Currently Watching - Come to the Stable (1949)

This is a sweet little film. Celeste Holm and Elsa Lanchester are wonderful!

One winter's night, two French nuns, Sister Margaret and Sister Scholastica, come to the small New England town of Bethlehem (most likely modeled after Bethlehem, Connecticut --given the Abbey of Regina Laudis in that real town and the proximity to New York City), where they meet Amelia Potts, a painter of religious pictures. The Sisters announce that they have come to build a hospital there, and Chicago-born Sister Margaret explains that during the war she was in charge of a children's hospital in Normandy when it became a potential target during a military campaign. As many of the children could not be evacuated, Sister Margaret made a personal plea to an American general not to shell the hospital, which the Germans were using as an observation post. The hospital was spared but at the cost of American lives, and Sister Margaret made a promise to God that, in gratitude for saving the children, she would return to America to build a children's hospital.
When Miss Potts is puzzled as to why they chose Bethlehem, and Sister Margaret tells her that they had received a postcard with a reproduction of a nativity scene painted by Miss Potts, entitled "Come to the Stable," with information about the Bethlehem area. The Sisters then decide that a local hill depicted in another of Miss Potts's paintings would be a good site for the hospital.
After composer Bob Mason, who is Miss Potts's neighbor and landlord, tells the Sisters that the hill is owned by Luigi Rossi of New York, the Sisters go to see the Bishop in a nearby city. He is unable to help them with their project, but does give them a small amount of money to tide them over. When they return to Bethlehem, Bob's religious porter, Anthony James, offers them a ride from the railroad station in Bob's jeep (he continues to help them throughout the movie).
As Sister Margaret learned to drive a jeep during the war, they arrange to borrow the jeep to go to New York City to find Mr. Rossi and ask him to donate his land. Rossi runs a "bookie" operation and, despite his security, the Sisters manage to see him. However, he tells the Sisters that he intends to build his retirement home on the site. As they prepare to leave, Sister Margaret notices a picture and they learn that Rossi's son was killed in action near their hospital in Rouen. The sisters then tell Luigi they will pray for his son. Suddenly, Rossi changes his mind and informs them that, if they will install a stained glass window in the hospital in memory of his son, the land is theirs.
Elated, they return to Bethlehem, where Bob and his girl friend, Kitty Blaine, are listening to a demo of a new song he has composed and the Sisters come to thank him for the use of the jeep. Bob then announces that he will be going to Hollywood for a few weeks to work on a picture.
The Sisters acquire for $5,000 a three-month option on a former witch-hazel bottling plant opposite the Rossi property for use as a temporary shelter to stage the construction of the hospital. However, when the Bishop looks over the papers, he discovers that the purchase price carries a $25,000 mortgage, significantly more than the operating funds the Sisters have available. He tells the Sisters that he will have to cancel the contract, but at that moment, eleven more nuns and a chaplain arrive from France, having been previously summoned by the Sisters following their success. The Bishop relents, allowing them to stay for the period of the option with the understanding that if they cannot raise the additional money within that time they must all leave, but later remarks to his monsignor assistant that he feels unstoppable forces at work.
When Bob returns from Hollywood with Kitty and three house guests he discovers the now increased number of nuns having a produce-and-arts sale in Miss Potts's yard, and Bob insists that she evict all the nuns. On the day before the option is to lapse, the nuns find themselves $500 short of the necessary amount. That evening, after Kitty performs Bob's new song for his guests, they hear the nuns singing a hymn which they recognize to be similar to Bob's song. Concerned about the allusions to plagiarism, Bob swears that he first thought of the tune after his Army outfit landed in France four years earlier, but guest Al Newman, a music critic, identifies the melody as a 2000-year-old Gregorian Chant.
The next morning, after Sisters Margaret and Scholastica accidentally drive a stake through Bob's water line, he visits the real estate agent and arranges to buy the witch-hazel plant in order to keep it out of the nuns' hands. Sister Margaret, meanwhile, discovers Bob's guests playing doubles tennis and arranges a wager for $500 if Sister Scholastica can help Al beat the other couple. Although Sister Scholastica is a former tennis champion, she loses the match.
Later, after Sister Margaret tells the Sisters that they must leave, Bob apologetically comes to bid them goodbye and overhears their prayers, discovering that their Mother House is in Normandy, near where he was stationed. When the Sisters ask him to pray for them, Bob is moved to change his mind about their project, and the film ends with Bob, Kitty, Miss Potts, Mr. Rossi and the Bishop all attending the dedication of the temporary home of the hospital of St. Jude.

