Just Watched...

It Happened One Night
Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly

Score: 4/4

This 1934 film could easily be called one of the most 'risquè' movies of the time... before the the MPAA began enforcing its production code that is.

Ellie Andrews is the stereotypical spoiled heiress who causes trouble for her loving father just because she can. Ellie marries "King" Westley, a fortune-hunter whom her father despises. Her father finds her and drags her away from her new husband before the marriage can be solidified. Ellie however escapes and runs away, determined to make it  back to her new husband in New York City.

Ellie meets Peter Warne at the bus station, Peter is a newspaper reporter looking for just the right story to revive his career. When he learns who Ellie is he proposes a deal:  she gives him her exclusive story and he will help her get back to New York City. If she doesn't accept than Peter will contact her father and let him know where his daughter is and collect the reward that has been put out. Low on funds and desperate for help, Ellie agrees to the arrangement.

What made this movie so controversial was the hitchhking scene. Peter can't stop a car no matter what kind of techinique he uses. Ellie however manages to stop one by pulling up her skirt and showing off her leg. The actress, Claudette Colbert, originally refused to do the part saying it was 'unladylike.' However, when director Frank Capra brought in a chorus girl to be her leg double Claudette reportedly agreed to do it, apparently if it was going to be in the
movie it would be Claudette's leg and no one else's.

This movie was funny and cute, without being slow or sticky in details. Of course it was a typical ending but Ellie pulls it off with style. The very end will make you smile with its references to "the walls of Jericho".

Spotlight on an Author

Sarah Dessen

Sarah Dessen is well-known for her brilliant insight into the mind of the teenage girl. If you are one and have ever had a problem chances are Dessen has covered it in one of her novels. All of my girl friends had read at least one of her books and raved about it so I read one too. I went to my local bookstore and picked up Just Listen. I loved it. I've only read it about three times in the couple of years I've had it but it's got so much going on that I don't feel like I need to re-read it over and over again for it to really mean something to me. 

Just Listen

 Annabel only seems to have it all. She is a model for a local department store, her two beautiful older sisters are models, and their mother is utterly supportive, and in some cases more passionate about, Annabel's modeling career. But Annabel feels like she has nothing.

She had a huge fight with her former best friend Sophie over Sophie's on-again off-again boyfriend, now Sophie spends her time torturing Annabel and spreading rumors about her at school. 

Annabel's older sister is discovered to be anorexic because she was striving to be the perfect model, so she leaves New York to live at home.

Annabel also doesn't have the passion for walking the catwalk that her mother does, it may not be what she wants to do, but how can she break out of the mold?

Then, she meets Owen Armstrong, an oddball and former delinquent obsessed with music; he may be just what Annabel needs to overcome the turmoil inside herself. Their friendship gives her the strength to confront the issues over what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends. 

The Truth About Forever

Macy is only sixteen when she experiences a most devastating loss: the sudden death of her beloved father. This sets up her summer as one of the worst in history. Besides grieving she must deal with SAT prep, her terribly mind-numbing job at the library, and to top it all off her boyfriend will be out of town. 

This all changes when Macy helps her mother at an open house event. Macy meets the wacky catering staff of Wish Catering. Before long she is swept up into their energetic and close-knit circle of people. There she meets Wes, the artistic and good looking guy who understands what Macy is going through.

But Macy still has many obstacles to overcome: her mother's disapproval of the tattooed Wes, her jerk of a boyfriend Jason, and of course the anger, grief, and guilt that comes with a death of a close family member. 

Sarah Dessen's characters all have an obstacle that is keeping them from moving forward, some internal struggle that is obsessed over. As any teenage girl will understand, sometimes the most difficult challenges faced are the ones created by ourselves. 

Reflections

Reflections from the Past
by Audrey Howard


Abby Murphy is working-class poor Irish in Lancashire, England in the 1860s. She lives in a sod cottage with her parents and many siblings and plans to marry her childhood friend and sweetheart Roddy Baxter.
One day a horrific accident happens at the glassworks that employs most of the village, the son of the owner is killed. The owner, Mr. Goodwin, has no other children and therefore the glassworks will pass out of the family that has owned it for many generations.
Mr. Goodwin arrives one day at the doorstep of Abby's cottage demanding she come away with him; Abby is actually his illegitamate granddaughter and the heiress to the glassworks. Abby is forced away with him and then pushed into a marriage with Noah Goodwin, the manager of the glassworks. Their marriage is one of convenience so that the works will stay in the family and so Abby will have children and continue the Goodwin line. In order to ensure Abby's marriage to Noah, Mr. Goodwin arranges the kidnapping and forced enlisting of Roddy Baxter so that he will not stand in the way. With Roddy out of the picture Abby and Noah commence with their marriage. But, Roddy returns a year later more determined than ever to have Abby. Abby must choose between her husband and sweetheart and be prepared to give up what that choice entails.

This book is a long read at 457 pages, it's a complex story with a likeable cast of characters. However, it's painful to read Abby's choices. I was cringing the whole time and actually flipped to the back of the book to see the ending. It takes awhile to figure out what time period it is set in because no actual dates are mentioned until about halfway through the book. Noah is not always likeable but you can tell he (sometimes) has a good heart. Roddy is earnest and honest but quite frankly a little annoying, at least to me, after awhile.

I did like the story though; I don't know that I would read it again but all in all it was enjoyable.

Unexpectedly Good Rom-Com

Killers

Starring: Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Tom Selleck, Catharine O'Hara

Rating: PG-13

Score: 3/4  


Okay, I know what you're thinking: How good could it be? I personally did not expect Ashton Kutcher to be able to pull off anything but the good-for-nothing goofball. Don't get me wrong, he's pulled off that role fabulously and made great money too.  But this time, he wasn't the goofball.  He was the more serious 'don't-worry-I'll-save-you' hero. And it really worked for him.

I thought this movie was going run like this: Katharine Heigl meets Ashton, they fall in love, she finds out he is in fact an agent for the government, she screams for forty-five minutes, they make up and defeat the bad guy. No big deal.

Well, some of that is true. Katharine Heigl's character, Jen does spend a lot of time squealing and has to be told to calm down several times, but can you really blame her? We can't all be Angelina Jolie and have guns hidden in our bra that we pull out and blast the bad guy with in 2.5 seconds.  I would say the best character in the entire film was Jen's alcohol-loving mother, played wonderfully by Catharine O'Hara. One of the best scenes is seeing her drink a bloody Mary at breakfast from a glass you could fit a bowling ball in.
There's a twist at the end that I have to say made the ending fall flat for me, I was sitting there going, "Really? You're going to do that to me?!" But all in all, it was highly enjoyable.