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There’s a lot of smurfy news out on the intertubes these days. Looks like the 80’s animated series The Smurfs will be smurfing onto the big screen in 2011.

According to IMDb.com, Smurfs is in production now. The site lists actors Quentin Tarantino as Brainy Smurf, and Jonathan Winters as Papa Smurf.  Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mays play a couple set to have their first child when things get smurfy after they meet the little blue characters in Central Park.

George Lopez, and Katy Perry are rumored to have roles in the film. All together now, “I kissed a Smurf and I liked it.”

The role of Gargamel goes to Hank Azaria. He cracked me up as Kahmunrah in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.

Did you know that The Smurfs originated in 1958 as a comic strip by Belgian comic artist Pierre Culliford, also known as Peyo?

I have to admit I thought The Smurfs were born in the early 80’s just like Pac Man but it’s nice to know they have a cultured history.

From comics to animated series to Smurf toys in Target and now a movie in production. The collective conscious is smurfing blue. Enough of the Smurf language I know.

Let’s take a trip back to Smurf Village circa 1981. Poor Smurfette, she’s only three apples tall, blond and the only Smurfette in the whole village. Spring, or shall we say Smurfette Fever:

Visit the Official Smurfs site appropriately called smurf.com

When I first started this site I told people I used the “Following the White Rabbit” method to find interesting ideas for posts and interviews. This was a reference to the character Alice following a white rabbit down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world created by Lewis Carroll in his novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865). Alice follows the white rabbit not knowing where it will take her. With her curiosity sparked all she can do is follow while any questions she might have are dulled by the excitement of new and interesting things. Even the concerns that are downright irritating or at times even dangerous can’t stop her from following.

“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).

So far this “Follow the White Rabbit” idea has served me quite well. Of course I’m not literally chasing a white rabbit. That would be nonsense now wouldn’t it? I am following any idea that I find interesting even if it turns out different than I hoped for.

With 2010 just beginning, I hope to continue this rabbit chase whenever possible. Meanwhile I’ve been researching all things Alice, partly because of my white rabbit notion and also the fun film trailers that are out starring my favorite actor Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter.

Tim Burton directs the film Alice in Wonderland coming out in March, 2010. As usual many of his own favorite actors are involved such as Helena Bonham Carter, Christopher Lee, Timothy Spall, and Alan Rickman. To see who else is on the cast list and get more info, click here for the official site of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland in 3D.

I’ve always loved Walt Disney’s animated version of Alice in Wonderland (1951). According to Burton this one will be quite different. Alice Kingsley is now 19 and finds herself chasing the rabbit once again back to Wonderland even though she has no recollection of being there before. It’s obvious from the trailer that he’ll be working his gothic magic on this film and Hot Topic has already gone merchandise crazy with everything from T-shirts to key rings. I know because I have one already myself. Thanks Aunt Diane!

All this Alice talk has me thinking of the song from Jefferson Airplane called “White Rabbit”:

Speaking of Grace Slick did you know she’s an accomplished artist? Check out her work by touring this link: http://www.areaarts.com/wonderland/tour.html

Remember what the door mouse said, “Feed your Head.”

It’s time for a Friday Flashback. Let’s go back in time to 1970-1975. I was too young to appreciate The Odd Couple when it first aired on TV but I did enjoy reruns several years later. The Odd Couple starred Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison.

The Odd Couple started out as a play by Neil Simon and in 1968 the film  was made starring Jack Lemmon as Felix and Walter Matthau as Oscar.

Spending much of my childhood a few feet away from a TV, I tend to remember the TV series better. Quick synopsis: Felix Unger’s wife kicks him out and he has no one to turn to except his childhood friend Oscar Madison. Oscar takes him in and while their lifestyles are constantly at odds the storyline creates great conflict and laughs for a sitcom.

Not only was the storyline great but the characters are memorable and the laughs stand the test of decades. The question still remains, “Can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy?”

Taste of Trivia: Did you know that in 1973 Tony Randall and Jack Klugman recorded an album called “The Odd Couple Sings” for London Records? Roland Shaw and The London Festival Orchestra and Chorus provided the music and additional vocals. It didn’t hit the Billboard Charts but the fans must have got a kick out of it.

Listen to the songs on the album by clicking here.

I went to the hair salon last weekend wanting a drastic change. I’m a natural blond that needs artificial help going from Dishwater to Dazzling Blond. Every few years I get the urge to do something different. I’ve had long hair, short hair, brown hair, and during my Tori Amos phase in the mid 90’s I tried out being a redhead.

