Surviving Christmas

Surviving Christmas stars Ben Affleck, Christina Applegate, James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), and Catherine O’Hara (Home Alone). It is rated PG-13.

Drew (Ben Affleck) says the wrong thing to his girlfriend Missy just before Christmas and she breaks up with him. Desperate to not be spending Christmas alone, Drew goes to his childhood home, and pays the family now living there $250,000 to let him stay with them for the holidays. Tom (James Gandolfini) sees the dollar signs, and his wife Christine (Catherine O’Hara) reluctantly agrees to the plan, even though their teenage son is not happy to be giving up his room to this stranger. Drew even hires an actor to play his grandfather, whom he affectionately nicknames Doo-Dah, to complete the family.

That’s where the fun begins. Actually, from the first few opening scenes, we know this is not going to be a typical Christmas movie. Seeing Grandma take gingerbread men out of the oven with frowns painted on all their little faces is one clue, and what she does afterwards is shocking if it hadn’t been for those depressed little cookies. This film is about the unfortunate people who greet depression instead of Christmas cheer in December each year.

Drew sets about recreating his family, and doing all the traditional family Christmas rituals, and then their older daughter Alicia (Christina Applegate) shows up. She is not happy about having this crazy man spend the holidays with her family. Ben Affleck is really quite superb in this role, and is totally cut out to do comedy. He really shines in this film, and the other actors are great in their unique roles as well. The situations that arise are very funny.

The film takes place in Chicago and the suburbs. For anyone who’s ever been to northern Illinois, you know there are no mountains there; not even close. Despite this fact, Drew takes Alicia tobogganing down a mountain complete with a forest that could only be in the Pacific Northwest. Other than that, I really liked the film and laughed out loud. I liked that it was in Chicago, as the holidays are a magical time in the Windy City, decorations on every street and storefront, and the hope of snow in the air.

This film is also a little romance. Tom and Christine work at rekindling their love for each other, and Drew and Alicia grow more and more attracted to each other as the hours pass. If you want to see a romantic comedy that is also about families and Christmas, this is the film for you.

The Polar Express

Polar Express is destined to become a Christmas classic (it was released in 2004). The film is based on the book
The Polar Express

by Chris Van Allsburg. It is an animated film, but the work is so extraordinarily real, you’ll forget you’re watching animation.

On Christmas Eve, a young boy who is beginning to doubt the existence of Santa Claus, discovers the Polar Express boarding outside his front door. It is heading straight to the North Pole. He hops aboard where he meets other children clad in their pajamas, all hoping to meet Santa Claus.

The conductor is unmistakably Tom Hanks, with a huge pocket watch to help him stick to the schedule. All sorts of adventures arise en route to the North Pole, many of them taking on the dimensions of a roller coaster ride. I’d love to see this film at an IMAX theater for just that reason. Perhaps you’ll be lucky enough to find it playing at an IMAX in your town. There is also plenty of classic Christmas music, sweet songs sung by the children, and wonderful scenes of magic reindeer flying through the sky, Santa and the huge red sack of Christmas presents in tow. Our young hero is given a special gift by Santa, and for a while, still believes.

Robert Zemeckis of Back to the Future fame (another of my favorites), directed the film, and it is a delight from beginning to end. It is rated G, and young and old alike will enjoy this film. There are lots of beautiful messages about the spirit of Christmas in this story. The conductor tells our young hero as he disembarks the train, “One thing about trains; it doesn’t matter where they’re going. What matters is deciding to get on.” I recommend you board Polar Express this holiday season.

It's a Wonderful Life

Although the ending of the Frank Capra film It's a Wonderful Life
takes place during Christmas, the film was not intended to be holiday entertainment when it was first released in 1946. It has since become a classic associated with Christmas, and is cited by many as a favorite movie to watch during the holidays.