Currently Watching - The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

WOW...I can't believe this was released in 2004. Time flies by so fast! Anyway, being the theater geek that I am I love the stage version but I think the movie did a decent job. There were some things I missed but I have to say that the bell of the ball is Minni Driver as Carlotta not to mention the woman who sang the Carlotta part. I have known more than one over the top diva like that in my life.

In 1919, the Paris Opera House is holding an auction. Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny (Patrick Wilson), an elderly wheelchair-bound man, purchases a music box in a form of a monkey in Persian robes clapping cymbals when it operates. He spots a familiar figure, Madame Giry (Miranda Richardson) the former ballet mistress. Their attention is drawn to "Lot 666, a chandelier in pieces", partially restored for the auction. As the chandelier is revealed and raised to the ceiling, the film shifts to 1870 when the opera house was in its prime.

The Phantom (Butler), a disfigured musical genius, haunts the Opera House. Tormented by his deformed face due to his memories of being abused in his youth, he hides in its catacombs. He falls in love with a young soprano, Christine Daaé (Rossum), and secretly tutors her singing. Christine believes he is the "Angel of Music", sent by her deceased father from heaven to guide her. The Phantom devotes himself to making Christine the new opera star. After he drives off the opera's current lead soprano, Carlotta Giudecelli (Driver), Christine replaces her, making herself a huge success. Raoul, Christine's childhood friend, recognises her and is very impressed. In her dressing room, Christine tells him that the Angel of Music has visited her. Raoul insists they go to dinner but she refuses, saying that the Angel would disapprove. Once Raoul leaves, The Phantom, under the guise of the Angel of Music, speaks to Christine and expresses his dislike for Raoul. Christine pleads for him to show himself and he reveals himself in her mirror and takes her to his lair. There he beseeches her to sing for him and shows a life–size doll resembling her in a wedding dress. Christine faints and The Phantom carries her to a bed.

The next morning, Christine awakens, sneaks up behind The Phantom, and out of curiosity, takes off his mask. He rages at her but later calms down, explaining that he only wants to be normal like everybody else and hopes that she'll learn to love him despite his deformity. Meanwhile, the stage hand, Joseph Buquet (McNally), scares the ballet girls by telling them tales of the Opera Ghost only to be scolded by Madame Giry. The managers Firmin and Andre (Hinds and Callow), Raoul, and Carlotta are puzzled by several notes from The Phantom whom they all accuse each other of being. Madame Giry delivers one more demanding that Christine play the lead role of the countess and Carlotta be placed in the secondary role of the mute pageboy in the next opera II Muto. The managers assure an enraged Carlotta that she will be in the lead role despite Madame Giry's warnings. The performance goes well at first, until The Phantom angrily booms out that they did not leave box 5 empty for his use as he ordered. They nervously continue with the performance until The Phantom reduces Carlotta's voice to frog–like croak. The managers apologise and promise to continue the performance in ten minutes with Christine in the lead role. Meanwhile they perform the ballet of Act III to entertain the waiting audience until The Phantom kills Buquet with The Punjab Lasso and his corpse drops from the rafters. Christine and Raoul flee to the roof of the Opera House where she tells him about her encounter with The Phantom. Although Raoul doesn't believe her, he promises to love and protect her. The Phantom, having overheard them, is heartbroken and vows revenge on Raoul.

