5.31.2012

while I'm on vacation...



...here are 8 fun videos for you. (The last isn't from a movie, but I think it will make you smile!)

5.23.2012

take me home


the year: 2011

the genre: romantic comedy


the cast: Sam Jaeger (Thom); Amber Jaeger (Claire); Victor Garber (Arnold); Lin Shaye (Jill); Christine Rose (Lynnette)

the plot: After getting turned down by a photography agency, Thom finds his landlord throwing all of his belongings out into the hallway. With no job prospects and no place to sleep, Thom must turn to his recurring last resort: driving his illegal taxicab around the streets of New York. 


Fortunately for him, Claire Barrow isn't having a good day, either. First she comes home to find her husband flirting with his new secretary, then discovers her estranged father has suffered a heart attack in California. In a frenzy, Claire runs out into the night and hails what she assumes to be a cab. What she gets instead ... is Thom. With her life in ruins, Claire decides on a whim to pay Thom to drive her out to California. With nothing in New York to call his own, Thom reluctantly agrees.


The path across America takes more than the usual detours, through mountains, barren deserts, and the occasional family reunion. But it's what awaits Thom and Claire in California that forces them to choose between the lives they've left behind, and the possibilities glimpsed along their journey.


my notes:  Even though this had a bit more of a Sleepless in Seattle ending than I'd like, I still thought it was well done.  I laughed out loud a couple of times and the characters are pretty true to life.  It was an indie so there was limited release - I found through "on demand". 

5.19.2012

government girl

the year: 1943

the genre: comedy

the cast: Oliva de Havilland (Elizabeth "Smokey" Allard; Sonny Tufts (E. H. "Ed" Browne); Anne Shirley (May Harness Blake); Jess Barker (Dana McGuire); James Dunn (Sgt. Joe Blake); Paul Stewart (Branch Owens); Agnes Moorehead (Mrs. Delancey Wright); Harry Davenport (Senator MacVickers)  


the plot: Set in Washington, the film tells the story of Elizabeth "Smokey" Allard, a take-charge secretary who has to help a volunteer businessman named Ed Browne deal with the mire and muck in D.C. He's trying to set up factories that will produce the planes that will be key in winning the war in Europe and in the Pacific. Of course, he's not used to dealing with the politics of D.C. and Smokey has to show him the ropes. They must contend with government sanctions, greedy investors, and a snobbish Washington matron.

you'll enjoy: Smokey and May's attempt to trap a spy for the feds.  Turns out the champagne isn't cider after all.


a fun meet cute: Smokey crawling under the couch in the lobby of the hotel looking for May's lost wedding ring (May and her beau had to get married behind the palms in the lobby because Ed, unbeknownst to them, was given the hotel room where they had planned to hold the wedding).  Ed, of course, is sitting on the couch waiting for his room to be ready - and with the female to male ratio during wartime at 10 to 1 - thinks she is crawling under the couch trying to get his attention. 

my favorite scene: is when Smokey has to find a way to get Sgt. Blake's motorcycle back to the base and is forced to ask Ed (who she does not realize is her new boss) to drop it off.  He agrees to do so, but only if she will hop on and give him directions.  He forgets to mention that he doesn't really know how to drive a motorcycle and is completely unfamilair with the streets in Washington.  


don't miss: Agnes Moorehead as Mrs. Wright - see the clip below.