“Brad and Kate have been together three years, in love, having fun and, doing all sorts of things together with no intention of marriage or children. Christmas morning, they’re on their way to Fiji, having told their two sets of divorced parents that they’re off to do charity work. Through a fluke, they have no choice but to visit each of their four idiosyncratic parents. As the day progresses, Brad and Kate remember growing up, each learns more about the other and, Kate realizes that her life may not be as good as it could be. Do they know each other well enough to weather the storms families bring?”
Interesting Trivia:
♦ Apparently, Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon did not get along.
♦ All four cast members playing the parents are all Oscar winners.
♦ Carol Kane, (who was uncredited as Aunt Sarah), also appeared in Scrooged (1988), another Christmas movie, as the Ghost of Christmas Present (a violent, shrill fairy that hits Bill Murray‘s character with a toaster).
“Conrad and Sally Walden are home alone with their pet fish. It is raining outside and there is nothing to do until The Cat in the Hat walks in the front door. He introduces them to their imagination and, at first, it’s all fun and games until things get out of hand and, The Cat must go, go, go, before their parents get back.”
Interesting Trivia:
♦ Tim Allen was originally cast as The Cat but, had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict for The Santa Clause II.
♦ There was so much smog during the shoot that the sky had to be digitally replaced.
♦ Audrey Geisel, Dr. Seuss’s widow, was appalled by this movie and decided to reject any future adaptations of her late husband’s work. She was so furious after she saw the film that she legally forbade Hollywood from making anymore live-action stories (all subsequent films have been animated).
♦ Mike Myers said that the Cat’s personality is a composite of director/producer Bruce Paltrow, his Saturday Night Live (1975) character “Linda Richman” and, actor Charles Nelson Reilly.
♦ Peter Travers of Rolling Stone Magazine had a different take:
“I hated How The Grinch Stole Christmas, which was a smash for Jim Carrey. Cat, another over-blown Hollywood raid on Dr. Seuss, has a draw in Mike Myers, who, inexplicably, plays the Cat by mimicking Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz.”
♢ 21 Nominations [Not all bad. The kids & teens liked this and, the hair & makeup was noticed by the Guild. The Teen Choice Awards nominated Sean Hayes for Choice Movie Hissy Fit, which I found amusing. ~Vic]
“A Disney-ized re-telling of Dumas’ classic swashbuckling story of three swordsmen of the disbanded French King’s Guard, plus one young man who dreams to become one of them, who seek to save their King from the scheming of the Cardinal Richelieu. Jokes and stunts are the expected fare in this light-hearted and jaunty adventure.”
Ok, folks. I am shifting things a bit. What used to be Flick Friday is now Movie Monday! *applause*applause* All blogs change and evolve…and, we’re off…
Forty-five years ago, today, the #1 movie at the box office was The Way We Were, a film described as a romantic drama. It’s drama alright. Directed by Sydney Pollack, it is a period piece based upon a novel by Arthur Laurents. He wrote about his college days at Cornell University and his experience with HCUA, which ultimately led to Hollywood Blacklisting. I’m not going to comment any further on the details as it is a little too close to the political nonsense of today.
Fifty years ago, today, the #1 movie at the box office was Night of the Living Dead, starring Judith O’Dea (her best known role), Duane Jones (his best known role), Karl Hardman (one of the producers of the film), Marilyn Eastman (business partner of Karl Hardman and, make-up and prop artist of the film), Judith Ridley (Karl Hardman & Marilyn Eastman’s receptionist and, eventually, producer Russell Streiner‘s wife), Ronald ‘Keith Wayne‘ Hartman (the only role he ever had) and Kyra Schon (the zombie kid and Karl Hardman’s daughter). The Zombie Family that plays together, stays together, I guess.
Duane Jones is, now, an actual character in The Walking Dead graphic novel/comic.
The original movie is slated to be re-released this month in certain cinemas on the 24th & 25th in celebration of its 50th anniversary. It’s a shame that George Romero passed away in July of last year: www.nightofthelivingdead.com
I don’t think I want to watch this one. I love Hugh Jackman & Terrence Howard but, I can’t take little kid abduction and torture movies. The synopsis was quite enough. ~Victoria
It’s Flick Friday! Ten years ago, today, the #1 movie was Burn After Reading, a black comedy from the Coen Brothers that brought us hits like Fargo and The Big Lebowski. I’ve never seen this movie, or The Big Lebowski for that matter but, I have seen Fargo, which was an absolute trip. At least the brothers aren’t as gory as Tarentino. ~Victoria
I haven’t the first clue… But, I will say that the trailer offered a nice view of an older Leif Garrett and Barry Williams. Bonaduce? I’ve seen enough of him, already. Ditto Alyssa Milano. ~Victoria
Twenty-five years ago, today, the number one movie was The Fugitive, a suspense film that was based on the TV Show that ran from 1963 to 1967 on ABC starring David Janssen.
