I don't watch network TV shows anymore, but I love to watch movies. They make mundane, household tasks like folding laundry, ironing, changing the bed, etc. more enjoyable. The TV and VCR in my kitchen get a real workout during my cookie marathons too.

Some movie favorites I watch every year or so. One of those is Houseboat, starring Cary Grant and Sophia Loren. It is utterly delightful. Not only is Sophia Loren a real dish, as they used to say, she is also a good actress.

If you haven't seen it, Cary Grant plays a recently widowed, disinterested father of 3 children. Sophia Loren plays Cinzia (pronounced chin'-see-a), the daughter of a famous Italian conductor. Her father is overprotective. Cinzia is on tour in America with her father and wants to experience a little freedom. They argue. She threatens to leave him, but her father reminds her she has no means of her own. How will she manage? Their conversation goes something like this:

Cinzia: Perhaps I will get a job.

Father: That's nonsense. I've given you the finest education in all of Europe. You don't know how to do anything!

Cinzia: Then I'll run for Congress!

She becomes the governess for Cary Grant's 3 children, even though she doesn't even know how to cook!

I have seen this movie many times, but never has that line hit me like it did this year. Maybe it's because we seem to pay more and more for education yet many graduates are still inept, and our Congress lacks common sense. Anyway, I got a big laugh out of that bit.

The movie is charming and even after 50 years, I think it holds up well. 

What are your repeat favorites? 

 
TONIGHT: "A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa" 7PM, on NBC looks good if you are a Muppet fan. (I am)
 

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I went to school with the Zucker brothers. Jerry was in my class; David was 2, maybe 3 years ahead. Although I really did not know them, I remember they were funny even back then.

You may be familiar with David Zucker's work from the 1980s movie Airplane. He and fellow Shorewood grad. Jim Abrahams wrote and directed that movie The rest as they say is history. 

This Friday, An American Carol opens in theaters. It is the creation of David Zucker and is a spoof on Dicken's Christmas Carol.

This time instead of Ebenezer Scrooge, we have an "Anti-American 'Hollywood' filmmaker" (ala Michael Moore) who "sets out on a crusade to abolish the 4th of July holiday. He is visited by three spirits who take him on a hilarious journey in an attempt to show him the true meaning of America." It looks like John Voight portrays George Washington, one of the 3 ghosts.   

I had first heard about the film on Vicki McKenna's radio program a month ago. It captured my attention when she said that David Zucker, who called himself a John F. Kennedy Democrat became a 9/11 Republican after the terrorist attacks.  

American Carol is a Zucker look at American history. One funny bit from the trailer went something like this: A a terrorist saying that good suicide bombers were getting hard to find--all the good ones are gone!

I don't usually go see movies until they hit the budget theater, but I just might have to make an exception. If I do, I will post my impressions of it, because a lot of the Zucker movies are not suitable for children or even teens. They usually push the envelope if you are a conservative parent.

PS Last July, John Voight wrote an editorial for the Washington Times: VOIGHT: My concerns for America  If you have not read it, take a look.

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

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