Bye Bye Birdie, 1963

1. Director: George Sydney

Choreography: Onna White

Stars: Ann-Margaret, Dick Van Dyke, Janet Leigh, Paul Lynde

Songwriter Albert Peterson (Van Dyke) and his fiancee Rosie (Leigh) must figure out a way to get famous teen sensation singer Conrad Birdie to sing a song written by Albert before he leaves for the Army. This will finally make Albert a success when his song becomes famous as the last song Conrad Birdie sang before he go drafted.

Rosie decides to choose a member of the Conrad Birdie fan club and give her the opportunity to kiss Conrad Birdie goodbye after his last performance. Kim McAfee (Ann-Margaret) is the lucky fan chosen, and everybody travels to her hometown for the big performance.

I can't believe it took me until this year to finally see this musical. I LOVE IT! For one thing, there's a "Rosie" in it, which is awesome! And also, everything else about it is just delightful. Ridiculous- yes. But very enjoyable.

And the outfits! I love the clothes, especially Janet Leigh's! I was inspired. I wish those dresses could come back in style.

The 10th Kingdom, 2000

Director: David Carson, Herbert Wise
Stars: Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Scott Cohen, John Larroquette, Daniel Lapaine, Ann-Margaret, Ed O'Neil, Dianne West






Okay, so this isn't a Christmas movie. Not at all. In fact, it's technically a mini-series. But it IS a fairy tale. And it IS about 7 hours long, and what other day of the year do you have all that time to watch such a long movie? My sister and I spent a few Christmases this way.

How to describe this one without taking forever????? That is the question....

Prince Wendell (Lapaine) is forced by his step-mother the Evil Queen (West) to switch places with a golden retriever! He does escape from her, however, and accidentally falls through a travelling mirror into New York, a completely foreign and unknown Kingdom. The Queen sends 3 trolls and a half-wolf named Wolf (Cohen) after the dog. The dog runs into Virginia Lewis (Williams-Paisley), and that's how she and her father Tony (Larroquette) come into the story, taking the dog in and discovering he is not at all what he seems.

When they all get back into the other 9 Kingdoms, the mission is to get Wendell the dog back to his castle for his coronation, and somehow to turn him back into a human. But, naturally, there's much more to the story than that! Wolf's growing feelings for Virginia, Virginia's desperate search for the magic mirror to get them home, Tony's uncanny ability to get into lots of trouble make this quite an adventure!

It's really cheesy, so I'm not making any guarantees. But, personally, I love it!

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, 2006

Director: Michael Lembeck

Stars: Tim Allen, Martin Short, Elizabeth Mitchell, Spencer Breslin, Abigail Breslin, Wendy Crewson, Judge Reinhold, Eric Lloyd, Ann-Margaret, Alan Arkin, Liliana Mumy

Santa (Tim Allen) and Mrs. Clause (Mitchell) have been living at the North Pole for a while, and now Mrs. Clause is expecting, and she wants some human company. Scott decides that a visit from the in-laws (Alan Arkin and Ann-Margaret) are in order, so he and the elves disguise the North Pole as Canada and continue the lie that Scott is a Canadian toy-maker, to protect the "Secret of Santa".

In the meantime, more stress is added to everyone's lives when trouble-maker Jack Frost (Short) learns about the "escape clause", a way for Santa to escape from being Santa. It will make it as if Santa never became Santa at all.

And yes, that's exactly what happens. Now Scott must fight to become Santa in the first place! And also to save Christmas itself, which has lost all of its magic with Jack Frost in charge. This one very cleverly refers back to The Santa Clause, with a few scenes from that movie, when Scott first finds the Santa suit.

Very good stuff, though cheesy of course. Martin Short and Tim Allen are absolutely hilarious together. And, as you can see from above, an all-star cast joins them.

Viva Las Vegas, 1964

Director: George Sidney

Stars: Elvis Presley, Ann-Margaret

"The lady loves me, but she doesn't know it yet."

That's a line from the song Lucky (Elvis) sings to Rusty (Ann-Margaret) by the pool at a Las Vegas hotel, where Rusty works (above). It's my favorite of all the songs in the movie, it's so sweet as he chases her around the pool, and she pretends to resist him. But, as he himself tells her, he's hard to resist.

They meet and fall in love when he comes to Las Vegas for a car race. As he fixes up his car, and works at the hotel to pay for his room, their romance deepens. The movie ends with a race and a wedding, but I won't spoil it for you! ;) And there's plenty of music and dancing throughout.

This movie is SO much fun!