Friday, December 28, 2007
Most Literate Cities
I saw a couple of places on the net today discussion of the "most literate" cities in the US. Minneapolis wins. What's interesting is to look at the actual report and see how cities placed in the different categories. For instance, Cleveland ranks #1 in library services, ranks #8 in periodical publishing, #10 in newspaper circulation, #9 in bookstores (so four top ten finishes) but only #67 in education for an overall ranking of #13. That's still a high ranking but it makes me wonder about which of the categories takes precedence. Also, it points out that the people of Cleveland clearly enjoy reading and learning but in order to be "literate," they must advance that into formal education. I'm not so sure I agree.
Christmas movie wrap-up 2007
Here are my final grades for the 2007 made-for-TV holiday movie season... I watched 16 movies between Thanksgiving and Dec. 26th! But that's apparently one less than last year.
Pulling up all of my reviews is a lot easier now that I've started labeling my posts. Also, this article from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tells exactly why people (read: me!) love Christmas movies. Says Robert Thompson, "Christmas is one of those times where innovation is not what you're looking for... A Christmas story has got to tell some kind of tale of redemption, a return to a more spiritual, loving place. Or it's got to talk about a sacrifice made for other people."
The article even offers a fairly accurate "HOLIDAY TV-MOVIE PLOTLINE GENERATOR". Check it out!
A
The Note
Holiday in Handcuffs
The Christmas Shoes
A-
All I Want for Christmas
Lost Holiday: The Jim and Suzanne Shemwell Story
Christmas in Paradise
Snowglobe
B+
All She Wants for Christmas
The Family Holiday
B
Holiday Switch
A Grandpa for Christmas
Silver Bells
Like Father, Like Santa
B-
An Accidental Christmas
C
Christmas Caper
Christmas Child
The Note
Holiday in Handcuffs
The Christmas Shoes
A-
All I Want for Christmas
Lost Holiday: The Jim and Suzanne Shemwell Story
Christmas in Paradise
Snowglobe
B+
All She Wants for Christmas
The Family Holiday
B
Holiday Switch
A Grandpa for Christmas
Silver Bells
Like Father, Like Santa
B-
An Accidental Christmas
C
Christmas Caper
Christmas Child
Pulling up all of my reviews is a lot easier now that I've started labeling my posts. Also, this article from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tells exactly why people (read: me!) love Christmas movies. Says Robert Thompson, "Christmas is one of those times where innovation is not what you're looking for... A Christmas story has got to tell some kind of tale of redemption, a return to a more spiritual, loving place. Or it's got to talk about a sacrifice made for other people."
The article even offers a fairly accurate "HOLIDAY TV-MOVIE PLOTLINE GENERATOR". Check it out!
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Christmas movie review: The Family Holiday
Rating: B+
A cute premise for a movie but ruined by poor casting, A Family Holiday tells the story of the family that Doc Holiday, our main character, must quickly assemble around Christmastime in order to receive his uncle's inheritance. A lifelong con artist, Doc conveniently finds a couple of sweet orphaned kids, a dog and then quickly hires a nanny to serve as their mother and moves them into a rented house just in time for the 'judge' to come approve of his changed lifestyle and reward him the money. Is he in it for the money or for love? Of course, we all know that he's going to fall for the woman and end up wanting the kids but it was just a little too contrived for me. You don't pick up some orphans and adopt them as your own in 3 days. Nor do you hire a nanny, have her work 2 days, lie to her during those two days, and then marry her! My suspension of disbelief is not that great; particularly not when Dave Coulier is in the lead role. Who decided he needed to work again?