Three months later at the Masquerade Ball, Christine and Raoul are now engaged and The Phantom has not appeared since the performance disaster. The celebration is then interrupted when he suddenly appears. He insults the managers, Carlotta, and her lover, Piangi (McGuire). He then announces that he has written an Opera, "Don Juan Triumphant," and demands they perform it and Christine be put in the lead. Afterwards, he snatches her engagement ring from around her neck, saying she belongs to him before he vanishes down a trap door. Raoul attempts to follow him but is saved by Madame Giry. He demands she tell him about The Phantom. She reluctantly tells him he is a magician and a musical genius born with a deformed face whom she helped escape from a traveling fair where he was abused as the "devil's child" and hide in the Opera House when he was a child.
Christine, troubled, visits her father's tomb, wishing he were alive and longing for his support. Unbeknownst to her, The Phantom has taken her to the cemetery. Again under the guise of the Angel of Music, he attempts to lure her back to him. Christine easily succumbs but Raoul brings her back to reality. A vicious sword fight breaks out between the two men. Raoul is about to kill The Phantom when Christine begs him not to and they escape back to the opera. The Phantom glares after them saying: "Now, let it be war upon you BOTH!" Raoul and the managers hatch a plan to capture The Phantom during "Don Juan Triumphant," knowing that if Christine sings, he is certain to attend. However, Christine is caught between her love for Raoul and her feelings for The Phantom and does not want to go through with the Opera because she is afraid The Phantom will capture her.

During the performance, Christine realises she is not singing with Piangi, the lead tenor, but with The Phantom. The Phantom expresses his love for her, but Christine suddenly takes off his mask and wig, reavealing his deformed face to a horrified audience. The Phantom angrily sends the chandelier plummeting down to the audience--setting the Opera House on fire--and abducts Christine by escaping down a shaft through the stage. Carlotta bursts into tears when Piangi is found dead backstage; the audience flees the Opera House and Madame Giry leads Raoul to The Phantom's lair. Raoul falls into a death trap and nearly drowns but manages to escape.
Forced to put on the wedding dress, he says his face prevents him from hurting her. Christine tells him she's not afraid of his face but of his soul. Raoul arrives and begs him to let her go. The Phantom allows him entry but snares him in the Punjab Lasso. He then gives Christine a choice: if she chooses The Phantom, he will let Raoul go but Christine must stay with him; if she refuses, he will let her go but Raoul will die. Conflicted, Christine passionately kisses The Phantom. Having experienced kindness for the first time, he lets both Christine and Raoul go. They leave together in his boat but Christine shortly returns to give his ring back. He tells her he loves her and she forces herself to turn away. She and Raoul leave singing to each other. Heartbroken, The Phantom grabs a candelabra and smashes a mirror then disappears through the frame into a secret tunnel. When the mob arrives, Meg (Jennifer Ellison), Christine's friend and Madame Giry's daughter, finds only his mask as she enters the tunnel.
The scene then shifts back to 1919, the music box fades to black and white. Raoul places it on Christine's tombstone, on which he sees a red rose tied with a black ribbon (The Phantom's trademark) and also the engagement ring that the Phantom gave her indicating that he still and always will love Christine.

Currently Watching - The Tourist (2010)

Angelina Jolie is stunning in this movie. Good movie, beautifully shot.

The movie opens with Elise (Angelina Jolie) being followed by French Police, working with Scotland Yard under the direction of Inspector John Acheson (Paul Bettany). Acheson has spent years hunting Elise's old lover, Alexander Pearce, who owes £744 million in back taxes and is believed to have received 20 million dollars worth of plastic surgery to alter his appearance completely. At a cafe, Elise receives written instructions from Pearce: board a train to Venice, pick out a man who resembles Pearce, and make the police believe that this decoy is Pearce himself. Elise burns the note, then manages to evade the police and board the train. On the train, Elise picks Frank (Johnny Depp), an American high school teacher. She spends much time with him, seeming to start a romance. In the meanwhile, the police have managed to salvage the ashes of her burned note and assembled them to extract information regarding her rendezvous as well as her ruse. But an informer from the police station mistakenly communicates to Reginald Shaw (Steven Berkoff), a gangster from whom Pearce as accountant stole $2.3 billion, that Pearce is travelling with Elise on the train to Venice. Shaw immediately proceeds to Venice.