With my drastic change attitude the stylist suggested adding black to my blond color for a two-toned fun effect.
Why not?

After seeing my hair a few friends mentioned others that share similar Two-Toned Do’s. Let’s look at 5 in pop culture.

Deborah Harry

Deborah Harry, the lead singer of the pop rock group Blondie expressed her unique style with two-toned locks more than a few times.

Check out the cover of Parallel Lines from Blondie. You can purchase this CD via Amazon, click here.

http://www.deborahharry.com

Cruella de Vil

Cruella De Vil, Cruella De Vil, if she doesn’t scare you no evil thing will. This villain has a nasty obsession with the spots of 101 Dalmatians. She also has radical black and white hair.

Terri Nunn

http://www.terrinunn.com/

It would be easy to spot the lead singer from Berlin while “Riding on a Metro”. She’d be the one with the cute hat and Two-Toned do.

Artwork by Krayel Art Studio http://krayel.com/

Click here for the video of “You Don’t Know” by Berlin.

Rogue

Comic book fans and X-Men enthusiasts will know this character. Rogue is a young woman that can’t touch another without sucking out their life force. Speaking of sucking, the actress that played Rogue in the movie X-Men has a cute boyfriend that’s been sucking blood for decades. Anna Paquin played Rogue and now she plays Sookie Stackhouse in one of my favorite TV shows True Blood. Sookie’s hair is one nice shade of blond.

Speaking of True Blood how about a video by Depeche Mode:

Drew Barrymore

This month, Drew Barrymore made her feature directorial debut with the film Whip It at the Toronto International Film Festival. The debut of her Two-Toned hairstyle on the red carpet had the internet a buzz with Hate it or Love it polls.

Check out this footage from Red Carpet Diary:

Opening October 2nd, this film will be a must see. Based on the novel Derby Girl by Shauna Cross, Whip It stars Drew Barrymore, Juliette Lewis, Andrew Wilson and Ellen Page, sounds good doesn’t it?

Click here for the official Whip It site.

Thanks to my social media friend Audrey Brown  for posting this high quality video from Orlando Attractions of the real Captain Jack Sparrow.

Find your heading and mark your calendars for September 11, 2011! Pirates of the Caribbean-On Stranger Tides will wash ashore for our viewing pleasure.

Today is 999. September 9th, 2009. Many are blogging about 9 the movie in theaters today, from producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov.

There’s also the release of “The Beatles: Rock Band” video game and The Beatles digitally remastered CD. Visit the official site for details about both: http://www.thebeatles.com/

Besides the 9-9-9 special releases today the first thing that comes into my mind is 99 Luftballoons. Okay so that’s missing 900 balloons, I know!

Do you remember this 80′s song by Nena? Some of you might remember the English version. Here’s a retro clip in German:

 Here’s the more modern version:

So what’s on your 999 agenda? Do you follow numerology or do you hear the tune from Oingo Boingo in your head…”Just Another Day”?

As always, remember to click the highlighted text for the full HIH effect.

I’m off on vacation this week celebrating Father’s Day with my dad in his hometown of Richmond, Illinois. Richmond is a little over an hour away from Chicago so we’ll be doing some sightseeing Ferris Bueller style.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a John Hughes film from 1986. It became an 80′s cult classic full of fun quotes and memorable scenes. People of all ages have been spotted wearing their Save Ferris shirts.

How many times have you used the, “Anyone? Anyone?” line in the last few years? Or is that just me?

Many of the scenes were shot in Chicago so I think it would be fun to do a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off tour by frequenting some of the same places they went in the movie. Click here to view the trailer.

Matthew Broderick has grown up quite a bit since the 80’s. Here he is talking with David Letterman about going to the dentist, and expecting twins with his wife Sarah Jessica Parker.

Speaking of Father’s Day, Matthew Broderick guest stars as the voice of Max in a special Father’s Day episode of CYBERCHASE premiering June 19, 2009 on PBS Kids.

I’ll be back soon. Meanwhile you can always peruse the archives for HIH retro reruns.
Happy Father’s Day to all you Cyber Dads of the Year! You know who you are. Anyone? Anyone?

Some days I begin humming a tune around the house. Usually it’s a random tune for no good reason whatsoever. Last night it was “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”.

Just reading that word, the biggest word you’ve ever heard, makes me want to jump up and sing with my best British accent. Once I start singing songs from Mary Poppins, I can’t stop at “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. I catch my breath and start back up with “Chim Chim Cheree”.