A cute premise for a movie but ruined by poor casting, A Family Holiday tells the story of the family that Doc Holiday, our main character, must quickly assemble around Christmastime in order to receive his uncle's inheritance. A lifelong con artist, Doc conveniently finds a couple of sweet orphaned kids, a dog and then quickly hires a nanny to serve as their mother and moves them into a rented house just in time for the 'judge' to come approve of his changed lifestyle and reward him the money. Is he in it for the money or for love? Of course, we all know that he's going to fall for the woman and end up wanting the kids but it was just a little too contrived for me. You don't pick up some orphans and adopt them as your own in 3 days. Nor do you hire a nanny, have her work 2 days, lie to her during those two days, and then marry her! My suspension of disbelief is not that great; particularly not when Dave Coulier is in the lead role. Who decided he needed to work again?
Christmas movie review: Snowglobe
Rating: A-
Snowglobe was really cute and had a lot going for it. It tells the story of a young woman, frustrated with her overbearing family who enjoy having lasagna for Christmas dinner and are always trying to set her up on dates, who receives a snowglobe as a present and soon finds herself transported to the idyllic snowglobe world whenever she takes a nap. At first she thinks it's merely a dream. Then she wakes up one morning wearing a glove she got in snowglobe world. THEN, her snowglobe world boyfriend comes finds her in New York City. It's cute and has the basic premise of sometimes what you think you want isn't exactly what you really want. Plus, I'm a big fan of movies that turn inanimate objects into real things. My one very small complaint was that Christina Millian, the actress/pop star playing the lead, broke into a very noticeable (and not that good in my opinion) Brooklyn accent at some very random times.
Snowglobe was really cute and had a lot going for it. It tells the story of a young woman, frustrated with her overbearing family who enjoy having lasagna for Christmas dinner and are always trying to set her up on dates, who receives a snowglobe as a present and soon finds herself transported to the idyllic snowglobe world whenever she takes a nap. At first she thinks it's merely a dream. Then she wakes up one morning wearing a glove she got in snowglobe world. THEN, her snowglobe world boyfriend comes finds her in New York City. It's cute and has the basic premise of sometimes what you think you want isn't exactly what you really want. Plus, I'm a big fan of movies that turn inanimate objects into real things. My one very small complaint was that Christina Millian, the actress/pop star playing the lead, broke into a very noticeable (and not that good in my opinion) Brooklyn accent at some very random times.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Home for Christmas
I went back home for about six days for Christmas, but was able to use only two vacation days, which is good since I don't have a lot. Now I'm back in DC. Here is a picture of our family tree on Christmas Day, before the gifts were unwrapped.
While I was home, I slept in, did some laundry, watched some movies, did all of my Christmas shopping and also tagged along while my parents did some of theirs, helped babysit my nephew one day, hung out with my family, wrapped dozens of presents for my mom, and relaxed. It was nice and just long enough to make it tough to come back to DC. Now it's back to work for a few days and then a family vacation in South Carolina! Oh, also, on my flight back in to Baltimore, my pilot's name was Captain Morgan! That's calming. But actually I loved him because he got us there nearly twenty minutes early, allowing me to catch the earlier bus!
While I was home, I slept in, did some laundry, watched some movies, did all of my Christmas shopping and also tagged along while my parents did some of theirs, helped babysit my nephew one day, hung out with my family, wrapped dozens of presents for my mom, and relaxed. It was nice and just long enough to make it tough to come back to DC. Now it's back to work for a few days and then a family vacation in South Carolina! Oh, also, on my flight back in to Baltimore, my pilot's name was Captain Morgan! That's calming. But actually I loved him because he got us there nearly twenty minutes early, allowing me to catch the earlier bus!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Christmas movie review: The Christmas Shoes
Rating: A
A tear-jerker, that's what The Christmas Shoes is. Kimberly Williams plays a volunteer music teacher organizing the Christmas program who becomes ill with a terminal heart problem. Her son desperately wants to buy her a pair of Christmas shoes to wear into heaven and starts saving cans to turn in for a nickel apiece, hoping he can earn enough before she dies. And, she's deteriorating rapidly. Also in the same town, Rob Lowe plays a working-too-hard husband and father who is setting up interviews for his wife so she'll start working again and missing his daughter's chorale concerts (yes, she sings for Kimberly's character). Needless to say, his family is not pleased with him. Did I mention his mother dies too? Yep, this one is not chock full of happy, sweet, wonderful moments. The two stories take place simultaneously with the characters intersecting in magical ways. It's a really sweet story and has a little bit of everything. It first aired on CBS in 2002 and I'm not sure how I've missed it all these years!
