One Fine Day, 1996

Director: Michael Hoffman

Stars: Michelle Pfeiffer, George Clooney

Now I know, after watching this movie, why George Clooney was voted "Sexiest Man Alive" so many times.

A single mom and a single dad spend a crazy, hectic day together after their respective kids miss the boat for their field trip. They take turns watching the kids and doing their jobs, hating each other and flirting the whole time!

I love the last scene- so good!

Get Smart, 2008

Director: Peter Segal

Stars: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson, Alan Arkin

This was based on the 1960's tv show Get Smart, starring Don Adams and Barbara Feldon, about Maxwell Smart, a bumbling secret agent working for "Control", and his partner, Agent 99 (who doesn't have a name- it's just 99! I love that!). Together they fight against the KAOS agents who are bent on destroying the world.

Well, that's how I remember it anyway. And it's close enough!

This is an action-adventure-comedy-romance. It's totally cute, and I highly recommend it!!

Steve Carell is kind of brilliant!

Pitcher and the Pin-Up, 2004

Director: Drew Johnson

Stars: Drew Johnson, Corinna Harney

This was not a very popular movie. I can tell because I looked it up on Google, and it's listed as being made in 3 different years. I'm going with what Netflix says. It also has two different titles; it's also known as "The Road Home". I like that one better; it gives it a classier feel, taking the word "pin-up" out of there.

It's an all-American love story. It's also a sports movie, of course. The style of story-telling is a bit scattered. I think I would have just gone chronological, but things tend to skip around. It's not too confusing, since I could tell where they were (or "when" they were) at all times.

Childhood friends Danny (Johnson) and Melissa (Harney) decide to take different paths in life, but their feelings for each other always bring them back together somehow. But after Melissa marries, Danny fears he's lost her forever.

That's the best I can do. It wasn't bad, I just probably will never watch it again. Yes, it had a happy ending, but the rest of the movie isn't as happy as I wanted it to be.

Someone Like You, 2001

Director: Tony Goldwyn

Stars: Ashley Judd, Greg Kinnear, Hugh Jackman, Marisa Tomei

Cute. Not the cleanest movie ever, but not the dirtiest either. Very cute!

Jane (Judd) meets Ray (Kinnear), and they begin dating, though he is already dating Dee. Six weeks later, Ray calls it off just as they are planning to move in together. Needing a place to stay (not to mention recover), she moves in with her womanizing co-worker, Eddie (Jackman). With her life falling apart, Jane comes up with a theory for why men leave women. Under a false name, her theories (equating men with cows) are published in a men's magazine, and suddenly everyone wants to meet and interview her! Or her assumed identity, anyway.

And of course, the truth is going to come out. Soon everyone will know the real identity of "Dr. Marie Charles", and Jane will realize that she has probably misjudged men, especially Eddie.

I love Greg Kinnear. He's so hilarious in this movie!

Laura, 1944

Director: Otto Preminger

Stars: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb

Sometimes I take Netflix's advice and watch what they suggest, hoping that their "best guess" rating is right. They guess what you will think of a movie by your reviews of other movies. This one they guessed at 5 stars for me.

And they weren't wrong! I absolutely adore mysteries- can't get enough of them. And if there's a little romance, and plenty of suspense, I will be happy!

(Note: names can be confusing. Just so we're clear Dana Andrews is the man and Gene Tierney is the woman!)

(SPOILER!) Detective MacPherson (Andrews) investigates the murder of Laura (Tierney), questioning her fiance, her employees, and special friend, reporter Lydecker (Webb), as he tries to get at the truth of what happened on Friday night. Well, turns out everyone was in love with this lovely woman, and MacPherson finds himself falling for her, as well. But things aren't as they seem! (Which means, of course, that Laura shocks everyone by turning up alive and well on Monday morning!) But there's still a body, and a murder to solve!

Sleepless in Seattle, 1993

Director: Nora Ephron

Stars: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan,Ross Malinger, Bill Pullman, Rob Reiner, Rosie O'Donnell, Rita Wilson

Before she directed You've Got Mail and Bewitched (good movies!), Nora Ephron made Sleepless in Seattle. The film was actually inspired by An Affair to Remember, which I reviewed yesterday, and which starred Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Sleepless refers back to it several times.

"And all I could say was 'hello'."