The film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, Donna Reed as Mary Hatch-Bailey and Lionel Barrymore as Mr. Potter. It is a film about the hopes and dreams of George Bailey, and how they never quite materialize. This is partly due to the machinations of Mr. Potter (an early version of the greedy corporate executive). George has dreams of traveling the world, of building things, of having a million dollars. As his life unfolds, reality doesn’t even come close to his aspirations.

George’s father and his Uncle Billy run a small building and loan company, an institution Mr. Potter yearns to make his own. George again and again stays in Bedford Falls to work at the building and loan, setting aside his dreams year after year. During this time, he marries the girl who has always loved him (played by Donna Reed). Four children soon follow, and George struggles to support his family.

On Christmas Eve day, Uncle Billy misplaces an $8,000 deposit to the bank (the money is found by Mr. Potter who uses the opportunity to set into motion the final demise of the building and loan and thus George Bailey). George is at his lowest point. Mr. Potter points out he is worth more dead than alive, and George considers suicide. This is why I don’t think of It's a Wonderful Life as a Christmas movie. The film deals with George’s depression and desperation, and is really a drama with elements of comedy and romance. The careful observer notices the clues that George hasn’t been happy with his life for some time, and the incident of the lost money sends him right over the edge.

Before George can throw himself off a bridge into the turbulent, cold waters of the river, an angel intervenes. An angel named Clarence, who is from another era. Clarence realizes that the way to help George is to show him what the world would be like had he never been born.

As George and Clarence walk through a world where George doesn’t exist, he grows frantic as all the familiar places, friends and family he has taken for granted are nowhere to be found. He finally realizes he really does love his wife, his children, and his life. Once George realizes he wants to live, Clarence brings George’s world back. The ending results in all his friends coming together to help him out.

Largely because of James Stewart’s wonderful performance, the audience can empathize with George’s feelings about his life, and I think that is why this film is beloved by so many. The screenplay is also excellent. Mr. Stewart gets to deliver some great romantic lines, and his passion to his character remains from beginning to end. I recommend this film as one of the classics of all time.

Christmas in the Clouds

I had the pleasure of watching this outstanding romantic comedy in my local theater today. I walked out smiling and feeling great. Christmas in the Clouds won the Audience Award for Best Feature Film at the Austin Film Festival, and was voted Best Native Film at the Santa Fe Film Festival, both richly deserved honors.

It’s a romantic comedy, filmed entirely in Utah on Robert Redford’s Sundance property. The film was written and directed by Kate Montgomery, and it’s a clever script, well rendered by the actors.

Joe Clouds on Fire (Sam Vlahos) begins to tell his story as he is driving his old beat-up truck along a mountainous road. He has been corresponding with Tina Littlehawk (Mariana Tosca) who lives in New York, and his letters have impressed Tina. She decides to pay Joe a surprise visit, and books a room at the resort where Joe’s son, Ray Clouds on Fire (Tim Vahle), is the general manager. She does not use her real name, wanting to check things out with Joe anonymously.

Ray is anxious about a review that will end up in a prominent travel guide, but doesn’t know the identity of the person who will be judging the resort. The staff mistake Tina for the real reviewer, who is Stu O’Malley (M. Emmet Walsh), a grumpy alcoholic estranged from his daughter.

To further complicate the case of mistaken identity, Tina thinks that Ray is her pen pal Joe, and Ray thinks that Tina is the anonymous reviewer for the travel guide. Ray and Tina begin to fall for each other, and around them are all the resort staff, a colorful group of characters, each with their own quirks and endearing qualities.

Graham Greene (Dances with Wolves, Thunderheart) plays Earl, the resort’s vegetarian chef, who is chagrined at Ray’s request that he also serve meat to the diners. There are so many funny jokes throughout that it’s hard for me to pick my favorite. Wes Studi has a cameo appearance playing himself, and there is an adorable mouse running about the resort that is as much a character in the story as the people around him.

The music is mostly Native American in influence. There is a beautiful rendition of Silent Night, sung in the Ute language and accompanied by R. Carlos Nakai. I thoroughly enjoyed this film, and hope you get to see it in your own local theaters this holiday season.

Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas!

Boris Karloff narrates and sings in this favorite from my youth, How the Grinch Stole Christmas The music and story are enchanting in this animated version of the classic Dr. Seuss book. The tongue twisting words of Ted Geisel aka Dr. Seuss still make me smile. He delighted in creating worlds with strange-looking creatures, in this case the Whos, who have curiously human like qualities.

The Grinch hates everything about Christmas, the presents, the feasting, the music and games, but especially he hates the singing. He hatches a plot to steal Christmas from the Whos, employing only his dog Max in his secret scheme. After he steals every physical part of the Whos celebration, he retreats to the mountains to throw it all off the top of a peak. But he hears the Whos singing on Christmas morning, and has a moment of satori. He couldn’t steal Christmas after all because its spirit is inside the Whos. He returns all that he has taken and joins in the celebration.

It’s a nice little Christmas story to watch (only 26 minutes), and just as relevant today as it was 39 years ago when it was released.

Home Alone

One year not long ago, I told a friend that I was watching Home Alone on Christmas Day. She was surprised, as she didn’t think of it as a Christmas film. True, a major part of the film is eight-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) single-handedly defending his home against Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern), who are the Wet Bandits, but the entire film takes place at Christmas! The theme of families and Christmas celebrations figure prominently in this slapstick comedy rated PG.

Kevin is the youngest of five children, and mistakenly gets left behind when his family flies to Paris for the holidays along with his cousins and aunt and uncle. The family hasn’t treated Kevin all that nicely, and he had made a bedtime wish that they would just disappear. When he awakens the following morning and they have flown off to Paris without him, he thinks his wish came true.

Kevin conquers his fears and becomes quite self-sufficient while his family is gone. The Wet Bandits have targeted his house as one of the choice homes to rob while people are away for the holidays, and the defense Kevin devises to protect his home is ingenious, complete, and very funny. Watching Marv and Harry as they make their way through Kevin’s booby traps makes me laugh out loud!

Kevin also makes friends with his scary neighbor, whose reputation has been fueled by tall and untrue tales of his murderous past. Both the neighbor and Kevin learn something about themselves and their families from each other. The neighbor reaches out to his estranged son and family as a result, and Kevin realizes that even though his family is not perfect, he loves them and would like them to come home.

This is a good movie, and I highly recommend it. Also featured are John Heard and Catherine O’Hara as Kevin’s parents, and a great cameo appearance by John Candy. Kevin’s mother and family are understandably upset when they realize Kevin is missing, and his mother’s quest to get home from Paris as quickly as possible results in her meeting the Polka King of the Midwest (John Candy). The writer and producer is John Hughes (remember his name?), and is directed by Chris Columbus who is now involved with the Harry Potter movies.

I’ll review the sequel to Home Alone another day.

White Christmas

White Christmas is a classic musical from 1954. There is nothing objectionable in the entire film, which makes it suitable for the whole family (it’s not rated, and it doesn’t need to be). The music is by Irving Berlin, and stars Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney (George’s aunt), Vera-Ellen and Dean Jagger. Edith Head, the grande dame of film couture, designed the costumes.

White Christmas is mainly a romantic comedy set to music and dancing, with a sentimental bent and nod to those who served in World War II. The story is about a show business duo, Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Phil Davis (Danny Kaye), who end up at a Vermont resort just before Christmas with the Haynes sisters, Betty (Rosemary Clooney) and Judy (Vera-Ellen), who have their own song and dance act.

Bob and Phil encounter their former general from the army (Dean Jagger) who is now owner of the resort in Pine Tree, Vermont. The trouble is there is no snow to bring in the guests. Thus begins an elaborate plan to get folks up to the resort, and pay tribute to the general at the same time.