A tear-jerker, that's what The Christmas Shoes is. Kimberly Williams plays a volunteer music teacher organizing the Christmas program who becomes ill with a terminal heart problem. Her son desperately wants to buy her a pair of Christmas shoes to wear into heaven and starts saving cans to turn in for a nickel apiece, hoping he can earn enough before she dies. And, she's deteriorating rapidly. Also in the same town, Rob Lowe plays a working-too-hard husband and father who is setting up interviews for his wife so she'll start working again and missing his daughter's chorale concerts (yes, she sings for Kimberly's character). Needless to say, his family is not pleased with him. Did I mention his mother dies too? Yep, this one is not chock full of happy, sweet, wonderful moments. The two stories take place simultaneously with the characters intersecting in magical ways. It's a really sweet story and has a little bit of everything. It first aired on CBS in 2002 and I'm not sure how I've missed it all these years!
Christmas movie review: All She Wants for Christmas
Rating: B+
All She Wants for Christmas, from 2006, tells the story of a business-minded local gal who is trying to save the town's ornament-making company. She needs to cut costs enough to make them sustainable. It's also part love story as she meets someone who is new to town and they start to date. And even though the viewer can see from a mile away who this new guy is, our main character cannot. Overall, it's an okay story with okay acting. No magic, just cute and agreeable.
All She Wants for Christmas, from 2006, tells the story of a business-minded local gal who is trying to save the town's ornament-making company. She needs to cut costs enough to make them sustainable. It's also part love story as she meets someone who is new to town and they start to date. And even though the viewer can see from a mile away who this new guy is, our main character cannot. Overall, it's an okay story with okay acting. No magic, just cute and agreeable.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Christmas movie review: Like Father, Like Santa
Rating: B
Like Father, Like Santa is nearly ten years old yet I'm pretty sure I had never seen it before. It stars Harry Hamlin as Santa's son who has forsaken the North Pole but still does use the naughty and nice list to get ammo on clients he wants to do business with. A nice touch. When his dad (Santa) gets kidnapped by disgruntled employees and Harry's character coincidentally is in the North Pole to get incriminating evidence for his latest business venture, the two men find themselves locked up together and sort of come to terms with their problems. It turns out that Harry resents his dad for putting his job before his family life, something that Harry soon realizes he does also. And of course, everything turns out rosy in the end. While I enjoyed this movie, I might have rated it higher if they hadn't included a half-hour or so of Santa and Harry trying to escape from their captors. Yawn. It went downhill at the end.
Like Father, Like Santa is nearly ten years old yet I'm pretty sure I had never seen it before. It stars Harry Hamlin as Santa's son who has forsaken the North Pole but still does use the naughty and nice list to get ammo on clients he wants to do business with. A nice touch. When his dad (Santa) gets kidnapped by disgruntled employees and Harry's character coincidentally is in the North Pole to get incriminating evidence for his latest business venture, the two men find themselves locked up together and sort of come to terms with their problems. It turns out that Harry resents his dad for putting his job before his family life, something that Harry soon realizes he does also. And of course, everything turns out rosy in the end. While I enjoyed this movie, I might have rated it higher if they hadn't included a half-hour or so of Santa and Harry trying to escape from their captors. Yawn. It went downhill at the end.
Christmas movie review: Christmas Child
Rating: C
Christmas Child bored me to tears. I usually am doing something else while I watch these Christmas movies but if I can't follow along while I do those other things, then it says something about the movie... because their plots are certainly not supposed to be complicated or intricate. I must have stopped this one and rewound it about ten times during the movie to try to figure out what was going on. Yawn! Loosely, it's about a journalist who is kind of estranged from his family and goes back to his hometown to investigate a story and ends up finding out stuff about himself. Like who his real father is. I'm not even sure if I have that right. And of course there is a happy ending. Boring, dull and unimpressive.