So, Sam Baldwin (Hanks) is a widower in Seattle, whose son Jonah (Malinger) calls in to a radio station on Christmas Eve, asking Dr. Marsha Fieldstone for help because he thinks his dad needs a new wife. Driving home from her family's Christmas celebration, where she just announced her engagement to Walter (Pullman), Annie (Ryan) hears the broadcast, and is moved to tears by Sam's open and honest conversation on the radio.

Unable to get Sam and his words out of her mind, Annie struggles with her growing feelings for a stranger in Seattle and her engagement to Walter. Meanwhile, Sam is dealing with a broken heart, and his determination to start dating again, after he discovers that his 8-year-old son has a girlfriend.

"What if this man is my destiny and I never meet him?" --Annie

(I couldn't say it better myself!)

My favorites: 1) Rob Reiner and Rosie O'Donnell's characters are definitely worth mentioning here. They play the best friends of Sam and Annie, and they are just fantastic! 2) My favorite part is the conversation about An Affair to Remember and The Dirty Dozen. Very Amusing! 3) I think this is a very unique movie- the main characters are only in 3 short scenes together. And they only talk to each other in 2 of those scenes. That's crazy! Want to see Meg and Tom really work together? You've Got Mail!

An Affair to Remember, 1957

Director: Leo McCarey

Stars: Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr

I love Cary Grant!

Nickie (Grant) and Terry (Kerr) meet on an ocean-liner, headed for New York. Both are engaged to other people, and both are traveling alone. Sounds like love to me!

They fall in love, and begin their "affair" (I think of affair more as an "extra-marital" thing, and marriage isn't involved here. Not that that makes it ok. I guess that conversation could go on forever. They were both cheating, anyway!) At the end of the voyage they agree that in 6 months, if nothing has changed, to meet on the top on the Empire State Building. But something prevents one of them from making it! Will it prevent them from spending the rest of their lives together? (That question is to get you to watch it, because you're in such suspense!)

The part where they go off and meet Nickie's Grandmother is my favorite! I don't know why I love it so much, but I would watch the film just for this part!

FACT: This was a remake of McCarey's 1939 film Love Affair

Ocean's Eleven, 1960

Director: Lewis Milestone

Stars: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr, and many others!

Sorry, Frank. I liked George's version better.

I watched the original (this one) after I had already seen the remake (2001). I don't know how you could like this one better, to be honest. For the first 45 minutes, this one was truly lame. Nothing was happening. But when the guys finally got together to hear about Ocean's plan (literally about 45 minutes in- I am not exaggerating), things picked up and it got good! But I almost quit watching it in the beginning. Get through those lame 45 minutes, and it's totally fine.

Call me crazy, but I loved the ending. I would have loved it better if there was something the audience didn't know, like where the money really was-- but I did love it anyway.

I also adored Peter Lawford! Man, just his voice makes me feel weak in the knees! If he winked at me, I don't know what I'd do.

Note: Check out the sign behind Sammy at the very end. Cute.

Ocean's Twelve, 2004

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Stars: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and many more!

The guys are back. This time it's an about art and in Europe. Fitting.

Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), owner of the three casino-hotels Ocean's eleven robbed three years ago, wants revenge. One by one, he finds them all, warning them they have two weeks to come up with his money- $160 million. Plus interest. How will they pull this one off?

Personally, I think it was a darn good sequel. It includes a cameo by Bruce Willis, a surprising ending, Eddie Izzard (my favorite comedian!!), and lots of fun throughout. I loved so many lines in the film! I just have to share some favorites.

Quotes:

"I totally phoned in that Dennis Quaid movie." (another Topher Grace cameo)

"Who would I talk to if you were all dead?"-Reuben

"I don't understand what happened! What did I say?"

"You called his niece a whore-"

"-a very cheap one."

"She's seven." --(Danny and Rusty, playing a joke on Linus)

"Great. So, we'll just eat room service, watch movies, and wait for Benedict to show up and kill us." --Danny

"Look- it's not in my nature to be mysterious, but I can't talk about it, and I can't talk about why." --Rusty

"Do I look 50 to you?" -Danny

"Yeah.....only from the neck up....."

(throwing around ideas for a job, speaking some kind of "thief" language)

"Hell in a hand basket?"

"No, we can't train a cat that quickly."

FACT: Despite the fact that they make fun of his age, George Clooney was only 43 when this film came out. He is 50 this year.

FACT: The whole scene with Rusty and Danny, watching Happy Days in French absolutely cracks me up! But that isn't my "fact". Danny makes a comment about Potsie, so I decided to look Potsie up just to see if there was some kind of significance there. I have no idea, but I did find out that Potsie's real name is Anson William Heimlick. Yes, THE Heimlick. He's related to Dr. Heimlick! Cool!