Elise invites Frank to stay with her at the hotel room that has been arranged for her in Venice. Pearce leaves further instructions for Elise to attend a ball. Elise abandons Frank, who is then chased by Shaw's men. While trying to escape from them, Frank is detained by the Italian police ostensibly for his own safety, only to have a corrupt inspector turn him over to Shaw's men in exchange for the bounty that has been placed on Pearce's head. Elise rescues Frank just before he is handed over, leading Shaw's men on an extended boat chase and escaping. She leaves Frank at the airport with his passport and money, urging him to go home for his own safety.
Elise is revealed to be a Scotland Yard undercover agent who may have become Pearce's ally. Because of her fears for Frank, she agrees to participate in a sting operation. At the ball, as Elise wanders around trying to spot Pearce in the crowd, an envelope is placed on the table in front of her by a man who then quickly disappears into the crowd. Elise sees that the envelope is for her, and believes that the man must be Pearce himself. She tries to follow him through the crowd, calling out his name, but is stopped by Frank who has managed to enter inside under a pretext.
Frank claims to be in love with her, and invites her to dance with him. But he is hauled away by the police, while Elise opens the envelope and finds a note mentioning a rendezvous point. She then heads off in her boat to this new rendezvous point. Shaw and his men tail her in their boat; both parties are followed discreetly by the police boat in which Frank is held handcuffed to stop him from obstructing the investigation.

When Elise arrives at the destination, Shaw takes her prisoner, threatening to harm her unless she reveals the location of the stolen money. The police monitor the situation inside the rendezvous room through audio and video links. Despite Elise's peril, Inspector Acheson repeatedly turns down police requests to intervene with their snipers. While the police are occupied in monitoring the situation, Frank escapes from the police boat and confronts Shaw, claiming to be Pearce who has undergone plastic surgery and offering to open the safe if Elise is allowed to leave safely. Shaw is skeptical and makes a counter offer that Frank should open the safe if he does not want to see Elise being cut up. Chief Inspector Jones (Timothy Dalton) arrives at the police stake-out, overrides Acheson, and orders the police snipers to fire into the room, killing Shaw and his men. Jones lifts Elise's suspension and also terminates her employment.

Acheson receives a radio message that Pearce has been found not far from the rendezvous point, and rushes to the location where police have detained the suspect. But the man claims to be just a tourist who has merely been following instructions texted to his mobile phone, to be present at certain locations, for which he has been receiving payments. Meanwhile, Elise tells Frank that she loves him, but she also loves Pearce. Frank then suggests a "solution" to this dilemma; to Elise's surprise, he opens the safe by entering the correct code, thus revealing that he is really Alexander Pearce. He and Elise then take the money and depart, leaving a cheque in the safe for the full amount of the taxes he owes. The police find the cheque when they return and blow the safe open. Acheson now realizes that Frank has indeed been Pearce all along, and wants to pursue him; but Jones determines that, with the taxes now paid fully, Pearce's only crime is that he stole money from a now-dead gangster. Jones orders the case to be closed. Frank and Elise sail away to a new life together, with Elise taking in and getting used to the new and completely altered face of her old lover.

Currently Watching - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)

The film is fantastic but everyone should really read the book.