Christmas Child bored me to tears. I usually am doing something else while I watch these Christmas movies but if I can't follow along while I do those other things, then it says something about the movie... because their plots are certainly not supposed to be complicated or intricate. I must have stopped this one and rewound it about ten times during the movie to try to figure out what was going on. Yawn! Loosely, it's about a journalist who is kind of estranged from his family and goes back to his hometown to investigate a story and ends up finding out stuff about himself. Like who his real father is. I'm not even sure if I have that right. And of course there is a happy ending. Boring, dull and unimpressive.
Christmas movie review: Christmas in Paradise
Rating: A-
I enjoyed Lifetime's Christmas in Paradise, which is new for 2007. It tells the story of two families missing one parent who hook up on Christmas Eve at a resort in Puerto Rico. There is a family of two boys and a mom whose father passed away in the last year. And, there is a family of two daughters and a dad whose mother just skipped out on them without any contact in the last year. Conveniently, there is a boy and a girl around the same age so they can all hang out in pairs, including the parents. Also, the youngest boy and the oldest girl are both very bitter and upset over their respective losses. Of course, during this Christmas, everyone starts to heal and love starts to bloom. It's a sweet story. The reasons why it got an A- rather than an A is because they tried to be all fancy with their camera work by doing a lot of split screens and it was very annoying. And also because everything basically took place in one day and that was a little hard for me to believe. But overall, it was good.
I enjoyed Lifetime's Christmas in Paradise, which is new for 2007. It tells the story of two families missing one parent who hook up on Christmas Eve at a resort in Puerto Rico. There is a family of two boys and a mom whose father passed away in the last year. And, there is a family of two daughters and a dad whose mother just skipped out on them without any contact in the last year. Conveniently, there is a boy and a girl around the same age so they can all hang out in pairs, including the parents. Also, the youngest boy and the oldest girl are both very bitter and upset over their respective losses. Of course, during this Christmas, everyone starts to heal and love starts to bloom. It's a sweet story. The reasons why it got an A- rather than an A is because they tried to be all fancy with their camera work by doing a lot of split screens and it was very annoying. And also because everything basically took place in one day and that was a little hard for me to believe. But overall, it was good.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Christmas movie review: Silver Bells
Rating: B
Silver Bells, which originally aired in 2005, stars Anne Heche and Tate Donovan, which forces me to give it some props. Anytime a Christmas movie can cast actors that you actually know, it means that there is a little more credibility there. Unfortunately, I found this one really boring. At the center of the story is Tate's teenaged son who is forced every Christmas to sell Christmas trees with his family on the streets of Manhattan. He really wants to be a photographer, though, and gets to know Anne Heche, the manager of a local art gallery. One Christmas he runs away from his dad, who searches frantically for him for the next year. Meanwhile, Anne Heche keeps in touch with the son and even shows some of his photographs at the gallery. But she doesn't tell the father until about the time they share a kiss. Then she starts to feel guilty. The son tries to stay away from the father but eventually, everything works out and everyone lives happily ever after. The overall story was okay and admittingly a little different than many of the other holiday stories but I was bored and didn't really feel a connection to any of the characters. I didn't understand why the son had to run away; I didn't understand why the father was kind of a jerk; I didn't understand why Anne's character wouldn't tell that she'd heard from the son.... so many things I couldn't relate to.
