"Back home everyone said I didn't have any talent. They might be saying the same thing over here but it sounds better in French."

Well, welcome back.  I'm finally able to get the opportunity to write for this blog on a regular basis again... which means it should end pretty soon.  But with the semester winding down, I can get down to the basics: research, exercising, and writing for this blog (hopefully in that order!).  So this review dabbles with one of my secret passions: the musical.  There's just something about them that really keeps my butt in the seat.  I guess because I grew up seeing a musical almost once a year for a long time meant that I grew accustomed to the genre, whether on stage or on television.  And I'm amazed I had never seen this musical until now, An American in Paris.

Pretty simple story: American artist in Paris who's trying to make a living selling his works gets taken in by a socialite who falls for him.  Artist falls for another girl who's engaged to French singer.  Artist's neighbor is struggling concert pianist who's friends with singer and realizes that the artist and singer are in love with the same woman.  Artist expresses his love to girl at party, being overheard by singer.  Girl walks away with singer, while artist dreams about what it would be like to see all of Paris with girl but is awoken from daydream by carhorn because the car brings the girl back to artist, and they embrace one another in only a way 1950s musicals show romantic embraces.

Now I wasn't sure what to think of this film.  I love Gene Kelly, a multi-talented actor who can sing and dance.  Combine that with George and Ira Gershwin music, and I'm sold on the idea.  I thought the SO might get into it for the dancing, especially the big number at the end, but she looked like she was having a root canal done, her face contorted in ways I didn't know were possible for the human face.

Of course the plot was predictable but the music was what keeps you wanting more.  And because I did experience Paris for a bit, I did reminisce about my time over in Europe.  But I didn't see an American artist dancing in the streets to the tune of "I Got Rhythm."  That's probably the major difference between the movie and real life.  Anywho...

Solid four-star movie that was just released on Blu-ray, it's something that truly needs to be seen, and if I need a Gene Kelly fix, I know I have another choice (after Singin' in the Rain, of course!).  Good pick from TCM's 31 Days of Oscar, I would see if it's on the network again, so go see it...come on, go...I mean it!  Later!

"I'm perfectly capable of fixing my own breakfast. As a matter of fact, I had a peanut butter sandwich and two whiskey sours."

This weekend just didn't go as planned, in terms of movie viewing.  First, I wanted to watch Hoosiers, because the NCAA March Madness has begun, and I thought it'd be a cool way to tie in my two passions: movies and basketball.  Didn't even get close to removing it from the shelf.  Why?  Two reasons:  too much good live basketball going on this weekend, and the SO was sick.  What is she sick of?  Who knows.  Hopefully not basketball, because it's a long month of mid-afternoon score checking and late evening upsets.  Could it be that, dare I say it, she's sick of Indiana?  Already knew that, and I would have thought it would have happened sooner.

Nope, it's just a typical lung-congesting, nose-plugging, stay as far away from the SO as possible cold.  At least I hope so, or all this Vitamin C I've been taking will have gone to waste.  I did get the chance to get up early Sunday and check out one of the movies I had on the DVR.  I thought I should lighten the load (to free up for more recording of my crap... and the SO's as well).  So I went with the logical choice.  A movie about staying committed to the one you love, no matter how sick they might get: The Seven Year Itch.

To break it down, it's a classic Billy Wilder comedy.  Something lighthearted, somewhat dated, and yet universally true in its underlying themes.  Richard Sherman (and what appears to be most of NYC) has dumped his wife and child at the train station for the annual summer trip.  The men stay behind (I guess that's something you would do back in 1955) and commit all the debauchery they can endure, including drinking, smoking, and fooling around (if you know what I mean... I mean, they would get flirtatious with the opposite sex while the wifey is gone... exactly, up to no good).  Well, Richard swears he's not like the other men and plans to work all the time his wife and kid are gone.  He's not home two seconds before a blonde bombshell walks into his apartment building.  Marilyn Monroe.  Yes, that Marilyn Monroe.  She's apartment-sitting upstairs, above Richard.  And Richard goes into Mr. Hyde mode, thinking of a way to get her into his apartment, but then he regrets and forgets the silly idea.  But The Girl (the name of Monroe's character) almost kills Richard, but he's quick to forgive because he's infatuated with her.  Throughout the movie, he's going back and forth between doing what's right and what's wrong, always paranoid about if his wife is cheating on him while she's in Maine.  To say the least, Richard wises up, with the advice from The Girl, and heads to Maine to be with his wife.

As dumb as she may be portrayed in the movie, Monroe is one smart actor.  Not quite sure what it is, but she plays a very smart dumb character.  I've only seen her in one other movie (Some Like It Hot, another Billy Wilder film)  but it feels like Hollywood wanted to make her the dumb blonde, well before it was cool (I'm talking to you, Paris Hilton).  But would she still be the legendary icon she is if she were still alive?  Who knows, but I'm guessing because she's forever that young, beautiful blonde, America (and probably a good chunk of the world) will go ga-ga over Monroe.

I truly enjoyed the movie and was surprised at how short it ran.  It seemed like the movie could have continued on, like the film reel had accidentally stopped (the SO probably was dying, but for someone who's artsy-fartsy, she has a hard time watching classic movies... okay, classic movies that I want to watch).  Maybe because it never seemed like the movie had a climactic ending, in the sense of what movies have today.  Not to say it's a bad thing, but I wasn't ready for the end.

So there may be potential for that in the collection, but I think I would need to see it again to confirm this.  Too bad I deleted it from the DVR, but I'll try to catch it again.  Could be Monroe on the screen, or it could be that Richard gets more paranoid than me about things.  I should tell the SO at least I'm not that bad.

Maybe in the middle of the week, I'll get a chance to sit down and watch a DVD.  But with the SO under the weather, I'll continue to be the good guy and tend to her needs.  Aww, I know.  I'm a sweetie, but maybe it's so I can go to Best Buy next week!  I know, I'm bad.  Later!