Clint Eastwood’s adaptation of this non-fictional novel about a murder case in Savannah is driven mostly by its rich variety of characters. John Cusack plays a young journalist hired to cover a Christmas party in the high society of Savanna Georgia. Academy award winner Kevin Spacey is the rich man hosting this annual celebration, who is also an admirer Cusack’s work. After over a half-hour of being introduced to the elaborate setting and bizarre community of modern Savannah, the story finally begins, when Spacey shoots and kills Judd Nelson, his young helper/ lover of at the Christmas Party. Because there are no witnesses, it becomes a mystery that Cusack tries to uncover himself, however the question is not "who killed him", but whether or not it was in self-defense.
Unfortunately, this question does not generate enough drama to keep an audience intrigued for over two and1/2 hours, but Eastwood does know how to give a sense of time and location. His use of color and set is successful in that the audience is given time to absorb Thompson’s unique surroundings and get a sense of the community. He creates a somewhat alien environment by immediately mixing giant willow trees and upper class citizens walking invisible dogs through beautiful parks, statue fountains and foggy cemeteries. What helps keep the audience entertained is the large display of memorable characters Cusack meets while investigating Nelson’s death. He meets a sassy transvestite, a man who attaches his pet flies to himself with strings and claims to carry enough poison in his pocket to terminate the entire town, a voodoo witch doctor who Spacey uses for black magic assistance, Spacey’s heavy set lawyer and an energetic love interest played by Alison Eastwood.
John Cusack, who is in many people’s opinions one of the most over looked actors in Hollywood, delivers a very restrained performance. This is a good thing because he knows not to over act, especially with the character he is portraying. However, the character doesn’t bring much excitement to the screen. Kevin Spacey is successful in sounding like a native of Savannah, and compliments the movie and its setting.
It is an ensemble cast in an interesting setting, with great visuals, but the movie drags on for too long in an attempt to make a rather simple plot more intriguing. Had the film been shorter with more editing it might have been able to maintain the attention of the audience through out the whole thing. But the really interesting scenes are a bit too selective and it is easy to lose interest then regain it several times in two and ½ hours. There is some chemistry between John Cusack and Alison Eastwood, but it’s the scenes between their affair in where Spacey revisits the night of the murder that keeps us interested.

Currently Watching - Tea With Mussolini (1999)

This is such a fantastic movie and the cast is AMAZING!

The film begins in Florence, Italy in 1935, where a group of cultured expatriate British women — called by the Italians the Scorpioni — meet for tea every afternoon. Young Luca (Charlie Lucas) is the illegitimate son of an Italian businessman (Massimo Ghini) who shows little interest in his son's upbringing; the boy's mother, a dressmaker, has recently died. Mary Wallace (Joan Plowright), who works as the man's secretary, steps in to care for him, turning to her Scorpioni friends – including eccentric would-be artist Arabella (Judi Dench) – for support. Together, they teach Luca many lessons about life and especially the arts. Elsa Morganthal (Cher), a brash rich young American widow whom Scorpioni matron Lady Hester Random (Maggie Smith) barely tolerates, sets up a financial trust for Luca when she learns of the death of his mother, whom she was fond of and to whom Elsa still owed money for her dressmaking services.
One day, when the ladies are in a restaurant for afternoon tea, it is vandalized by Fascists, reflecting the increasingly uncertain position of the expatriate community. Lady Hester, widow of Britain's former ambassador to Italy, retains an admiring faith in Benito Mussolini (Claudio Spadaro), and takes it upon herself to visit him, receiving his insincere assurances of their safety, and proudly recounting her "tea with Mussolini". But the political situation continues to deteriorate, and the Scorpioni find their status and liberties diminishing. Luca's father decides that Italy's future is with Germany rather than the United Kingdom, and sends Luca to an Austrian boarding school.

Five years later, Luca (now played by Baird Wallace) returns to Florence with the intention of using Elsa's trust fund to study art. He finds that most British nationals are fleeing the country anticipating Mussolini's declaration of war on Great Britain, and Mary has moved in with Lady Hester and the other English hold-outs. He arrives at the house just as they (and Hester's ineffectual grandson Wilfred (Paul Chequer) disguised as a young woman for his safety) are being rounded up and put onto a transport truck, which he follows to the nearby city of San Gimignano. Because the United States is not at war, Elsa and her American compatriot Georgie Rockwell (Lily Tomlin), an openly lesbian archaeologist, remain free, and Elsa uses Luca to deliver forged orders and funds to have the ladies moved from their distressingly barracks-like quarters to an upper-class hotel. Believing that Mussolini himself issued the orders, Lady Hester is delighted, proudly brandishing the newspaper photo of her tea with Il Duce.

