the cast: Reese Whitherspoon (Elle Woods); Luke Wilson (Emmett); Selma Blaire (Vivian); Matthew Davis (Warner); Victor Garber (Professor Callahan)
the plot: When a blonde sorority queen is dumped by her boyfriend, she decides to follow him to law school to get him back and, once there, learns she has more legal savvy than she ever imagined.
don't miss: how Elle figures out Enrique is lying.
listen for: "That's great, Paulette. Is that the only interaction you two have ever had?" "No! Sometimes I say "okay" instead of "fine." "
also don't miss: the bend and snap. Works every time.
extra bonus points: if you know how many different hairstyles Elle has during the film.
Her first poem, entitled “Night,” was published in the school magazine, and writing verse became an occasional pastime during the rest of her life.
In her first part on Broadway, she carried a bucket of water across the stage.
Two weeks after one of her Broadway plays opened, there was a rumor that Darryl F. Zanuck, the head of 20th Century Fox had flown in from the coast and was in the audience. During the performance, he told an assistant to make a note of her name. Later that night, Zanuck dropped by the Stork Club, where he saw a young lady on the dance floor. He told his assistant, "Forget the girl from the play. See if you can sign that one." It was her.
She had two daughters with her famous fashion designer husband.
In 1958, she met Texas oil baron W. Howard Lee, and they were later married on July 11, 1960. They lived in Houston and she loved life in Texas.
Mock me if you will, but I like this happy little ditty of a movie. And while I can't recommend the sequels as highly, if you haven't seen this - give it a chance. You might like it.
the plot: Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez meet over winter break after being forced to sing together at a party. They become friends, but don't expect to see each other again. When Gabriella's mother is transferred before the spring semester starts, Troy and Gabriella end up at the same school. They decide to audition for the school's musical, which puts them on the hit list of Sharpay and Ryan Evans, the star siblings of every previous school musical.
don't miss: Zeke's creme brulee.
listen for: "Look, you're a hoops dude. Not a musical singer person. Have you ever seen Michael Crawford on a cereal box?" "Who's Michael Crawford?" "Exactly my point. He was the "Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway. Now my mom, she's seen that musical 27 times and she put Michael Crawford's picture in our refrigerator. Not on it. IN it. So my point is, if you play basketball, you'll end up on the cereal box. If you sing in musicals, you'll end up in my mom's refrigerator."
did you know: "High School Musical" was just the working title for the film while a better name was thought up. However, by the time post-production came, a better name had not been thought of so the producers unwillingly went for "High School Musical."
the cast: Zac Efron (Charlie St. Cloud); Charlie Tahan (Sam St. Cloud); Amanda Crew (Tess Carroll); Donal Logue (Tink Weatherbee)
the plot: Charlie St. Cloud is a young man overcome by grief at the death of his younger brother, Sam. So much so, that he takes a job as caretaker of the cemetery in which Sam is buried. Charlie has a special bond and can still see Sam, so he meets up with him each night to play catch and talk. When Tess comes into Charlie's life, he must choose between keeping the promise he made to Sam, or going after the girl he loves.
don't miss: Charlie's geese-management program.
watch for: Charlie's co-worker and friend Alistair. He's a good pal.
listen for: "Trust your heart if the seas catch fire, live by love though the stars walk backwards."
the cast: Denzel Washington (Coach Herman Boone); Will Patton (Coach Bill Yost); Wood Harris (Julius Campbell); Ryan Hurst (Gerry Bertier); Hayden Panettiere (Sheryl Yost)
the plot: In the early 1970s, two schools in Alexandria Virginia integrate forming T.C. Williams High School. The head coach of the Titans is replaced by Herman Boone. Tensions arise when players of different races are forced together on the same football team. Many of these tensions are eased during the two-week training camp in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, but when players return to Alexandria the players find the city in turmoil due to the forced desegregation of the high school.
don't miss: Sunshine's "tryout" for the team.
listen for: "We will be perfect in every aspect of the game. You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble the football, and I will break my foot off in your John Brown hind parts. And then you will run a mile. Perfection. Let's go to work."
did you know: it was actually an old toilet that was thrown through the Boone's window, not a brick - but film makers thought this would add humor to a serious situation so they changed it.
extra bonus points: if you know who, in Greek mythology, actually DID defeat the Titans.
also listen for: "Now THAT'S a Momma joke."
did you also know: the state championship game was played at 12 o'clock noon on Saturday, not at night as portrayed in the movie.
He was almost cast as Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady due to concerns that Rex Harrison was too old for the part, but his salary demands were more than producer Jack L. Warner was willing to pay.
In 1997, he was coaching cricket professionally in England.
He said, “The only exercise I take is walking behind the coffins of friends who took exercise.”
The DVD of one of his more recent movies includes a two page biography which includes the following conclusion: “He died in 2003 after a long illness”. Whoever entered that erroneous fact must have been very surprised to see him show up at the Academy Awards after the DVD was released.
When he was named the recipient of a Special Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2003, he originally intended to turn it down feeling that the lifetime award signaled the end of his career. He wrote the Academy a letter stating that he was "still in the game" and would like more time to "win the lovely bugger outright." It was only after the Academy informed him that they were bestowing the award on him whether he came to collect it or not that he relented.
the cast: Jeff Daniels (Sig Mickelson); David Strathairn (Edward R. Murrow); Patricia Clarkson (Shirley Wershba); Robert Downey, Jr. (Joe Wershuba); George Clooney (Fred Friendly)
the plot: In the early 1950's, CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow and his producer Fred W. Friendly decided to take a stand and challenge Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin as he exploited the paranoia of Communism in the United States.
don't miss: the music. The plot is fantastic, but the music really adds to the movie. The band playing throughout the movie is Matt Catingub's band. Matt Catingub produced Rosemary Clooney's last album and George Clooney (her nephew) was so impressed, he personally asked Matt to do the music for this film.
listen for: "What'd the general have to say?" "It was a colonel. Two of them." "That makes a general."
did you know: The filmmakers decided not to cast anyone as McCarthy because anyone "playing McCarthy" would seem like they were overacting, even if they were simply mirroring McCarthy's mannerisms. The role was never cast to begin with as a result. Interestingly, Clooney also said this was the prime reason the film was in black and white -- to match the black and white footage of McCarthy.
extra bonus points: if you know the significance of the film title.
the cast: Amy Adams (Anna Brady); Matthew Goode (Declan O'Callaghan); Adam Scott (Jeremy); John Lithgow (Jack Brady)
the plot: Anna Brady is a planner. When her boyfriend doesn't propose as expected, she decides to propose to him on Leap Day - an acceptable Irish tradition according to her father. Anna faces a major setback when bad weather threatens to derail her planned trip to Dublin, but with the help of the reluctant Declan her cross-country odyssey just might result in her getting engaged.
don't miss: Anna, speaking fluent cow.
listen for: "Why don't you stop trying to control everything in the known universe. It's dinner. Have a little faith that it will all work out."
suggestion while viewing: watch with subtitles. With the heavy Irish accents, I missed quite a few funny things the first time around.
extra bonus points: if know what is special about supporting character Louis.
also listen for: "You fried my BlackBerry!" "You fried the whole village!"
I'm a collector of 1940s-60s just-about-anything, I have enough old snapshots to wallpaper a small house, and I'm saving my pennies so that one day I can have my very own roller rink.
Some of the images are from screenshots I've made and some have been collected from several years of net trolling. If one of them is yours and you would like to be credited, please let me know and I'll take care of it!
