2013 Movie Marathon - Week 8

We begin Week 8 with Steve Carrell again; this time as husband to Tina Fey, in “Date Night.” How can a simple fancy dinner in town with the wife end up with the two of them doing a disturbing pole dance? Well, that’s what happens when you try to steal someone’s dinner reservation!

Monday, we bring Leighton Meester (Katy from “Date Night”) over with us as a country star wannabe in “Country Strong.” This one has taken a little getting into for me ... a little sadder than my normal romantic comedy ... but it's a good movie. Gwyneth Paltrow is convincing as a depressed country star trying to pull herself together, and Tim McGraw does a nice job as a not-quite-so-nice guy! 

Tuesday, we leave the stage and head back in time to 19th Century England with Gwyneth Paltrow as a proper, reserved, matchmaker wannabe in “Emma.” The girl-child and I really enjoy those period movies. Invariably, we end up talking with a British accent when it’s all said and done!

Wednesday, we take Jeremy Northam (who was oh-so-dreamy as Mr. Knightley in “Emma”) and hang out with him (as the bad guy this time) and Sandra Bullock in a movie about identity theft in the early computer days in “The Net.” (Talk about a culture shock – floppy disks, dial-up internet, pay phones – just wow at how far we’ve come!)

Thursday, we hang out with Sandra Bullock again (one of my favorite actresses), and return to the FBI where Bullock is again Gracie Hart, the “face of the FBI,” out in Las Vegas, trying to help solve a kidnapping. Favorite scene: Bullock dressed up as “big bird” (Coco to Regina King’s Tina Turner) and singing "Rollin' on the River" ... TOO funny!!

We bring Regina King with us on Friday to hang out with Tom Cruise as a sports agent who gets it in “Jerry MacGuire.”  (Is there a Tom Cruise movie in existence that doesn’t have him running a full sprint at some point??) Cuba Gooding, Jr. plays a very egocentric football player, with Renee Zellweger as Cruise's wife. Favorite line in this one: “You had me at hello.” 

Saturday, we finish up the week with Cuba Gooding, Jr. again, this time as an art dealer/ manager for artist Greg Kinnear’s in “As Good as It Gets.” Jack Nicholson is perfectly neurotic in this one … “Sell your crazy someplace else … we’re all stocked up here.” "You make me want to be a better man!"

And that winds up Week 8. We’ll start off next week with Greg Kinnear…