Since I was doing so much Mary Poppins singing, I put up a url to the song “Feed the Birds” on Facebook and twitter. It’s a beautiful song that can bring listeners to tears in a good way with its ethereal feel and compassionate message. I remembered reading that “Feed the Birds”  was Walt Disney’s favorite song but I couldn’t remember all the information surrounding the story.

Thanks to my social media friends, I quickly found out that the Sherman Brothers were responsible for Mary Poppins music and they’d often play the song “Feed the Birds” for Disney. His favorite song was performed at the dedication of a Disneyland plaque on what would have been Walt’s 100th birthday.

Another favorite of mine is “Spoonful of Sugar”. I like to sing this while I’m cleaning the house. It’s true that a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, even if that medicine is a big pile of dirty pots and pans in the sink.

The story of origin for “Spoonful of Sugar” is that Bob Sherman’s son came home from school after a day of getting vaccinated, also known as getting shots. When Mr. Sherman asked his son if it hurt, the boy replied that they put a sugar cube on a spoon and fed it to each student after they got their shot. The next day Bob Sherman told his brother the now very famous lyric.

A movie is out in theaters now called “The Boys – The Sherman Brothers Story”. The brothers are responsible for more than Mary Poppins music. Music for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Jungle Book, Parent Trap, and The Aristocats came from the Sherman brothers. Find more information about the movie here.

I’m excited about this film because like the trailer says they are responsible for many of the songs that children have grown up with. What Sherman Brothers tune will you sing today?

Thanks to Scott Brody, Lisa Butterworth and Richard Molden on Facebook/twitter, for their Mary Poppins and Sherman Brothers information.

There’s a movie out in theaters I want to see called The Soloist starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx.

Another story was brought to my attention called Beth’s Story. Founded by Participant Media – the company behind such films as Good Night, and Good Luck, An Inconvenient Truth, The Soloist and The Visitor, among many others, TakePart.com  believes that a powerful story can make a difference.

“Beth’s Story was created to shine a light on the millions of people living on the street who are often times overlooked. She is a composite of their many complicated, often heartbreaking realities and of the issues and challenges that can lead to homelessness.”

To get involved, visit Participant Media’s social action campaign for The Soloist at www.takepart.com/thesoloist or text BETH to ACTION (228466).

You can also friend www.myspace.com/takepart

WAKE starring Bijou Phillips

I went to the Newport Beach Film Festival on Friday, April 24th specifically to see the indie film WAKE. I read that Danny Masterson was in the film and being a fan of That 70’s Show I thought it might be fun to see him on the big screen.

While waiting outside before the doors opened I met WAKE director Ellie Kanner, producer Hal Schwartz, actors Danny Masterson, Bijou Phillips and Bijou’s mother Genevieve Waite.

For those of you that love fun music finds check this one out from Genevieve’s 1973 album, Romance Is on the Rise.

Before the screening I asked Danny Masterson a couple questions and took some video of Danny, Bijou Phillips, and director Ellie Kanner talking with the press.

Housewife in Hollywood at WAKE Film Screening from SuzanneHIH on Vimeo.

The film WAKE is a dark comedy about Carys, played by Bijou Phillips, desperate to experience emotion she attends funerals of strangers. She meets Tyler, played by Ian Somerhalder, who is mourning his fiancée. Meeting him is the catalyst that sparks her emotions again but she discovers she might not be the only one hiding dark secrets.

Danny Masterson plays her best friend Shane, a mortician, a perfect fit for someone like Carys who values local funeral information. Jayne Seymour plays the role of her estranged mother who thinks Carys is better off eating cookies rather than digging up the past. Lila, played by Marguerite Moreau, adds to the comic relief being the roommate Carys finds annoying and at times helpful.

Sometimes dark comedy can be so abstract I can’t relate to it but this film was funny and well done. Even though Carys is an offbeat character with a strange interest in funerals, watching her journey is comical and poignant. This housewife gives WAKE the movie 4 out of 4 waffles.

“The idea for WAKE came to me when I was in school. I loved the notion that sometimes it’s only in extreme circumstances that we engage and really recognize what’s important to us. A woman who goes to funerals to experience life made a certain sense to me. I wrote a draft of the script then, but wasn’t happy with it and moved on to other projects. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I realized I still loved the idea at the heart of the movie and decided to give it another shot.” —writer and one of the producers of WAKE, Lennox Wisely.

Find out more about WAKE by visiting http://www.wakemovie.com

Tell them Housewife in Hollywood sent you.