Ocean's Eleven, 2001

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Stars: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts, and MANY more

I love heists! Watching one just makes me want to steal something! This could spark a whole marathon of films.... and a life of crime.

I especially love the style of the film, and the cinematography. Not only is the content entertaining and the characters funny and memorable, it is also a beautiful movie.

Danny Ocean (Clooney) and Rusty Ryan (Pitt) assemble an all-star, eleven-man crew to knock over 3 casinos in Las Vegas. It is a remake of the 1960 Ocean's Eleven. And it's better.

What I love: 1) Pitt and Clooney. They're amazing together. Their dialogue -wow! 2) Before working on the heist, Rusty's job is teaching movie stars how to play poker! There is a brilliant multi-cameo scene with Topher Grace, Barry Watson, Joshua Jackson, and others. 3) Matt Damon! Mr. Action Hero/Jason Bourne/all around Tough Guy plays the new thief; the pick-pocket who wants a chance to be a part of something big. He's very gullible and very lovable, and not at all Jason Bourne, which just shows how great an actor Matt Damon is.

NOTE: The commentaries are very fun! Sometimes I absolutely love watching/listening to the commentaries, and these ones I really loved! I highly recommend them.

Bottom line: You'll love it.

Woman of the Year, 1942

Director: George Stevens

Stars: Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn

Yes, another one with these two legends!

Tess and Sam meet and fall in love. Not the end! After the wedding, Sam begins to resent his wife's busy lifestyle, and after she is named "woman of the year", his frustrations come to a head and he moves out. Tess, a fiercely independent workaholic, is crushed and at last decides that she loves her husband more than being woman of the year.

Sorry, I just sort of gave it away, but I would not have even thought of watching it if I didn't think it ended happily. And with these two, in a romance, you know it will! Watching this one was almost like intruding on their lives, not like watching a movie. Because it involves so much of their relationship and is not a comedy, it really felt personal. But I enjoyed it, too!

FACT: This was their first film together, and it started their on- screen relationship, and off-screen affair, which would last until Tracy's death in 1967.

FACT: There is a UCLA Spencer Tracy award, given to actors! Recipients have included: James Stewart, Michael Douglas, Tom Hanks, Jodie Foster, Harrison Ford, Kirk Douglas, and Jack Lemmon, just to name a few.

FACT: Spencer Tracy was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin! That practically makes us neighbors!

Some Like It Hot, 1959

Director: Billy Wilder

Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon

When musicians Joe (Curtis) and Jerry (Lemmon) become witnesses to a mob hit in Chicago, they hit the road, and run for their lives. They come up with a brilliant scheme- to hide in plain sight as female musicians in an all-girls band!

On a train to Florida they meet their fellow musicians, one of whom is Sugar (Monroe), and both guys fall for her and befriend her as their female roles, "Josephine" and "Daphne" (he didn't like "Geraldine"). Arriving in Florida, the girls are put in a hotel, where they will be performing every night with the band. But their afternoons are for flirting with the old millionaires at the hotel! Sugar meets a handsome millionaire the first day, but she doesn't know it's actually Joe!

If that weren't enough to make this extremely entertaining, by some crazy coincidence there seems to be special mob conference at the hotel, and who should show up--- yes, you guessed it!--- the mob boss from Chicago, who is also still searching for the only two witnesses who can put him in prison.

I especially love Jack Lemmon in this film. I think he's brilliant in everything, really! When he gets engaged to his own millionaire, you'll die laughing! (Ok, hopefully not really.) And Tony Curtis, pretending to be a millionaire to impress Sugar, does his own Cary Grant impersonation, which is spot on and wonderful!

Not what I was expecting from having heard about this movie forever, and knowing it is a classic comedy, but definitely worth watching!

Coming Soon!

Reviews to come! Lots of fun times for me!

-Ocean's Eleven, 2001

-Ocean's Eleven, 1960

-An Affair to Remember, 1957

-Sleepless in Seattle, 1993

-Woman of the Year, 1942

-Some Like It Hot, 1959

:)

The Pleasure of His Company, 1961

Director:George Seaton

Stars: Fred Astaire, Debbie Reynolds

Okay, just so we're clear, this isn't actually a musical! I know, it has Fred, and Debbie, but they only dance once or twice at a party. This is a drama/comedy. A dramedy.

