Midget-sized bunk beds, mouse infestations, rude neighbors, towering cliffs of fly-covered recycling. The semester is well under way, so you’d think you’d be used to the … er … quirks of your living situation by now. But with Thanksgiving break and its promise of vacuum-wielding parents just over the horizon, it’s all becoming increasingly unbearable.
Clearly, the best solution is to find someone else’s real estate problems to laugh at. And assuming the mortgage crisis is off-limits, Cary Grant, in the classic comedy “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House” (1948) is the perfect target. Chuckle at the hat boxes falling on Mr. Blandings’ head from the closets of his cramped New York City apartment. Giggle as he and the charming Mrs. Blandings (Myrna Loy) are convinced to purchase a dilapidated Connecticut farmhouse that they are then forced to tear down and rebuild. Point and snicker as the protagonists discover the fundamental rule of construction: Everything from the well to the wallpaper ends up costing more than is expected.
The only thing better than laughing at others’ misfortunes is doing so while imbibing alcoholic beverages. Conveniently, Mr. Blandings and his dream house will be shown at Criterion Cinemas this Sunday as the latest installment of “Movies and Mimosas,” a weekly screening of classic movies accompanied by the aforementioned breakfast cocktail — at 11:00 on Sunday mornings, no less. So climb off the top bunk, shovel through the pile of half-empty beer cans, and make your way to the movies this weekend for a cinematic experience guaranteed to cheer you up.