BRB.

Can't blog. Watching a movie!

Must see TV.

You know how it goes: You're channel surfing and come across a particular movie, and no matter how much time is left in the show, you stop and watch the rest. These movies have some kind of hold on us, whether it's great film-making or simple nostalgia.

For me, the original must-see movie on TV was Dirty Dancing. The first summer that we had our college apartment, my roomies and I had super cheap (maybe free?) HBO for the first few months. This was 1988, and DD was in heavy rotation. It seems like anytime we'd turn on the TV, we'd see Johnny and Baby, dancing away, always having the time of their lives while carrying a watermelon. It got to be a joke: If a movie was on TV, nine times out of 10 it was Dirty Dancing.

Just a little while ago I was looking for some football and came across Dirty Dancing's last two minutes. Yet again, I stopped flipping channels, just so I could see that dance floor filled with Kellerman's guests, dancing at the end-of-season show. Oh, Swayze. What a looker you were!

But it's not just that movie. Several others—romantic comedies all—have joined my must-stop-flipping-and-watch list. Among them, in no particular order:

• Overboard - There is absolutely no reason why I should like a movie about a woman who is kidnapped and put into slavery. But with that kind of realism, how could I NOT? Speaking of heavy rotation, somebody must've paid TBS to run this puppy. Seems like it was on three times a day for a while there.
• When Harry Met Sally... - I never get tired of this one, and with so many fall-over funny scenes, it's a can't-miss movie. I still have an unfulfilled longing to visit NYC in the fall (and wear cheesy '80s sweaters) because of this one.
• 50 First Dates - Gotta love a good amnesia story! Another preposterous plot (she REALLY gets caught up on all she's missed with one videotape every single day?), but what a cute couple. This movie's the Cool Whip of rom-coms: fluffy with just enough sweetness. 
• You've Got Mail - Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, exploring the worldwide web of romance? Oh, yeah. Even though the bookstore scenes kill me, the couple's chemistry is so much fun to watch. I still think of this movie every time I sharpen a new batch of Dixon Ticonderogas in the fall.
• Sleepless in Seattle - Again with the on-screen chemistry. Meg and Tom (as Annie and Sam) are so good together, and even though they're not actually TOGETHER for 99 percent of the movie, it's still fun to watch them heading toward that first touch. (But good grief, that look they give each other at the end? Awkward!)
• The Proposal - A recent addition to the list, this flick has a quirky kind of appeal. Plus, any movie that includes The Office's Oscar performing a striptease can't be all bad. (Ryan Reynolds ain't too shabby, either.)

What's funny is that I own most of these on DVD, but that doesn't keep me from stopping should I come across one on U-verse. 

Dreaming of Pi.

I'm not much for big action-adventure flicks, but I can't wait for Life of Pi. We read the Yann Martel novel for our book club years ago, and I really enjoyed it. But the visual spectacle of the Ang Lee film? WOW.

The trailer is stunning.

It's crazy how rarely I actually see movies in the theater anymore. In fact, it's hard to recall going to the theater for a film that's not animated, about a superhero, or about an animated superhero. We'll see if I can manage to get to the local multiplex to take in this technicolor marvel.

The Circle of Life.

Sept. 24, 2011

The four of us don't make it to the movies all that often, but the re-release of the Lion King—in 3D, no less—warranted a trip to the theater.

Once there, we were wowed by the newfangled Wonka candy machine.

This is Katie's reaction when we told her she couldn't actually BUY the candy combination she created.

The film was magnificent in 3D and on the big screen. Even better? Getting to hold hands with my "mane" man!

Front Row Joe? More like Go No Mo'.

We're off to the movies tonight, which has become a rarer and rarer event for our family of film buffs. There aren't that many films these days that warrant the expense or hassle of going to a theater. All the talking and the texting make it hard to enjoy the film. (So THIS is what midlife is like!) Add to that our new Netflix subscription, and we just don't have the time. Even now that it's summer, it's still not that easy to carve out two hours to just sit and watch something in our own living room, much less in a theater

But before we morphed into old fuddy-duddies, we spent lots of nights at the local cineplex. In fact, when I moved here almost 20 years ago, our church singles group managed to see plenty of movies together. Many a night you'd find us at the dollar movie, singing along with Front Row Joe.