Fred plays the very absent father of Debbie. He has been around the world, seeing the sights, living the life of pleasure. She has been home in San Fransisco, missing him, wondering what he is like, and also- falling in love with a man whose life is the opposite of her father's: a rancher who works hard or a living.

Then her father comes home for her upcoming wedding and turns everyone's life upside down. It is a bit emotional in the beginning, when he comes homes for the first time in 15 years, and father and daughter don't know each other at all. But I don't think the film dwells too much on it. It's an ok film with a cute ending. It felt like a rainy day film to me. Calm, generally happy, good ending.

I need to review some more Fred Astaire films soon!

FACT: In the party scene, there's a bunch of women who see Fred and Debbie dancing and want to dance with Fred, naturally! One of them is the woman who plays (the voice of) the evil step-mother in Disney's Cinderella, and Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty! I knew it the moment I heard her speak, and I just checked it- Eleanor Audley. I wouldn't want to be known for my evil voice, but oh, well!

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, 1967

Director: David Swift

Stars: Robert Morse, Michele Lee, Rudy Vallee

James Pierpont Finch (Robert Morse), a window washer, begins reading a book that will forever change his life- How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Soon he is lying and deceiving his way to the top of the World Wide Wickets Corporation, in his own wonderfully entertaining style. (Don't ask what a "wicket" is- nobody knows!)

It's BRILLIANT!

A few things I love: 1. Robert Morse's goofiness. His physical comedy is just astounding- I laugh at practically everything he does. "Groundhog!" "Finch, F-I-N-C-H" (You'll see what I mean.) 2. Finch's girl's name is Rosemary (played by Michele Lee), and he even sings a song about her entitled "Rosemary", which is just SO cool! 3. There's a song entitled "A Secretary is Not a Toy". Enough said. 4. The dancing. Wow, the choreography in the "Brotherhood of Man" number at the end literally makes me laugh OUT LOUD! I've probably said "hilarious" several times already, but it's just so true!

The list doesn't end there, but I'll stop. There's too much to love in this "feel-good" musical comedy!

Desk Set, 1957

Director: Walter Lang

Stars: Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn

Well, after I watched "Pat and Mike", I couldn't not watch this one! Especially since it's a "watch instantly" on Netflix! Now, how could I resist that?

Bunny Watson (Hepburn) works in the Reference department of a big television network. So, basically, she and 3 other women work in a library-type office, and they answer any old random question that comes their way; about baseball, poetry, the names of Santa's reindeer, passages in Scripture, etc. (Today, we would go to Google for this information. Back then, they apparently had reference women! Sounds like an awesome job to me!)

But wait, they might not have jobs for very long! Because Richard Sumner (Tracy) comes along to examine their department, and Sumner was one of the creators of the "electronic brain" (that would be a computer) which took over several jobs in the Payroll department. Needless to say, Bunny and the girls are worried, but they put up with him.

And, of course, the film goes into Bunny's romantic life, which consists of a guy who can't seem to propose after 7 years, and now, suddenly, of Mr.Sumner, as well!! I love the end scene. The way he proposes is too sweet! (I don't think that really ruined anything!)

I've only seen a few Tracy-Hepburn films, but this one is my favorite. Well worth the hour and a half! An absolute delight!

Pat and Mike, 1952

Director: George Cukor

Stars: Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn

Tracy and Hepburn.

I swear, kids these days don't even know who these two are! But Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn were once household names, like bacon and eggs.

In this one, their 7th movie together (do stars ever do that anymore? Who makes 7 movies with one person? Ok, probably a lot of stars still do...), Pat (Hepburn) plays an athlete who needs a manager, and that's where Mike (Tracy) comes in. As a story, I didn't really care about it, to be perfectly honest. It was just another sports/slight romance story. The scene on the cover (above) is the best one!

But these actors! Legendary! Brilliant! Hilarious! So great together! I didn't know what to think at first- I believe the first film I saw them in together was "Desk Set", and I was really confused as to why they should like each other at first. They seemed like opposites to me. And maybe they were. But, oh boy, did I ever fall in love with Spencer Tracy! Their chemistry is wonderful to watch!

Want an enjoyable film? This will do just fine. But "Desk Set" is my favorite of theirs so far!

(And by "so far", I mean, of course, that I have not yet seen them all; because they are both dead, unfortunately, so they won't be making any more. Just needed to clear that up.)