Meanwhile, Bob and Betty are falling for each other. Interspersed through all of this are great musical numbers. Vera-Ellen is an incredible dancer. She looks like she’s about a size 2 with legs that just won’t quit. Danny Kaye does a very good job singing and dancing his role, and his comedic timing couldn’t be better. The segment where Phil and Bob dress up like the sisters to mime their act is hilarious, and I read, filmed on the first take.

If you have older folks, grandparents and such, coming to your house for Christmas, this is the perfect film to rent or buy. Watching it reminded me of my parents and aunts and uncles who loved watching these stars and this film, and introduced me to them. I grew up dreaming of a White Christmas, and welcomed the snow that would magically transform our dreary winter world into a carpet of white. I hope White Christmas brings some of that magic to you.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Steve Martin (All of Me) and the late, great John Candy (Splash) star in this holiday travel adventure from 1987, Planes, Trains and Automobiles. This comedy is rated R, and was written and directed by John Hughes, who happens to be one of my favorite writer/directors (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Home Alone). It is notable for being a funny, yet moving film focusing on the relationship of two strangers trying to get home for Thanksgiving.

Steve Martin plays Neal Page, a marketing executive flying home from New York to Chicago to be with his wife and three children. John Candy is Del Griffith, a shower ring salesman who befriends, or should I say latches onto, Neal.

The O’Hare airport is closed due to blizzard conditions, and Neal finds himself stranded in Wichita with Del. Their journey across the frigid Midwest is filled with complications, and yes, all modes of travel are utilized, including buses and catching a ride in the back of a semi-truck headed to Chicago.

Neal finds Del to be the worst possible company, and their relationship has its ups and downs throughout the tale. Neal begins as a levelheaded, nice man whose patience is tested, and we watch as he ultimately succumbs to being the difficult traveler we wouldn’t want to meet. Del proves to be ingenious when trouble appears, and ultimately a nice man, someone you’d like to be friends with, even if only for his loyalty.

I like this film because it makes me laugh out loud, the ending brings a tear to the eyes, and because the two comedians do such an excellent job portraying the many emotions that arise on their cross-country journey. I also can’t recall many films lately that feature two men (not two women, or a man and a woman) making their way through a situation that tests them individually and as a team, and we see each of them grow by the end of the film.

Look for an early cameo by Kevin Bacon, and keep the tape playing once the credits begin to roll. I just let it keep playing as I regrouped after the film listening to the music, and was treated to a funny little segment at the end of the credits, something I think you’ll also enjoy.

Tis the season . . .

Since the holidays are fast approaching, I've decided to review some holiday themed films for you. I hope you use them to help select just the right film for you and your guests when you host your own holiday movie night. Let me know if there is a film you'd like me to review, and I'll try to find it and review it. Happy holidays to all!

I'm back!

I just had high-speed Internet installed at my house, and it has made my life already much simpler. No more waiting and waiting for things to download or copy on dial-up.

This means I will again be posting my movie reviews! I'm excited about getting back to it, and for adding more helpful links for you to my blog.

Stay tuned for more developments, and thanks for checking back!

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

I wanted to see this film after reading that the screenwriter, Simon Kinberg, found his inspiration for the story in an explanation of the process of marriage therapy. This intrigued me, as I thought it was primarily an action film, and wanted to see how this was accomplished. According to Mr. Kinberg, marriage therapy guides couples through a process to initiate, interact, communicate, compromise, adapt, and ultimately fall in love again. He placed John and Jane Smith (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) in a marriage complicated by their unusual occupations. Both are accomplished assassins, and they have both managed to keep their professional lives secret from one another, even though they have been married five (or six) years.

We first meet John and Jane in the therapist’s office (initiate). Since they are willing to see a therapist about their relationship, I gave them a better than average chance of restoring life to their dull marriage.

We are shown how John and Jane met and then married without allowing each other to know who they truly are. Sound familiar? Other than their unusual occupations, they could be any suburban couple.