The television show started before I was born and I was just an infant when it ceased production. I have picked up a re-run or two over the years. Harrison Ford managed to capture the intensity that David Janssen displayed nearly 30 years earlier. ~Victoria
The number one movie 30 years ago, today, is A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master! I never did get into the Freddy movies…or any other ‘slice & dice’ type movie. I saw about 10 minutes of the second Jason movie & about five minutes of Halloween III. Yeah. That was enough. I love a good suspense piece or a nail-biting thriller or a ‘whodunit’ but, guts & gore? No thanks. ~Victoria
It’s Flick Friday! The number one movie 35 years ago, today, is National Lampoon’s Vacation!
[I saw this movie in the summer before beginning my senior year of high school. It is a very different movie from the sequels as there was nudity. It wasn’t considered a ‘family friendly’ movie back then. It was very risqué. It is the only movie of the series with an ‘R‘ rating. The movies afterwards were toned down. And, it’s a little embarrassing, too. My mother’s maiden name is Griswold. I kept my mouth shut in school but, boy did my cousins take some ribbing. And, yes. We are just that weird. LOL! ~Victoria]
It’s Flick Friday. The number one movie 40 years ago, today, is…Grease! I was 11 years old when it was released. I was such an Olivia Newton-John fan. I begged my mom to buy me the album soundtrack. I nearly wore it out. I still have it to this day. And, I remember those shoes… I was headed to seventh grade that year and ALL the girls had to have a pair of the Candies that ‘Sandy’ made famous. Can you imagine a bunch of tween girls in the late 70s trying to change classes, going up and down stairs…in ‘Sandy’s Candies’? Oh, my…
I STILL love this movie. What wonderful memories… ~Vic
During a visit to America, Australian Sandy meets Danny Zuko at the beach and falls in love. She is heartbroken when summer ends [as] she has to return home and their last kiss on the beach is a very emotional one. But, fate lends a hand — her parents decide to stay in America and she finds herself attending the same school as Danny.
Photo Credit: jewelwpg.com
But, Danny at school is different from Danny at the beach. He is the leader of the T-Birds, a black leather-clad gang and has a reputation to keep up. He can’t be seen to fall in love with just one chick! Sandy is upset and seeks solace with some new friends she has made – a girls’ club called The Pink Ladies. But, her prim and proper virginal ways do not fit in and she soon finds herself almost alone. A change must be made. Does she attempt to get her man by turning him into a jock? Or must she get rid of her “Sandra Dee” image?
“”GREASE,” the film version of the still-running Broadway musical show, is not really the 1950’s teen-age movie musical it thinks it is but, a contemporary fantasy about a 1950’s teen-age musical—a larger, funnier, wittier and more imaginative-than-Hollywood movie with a life that is all its own. Somewhat in the manner of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” which recalls the science-fiction films of the 50’s in a manner more elegant, and more benign, than anything that was ever made then, “Grease” is a multimillion-dollar evocation of the B-picture quickies that Sam Katzman used to turn out in the 50’s […].
Photo Credit: pinterest.com
The gang at old Rydell High, which is the universe of “Grease,” is unlike any high school class you’ve ever seen except in the movies. For one thing, they’re all rather long in the tooth to be playing kids who’d hang around malt shops. For another, they are loaded with the kind of talent and exuberance you don’t often find very far from a musical stage.
Olivia Newton-John, the recording star in her American film debut, is simultaneously very funny and utterly charming as the film’s ingénue […]. She possesses true screen presence as well as a sweet, sure singing voice […]. John Travolta […], a not-so-malevolent gang-leader, is better than he was in “Saturday Night Fever.” I’m still not sure if he’s a great actor but, he’s a fine performer with the kind of energy and humor that are brought to life by the musical numbers.
It’s to the director’s credit that the musical numbers slip in and out of reality mostly with hugely comic effect. Let me emphasize, then, that “Grease” stands outside the traditions it mimics. Its sensibility is not tied to the past but, to a free-wheeling, well informed, high-spirited present.”
Trivia Bits:
♦ Rizzo’s hickeys were real. Stockard Channing said in an interview that Jeff Conaway insisted on applying them himself.
♦ “Hopelessly Devoted to You” was written and recorded after the movie had wrapped.
Photo Credit: express.co.uk
♦ Elvis Presley turned down the role of The Guardian Angel in the ‘Beauty School Drop-Out’ scene.
♦ Due to a zipper breaking, Olivia Newton-John had to be sewn into the trousers she wears in the last sequence (the carnival at Rydell).
♦ Jeff Conaway was so infatuated with Olivia Newton-John, he was tongue-tied whenever she was around. He later married Olivia’s sister, Rona Newton-John.
♦ Danny’s blue windbreaker at the beginning of the film was intended as a nod to Rebel Without a Cause.
♦ Jamie Donnelly had prematurely grey hair, which she dyed black to play Jan. Her hair grew really quickly, so her roots had to be coloured in daily with a black crayon.
♦ Rydell High is a reference to teen idol Bobby Rydell who had a million selling hit with “Swingin’ School” in 1960.
♦ The “blonde pineapple” line was improvised by Barry Pearl.
♦ Olivia Newton-John insisted on a screen test for the role of Sandy. She was concerned that she didn’t have the acting skills and would look too old to be a high school student. The part was originally meant for Susan Dey, who turned it down on her manager’s advice.