Fact: The American Film Institute named Katherine the top female star in the history of American cinema! And Spencer Tracy ranked #9 for men. (Humphrey Bogart got #1.) Pretty cool!

Three Coins in the Fountain, 1954

Director: Jean Negulesco

Stars: Clifton Webb, Jean Peters, Dorothy McGuire, Louis Jourdan,

I watched it twice!

Need I say more? No, but I will. There's something about the 50's, isn't there? Just watch a movie from the 50's. (Watch this one!) The big, detailed sets with absolutley wonderful furniture; the beautiful scenery and places; the color; the clothes! (I absolutely loved the dresses from this film! I wish they were in style now!)

Three secretaries in Rome and the tales of their romances. I don't want to give anything away, which is always my story with the good ones. This is one of those great "summer movies". Travel, new places, Italy, beautiful locations, great clothes, gorgeous people, sweet romances- is there anything else you could want in a movie?

This one is on my "to buy" list.

Thank you, Rebekah, for suggesting it!

My Fellow Americans, 1996

Director: Peter Segal

Stars: Jack Lemmon, James Garner, Dan Aykroyd

Okay, just check out that cover! I love the eagle! He's so funny! I mean, as you stare at it, the eagle, with that knowing eagle-eye of his, gets funnier and funnier. Go ahead- try it!

So, former Presidents (and current enemies) Kramer (Lemmon) and Douglas (Garner), are brought together again by the current President Haney (Aykroyd), for a funeral. While they are in D.C., a scandal is discovered that took place during Kramer's administration (which was before Douglas's). But Kramer denies any part in it, and things turn dark (in a funny way, of course) when he and Douglas discover that someone is trying to set them up (something about the scandal) and kill them. To prove their innocence and escape being murdered, they set off together for Ohio, a lovely misadventure featuring helicopters, trains, and automobiles.

I could pretend that I am being vague about the scandal because I don't want to give anything away, but I honestly don't remember much about the details. It was a great comedy! Lots of great lines, Jack Lemmon and James Garner are just wonderful together. This is a guy's movie; kind of crass and rude at times. There's not too many of those parts though.

All in all, an enjoyable comedy!

The American President, 1995

Director: Rob Reiner

Stars: Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox

Okay, a film about the President! And with environmental issues too!

Climate change and gun control aside, I loved it! (Those were some of the top issues they were discussing, and I didn't like their end decisions; luckily these didn't really take center stage, so I overlooked it.) This movie is really about a widowed President who tries to balance his love life and his job, and all the complications that arise with that. All in all, great movie, because where Michael Douglas is concerned, are we ever in fear of being disappointed? (Ok, so maybe I am partial to Michael because I fell in love with him in Romancing the Stone....and I haven't seen too many of his movies, but whatever, he's brilliant!)

Also, Rob Reiner, the director, is pretty cool. He did Alex and Emma and, of course, The Princess Bride, one of the best films ever made. (Don't even argue!) And I loved him in Sleepless in Seattle, although he didn't direct that one; but he was very funny! That's all I have to say, I guess.

People Will Talk, 1951

Director: Joseph Mankiewicz

Stars: Cary Grant, Jeanne Crain, Finlay Currie

Okay, it's not that the film was bad; it just didn't make any sense.

There was the main story- Dr Praetorius (Grant) falls in love with his pregnant, but single (oooh, scandal!), patient Debra (Crain). The beginning of the story is a bit dark; or just not happy. Then he rescues her by marrying her.

But that story didn't seem to be enough so there was a side one that the doctor's friend Shunderson (Currie), who sort of acts as an unofficial manservant, is being investigated by the police. At the end, when you find out why, it's a strange surprise.

These stories don't really collide at all. It was like they wanted to tell one story, but it didn't take up enough time so they added another to make things interesting. Not bad, but not great. There is one cute, romantic scene in a barn though, where they finally kiss.

There's just something about barns in literature and in the movies..... Why is everybody always kissing in a barn?

Murder by Death, 1976

Director: Robert Moore

Stars: Peter Falk, Maggie Smith, Alec Guiness, Peter Sellers

The word "stupid" certainly comes to mind. But, as it is a spoof, I believe it is supposed to be stupid! (And I guess I am into murder mysteries lately! I was watching a bit too much of Quantum Leap for a while, so this is me getting back to my other favorite.)