Separately, they are each given the job of tracking and assassinating the same person. They spot each other as a competitor on the job, and then have to track and eliminate the other assassin, as neither can leave a witness to a hit. They soon discover that the other killer is their spouse. John and Jane stop lying to each other, and start telling each other who they really are (interact, communicate). As they are engaged in the chase, they have to pay attention to each other for the first time in years, and fall in love again.

Now they have to figure out a way to deal with their bosses who are expecting them to take each other down. So they compromise and adapt to each other’s styles as they strategize and carry out a plan together. They come to understand and appreciate the strengths and weaknesses they have that complement each other, and that make life together stronger and more successful than either would have alone.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith really works. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are great together, apparently off screen as well. Adam Brody (The O.C.) plays a small role as the man that both assassins are asked to target, and who has the answer to their dilemma. Casting chatty Adam in this role was a good choice. Watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith go about setting traps for each other reminded me of the destructive games that couples play, especially when they are considering divorce. It's not just an action film, but also has elements of comedy and romance to enjoy. It is rated PG-13. Mr. Kinberg wrote a great screenplay, resulting in an entertaining film, one that I will probably watch again sometime on DVD.

A Guy Thing

(Recommended by Julia)
A Guy Thing is rated PG-13 for language, crude humor, some sexual content and drug references. I thought it would just be another silly romantic comedy, and was pleasantly surprised. The film sports a good cast: Jason Lee, Julia Stiles, Selma Blair, James Brolin and Julie Hagerty.

Paul (Jason Lee) and Karen (Selma Blair) are to be married. Jason meets Becky (Julia Stiles) at his bachelor party, just after relinquishing his groom’s hat to his best friend, so she does not know he is the groom. They awaken the next morning together in bed.

Paul is horrified at what may have happened between them. To make matters worse, it turns out that Becky is Karen’s cousin. Becky also has a borderline psycho ex-boyfriend who happens to be a cop to further complicate the situation. I laughed and laughed during this movie at the screwball physical comedy. Jason Lee is a fine comedic actor, Julia Stiles is beautiful in her role as the free spirit who spurs Paul to question the way his life is progressing, and the supporting roles of James Brolin as Karen’s father, and Julie Hagerty as Paul's mother are well cast.

I thought that the part in the film about "the guy thing" (you’ll have to see it to figure out what that actually means; I never give away the good parts) was not as important as the message that it's better to get up the courage to change direction before making a mistake you’ll live to regret. I highly recommend this romantic comedy, especially when you need a good laugh.

Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!

(Recommended by Julia)

Robert Luketic, who also directed Legally Blonde, directed Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!. The movie stars Kate Bosworth as Rosalee, Josh Duhamel as Tad, and Topher Grace (That '70s Show; In Good Company) as Pete.

The win a date scheme is meant to boost Tad’s reputation, as he is portrayed by the press as a self-involved movie star. Rosalee wins a date with him and Tad follows her back to West Virginia after their night out in Hollywood. Rosalee is not like the other women he is accustomed to. She is guarding her carnal treasure (Pete’s last words of advice to her before she gets on the plane), something most women Tad meets are not concerned about.

Nathan Lane and Sean Hayes as Tad’s business manager and agent are hilarious together. They are very concerned about Tad’s infatuation with Rosalee and follow him to West Virginia. Pete has been Rosalee’s friend since they were children, but has not gotten up the courage to tell her that he loves her. When Tad shows up, Pete attempts to impress Rosalee with dismal results. Rosalee’s father is really funny as he dives into Hollywood (wearing a Project Greenlight T-shirt, no less), and he is not sympathetic to Pete’s distress, preferring a movie star to be his daughter’s suitor. It’s a romantic comedy, so I won’t give away the ending!

I found the movie funny in places, but definitely more of a film for teenagers and college-age young adults. The film is rated PG-13 for sexual content, some drug references, and language. I don’t think kids under 13 would find it very interesting. Or anyone over 22 for that matter. Kate Bosworth has a grin on her face for most of the movie, something I found really annoying. True, there is a sweet moment when Pete says that Rosalee has six different smiles, but Kate does not give Rosalee six different smiles. The real standouts in terms of acting as I mentioned are Nathan Lane and Sean Hayes. View at your own risk.