Silver Bells, which originally aired in 2005, stars Anne Heche and Tate Donovan, which forces me to give it some props. Anytime a Christmas movie can cast actors that you actually know, it means that there is a little more credibility there. Unfortunately, I found this one really boring. At the center of the story is Tate's teenaged son who is forced every Christmas to sell Christmas trees with his family on the streets of Manhattan. He really wants to be a photographer, though, and gets to know Anne Heche, the manager of a local art gallery. One Christmas he runs away from his dad, who searches frantically for him for the next year. Meanwhile, Anne Heche keeps in touch with the son and even shows some of his photographs at the gallery. But she doesn't tell the father until about the time they share a kiss. Then she starts to feel guilty. The son tries to stay away from the father but eventually, everything works out and everyone lives happily ever after. The overall story was okay and admittingly a little different than many of the other holiday stories but I was bored and didn't really feel a connection to any of the characters. I didn't understand why the son had to run away; I didn't understand why the father was kind of a jerk; I didn't understand why Anne's character wouldn't tell that she'd heard from the son.... so many things I couldn't relate to.
Christmas movie review: A Grandpa for Christmas
Rating: B
There wasn't anything wrong or dislikeable about A Grandpa for Christmas, which tells the story of an estranged grandfather and granddaughter forced to live together when the mom gets into a car accident and is stuck in the hospital. There is fighting and malcontent at first and of course, by the end, the family loves each other and everyone lives happily ever after. It's a cute enough story as you see the relationship between the grandfather and granddaughter grow, despite all the horrible things she's heard about him all her life. I just rated it a little lower since the main characters are a child and a senior citizen. I prefer characters I can relate to more.
There wasn't anything wrong or dislikeable about A Grandpa for Christmas, which tells the story of an estranged grandfather and granddaughter forced to live together when the mom gets into a car accident and is stuck in the hospital. There is fighting and malcontent at first and of course, by the end, the family loves each other and everyone lives happily ever after. It's a cute enough story as you see the relationship between the grandfather and granddaughter grow, despite all the horrible things she's heard about him all her life. I just rated it a little lower since the main characters are a child and a senior citizen. I prefer characters I can relate to more.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Christmas movie review: Holiday in Handcuffs
Rating: A
Holiday in Handcuffs is a romantic comedy Christmas movie. Poor Trudie (played by Melissa Joan Hart) gets dumped right before Christmas so she can't take her boyfriend up to meet her constantly disapproving parents. Temporarily insane thanks to her mother, she ends up taking someone hostage and forces him (played by Mario Lopez) to be her date. Of course, he tries to get out of it and resist but conveniently her parents live in a very secluded mountain area making escape difficult. Add to that the fact that her family is just crazy enough and desperate enough for their daughter to have a boyfriend that they refuse to believe it when he tells them he's been kidnapped. It's not going to come as a surprise to anyone to find out that Trudie and her hostage start to fall for each other. But it's a very cute story. There's no magic element (one of my favorite parts of Christmas movies) but combining a romantic comedy with a Christmas movie is always a good idea. Plus, Melissa & Mario do well with it.
Holiday in Handcuffs is a romantic comedy Christmas movie. Poor Trudie (played by Melissa Joan Hart) gets dumped right before Christmas so she can't take her boyfriend up to meet her constantly disapproving parents. Temporarily insane thanks to her mother, she ends up taking someone hostage and forces him (played by Mario Lopez) to be her date. Of course, he tries to get out of it and resist but conveniently her parents live in a very secluded mountain area making escape difficult. Add to that the fact that her family is just crazy enough and desperate enough for their daughter to have a boyfriend that they refuse to believe it when he tells them he's been kidnapped. It's not going to come as a surprise to anyone to find out that Trudie and her hostage start to fall for each other. But it's a very cute story. There's no magic element (one of my favorite parts of Christmas movies) but combining a romantic comedy with a Christmas movie is always a good idea. Plus, Melissa & Mario do well with it.
Christmas movie review: The Note
Rating: A
I really enjoyed The Note. Maybe I'm biased because I've been a General Hospital addict for as long as I can remember and Genie Francis starred in this movie. Nonetheless, it tells the story of a struggling writer (Genie) who has been told she needs to improve her newspaper column by Christmas or she's out. Having a difficult time coming up with stories as she has sort of detached herself from feeling anything since her husband passed away, she tried to kill herself, and she gave their child up for adoption, she is drawn to the scene of a nearby plane crash and happens to find a note presumably written by one of the plane's passengers in his last moments. She decides to seek out the person who the note was written to and plays detecting, taking her readers along for the ride. Of course, her column improves and her self-detachment abides and things turn out happily ever after. She even begins a relationship with Ted McGinley, a fellow writer. Ted and Genie are really cute together. Anyway, this movie has a great mix of mystery and the required Christmas magic and was definitely one of the best I've seen this year.
