Rich and Strange, 1932

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Stars: Joan Barry, Henry Kendall

Fred (Kendall) is living a regular life in London with his wife Emily (Barry), but longs for something more, some kind of adventure. But he doesn't have any money to take any vacations. Suddenly, a telegram comes from a rich uncle who thinks they should be able to enjoy the money he was going to leave them when he died.

They hop a ship to Paris, and the Mediterranean, and the Far East, and all those fun stops. Fred and Emily each meet someone new. Emily meets a normal, kind guy who makes her feel like she matters again; Fred meets a "Princess". Both plan to run away with their lovers, but Emily backs out, and goes back to Fred, after finding out that he is being deceived by his "Princess", who is just after him for his money. After Fred realizes Emily is right about his lover, they leave on a ship, which gets ship-wrecked, drawing them closer together, of course.

I had absolutely no idea what to expect when getting into this movie! I expected suspense, naturally, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it to be a romantic comedy. But also a drama, since Fred really is a jerk til the very end. But you still applaud Emily for sticking with him. And they do end happily.

Oops, sorry- spoiler!

Letters to Juliet, 2010

Director: Gary Winick

Stars: Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Egan, Vanessa Redgrave

Aspiring writer Sophie (Seyfried) travels to Italy with her fiance on a pre-honeymoon vacation. When he ditches her for tours of his vendors and suppliers (he owns an Italian restaurant in New York), she explores Verona on her own. When she comes across "Juliet's house", she discovers a wall filled with letters written to Juliet by women who need advice on love. She then finds out that a group of women reply to each letter that has a return address, writing as Juliet. Intrigued, she joins them and replies to a letter written 50 years ago.

So she is very surprised when, a few days later, she meets Claire (Redgrave), the woman who wrote the letter to Juliet, asking for advice on whether or not to run away with Lorenzo, the man she loved. Inspired by her letter and comes back to Italy to find her love Lorenzo and apologize for leaving him.

But they never kept in touch, so it's up to Sophie, Claire, and Claire's grandson Charlie (Egan) to find this Lorenzo, among all the other Lorenzo's with the same surname.

It's a really sweet story, and the only fault I find with it is that it's cheesy. Cheesy but lovely!

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?