leap year

the year: 2010

the genre: comedy


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!"

sneakers

the year: 1992

the genre: suspense


the cast: Robert Redford (Martin Bishop); Sidney Poitier (Donald Crease); Dan Ackroyd (Darren "Mother" Roskow); David Strathairn (Irwin 'Whistler' Emery); River Phoenix (Carl Arbogast); Ben Kingsley (Cosmo); Mary McDonnell (Liz); James Earl Jones (Agent Bernard Abbott)


the plot: A burglar, a spy, a fugitive, a delinquent, a hacker, and a piano teacher... and these are the good guys. Martin Bishop is the head of a group of experts who specialise in testing security systems. When he is blackmailed by Government agents into stealing a top secret black box, the team find themselves embroiled in a game of danger and intrigue. After they recover the box, they discover that it has the capability to decode all existing encryption systems around the world.



don't miss: Carl trying to get a date.



watch for: the jacket Robert Redford wears. It's the same one he wears in The Natural.



listen for: "Uh, could we maybe just go back to the "they might kill us" part?"


extra bonus points: if you can name what each of the gang wants from the NSA in exchange for the encryption chip.



also listen for: "We got bupkis! We turn ourselves in now, they'll give us twenty years in the electric chair!"

in the details

Name the movie:

guess who?

She was born in Scotland.

When she was a young girl, she had a strict "Victorian" grandmother who made her lie on her back, on the floor, for long periods of time, in order to "straighten her back" and ensure good posture.

She originally trained as a ballet dancer.

While on set, her co-star Robert Mitchum worried that she would be like the prim characters she frequently played. However, after she swore at their director during one take, Mitchum, who was in the water, almost drowned laughing. The two stars went on to have an enduring friendship which lasted until Mitchum's death in 1997.

Her most famous movie roles were as characters: Anna Leonowens, Terry McKay, and Karen Holmes.

kung fu panda

the year: 2008

the genre: animation


the plot: In the Valley of Peace, Po the Panda finds himself chosen as the Dragon Warrior despite the fact that he is a tad overweight and a complete novice at martial arts.


don't miss: when Po finds the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom.


listen for: "Legend tells of a legendary warrior whose kung fu skills were the stuff of legend. He was so deadly, in fact, that his enemies would go blind from over-exposure to pure awesomeness!"



did you know: the animators took a six-hour kung fu class to get an idea of the film's action.



also listen for: "The Furious Five! You look a lot bigger than your action figures! Except you, Mantis. You're about the same."

that touch of mink

the year: 1962

the genre: comedy


the cast: Cary Grant (Philip Shayne); Doris Day (Cathy Timberlake); Gig Young (Roger); John Astin (Everett Beasley); Audrey Meadows (Connie Emerson); Alan Hewitt (Doctor Gruber)


the plot: Cathy Timberlake is an old fashioned country girl who meets the man of her dreams, Philip Shayne, after his Rolls Royce splashes her with mud. Philip is taken by Cathy's honest heart, but there's one problem - he's not interested in marriage while Cathy, of course, has never thought of anything else.



don't miss: the credit that reads: "Our special thanks to Bergdorf Goodman for being Bergdorf Goodman."




listen for: "The Four Horsemen now have a riding companion. There's War, Famine, Death, Pestilence, and Miss Timberlake!"




did you know: Cary Grant was a big fan of "The Honeymooners" and Audrey Meadows in particular. He was responsible for getting her the part of Connie.



also don't miss: John Astin as creepy unemployment officer Everett Beasley - quite a different character from Gomez Addams.



also listen for: "[very drunk] Do you like the way I walk?" "Poetry in motion."




did you also know: that the name Rock Hudson appears on the list of potential husbands Roger shows to Cathy.