I really enjoyed The Note. Maybe I'm biased because I've been a General Hospital addict for as long as I can remember and Genie Francis starred in this movie. Nonetheless, it tells the story of a struggling writer (Genie) who has been told she needs to improve her newspaper column by Christmas or she's out. Having a difficult time coming up with stories as she has sort of detached herself from feeling anything since her husband passed away, she tried to kill herself, and she gave their child up for adoption, she is drawn to the scene of a nearby plane crash and happens to find a note presumably written by one of the plane's passengers in his last moments. She decides to seek out the person who the note was written to and plays detecting, taking her readers along for the ride. Of course, her column improves and her self-detachment abides and things turn out happily ever after. She even begins a relationship with Ted McGinley, a fellow writer. Ted and Genie are really cute together. Anyway, this movie has a great mix of mystery and the required Christmas magic and was definitely one of the best I've seen this year.
"Digital divide still an issue in Minnesota"
This article talks about the Digital Divide, a big topic while we were in library school. While I do think many people in general might forget that there are indeed people in the US not online, the one statement from the article that baffles me is this: "More than 90 percent of people with incomes over $75,000 a year are online." It just surprises me that anyone making over $75,000 a year would not be online, even if it's just at work. What kind of jobs are out there that provide that kind of a salary but do not require any computer access or Internet capability? Construction workers, perhaps? Movie stars? Professional athletes? (via)
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Merry Christmas from United
I'm sharing the Christmas e-card I got from United Airlines. It's the virtual version of displaying my Christmas cards on my fireplace mantel.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Christmas movie review: Lost Holiday - The Jim and Suzanne Shemwell Story
Rating: A-
Ironically, this is another 2007 made-for-Lifetime holiday movie about a couple who is separated finding their way back to each other. Compared to An Accidental Christmas, though, Lost Holiday is much much better. This couple goes off snowmobiling and then get lost in the woods so they actually face life-and-death situations before they decide to get back together. Also, although you know that they obviously survive or the movie wouldn't be much of a holiday miracle movie, it keeps you in suspense and makes you wonder how they really were able to survive. It's also heartwarming to watch their family members react to the tragedy. Did I mention it's based on a true story?
Ironically, this is another 2007 made-for-Lifetime holiday movie about a couple who is separated finding their way back to each other. Compared to An Accidental Christmas, though, Lost Holiday is much much better. This couple goes off snowmobiling and then get lost in the woods so they actually face life-and-death situations before they decide to get back together. Also, although you know that they obviously survive or the movie wouldn't be much of a holiday miracle movie, it keeps you in suspense and makes you wonder how they really were able to survive. It's also heartwarming to watch their family members react to the tragedy. Did I mention it's based on a true story?
Christmas movie review: An Accidental Christmas
Rating: B-
An Accidental Christmas is a story about a long-married couple with kids who have separated and are trying to move on with their life. At least, the mother is. She is pursuing a career for the first time in her life. The father seems to want to get back with the mother. The kids intervene and set it up so that both parents unknowingly end up at their family beach house for the holidays. Where.... surprise, surprise, they resist at first but soon realize that they haven't grown as far apart as they thought and will work things out and live happily ever after. At least until the holidays end and reality sets in again. I didn't enjoy it that much. The acting was just so-so. The plotlines were kind of silly and the mom seemed kind of annoying, like why would you want to get back with her? Also, millions of people figure out how they can be a mom/wife and also pursue their career so I didn't empathize with her plight too much.