As the war progresses, oppression of Jews starts to grow, and Jewish Elsa – protected somewhat by her citizenship and wealth – provides some Italian Jews with fake passports, further enlisting Luca, who has becoming enamored with her, to deliver them. But Luca becomes jealous when she forms a romantic alliance with Vittorio (Paolo Seganti), a shrewd Italian lawyer.

When the United States enters the war, Elsa and Georgie are interned with the English women. Elsa falls for Vittorio's scheme to embezzle her art collection and money, and which would ultimately deliver her to the German Gestapo in a phony escape to Switzerland. Luca was aware of the deception, but didn't tell anyone, out of jealous spite for Elsa. Mary learns of it from Elsa's art dealer (Mino Bellei) and scolds Luca. His attitude changes, and he gives his trust funds to members of the Italian resistance movement, which Wilfred has joined. But Elsa refuses to believe the betrayal, and is convinced only when Lady Hester, informed by Mary and Luca of what Elsa has secretly done for them, repents of her contempt for Elsa and offers her gratitude and help. Surprised by Lady Hester's change of heart, Elsa believes her and consents to an escape plan hatched by Mary, Luca, and Wilfred. Before she departs, Elsa tells Luca how she once helped his young mother choose to go through with her pregnancy, thus allowing him to be there for her.
Years later, as Scottish Allied troops advance toward San Gimignano, Arabella frantically defends her beloved frescoes from demolition by German troops, and is heroically joined in the line of fire by Georgie and the English women, including Lady Hester. They are saved when the Germans receive orders to retreat, leaving the women and the towers untouched. The city rejoices as the Scots arrive, with Luca now serving as their commander's Italian interpreter. The major has orders to evacuate the Scorpioni, but Lady Hester refuses to cooperate, resolved that they will resume their former lives in Italy. Mary is delighted to see that Luca – now in British uniform – has become the "English gentleman" his father once wished him to become after all.
Closing texts explain the mostly-happy fates of the characters, concluding with the remark that Luca went on to become an artist and "helped in making this film" — i.e., as writer and director.

STEVE HAYES: Tired Old Queen at the Movies - THE TALL MEN

I have never seen this movie aut it is certainly on my to do list. I love Jane Russell.

Currently Watching - Yogi Bear (2010)