The owner of a huge country mansion (scary-looking house) invites 5 famous detectives (and each with a guest) to his home for "dinner and a murder". Each of the guests is a spoof of a famous fictional detective. Agatha Christie's detectives Poirot ("Perrier") and Miss Marple ("Miss Marbles") are represented; Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade ("Sam Diamond") and Nick and Nora Charles ("Dick and Dora Charleston"); and Charlie Chan ("Inspector Wang"), created by Earl Derr Biggers.

The host declares there will be a murder at midnight and whoever solves it will have the distinction of being the greatest detective in the world and will receive $1 million. They all stumble through the evening trying to solve the murder, until the end when each detective comes up with his or her own insane theory of the crime and the murderer behind it.

It has some truly hilarious lines, and I think anyone who loves a good mystery would love this one, just for the fun of it. Watch out for Maggie Smith (I've never seen anything with her when she was so much younger!) --she has some wonderful lines! But, like I said, it IS kind of dumb. Looking for a better murder mystery which also takes place in a creepy house? Try one of my favorites- Clue!

The Mirror Crack'd, 1980

Director: Guy Hamilton

Stars: Angela Lansbury, Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, Tony Curtis

Agatha Christie is the best-selling writer of books of all time. (Shakespeare is the best-selling writer of any kind, not books in particular. I got this info from Wikipedia.) And that is one spectacular claim!

In this one, Christie's character Miss Marple (Lansbury) solves the murders taking place at a large manor house outside her little village of St. Mary Mead. Actress Marina (Taylor) is in town filming a movie, when suddenly one of her fans is poisoned at a party. It soon comes out that Marina was the intended victim. Or maybe the killer would just have us think so....

I guess I sort of did these out of order. I should have reviewed this one first and then Murder She Wrote. Lansbury's character in Murder She Wrote, Jessica Fletcher, was based on Miss Marple, and the name even comes from one of Christie's Miss Marple novels "Murder, She Said".

"The Mirror Crack'd" was really enjoyable as a murder mystery. It kept me guessing right up until the end! (And I thought I had this mystery thing down!) I would personally rather watch Angela as Jessica than as Miss Marple, but it was still brilliant.

Murder She Wrote, tv series 1984-1996

Creator: Peter S. Fischer
Stars: Angela Lansbury

Yes, I have seen each and every one of the 264 episodes, as a matter of fact. Best-selling mystery writer Jessica Fletcher (played by Angela Lansbury) travels around the world hanging out with friends, speakng at writer's conferences, attending concerts, vacationing in Hawaii or on a cruise, meeting spies, and visiting long-lost school-mates. And, naturally, encountering murder at every turn!

My sister would say "snooze fest", but I would have to disagree. I love how each episode is basically the same, but each one is different. With each murder, there are different people, different- sometimes exotic- places, and different circumstances. (Athough, in murder, it's either love or money, right?) My favorites are the episodes in Jessica's hometown of Cabot Cove, Maine. With a population of only 3,560, a surprisingly high amount of murders are committed there. I like the "small town murder" thing. Or the murders that take place on a cruise ship, in a remote snowed-in mountain lodge, an airplane crossing the Atlantic, or an isolated private island.

I have always liked murder mysteries, and one of the best things about this show is that it isn't frightening or gruesome at all. These days tv shows like Bones and NCIS are about the forensics, so they show the gross side of death and dead bodies. I really like those shows, but I like Murder She Wrote because it didn't go that route. It's about the moment when the killer gives himself away, the earring she left behind at the scene, the button from his jacket the victim ripped off in the struggle......

Or did the victim really rip it off? Is Jessica just bluffing?

Salt, 2010

Director: Phillip Noyce

Stars: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber

Besides having fun with writing my own opinion, the whole point of this blog (for anyone who reads it) is to give a review for the purpose of either sharing my excitement and enjoyment of a film, or my disgust; and then telling my audience so that they too don't waste their time!!!! Because time is SO important; it is the one thing you cannot get back.

SPOILER WARNING: Okay, if you're looking for an action movie, and you don't care about justice being done, go ahead and watch it. It was so awful. I mean, well put together and everything, with crazy action (jumping from truck to truck on speeding freeways), but I hated the story. Here's a question I don't think they answered: she shot a lot of people- were all of them just poisoned with the spider venom she used to fake one guy's death? Because if not, she killed a whole lot of innocent people, and even if she did kill the really bad guy in the end, she still killed all those people beforehand. So I'm a bit confused and because of all the killing I just wasn't on her side.

Bottom line: It was like watching The Fugitive and finding out in the end that Richard Kimble actually did kill his wife, and just got away with it. Which isn't fun.