An Accidental Christmas is a story about a long-married couple with kids who have separated and are trying to move on with their life. At least, the mother is. She is pursuing a career for the first time in her life. The father seems to want to get back with the mother. The kids intervene and set it up so that both parents unknowingly end up at their family beach house for the holidays. Where.... surprise, surprise, they resist at first but soon realize that they haven't grown as far apart as they thought and will work things out and live happily ever after. At least until the holidays end and reality sets in again. I didn't enjoy it that much. The acting was just so-so. The plotlines were kind of silly and the mom seemed kind of annoying, like why would you want to get back with her? Also, millions of people figure out how they can be a mom/wife and also pursue their career so I didn't empathize with her plight too much.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
National Christmas Tree
I went down to look at the National Christmas Tree the other day, in front of the White House and it was kind of neat. The tree itself, with the red bows above, was big but otherwise not that impressive. On the other hand, each state gets its own tree decorated with handmade ornaments and I thought those were much cooler. I took a picture of the trees of all the states I've lived in: Ohio, New York and Virginia. Here is Ohio on the left and New York on the right.
Christmas movie review: All I Want for Christmas
Rating: A-
New this year, All I Want for Christmas stars Gail O'Grady as a single mom who has more or less given up men and instead focused on her son and giving to the homeless. Her son decides to enter a contest to win a husband for his mom and of course wins the contest so she embarks on a series of blind dates. She starts dating an executive in the company that sponsored the contest but it doesn't take a psychic to see that she is really going to end up with the cute neighbor who has played surrogate father to her son over the years. Gail's character is spunky, smart and realistic enough that you overlook a lot of the hokeyness and enjoy the movie for what it is: a sweet warm-hearted holiday tale.
New this year, All I Want for Christmas stars Gail O'Grady as a single mom who has more or less given up men and instead focused on her son and giving to the homeless. Her son decides to enter a contest to win a husband for his mom and of course wins the contest so she embarks on a series of blind dates. She starts dating an executive in the company that sponsored the contest but it doesn't take a psychic to see that she is really going to end up with the cute neighbor who has played surrogate father to her son over the years. Gail's character is spunky, smart and realistic enough that you overlook a lot of the hokeyness and enjoy the movie for what it is: a sweet warm-hearted holiday tale.
Christmas movie review: Holiday Switch
Rating: B
Holiday Switch is courtesy of Lifetime and tells the story of a woman who is unhappy in her life with her poor handyman husband and her two daughters. Some magic leads her to crawl into her dryer and when she crawls out the other side, she's magically married to someone else she dated in high school, who seems to live a fantastic life of wealth and joy. Suddenly wealthy beyond her wildest dreams, our main character quickly realizes that she's in a loveless marriage to a man who is having an affair and that she really misses her children. She then tries a bunch of things to try to get her real husband and family back. It's kind of stupid and kind of magical, just like a Christmas movie should be. The acting is not that great (Nicole Eggert?), which is what drops this one's grade down a bit.
Holiday Switch is courtesy of Lifetime and tells the story of a woman who is unhappy in her life with her poor handyman husband and her two daughters. Some magic leads her to crawl into her dryer and when she crawls out the other side, she's magically married to someone else she dated in high school, who seems to live a fantastic life of wealth and joy. Suddenly wealthy beyond her wildest dreams, our main character quickly realizes that she's in a loveless marriage to a man who is having an affair and that she really misses her children. She then tries a bunch of things to try to get her real husband and family back. It's kind of stupid and kind of magical, just like a Christmas movie should be. The acting is not that great (Nicole Eggert?), which is what drops this one's grade down a bit.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Christmas movie review: Christmas Caper
It's that time of year again, where I watch a boatload of made-for-TV Christmas movies and LOVE them!! Or not. But generally speaking I enjoy them. So I'll watch and review them, just like I did last year. Make sure to read my disclaimer from last year when checking out the grades I assign each one.
