Hitchcock's Genius

Still a little bit on a movie kick...and since I don't actually have any of Monday's Disney movies in the house...I pulled out a favorite Hitchcock:  To Catch A Thief.  Got my Cary Grant fix...my Grace Kelly fix...my French Riviera fix...

I had imagined I was quite the Hitchcock connossieur, but when I actually went to look up all the movies Alfred Hitchcock produced/directed on Wikipedia, it was clear I have a good amount of viewing still to do.  Not a problem.

[via]

A few of my favorites:
1.  Rear Window
A photographer based on Robert Capa, must temporarily use a wheelchair; out of boredom he begins observing his neighbours across the courtyard, and becomes convinced one of them (Raymond Burr) has murdered his wife. Stewart tries to sway both his glamorous model-girlfriend (Kelly) and his policeman buddy (Wendell Corey) to his theory, and eventually succeeds

What I love: the cinematography is wonderful, the idea is clever, and Grace Kelly is divine.

2.  North by Northwest
In North by Northwest, Cary Grant portrays Roger Thornhill, a Madison Avenue advertising executive who is mistaken for a government secret agent. He is hotly pursued by enemy agents across America, one of them Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint), who turns out to really be an American double agent.


What I love:  the confusion, the danger, the tension...that scene where Cary Grant is nearly mown down by a crop duster!

3.  Dial M for Murder
 Ray Milland plays the scheming villain, an ex-tennis pro who tries to murder his unfaithful wife Grace Kelly for her money. When she kills the hired assassin in self-defense, Milland manipulates the evidence to pin the death on his wife. Her lover, Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings), and Police Inspector Hubbard (John Williams), work urgently to save her from execution.

What I love: the utter audacity of the crime, Grace Kelly's fighting spirit, the scissors!!

4.  To Catch a Thief
(pairing Cary Grant and Grace Kelly...clearly, Kelly is a favorite, both of mine and Hitchcock's.)
Grant plays retired thief John Robie, who becomes the prime suspect for a spate of robberies in the Riviera. An American heiress played by Kelly surmises his true identity, attempts to seduce him.

In my mind this isn't exactly classic Hitchcock, but it's got so much to love...a visual feast...

So...what's your favorite??

[Summaries courtesy of Wikipedia]

Back to Normal

Whew!  That was a wild ride.  Never in my wildest imaginings did I expect such an awesome response for this giveaway--that was unbelievable!  Clearly there are some book lovers out there who are willing to go the distance to win books or book paraphenalia or gift cards to buy books!  Clearly you are a tasteful group!

In terms of a winner, well here's the thing...I am experiencing technical difficulties.  The Random Number Generator picked a random number, I cross-referenced it with my spreadsheet, and checked that the requirements for entry had been met...and hit a roadblock.  I'm hoping to have this resolved today in order to announce the winner.  If I cannot get it resolved, it's back to the Random Number Generator, so stay tuned.

 But now it's time to get back to normal here on the blog.  Normally, I talk books and whatever else strikes my fancy.  And today, I'm talking Disney movies...not the new ones...the oldies.  And not the animated ones--the live action ones that were just good, clean fun, minus the special effects.  Bascially, the ones some of you have missed out on, and that's a darn shame.

Over the past few years I have systematically been checking out all the old live-action Disney movies that I loved when I was a kid and watching them with my boys.  These are kids who LOVE video games and cool special effects.  But they also love slapstick humor and out-and-out silliness, and they have loved these.  Here are my top five.  Please feel free to list your faves in the comments.  I'd love to think I've missed one or two...




1.  The North Avenue Irregulars...a CLASSIC, full of hilarious hi-jinks
2.  The Apple Dumpling Gang...two kooky but loveable small-time thiefs foil some true criminals
3.  The Swiss Family Robinson...a shipwreck, pirates, an ostrich race, and a little romance
4.  Mary Poppins...practically perfect in every way
5.  The Absent-minded Professor...so out of control, it's cringe-worthy

Runners up: The Parent Trap, That Darn Cat, The Shaggy Dog, Candleshoe
Anybody else got a favorite?

Movie Love

Tell me you're as psyched for this as I am...

Shakespeare and gnomes...with British accents!  Love!

Thank Goodness It's (Almost) Monday!

The best way, I think, to describe the weekend I had is painful.  Pair a 'get 'er done' Mom with an 'I can do it later' son, and throw in a science project, and it's simply inevitable.  My son's work strategy is as follows:

1.  Chug through one step in the process of finishing a science project due on Monday (this may take anywhere from 5-30 minutes).
2.  Breathe a sigh of relief.
3.  Congratulate oneself.
4.  Inform Mom that you're taking a 5-30 minute break, depending on what you think you can get away with.
5.  Indulge oneself in a well-deserved break.
6.  Repeat steps 1-5 about 50 times while Mom seethes with frustration.

My headache has been steadily building since Friday afternoon, and right now it's a colossus.  Luckily, the project was just finished (with just enough time to shower and brush teeth before bed), so I'm hoping the headache will start to subside any time now.

Two highlights:  The Doris Day movie my boys watched with me Friday night (a much-needed break from The Project), which they LOVED...you still got it, Doris! And Secretariat, which we saw at the dollar theater today because Grandma and Grandpa came down to visit.  Really good movie.  I recommend.  It probably would have been even better without the headache.

At the movies...