So far I am enjoying it...although I am on pain meds. lol

Yogi (voiced by Dan Aykroyd) and Boo Boo (voiced by Justin Timberlake) are two brown bears who have a penchant for stealing picnic baskets from visitors to Jellystone Park, while park rangers Smith (Tom Cavanagh) and Jones (T. J. Miller) try to prevent them from doing so. Meanwhile, Mayor Brown (Andrew Daly) realizes that his city is facing bankruptcy due to profligate spending on his part. To solve it and fund his election campaign to be the next state governor, the mayor decides to "find some place losing money so he can earn it," and he picks Jellystone, the park where the bears live. The park is selected as a logging site, and Jellystone is shut down. Now seeing that their home is in danger of being destroyed, Yogi and Boo Boo team up with Ranger Smith and a documentary-shooter named Rachel Johnson (Anna Faris) to save the park.
To save the park from being shut down, Ranger Smith holds a Centennial festival where he hopes to make a profit selling Season Passes. To sabotage the effort, Mayor Brown plays on Ranger Jones' desire to be head ranger and promises him the position if the funds are not raised. Yogi had promised Smith to stay out of sight during the festival, but Jones convinces him to go ahead with the helping plan. Yogi tries to please the crowd with a waterskiing performance which goes awry when he inadvertently sets his cape on fire. In the ensuing chaos, the fireworks Smith set up are knocked over and ignited prematurely, launching them into the assembled audience who flee in a panic. After Jellystone is shut down, Ranger Smith is forced to stay in Evergreen Park, a small urban enclave choked with litter and pollution, but not after he tells Yogi that Yogi is not as smart as he thinks he is. Smith, Rachel, Yogi, and Boo Boo plan to stop the sale of Jellystone. They learn that Boo Boo's pet turtle is a rare and endangered species, which means that the Park cannot be destroyed with the turtle there. Mayor Brown has his guards steal the turtle to cut down Jellystone's trees, and tells the foursome that he is willing to gain more power to shut down the park in order to become governor.
However, after Mayor Brown leaves for his campaign speech, Rachel reveals that she had previously installed a video camera in Boo Boo's bow tie as part of the documentary, which later recorded Mayor Brown's confession. The turtle flees from Brown by using his frog-like tongue to pull itself into the forest from the car. Yogi and Boo Boo keep the guards distracted so that Ranger Smith can upload Mayor Brown's confession to the jumbotron. When the confession is replayed, police officers arrest Mayor Brown. Brown's chief of staff attempts to run off, but Rachel pins him. With the mayor's plot foiled, Jones loses the position of head ranger and Smith takes his position back, but Jones still works there, giving out papers about how Jellystone has a rare type of turtle, while Yogi and Boo Boo are still stealing picnic baskets once again.

Currently Watching - Just Go With It (2011)

I have never been a fan of Adam Sandler and I am just so-so over Jennifer Aniston but I decided to watch this movie and it is not half bad. The kids are annoying but aren't kids always annoying?