Rating: C
Christmas Caper stars Shannen Doherty as a jewel thief who gets caught on a surveillance camera and simultaneously gets asked by her desperate sister to watch her niece and nephew. It's convenient that she needs to hide out and keep a low profile and then gets sent back to her small hometown, isn't it? Of course, this thief wants nothing to do with the kids and decides to take advantage of the Christmas season by having a neighborhood holiday party at her sister's house and then sneaking out to steal everyone's Christmas presents. No one would have ever seen coming that in the end our bad girl isn't so bad after all.
I thought this movie sucked. Shannen Doherty is not that great of an actress and I found it annoying how everyone in her hometown seemed to know her so well yet none of them - including her high school sweetheart boyfriend who is now a cop - seemed to know what she did for a living. Someone would ask! I mean, not that she would tell the truth but there would be some suspicious rumors spread around a small town like this. Plus, we are supposed to believe that the high school boyfriend has been pining away for her for fifteen years or whatever it's been? I love the old 'evildoer turns good because of the season' plotline but this one just didn't do enough to show me why there would be a transformation.
Rating: C
Christmas Caper stars Shannen Doherty as a jewel thief who gets caught on a surveillance camera and simultaneously gets asked by her desperate sister to watch her niece and nephew. It's convenient that she needs to hide out and keep a low profile and then gets sent back to her small hometown, isn't it? Of course, this thief wants nothing to do with the kids and decides to take advantage of the Christmas season by having a neighborhood holiday party at her sister's house and then sneaking out to steal everyone's Christmas presents. No one would have ever seen coming that in the end our bad girl isn't so bad after all.
I thought this movie sucked. Shannen Doherty is not that great of an actress and I found it annoying how everyone in her hometown seemed to know her so well yet none of them - including her high school sweetheart boyfriend who is now a cop - seemed to know what she did for a living. Someone would ask! I mean, not that she would tell the truth but there would be some suspicious rumors spread around a small town like this. Plus, we are supposed to believe that the high school boyfriend has been pining away for her for fifteen years or whatever it's been? I love the old 'evildoer turns good because of the season' plotline but this one just didn't do enough to show me why there would be a transformation.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Your Life Work: The Librarian
Someone posted a link to this YouTube Video on one of the library listservs I'm on. It's a video from 1946 inviting people to the librarian profession. Kinda funny.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Book Review: On Chesil Beach
"This is how the entire course of a life can be changed - by doing nothing."
That's a quote at the end of the book I just finished reading called On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. I like the quote a lot and its implication that not only do your actions affect your life but your nonactions do also. In the story, the main character basically just lets his wife walk away after an argument - he doesn't go after her and he doesn't try to settle their problems - and they never see each other again and yet he basically stays in love with her his whole life. Sad. But other than that, the whole premise of the book is so bizarre. It starts on the couple's wedding night and goes through, play by play, their troubles with consummating their marriage. He's overeager; she's very reluctant and quite honestly, disgusted by sex.
That's a quote at the end of the book I just finished reading called On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. I like the quote a lot and its implication that not only do your actions affect your life but your nonactions do also. In the story, the main character basically just lets his wife walk away after an argument - he doesn't go after her and he doesn't try to settle their problems - and they never see each other again and yet he basically stays in love with her his whole life. Sad. But other than that, the whole premise of the book is so bizarre. It starts on the couple's wedding night and goes through, play by play, their troubles with consummating their marriage. He's overeager; she's very reluctant and quite honestly, disgusted by sex.
Work Holiday Party
The holiday party that I've been dreading for weeks was last night and it went okay. I knew it wouldn't be as bad as I was imagining but it did have its crappy moments. I do like enough of my coworkers to know that it wouldn't be all bad. Everyone said the night is made or broken by who you sit with and well, I got stuck sitting next to possibly the person I dislike the most in the office and her husband. But I made the most of it. The food was pretty good. The drinks were good. Actually, the drinks were too good. I had a lot to drink. I had two glasses of champagne and four whiskey sours and then a beer later when we went to the local sports bar. Most of all, I'm glad it's over for a year!
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