A Movie Scene Quiz

Go Yankees!

And I'm curious. Did you see "Love Actually"?

Lost in Translation - saw it
The Station Agent - missed it
I Capture the Castle - missed it
The Secret Lives of Dentists - missed it
Sunshine State - saw it, loved it
Far from Heaven - saw it, want to see it again
Last Orders - missed it
The Quiet American - missed it
Gosford Park - loved it, could watch it over and over
In the Bedroom - saw it again recently on tv
Amelie - saw it
You Can Count on Me - saw it
Chocolat - saw it, one of my all-time favorites
The Cider House Rules - saw it
The Talented Mr. Ripley - saw it, could watch it again

But, did anyone see Love Actually?

I saw Love Actually when it first came out (with that cast, how could I not?), and enjoyed it. I didn't think it was a great movie, but it was a lot of fun. I'm actually not sure why I left it off my original list.

Well, the Yanks lost, 2-0: Randy Johnson pitched a great game, but the other guy pitched an even better one. And I did in fact doze off during the game, which is why I'm just getting back here with the answer to your question.

If you had asked me yesterday, I would have been sure that Ira Gershwin wrote the lyrics to Somebody Loves Me (the answer to your Betty Hutton movie). But now I know that it was Buddy de Sylva, and that he also wrote:

Look for the Silver Lining (June Haver)

April Showers (Ann Sothern)

The Best Things in Life Are Free (Dan Dailey)

Together Again (Charles Boyer)

I thought you'd enjoy the London scenery and the cast in Love Actually, Bree, even if the movie wasn't up to snuff. (I can't recall too many great movies in the past five years. Is it I? )

Yes to Buddy de Sylva. In my music encyclopedia of popular music , I was surprised to find 94 songs listed for him. And as I mentioned earlier, TCM is keeping "Look for the Silver Lining" very much alive. One day last week when my daughter came home from work, she caught me saying, "I found the damn lining. Now let's get on with the movie." Now when I'm recording from TCM and she hears the opening bars, she yells downstairs to me "Control yourself, mother." lol:

Sorry about those Yanks.

No, I don't think it's you. I consider it a good year if I see two or three movies that really blow me away.

This afternoon I saw a good (not great, but good) French movie called "Look at Me" ("Comme une image", to use its original title). It made me realize that, apart from "Amelie", I didn't include any non-English-language movies on my list of a couple of days ago. So, to remedy that omission, here are some foreign movies from the last three years that I think you'd enjoy if they turn up on one of your pay stations:

A Very Long Engagement (Un long dimanche de fiançailles) (released in December 2004, so it may not be on TV yet)
Intimate Strangers (Confidences trop intimes)
Bon Voyage (there are several movies with this title; I'm referring to the one with Gerard Depardieu and Isabelle Adjani)
Man on the Train (L'homme du train)
8 Women (8 femmes)

I don't have a new question ready yet - I have some ideas, but haven't had time to explore them.

Thanks for the list of foreign movies, Bree. I don't think any of them will be showing up on cable in the near future.

Yesterday I watched "Strictly Ballroom" (liked that one) and Robert Duvall in "Assassination Tango". (only comment on that one is that it had several enjoyable tango scenes)

I saw The Interpreter Friday. Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman are really good - I recommend the movie.

(I had a half-day off from work, and couldn't resist seeing something that had just opened! )

Thanks for the recommendation, Mac.

Tomorrow I'll record Hannah and Her Sisters and Bullets Over Broadway. They'll both fit on one DVD.

What a good double bill! I love the music in Bullets over Broadway. Yes, thanks for recommending The Interpreter, mac. I was kind of on the fence about it (probably because I've seen coming attractions for it so many times, I feel as if I've already seen the movie), but now I'll put it on my "must see" list.

So far, this is shaping up to be a very unproductive week at work. I've spent most of the day reading up on the new funds that my employer is adding to our 401(k) plan. (They're dropping most of the funds our money is currently invested in, and replacing them with a bunch of new funds I know nothing about, so I have to figure out how to re-invest all of my retirement savings on very short notice.) Then tomorrow I have to start working on my performance review (how many different ways can I find to say "Bree did a great job this year"?). And on Thursday, everyone is supposed to spend the entire day cleaning out their offices. (We have a new CEO who's a neat freak.) So there's a good chance I won't get any actual work done at all this week.

And to top it off, I still haven't thought of a new question!

1. The 401K is the most important matter to consider at this time. Concentrate on that this evening.

2. I resent performance reviews. Just say: I feel that I do more and am better at what I do than any other employee here. Period.

3. I resent cleaning up the office. Just stuff everything, that will fit ,into a drawer and everything that won't fit into the trash bin with the exception of personal belongings. That them home with you Tuesday and Wednesday (it usually takes two trips to get the personal things home.)

4. I'll think of a question for you to think about while you are throwing the stuff away.

Please let me know if I may be of any further assistance.

No, I think that covers it! Excellent advice, as usual.

What a waste of time bree!

My personal method is to label all my piles of paper. Everyone seems to think it looks very organized. It's still huge piles of paper waiting to be processed...

Hey, maybe I should do that at home, too. But then there's no one here to impress with my labels! I'll just keep these piles unlabeled, I guess.

Mac. Great idea, but it wouldn't have worked in my situation. When the President from New York headquarters visited, the Regional Director insisted that we remove all paperwork from our desks. There was a near riot, but we finally obliged. We were still looking for files two months after the cleanup. Oh, and speaking of cleanup, do NOT clean your keyboard with Soft Scrub - unless you are the only person who is ever going to use that keyboard and don't mind that six of the letters are missing.

Bree: I'm assuming that you understood what "That them home on Tuesday" meant.

Be back with a question shortly.

Of course!

New Question. Same theme.

1. Doris Day (title)

2. Doris Day (title)

3. Ruth Terry (title)

4. Cornel Wilde (title)

5. Fred Astaire (title)

6. Donald O'Connor (I can't get this tune out of my head, now. )

The first five Gus Kahn songs came pretty quickly, but it took me a while to find My Buddy (I know the song, but didn't know who wrote it):

1. I'll See You in My Dreams (Doris Day)

2. Love Me or Leave Me (Doris Day)

3. My Buddy (Ruth Terry)

4. It Had to Be You (Cornel Wilde)

5. Flying Down to Rio (Fred Astaire)

6. Yes Sir That's My Baby (Donald O'Connor)

You left out a couple of songs: what about Clark Gable and Brooke Shields?

Oh yes, Brooke Shields - Pretty Baby.

But, I have to think about Clark Gable.

Oh, my garsh! San Francisco for Clark.

Do you want me to try to come up with another question tomorrow?