Big Fish

(Recommended by Julia)
Big Fish is a Tim Burton movie and is as surreal as the other films he's directed, which include Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Ed Wood and Beetlejuice to name a few I am fond of.

An all-star cast includes Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney portraying the young and old Edward Bloom, Billy Crudup as Edward's son Will, and Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Robert Guillaume, Steve Buscemi, and Danny DeVito in supporting roles.

Will has long been embarrassed and frustrated by his father’s tall tales, and doesn’t speak to his father for three years following his marriage and subsequent move to Paris with his new wife. The estrangement ends when Will receives a phone call from his mother to tell him that Edward is dying. Will longs to reconcile with his father and wants to know who he really is. Edward continues to weave elaborate stories of his life, fantastic tales that appear to be lies to Will.

Will however, learns that within every story his father tells, lies an element of the truth of Edward's life. I think that Will is not unlike most young men, and women for that matter, who grow up not really knowing much about their father. This may be changing in our society today, but for fathers who grew up anytime before the 60’s, I’d say they were hard to understand and didn’t reveal much.

One interesting story Edward relates is about his childhood when he went up to a witch’s house on a dare. This witch had one glass eye in which the viewer could see his/her own death. This knowledge of his ultimate passing, or so the storyteller says, helped Edward to act fearlessly when confronted with danger, because he knew he wouldn’t be dying just yet.

Big Fish is rated PG-13 for a fight scene, some images of nudity, and a suggestive reference, but I think this film is just plain weird and would prove difficult for children to understand, although the images would be interesting for them. It is beautifully filmed, with some very special effects, and I’m not talking car chases here. If you like modern art, or other Tim Burton films, you might really enjoy Big Fish,.

Response to question about "The Butterfly Effect"

A reader asked if The Butterfly Effect had a happy ending. In a way, yes. Be forewarned that this is a dark movie about troubling and bad things that happen to people. The ending was satisfying, but I wouldn't exactly call it happy in a traditional sense. It's definitely a drama with few really comedic elements to it. But I found it quite interesting. Hope that helps. I don't like to give away too many details about a film; I'd rather you be surprised!

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

(Recommended by Julia)

Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey star in this romantic comedy. I couldn’t help but think of Kate’s mother every time she smiled, but Kate is not Goldie, and I also think Kate is a fine actress in her own right. I enjoyed her portrayal of Andie, a writer for a magazine along the lines of Cosmo, who is assigned to write “How To” articles.

After a friend suffers a bad breakup ostensibly due to doing every thing wrong with her man, Andie is assigned the task of writing an article called “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” a sort of cautionary tale to readers about what not to do in a new relationship. Andie’s task is to find a guy, reel him in, and then proceed to do everything wrong so he breaks up with her in less than 10 days.

Ben (Matthew McConaughey) works in an ad agency and desperately wants a choice marketing account selling diamonds. He is put up to a bet that he can get a woman to fall in love with him in 10 days, with the prize being the diamond account. Two scheming co-workers who know about Andie’s quest steer Ben in the direction of Andie, and the comedy takes off.

Andie does such outrageous things to Ben, and yet he doesn’t dump her! Anyone else would. He of course is intent on having Andie fall in love with him to get the diamond account. In the process of their game playing, they do fall in love. When it’s a romantic comedy, we know the ending will be sweet and happy, just not how they will get there.

I recommend this film as it moves along very quickly, and is laugh-out-loud funny. I found myself shaking my head at all the horrible things Andie was doing to Ben, and thought about how if all couples could ignore the weird things their mate does to annoy them, and focus on the things they can do to make themselves worthy of love from the other, there might be many fewer divorces.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is rated PG-13 for some sex-related material.