Friday afternoon this felt like it was going to be a movie weekend.  I haven't been to the theater in a while, and, rather unbelievably, there are several movies out now that I'd be quite happy to see with the full impact of the theater experience.

First off, and lowest on my preference list, is Megamind, the DreamWorks production about a evil genius turned superhero (or something like that).  This one I'd only see because of my kids.  Fact is, if they see it and I don't, they'll be trying to discuss it with me...'Remember the part when [insert something hilarious to boys here] happened, Mom?'  And they'll conveniently forget, over and over again, that I didn't, in fact, see it with them.

Movie 2?  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.  I'm a big Harry Potter fan, and this is the big ending...or the beginning of the big ending.  The trailers are hyping the movie as an action-packed, edge-of-your-seat, super-charged blockbuster.  And if they're sticking with the books, there should be a touch of romance too.  And you know how I love a touch of romance...

Okay now we're moving into the movies that are truly my cup of tea...the romantic comedies.  And there are two!  Morning Glory, with *sigh* Harrison Ford and Rachel McAdams, and Love and Other Drugs, with the adorable Jake Gyllenhaal and the toothsome Anne Hathaway.  I would be perfectly happy whiling away a rainy (or sunny) afternoon watching these movies back to back in the theater by myself.  It's been a while since I've seen a romantic comedy, and I'm going through a bit of a withdrawal.  Soon I'll be pulling out my go-to holiday fave, The Holiday, but not yet, and I need a little something to keep me going till then.

And now the weekend is ending and I haven't been to the theater.  Maybe this Thanksgiving week...

How about you?  What would you see if you had a free afternoon at the movies?  And definitely give me your reviews if you've seen any of these movies!!

Recharging...Resetting...Something

This week has seemed so long, which is a little weird, because it was a short week. Or it should have been. I got launched from my little excursion to Canton right into a hostess gig at my inlaws lakehouse. With them out of town for the weekend, my husband invited a couple of friends from work and their families out to spend a couple days. I think it went very well, but honestly, I found it exhausting. I like my weekends to be take-it-easy days with lots of reading packed in around the edges. That didn't happen.

And because I didn't get that time to recharge my energy, I have had the roughest time all week getting up in the morning...at 7:15!! That's not even early, but every day this week, I was staggering bleary-eyed out of bed, trying to hustle my kids to school on time. Then everyday around four o'clock, I was dragging. Possibly I should have stopped staying up late to read my book, but I couldn't help it! It's good. And I've got books lining up behind it, on hold from the library, calling my name.

Today was the same...but rather than write in the afternoon (shame on me!), I took the boys to see The Sorcerer's Apprentice. I admit to a certain fondness for Nicolas Cage...and now I have a fondness for Jay Baruchel too--he was the apprentice. Seriously, this was a clever movie, both sweet and funny, and I found myself smiling almost the whole way through. Hopefully I have been reset and can rest easy, ready for next week (and the weekend, which will be heavy on the books).

Have a great weekend!

Summer Movies: Old and New

I watched His Girl Friday for the first time Monday night, and while I really did enjoy it, it completely exhausted me. Could have been that I was exhausted already, given that I'd bowled, mini-golfed, and laser-tagged in the morning, but the movie wasn't the relaxing romantic comedy I was expecting. In fact, all of its rapid-fire banter reminded me a little of Gilmore Girls (also a little exhausting to watch--but worth it).

I also wasn't expecting to see Cary Grant playing the snake-charmer. I'm used to him being a little bit bumbling while pouring on the charm....Father Goose, To Catch a Thief, That Touch of Mink, Houseboat, North by Northwest...those are primo Cary Grant fare. In His Girl Friday, I can't say that I liked his character very much. He played the part to perfection, but I was ashamed of him for the way he treated Rosalind Russell, not to mention the way he handled his job as newspaper editor. I simply couldn't like him. Funnily enough, my favorite line from the movie was when Rosalind Russell told Cary Grant, "Walter, you're wonderful, in a loathesome sort of way." Perfect!

In other news, I saw Despicable Me yesterday with my kids and have decided that their Halloween costumes should be minion-ware.

Movie Night, Kid Pick

Just watched Aliens in the Attic with my two boys, and I must admit to being pleasantly surprised. Particularly since there was a LOT of the much-loved slapstick boy humor. (I'm not the one who loves it, just in case that's not obvious.) I have to admit though, the movie had two high points for me.

1. The appearance of a rotary phone and the complete and utter bafflement it caused when the kids had to use it (their cell phones weren't getting a signal). The part where they didn't know how to dial it was maybe a little far-fetched (or maybe not), but when they dialed 9-1-1, intending to report the alien invasion, and it took an eternity for the dial to make it all the way back around from the nine as they all stood there watching in disbelief...that was pretty funny. I was the only one who laughed out loud at that. And the only one who didn't laugh when adult diapers were mentioned.

and

2. The part where the teenager told his dad that he didn't want to be smart anymore, he wanted to be cool, i.e. he didn't want to be like HIM. I looked at my eight year old and told him he didn't have to worry about that because I'm smart and cool. He fired back a one-liner that I didn't quite catch, so I said, "Did you just say you're already smart and cool?" And he said, "No, I said I'm already awesome and cool." Alrighty then. No confidence problem there.

They both want to watch it again. I think I might be sitting out the second time around.

An Anomaly

I find myself oddly drawn to this movie...



Anyone seen it?