Remember this?

Or what about this one? (Embedding is disabled. Bummer)

A few years past our dollar movie days, Brett and I found ourselves at art houses whenever a new Woody Allen film was released. Then on one particularly memorable date, we got to see a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) screening at the Kimbell. The museum was sponsoring a symposium on Karl Struss, so we were fortunate to hear about that cinematographer's work. We also made it a habit to catch the theatrical releases of any superhero movies that came along.

But lately, we'd rather enjoy an episode of The Big Bang Theory on our gameroom TV or watch a Netflix selection on the XBOX 360. While that may be a commentary on entertainment trends or just a fact of life in our 40s, it means our rare outing to the cinema can be a treat.

California recap: Friday afternoon—Hooray for Hollywood!

After leaving Warner Bros. studios, we set out to find some lunch. Dede wanted to be sure we found an In-N-Out Burger while we were in town, so we made our way to the one just off the 101.

Tourists that we are, we went along with the crowd and ordered the double-double, animal style.

Mmmm... Tasty! Those were some awfully messy burgers, though!

Tonight as I type this, I realize that we were oh-so-close to the Brady Bunch house when we were at the Cahuenga In-N-Out! If I'd known we were in such close proximity to the Studio City home where the Brady exteriors were filmed, a side trip would have been in order!

We might've missed out on our Brady pilgrimage, but we didn't leave out Hollywood Boulevard.

And of course, a trip to Hollywood & Highland would not be complete without a visit to Grauman's Chinese Theater to see the famous handprints and footprints:

(and famous noses!)

(and hoofprints!)

Such a cool place! I remember seeing the courtyard for the first time way back in 1978. Star Wars was playing in the theater then!

The Walk of Fame runs along Hollywood Boulevard (and other streets), so we scoped out some names. Most people kept on walking across the famous movie, TV and radio stars.
One star in particular, though, had a crowd around it. Whose could it be?

Yep! More than six months after his death, Michael Jackson's star is still drawing a crowd.

We went inside H&H to check out that shopping center and wait for Dede's cousin and his family. They live in Burbank, so they met us at H&H to visit.

While we were there, we also got another good look at the Hollywood sign.

So the cousin's kids could play, we went on back to Dana and Kelley's house. The two little boys had a blast running around that awesome backyard while the adults visited. It was such a pleasant night to lounge on the back patio and breathe in the fresh citrus from their garden.

After Dede's family left and Kelley returned from work, it was time for one last meal with our California friends. We were pooped, so it was just a matter of deciding between take-out or home cooking. Dana and Kelley's homemade pizza beat out Indian take-out, so we feasted on the most delectable barbecue chicken and salami pizzas.

We also broke out the last of their specially labeled national championship wine. It was a perfect way to end our fabulous day in LA!

California recap: Friday morning.

Whatdyaknow? The sun really did rise after Texas' loss Thursday night! In spite of the surreal outcome, we were in a pretty good mood. It was hard not to be; we had a whole day to spend in Hollywood!

We started by taking a few steps out the front door. We could see the Hollywood sign from our hosts' street! (Click on the picture to enlarge it and see the sign.)

Later we went to breakfast at Lulu's, the same restaurant where we ate in January and July '06 on our visits to Dana and Kelley's. I had the house scramble yet again. Goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, spinach, mushrooms, fresh basil... It's AMAZING!

After that we said goodbye to T and Amy, who were catching a flight to Oklahoma. Then Dana, Dede and I set off for the Warner Bros. Studios.

On our family vacation four years ago, we took the VIP studio tour and had a blast. I told Dede that it was the one thing I really wanted to do on our sightseeing day.