Danny Maccabee (Adam Sandler) is a successful plastic surgeon in Los Angeles who feigns unhappy marriages to get women, after having been heartbroken on his wedding day 20 years ago. The only woman aware of his schemes is his office manager and best friend Katherine Murphy (Jennifer Aniston), a divorced mother of two. At a party, Danny meets Palmer (Brooklyn Decker), a sixth grade math teacher, without his wedding ring on, and they have a connection together. The next morning, she ends up finding the ring, and she assumes he was hiding the fact he was married. She refuses to date him because her parents divorced due to adultery and doesn't want to be an adulteress herself.
Danny goes to Palmer's school to try to woo Palmer back. Instead of telling her the truth, he tells her that he is getting divorced from a woman named Devlin, named after Devlin Adams, whom Katherine had mentioned was an old college sorority nemesis. Danny informs her that they are getting divorced because she cheated on him with a man named "Dolph Lundgren" (not the actor). Palmer then insists on meeting Devlin, and Danny agrees. Danny asks Katherine to pose for him, and they go shopping on Rodeo Drive to buy her clothes, so she can look like a trophy wife.
At a hotel having drinks, Danny and Palmer are greeted by a made-over Katherine (posing as "Devlin"), who gives them her blessing. However, after hearing Katherine talking on the phone with her kids, Palmer assumes that her kids are Danny's as well, which Danny goes along with. Danny then privately meets with Katherine's kids, Maggie (Bailee Madison) and Michael (Griffin Gluck), to get them to play along. Initially, Katherine is furious, but she reluctantly agrees.
Palmer meets the kids, with Maggie using a fake British accent. Michael blackmails Danny in front of Palmer to take them all to Hawaii. At the airport, they are all surprised by Danny's goofball cousin Eddie (Nick Swardson), who has adopted an Austrian disguise and claims to be "Dolph Lundgren" (the man Danny made up earlier), so he can jump in on their trip to Hawaii. Eddie reveals to Katherine, in private, that he is actually on the run from the boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend after he sent her a photo of his "equipment". To maintain the lies, Danny and Katherine are forced to bring him along, much to their dismay.
At the resort in Hawaii, Danny tells Eddie he's considering asking Palmer to marry him. Katherine and Danny run into the real-life Devlin Adams (Nicole Kidman) and her husband Ian Maxtone-Jones (Dave Matthews), who allegedly invented the iPod. Because of Katherine and Devlin's long-time rivalry, Katherine introduces Danny as her husband rather than admit she's a single mother.
Danny and Palmer spend time with Maggie and Michael, during which Michael breaks down. He says that his (real) father won't make time for him, causing Palmer to get upset because she assumes he's sad about his relationship with Danny. Palmer resolves to spend time with Katherine, so Danny can spend time with the kids. Danny teaches Michael how to swim, and Katherine and Palmer look on in admiration at Danny winning the kids over.
Katherine again runs into Devlin, who invites her and Danny out to dinner. Eddie agrees to take Palmer out in the meantime. At dinner, Devlin asks Danny and Katherine to tell each other what they admire most about each other, since she believes that they're married. Unable to make up that many lies on such short notice, they end up saying honest things to each other, and Danny and Katherine start to feel a connection. While Palmer and Eddie are at dinner, a young girl storms into the restaurant crying out for a vet to save her pet sheep. Eddie is forced to save the sheep's life since he is supposed to be a sheep herder but he nearly kills the animal in the process. Later, when Palmer and Eddie return from their dinner date, Palmer suggests that she and Danny get married now, since a drunken Eddie had told her about Danny's plans of engagement. Danny and Katherine are both surprised by her proposition, but Danny ultimately agrees. Danny later calls Katherine regarding his confusion, but Katherine says that she will be taking a job in New York City (that she mentioned to him earlier) to get a fresh start to her life.
The next day, Palmer confronts Katherine regarding getting married to Danny, as she has noticed Danny's feelings for her, which Katherine dismisses. Katherine then runs into Devlin at a bar and admits that she made up being married to Danny to avoid embarrassment. Devlin confesses that she's divorcing Ian because he's gay and also that he didn't really invent the iPod and made his money after suing the Los Angeles Dodgers after getting hit by a foul ball. Katherine confides in Devlin saying she's in love with Danny even though they won't be together. Danny, however, shows up behind her, telling her that he didn't go through with marrying Palmer and that he's in love with Katherine, and the two share a kiss.
Danny and Katherine continue their vacation without Palmer, who heads back to the mainland alone, meeting a professional tennis player (Andy Roddick — Brooklyn Decker's real-life husband) on the plane ride back who shares her interests. Michael also fulfills his dream of swimming with dolphins. Sometime later, Danny and Katherine get married, Maggie starts an acting class with the real Dolph Lundgren, and Eddie finally starts attracting women.

Currently Watching - Undertaking Betty (2002)

This is such a fun movie. I love Brenda Blethyn!

Boris Plots, director of Plots Funeral Homes in the fictional Welsh village of Wrottin Powys, dreamed of only two things as a young boy: dancing and Betty. Betty secretly loved Boris, but could not fight her father's wishes, so she was married off to a gold digger. Boris gave up his dreams and took over the family's undertaking business. Everything has remained status quo in their lives until Betty's mother-in-law dies. Boris and Betty are thrust together again and as they discuss the funeral arrangements for Betty's mother-in-law, the old spark is rekindled.
Her funeral will be held at Plots Funeral Homes, much to the chagrin of rival funeral director, Frank Featherbed. Featherbed, an American, is determined to revolutionize the undertaking business in Britain through the innovation of "theme" funerals. Boris discovers that the only obstacle between their love for one another, is her marriage to the two-timing Mayor. In a desperate bid for happiness Boris and Betty decide to stage her death and run away together.

Nothing but naked! NSFW

Tonight I watched Face Off on SyFy and the challenge was to do body painting on two nude models. I was horrified by the reaction of this one girl. She squealed like a little girl and turned red and would not even look at the men and women standing in front of her. We have such a hang up on the naked body here in the US. Every body is a work of art and we should not be embarrassed to see it. I, myself have worked in three different porn stores and I feel that it desensitized me...THANK GOD! So, here for your enjoyment is a whole lot of naked!