Holiday Inn

As promised, it is time for our first movie of the week!  It wasn't easy trying to come up with the first of our series.  There are so many favorites and so many greats to choose from.  Where to begin?  But with the holidays in full swing, Zeus and I put up our Christmas tree.  And decorating for the holidays always makes me want to see my favorite holiday movies.  So, we might as well start there.

One movie that always gets me in the spirit is Holiday Inn starring Fred Astaire as Ted Hanover, Bing Crosby as Jim Hardy, and Marjorie Reynolds as Linda Mason.  Ted and Jim are a popular song-and-dance duo at a nightclub.  After retiring to a farmhouse in New England, Jim opens it up to the public as an Inn, but only on major holidays.  Linda Mason joins him and not only becomes part of his live entertainment act for guests, but his love interest as well.  Ted comes to visit Jim's inn and becomes determined to make Linda his new dance partner.  And so begins the love triangle.

As an Irving Berlin musical, this movie is full of great numbers.  Fun fact: the popular Christmas song, "White Christmas", was first introduced in Holiday Inn.  In addition to Bing Crosby's crooning, Fred Astaire has two exceptional numbers.  The first being his "Drunk Dance" with Marjorie Reynolds.  Story goes he took a shot before each take and they did 7 takes.  The final take was the one used in the movie.



The second, and perhaps the more well-known, is his 4th of July number in which he throws firecrackers on the floor.  



All in all, a fun film with good music and superb dancing.  Cozy up on the couch, grab some hot chocolate, and enjoy!

Who Loves Movies?

It's not every day that you find someone who is as passionate about the same things as you are.  In that respect, Zeus and I feel so lucky to have found each other.  For us, we are most alive when we are creating and coming up with new ideas.  We talk about our ideas for hours.  Seriously... hours.  And we draw a lot of inspiration from watching movies.  But not just watching movies, we try to look at it from the director's perspective and how he/she was able to convey the story, especially through use of camera placement and movement.  When we shoot weddings, we can't control the details: lighting, colors, props, actors.  But we like to film as if we do.  The way we see it- every wedding has a tone just like every movie has a tone.  The more styles we learn about in movies, the more we can bring out the personalities of our clients.  

As a film major from Wellesley College, I got the chance to study some great films.  Some good, some bad, some... interesting.  So, in our quest to keep learning, we are dedicating ourselves to watching one movie a week.  And for those of you who love movies as much as we do, we'll pass them on to you.  Old, new, bizarre, frightening, all countries, all genres.  If you watch them or if you've seen them already, we'd love to hear your thoughts.  We are also open to suggestions!  We hope you enjoy.  Expect our first pick later this week.