Hot Millions (1968)

Ustinov is such a joy in the role of an embezzler who, upon release from prison, immediately starts plotting his next job. He's a hard worker and extremely clever and has no problem performing the duties of his job while also running around Europe executing his subterfuge. That he doesn't simply just enjoy his (certainly ample) paycheck seems to be a matter of habit for him. Maggie Smith is his match as a neighbor who can't seem to stay gainfully employed herself, but still manages to win his heart.

Such a fun combination of silly and smart.

B

Pretty Poison (1968)

Anthony Perkins is a young man recently released on probation after being held as a juvenile for arson/manslaughter. He’s not quite ready for the real world, though.  He pulls a pretty high school senior into his life by convincing her he’s a CIA agent.  I was never quite sure if he was deliberately lying to her or was simply delusional. One thing’s for certain: he picked the wrong girl.

Unexpectedly good.

B+

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Interminable and pretentious.

Pre-human apes find a big black rectangle which, from what I could gather, causes dissonant chords to flow. In the groovy future, people find the big black rectangle way out in space and this time the dissonance is deadly, ya’ll. And then in the dystopian more-future future a robot running a spaceship gets pissy and kills most of the crew...and then the remaining crew member gets ever older in fancy but lonely rooms until he get young. I mean fetus-young. The end.

There.  I just saved you two and a half hours and a headache.

F

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

After the disappointment of Evil Dead, I was flipping through my TiVo suggestion list and saw that Romero's classic had been recorded. I'd never had the chance to see it and, since the trick-or-treaters were still ringing my bell, I had to be in the living room anyway.

Well, it's superb. Such a simple story, told without flash. Chilling.

A-

The Conqueror Worm (1968)

Vincent Price is the Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins (a real-life figure from the 1600s). He travels around England's countryside, taking gold from locals to sic his henchman on suspected witches. He's corruption cloaked in piety.

I'm sure this was daring for the time and thrillingly terrible when first shown in theaters, but it amounted to too much screaming and too little reason to care. There were boobs aplenty -- sometimes spattered with too-bright blood, production values on the level of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and a weird tracking problem with one of the character's voices.

I was bored and that takes some doing in an 86-minute movie.

D+

The Battle of Algiers (1968)

The French-occupied Algeria struggles for its independence, employing terrorist methods to push their agenda. You don't have to be a genius to see the current-day parallels, eh?

The film nicely employs the look of a documentary newsreel; there was this subconscious assignment of reality to what I was seeing. The filmmakers obviously side with the rebels and succeed in evoking both frustration on their behalf and sympathy for them. So why choose to leave them at times to focus on a hubristic French Commander? Sure, it shows the other "side," but simply working on a "what a jerk" level seems unnecessarily manipulative. We get it -- it's the Algerians' homeland and the French, embodied in this guy, think they've got some right to tell them how to live there. I just think it's more effective to see it from the perspective of the locals. Let the oppressors be oppressive...I don't need to know them.

B

Star! (1968)

I didn't know that I possessed the capacity to loathe Julie Andrews…but there it is. Three hours of her most unlikable character can do that to a gal!

F

Isadora (1968)

I don't know why so many biographies center around whiny hedonistic sorts… This is just that type of movie. I looked up the running time after I'd been watching it for what seemed like months to gauge when I could hope for its end; Maltin's guide insisted that it was only a bit over 2 hours -- I was wagering on a running time of over 3. I lost the bet.

F

Funny Girl (1968)

I hated the mugging, etc., the one true laugh came from her pregnant bride moment. Streisand is no physical comedienne. Sharif was sad-eyed, and I never believed that he loved his bride. The musical numbers bored me stiff and the "Swan Lake" routine was an embarrassment. But...it IS watchable and, when Streisand's singing without her New Yawk over-accent, her voice is lovely.

C

The Producers (1968)

Some situations were clever, while most were predictable and over-the-top. The casting is perfect, though.

B-