Scene of the Day

I'm watching The Holiday and wondering at that film's most unbelievable achievement: making me fall madly in love with Jack Black. It's this scene that does it, one of the loveliest ever.
 

24 Days of Christmas – "I’m Dreaming Of A" Edition

Aside from listening to the Bing Crosby tune “White Christmas,” I really knew nothing about the 1954 classic film by the same name. For example, I didn’t know it was a musical, didn’t know it starred Bing Crosby, had no idea it took place in a snow-less Vermont, and didn’t know it was in goofy Technicolor. I also didn’t know how adorable it was or how manically entertaining.

The plot follows Wallace (Crosby) and Harris (Danny Kaye), a two man musical super act that starts when Harris saves Wallace during World War II. Harris is just enjoying the spoils of being a superstar, but Wallace’s bachelor-derived seriousness gets in his way, so Harris concocts plans to try and get Wallace hitched. When two sisters, Betty (Rosemary Clooney) and Judy, trick them into seeing their show, Harris sees the solution to his problem in the person of Betty. Through a series of hijinks, Harris maneuvers himself and Wallace onto a train bound for Vermont with Judy and Betty. Judy and Betty head to the Inn where they are meant to perform, but Vermont is oddly snowless and the Inn is deserted. Just as they’re ready to leave, Harris and Wallace run into General Waverly, the owner of the Inn and their personal hero. When they find out the Inn is close to bankruptcy, they decide to perform a huge show there to try and raise its profile. As they get ready for the show, they flirt with the sisters, hatch plans to rejuvenate the General’s moral, and generally enjoy a pre-60s bromance of the greatest variety. But after a misunderstanding, Betty becomes convinced that Harris and Wallace are just using the General for publicity and, rightfully, chews Wallace out. Meanwhile, Judy and Harris decide to fake an engagement. Pissed off, Betty takes off for New York, and Wallace has to go to beg her to come back, while simultaneously trying to convince everyone they knew to come to Vermont and save the General’s inn and pride.

Rosemary Clooney, with her broad shoulders and deep, soulful voice, is fantastic. She’s fiery and a subtle sort of sheltered awkward. And Bing Crosby, despite his painfully painted-in blue eyes, is suitably charismatic as Wallace. But I gotta say, I fell in love with Danny Kaye’s goofy Harris, who is probably the world’s most incompetent wingman, and who struts around with the manic energy of Cosmo Kramer and the ginger effervescence of a Weasley sibling.

As for the plot, it’s the kind of semi-screwball romance that the 40s and 50s excelled at. The dance numbers are more impressive than the singing (and a lot of the ballads are a little too long and serious for me), and despite the title, the movie is surprisingly light on Christmas. But damned if it’s not a beautiful moment when the General walks into a crowded ballroom on Christmas Eve to find it filled with all the men who are grateful to him for their lives. The final dance numbers, during the General tribute show, from “I Wish I Was Back in the Army” (my personal favorite) to the opulent version of “White Christmas” are what really make the movie (or, as my Dad put it, “the made whole movie just so they could sing this song.”) And the film smartly contrasts the beginning melancholy version with the ending joyful one to bring a sense of closure and, well, Christmasy cheer.

In all, White Christmas was exactly the sort of surface-ly cheerful good time that it’s candy-colored, overly sincere box suggests. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Random Observations:
 • 99% Watch: Small Business Owner (and honored war veteran) General Waverly struggles to keep his business afloat in a tough post-War economy

• “What would be a novelty here in Vermont?” “Maybe we can dig up a Democrat?” 50s politics were funny

• Less funny? The extended number about the joys of minstrel shows (at least they weren’t in black face)

• Vera-Ellen, who plays sister Judy, is too skinny to watch, even by today’s standards

• Fun side note: Danny Kaye is Jewish.

• According to this movie, men want to be in the army because they don’t have to think about their clothes and they get free food, women want to be able to pick out men based on age, weight and size. Actually, I wanted to make a feminist complaint, but that sounds about right.

24 Days of Christmas: Cheesy ABC Family Movie Installment

by Rachael Nisenkier

When I say to people that I love all Christmas movies, the good, the bad, and the really bad, I think that I mean it. That doesn’t mean they’re all equally entertaining or anything, but I can sit through pretty much anything if you put a Santa hat on it. I decided to test that theory because a) buying all these classic movies on iTunes is expensive and b) my DVR isn’t full yet of all the movies I want to watch. So I sat down and watched one of those wonderfully odd Christmas films that channels like ABC Family and Lifetime put out every year, starring a b-to-z list celebrity and following the exact same hackneyed plot as a thousand other Christmas movies. I’ll probably throw one or two more of these into the mix before the end of my 24 Days of Christmas experiment.

Today’s offering was Christmas Cupid, streaming for free on Netflix and playing semi-ubiquitously on ABC Family. It stars Christina Milian as Sloane Spencer (that’s an awful name), a PR rep whose habit of “trading up” people like they’re increasingly expensive cars leaves her on the verge of losing everyone in her life. It follows the basic plot of A Christmas Carol, adds in a vodka-swilling, recently deceased ex-starlet (Ashley Benson), and somehow tries to convince me that the safe, kind-hearted romantic choice can be played by Chad Michael Murray (sorry, Chad, you’ll always be Tristan to me).

It’s a lightly comic trifle of a Christmas movie that rings pathos out of a familiar tale while making pop culture jokes that feel dated, and semi-edgy sex comedy. Milian is serviceable as the star, although she never quite gets the bad girl thing down, so her redemption comes across more as someone in need of a good talking to, rather than heavenly intervention. The whole parade of hot guys in this film are all pretty much interchangeable, but Murray is particularly badly cast.