The Butterfly Effect

(Recommended by Julia)

It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly’s wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world. Chaos theory

This quote attributed to Chaos Theory begins the movie The Butterfly Effect. The film stars Ashton Kutcher as a young man named Evan who is mysteriously afflicted with the same type of mental illness as his father. The illness affects memories and the young Evan has many bad memories to repress, particularly certain things that happened with three playmates from his youth. He begins keeping a journal, and as an adult, discovers he can go back in time to change the events he has experienced.

Evan’s ability to change the past results in a very different present each time he does this sort of time travel. The film is thoughtful, scary, and made me think about the "if onlys" in my life. How many of us have thought “if only”. If only I had chosen that other path, my life would be different today. Evan’s experience reminds me that changing the past could have resulted in a future not nearly as good as the one I’m currently in. It also reminds me that every choice I make, no matter how small it seems, has repercussions in my life and in the lives of those around me.

This film is visually very interesting whenever the time travel occurs, and Ashton Kutcher does a good job acting as the young man tormented by psychological demons. The film is rated R for violence, sexual content, language, and brief drug use. If you liked films such as 12 Monkeys, and Jacob's Ladder, you may enjoy The Butterfly Effect.

Orange County

I have rented five of the movies my 18-year old niece suggested I watch (henceforth to be recognized as "recommended by Julia"), so here is a review of the first one.

Orange County refers to the affluent county on the ocean directly south of Los Angeles, recently made famous by the television series The O.C., which takes place in and around Newport Beach. Orange County is about Shaun, a senior in high school who loves surfing, and yet keeps up with his school studies. He decides he wants to be a writer after finding and reading a book half buried in the sand on the beach.

When the school guidance counselor sends the wrong transcript to Stanford with his application, he is denied admission. Shaun's quest to get into Stanford becomes an obsession, one which involves his older brother Lance, played by Jack Black. Lance spends most of the film in his underwear, has a parole officer, and is stoned most of the time. He also provides for most of the laughter in this film. Shaun's family is dysfunctional and dramatic, with an alcoholic mother (Catherine O'Hara), and estranged father (John Lithgow). Shaun is embarrassed of them, and yet by the end of the film, he realizes that though flawed, they truly support him and his dreams.

Shaun eventually comes to the conclusion that he can achieve his dream of becoming a writer no matter where he attends school, but not until a series of escapades on the Stanford campus lead him to meet the author who has so inspired him.

This film was written by Mike White who also wrote The Good Girl, an excellent movie about a woman (Jennifer Aniston) who feels trapped in her life. I personally liked The Good Girl better. It's more an adult movie, and Orange County with it's PG-13 rating, appeals more to the teenage/college age group.

Which brings me to why this film would appeal to teens. Shaun's finding a book that propels him into a productive future is the sign that teens are also looking for; something that will help them answer the questions: What am I here for? What am I to do with my life? How do I find my way? These questions are answered for Shaun by the end of the movie, and I think teens would find this a hopeful film with lots of comedy and characters that mirror the crazy people we all know in real life.

Hitch

My 18-year-old niece recommended I see this film. In fact she made a list of 14 movies available for rental these days, and I look forward to reporting on all of them.

Will Smith plays Alex Hitchens, "Hitch", a man who makes his living by helping men get a date with the woman of their dreams. His big challenge is to help an accountant played by Kevin James, win the affections of an heiress, sweetly named Allegra.

While involved in this project, Hitch falls for Sarah (Eva Mendes), a woman who has grown to shun relationships. Between these two romances, the fun begins. Hitch and his pupil have great chemistry, and it is believable that the beautiful Allegra would find her accountant charming.

You know how some movies look good in the trailers, but then when you get to the theater, all the funny scenes were in the trailer, and there isn’t anything good left in the film? Well, this does not happen with Hitch. There are laughing out loud scenes, and a good conclusion to the story. As Hitch explains, he just creates an opportunity for the unlikely man to be noticed by the object of his affection, and the rest just happens on its own. If you like romantic comedies, this is a sure winner.