One of our first stops was the Warner Bros. Museum. This was one of the more frustrating aspects of my last tour there because the guides limit how much time you can spend in there. This time, I knew I wanted to see the Harry Potter stuff that I'd barely glimpsed four years ago, so as soon as our guide set us loose, we headed up the stairs! Up there we saw Harry's cupboard under the stairs set and many costumes worn by the main characters. The Sorting Hat was there, and we each took a turn under it. A loud voice boomed our houses as we sat on a stool: Dana was declared to be in Gryffindor, Dede was placed in Hufflepuff, and I was put in... wait for it... Slytherin. (BOOOO!!!!) After a few minutes upstairs, we headed down to see the rest of the collection. Several costumes from recent TV shows were displayed there, such as Pushing Daisies and Chuck. There were props and clothes from films, too, like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Watchmen.

The coolest displays, though, were from the classics. They had Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart's costumes from Casablanca as well as Sam's piano. Several silver screen stars like Joan Crawford were represented, too. And the Maltese Falcon? It's there, complete with dings from when one of that film's stars dropped the statue.

We also got to see the Eastwood Scoring Stage, a huge room where composers can create the musical scores for TV shows and films.

(We weren't allowed to take pictures at this point in the tour, so this shot comes from a WB sound production website.)

The stage, with its aged wood floors, is highly sought after because of its excellent acoustics, the separate percussion and brass areas and the large screen (for matching the film to the music).

(Another picture taken from the web)

The Steinway piano is also a big draw for composers. Because of that piano, which was once Frank Sinatra's, other studios besides Warner Bros. will come to that venue to record music, including Disney. Pretty cool!

We also got to walk through the studio where the sound experts do ADR (automatic dialog replacement), a.k.a. looping. While we were there, we could hear an actor dubbing lines.

Several times during the tour we were told that Warner Bros. is a complete facility with everything from pre- to post-production, and that many non-WB producers will use some of the studio's services for parts of their own productions. And it's not just entertainment industries that call on their specialists. For instance, hotels use the drapery department's services when they need special curtains.

We finally got to take out our cameras when we made it to the backlot.



Many of the buildings in the backlot are just facades, but some are working sets. Inside this storefront we could see the tape marks for props and actors' marks, too.


I remembered this building from our last visit to WB: Annie's orphanage.

The street is named after the production designer who had a vision for a New York City street, complete with fire escapes, at this studio.

The windows and awnings are painted and repainted for different productions. I knew this one would've really frustrated Brett if he'd been with us!

The TV building is one of the few that's labeled as to its purpose.

Most other buildings, like these offices, are left unlabeled in case they're needed for a shoot. This set of offices was intentionally designed to look like a motel. (I'm hoping that's Aaron Sorkin's parking spot we drove past! Big fan!)

We paid a visit to the transportation exhibit, full of famous movie and TV cars:







While we were in that building, our guide took our pictures in front of a green screen for our souvenir photo.

We meandered our way around the soundstages and got to see the set for The Mentalist. (Earlier we got to approach where they were setting up an exterior scene for that show, too. Cool!) I had never watched the show, but it was strange to see how the different sets are configured inside the large soundstage. Eventually we ended up in one special recreated set:

F*R*I*E*N*D*S!

I was hoping this was still part of the tour! Unlike four years ago, though, we weren't allowed to walk around the set, and we didn't get to have our pictures taken on the famous couch. Still, it was fun to see the props that the studio folks repositioned to show tour guests. Our guide told us that after the show ended production and the set had been struck, Jay Leno requested to interview the cast on the set! The studio accommodated that request and then realized they should leave the mock-up set up since Friends is the most popular show that was filmed on the lot.

We also drove past stage 24, now known as "The Friends Stage."

As we drove past each stage, I'd try to read the signs to see what had been filmed there. This one, stage 25, is where The Big Bang Theory is filmed!

We had a great time on the VIP tour, and I whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed movies and TV! It's not the theme-park studio tour; it's the real deal! I was pleased to see that the tour's different each time you take it, too. That means that the Warner Bros. tour will be on my itinerary anytime we're in LA!

We saw this on the studio's exterior wall as we were leaving Burbank. You could say we're big BBT fans!