The best part about Christmas Cupid is Ashley Benson. She plays Caitlin Quinn, a Lohan-esque party girl whose untimely demise right before Christmas sets off the film’s events. The character is stale, but Benson brings enough light and joy to her scenes that it helps to offset the by-the-numbers performance Milian is giving. Ultimately, and not surprisingly, this movie is unnecessary, but not without its joys. The dialogue may never get towards any “truths,” but it can be surprisingly witty at times. Plus, the movie’s free.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:
• From Ashley Benson’s IMDB page, which I just thought was too precious not to include: “Ashley was born two months early weighing 2 pounds 8 oz. She was in ICU for a month. Her parents were told she would need heart surgery on Christmas Day. Prayers were answered when her parents went in Christmas Day and were told by doctors that her heart had closed up. Ashley never needed any surgeries. She was released to go home at 4 1/2 pounds after being hospitalized two months. She has been healthy ever since!.” Awww, she’s like her own Christmas movie.
• There’s something kind of ooky to me about the film’s casual use of the word “slut,” even if it does turn out to be a mostly sex and lady-positive film.

24 Days of Christmas: Christmas, Actually Is All Around Installment

by Rachael Nisenkier

I love Christmas movies. Actually, scratch that, I love everything about Christmas to an extent that is probably unhealthy. Growing up as a little half jewish, half not-ish girl, the month of December was probably my favorite time of year (except maybe for my birth month, but the fact that I insisted on a whole month to celebrate my birth become less and less socially acceptable as I aged, whereas my love for Christmas makes me quirky and endearing). The twinkling lights. The freshly cut (but not by us, what are we, peasants?) pine tree. The presents. The malls. Oh the malls.

But mostly, I love popular culture representations of Christmas. I love Christmas episodes of TV (check out this list of the best ever Christmas episodes), I love Christmas commercials (I still am not sick of the “they do exist/he does exist” M&M commercials), I love Christmas songs. And I love Christmas movies.

Last year I tried to share my love of Christmas movies with My Cinema as best I could, but this year I wanted to set myself a much harder test. Rather than just sharing a few of my favorites, I was going to spend the 24 pre-Christmas days watching a movie a day, so that I could go through popular Christmas movies, good, bad and fantastically bad. I basically looked through a bunch of lists, found convenient films, scoured the tv listings, and came up with a schedule that will keep me busy right up until chestnuts start roasting on open fires.

This is my first installment in my 24 Days of Christmas, and it’s also one of only two doubles from last year: Love, Actually.

One Day in Hollywood

by Kelly Bedard

The film adaptation of the truly wonderful book One Day, predictably, leaves much to be desired. While the presence of the always sensational Patricia Clarkson (perfectly cast in the pivotal role of Dexter’s idealized mother) certainly helped the film along, the incredible miscasting of the story’s leading lady proved devastating to the adaptation.

So much of the complication in Dexter and Emma’s relationship comes from their regional class differences. In casting an American actress (no matter how charming) without perfect accent skills, the filmmakers essentially robbed themselves of that crucial tool. Anne Hathaway could have given the performance of her life (which, for the record, she did not even come close to giving) and no one would have cared because her accent work was just so bad. It was inexcusable (though I will admit that no one pulls off an "awkward girl comes into her own" makeover quite like Hathaway).

Friends with Partial Benefits and a Lot of Issues

I was really looking forward to Friends with Benefits. I think Mila Kunis is damn cool and love Justin Timberlake (especially now that he's in an acting phase of his existence instead of a music one); I've long been a fan of Patricia Clarkson (who is quickly become Hollywood's trademark "cool mom"), generally find Jenna Elfman adorable, admire Richard Jenkins and think Woody Harelson is a hoot. Add in small parts for the greatest young actress in Hollywood (Emma Stone), an SNL favourite (Andy Samberg), a lovely familiar face (Masi Oka), a child comedy upstart (Nolan Gould) and my long-lost One Tree Hill crush (Bryan Greenberg), and you've got me in the theatre for opening night.

The result is an enjoyable film, sweet, sort of funny, well-paced. It's also a hypocritical film, a predictable film and one that thinks it's a tad funnier and edgier than it is.

Mila and Justin do their jobs well- I can think of few romantic comedy pairings with their easy charm and superb chemistry. Their relationship develops well and they have some really truthful moments. But that's not enough to make a decent movie into a good movie. The script just isn't good enough.

Crazy, Stupid, Love- 3 movies, 1 title

by Rachael Nisenkier

Crazy, Stupid, Love’s mission statement is spelled out for you in its title. It’s one of those movies that proudly wears its ridiculous heart on its sleeve; its ultimate mission is to make you believe that it’s completely acceptable for a 13 year-old and his father to hijack an 8th grade graduation to make ridiculous declarations of love to the objects of their affection. It wants you to believe that the two adjectives before love in that title are not insults, but the natural order of things when you’re really, truly in love.

The trick of the movie is that it wraps all this romantic-comedy ridiculousness inside two other types of movies.

Playing with my Affections

Something Borrowed was a movie that I 75% loved. I loved it; I was ready to declare it my favourite rom com of the year. Ginnifer Goodwin, perhaps the most likable actress on the planet, plus my beloved John Krasinski and his wonderfully developed sense of irony- it was a winning combination. Even Kate Hudson was perfectly cast, and I never think Kate Hudson is perfectly cast.

For the sake of my love of that first 75%, we're going to pretend the last 25% doesn't exist for a little while, just while I work through my love and prepare myself for the worst. Bear with me, this is a totally rational approach. IT IS! Okay, shut up.

There's more after the jump.