The Holiday

**Bacchus** · #1 10-27-2007

I watched The Holiday last night and thought that I would quickly share my thoughts. I was looking through all the movies that were either on or that I had recorded on my DVR and was not really in the mood for anything heavy. I had seen the previews for this Nancy Meyers film last year and decided, why not, as it looked like light fare.

Right away I got a chuckle out of Edwards Burns and Cameron Diaz fighting. I almost think that it was meant to be an homage to "She's the One" which is a film that I loved (although the acting left much to be desired.) If you remember, in that movie they were a broken up couple and Cameron (the hooker) was sleeping with Burn's brother (Mike McGlone.)

The premise of The Holiday was very out there, as who really trades houses? Even though it was far fetched I bought into it and moved along with the plot.

I found the Diaz, Burns hookup believable but Jack Black with Kate Winslet was a larger fairytale then I could handle. Nothing against Jack, but NO WAY BUDDY!

Fortunately 90% of the movie was about the other couple and about Winslet's Character finding her way out of a sad, dependency based relationship.

Overall I found the exercise in watching this romantic comedy quite painless and even though it was a tad long, there were plenty of funny moments along the way to make it worth while.

Even though this is not the type of movie that I would watch again, I am going to keep my eye open for another Kate Winslet flick. I have not seen her in anything for quite some time and forgot what a great actress she is!

Rating: C+

Katiedid · #2 10-27-2007

I liked this movie also, it was cute. I like the old guy that Kate Winslett befriends. I read a book by Maeve Binchey once that was a whole lot like this, an American woman and an Irish woman switching houses, and I always wondered if anyone really did it.

**Bacchus** · #3 10-27-2007

I guess I was wrong about one thing! -

House swapping is the increasingly popular activity of two homeowners living at each other's houses for a set period. Homeowner A would live in Home B for a time period, while Homeowner B lives in Home A.

Home swapping during travel and vacations always has been used informally between relatives and friends. In the early 1950's a couple of organizations sprung up to more formalize this process and they still exist today as Homelink.org and Intervac and are amongst the largest home exchange organizations.

Initially the lists of families interested in exchanging were circulated primarily amongst educators but over the years these organizations grew to thousands of members from all walks of life and with printed catalogs including color photos of the homes. With the coming of the Internet the number of organizations increased and arrangements are made more quickly by email rather than postal mail.

It is usually used as low cost vacation accommodation and is a private arrangement between the two parties. The arrangement has several benefits - neither has to pay for lodging, the home itself is usually more comfortable than a hotel, and plants/pets may be cared for for free. House swapping is most popular with in-town residents planning to vacation in another major city. There are many organizations online that facilitate such swaps for free or a fee.

House swapping was also the subject of a movie entitled The Holiday.

Katiedid · #4 10-27-2007

I wonder if these sites do background screening for you? Wouldn't want someone to come to your house and set up shop for like a drugs lab or something!!