The Beatles, you will like it even more. And if you don't like the Beatles or their Music, we cannot be friends anymore. Sorry, it's a matter of principle. The movie is basically just a day-in-the-life story of the most famous band on the planet. If you are younger like me, you probably have only seen the Beatles in TV and film clips here and there, but have never really seen them in any sort of footage longer than about 5 minutes at a time- especially when they weren't singing. So it was really interesting and fun to see these guys who are so incredibly famous horsing around and being terribly silly. I am hoping that this depiction is what they were truly like back in the day; happy-go-lucky, quirky, mischievious and so very British. The accents make anything they say hilarious, especially little Ringo. Plus, this movie really is a piece of pop culture history, so you pretty much have to see it eventually. I'll be checking up on that...