
Madonna turning 50 is
practically a holiday around here at Sugar HQ. I know
one mega-fan here in the office who couldn't be more excited about the Queen of Pop's birthday. While many appreciate Madge's tremendous impact on popular music, I am equally appreciative of some of her movie roles.

Christopher Nolan is a director who initially made a huge splash with a little budget and not much celebrity star power. He's the director of
The Dark Knight and the man responsible for resuscitating the Batman franchise. Not so long ago, he was an independent filmmaker, but after this weekend he'll probably be seen as one of the most influential creative forces in Hollywood.

I've been
really inspired by traveling this week — both because of my own itch to go on an adventure and because I have a handful of friends who are either planning their
honeymoon or enjoying it right now. As part of my travel urge, I got to thinking about movies that captured a culture and a country so well that they've made me add a new entry to my list of places I have vowed to visit. Come away with me on a mini-jaunt around the globe via this
movie night!
Out of Africa
This Oscar-winning classic directed by the late
Sydney Pollack starred Meryl Streep and an extremely dreamy Robert Redford, but the biggest star of the film is East Africa.

Tax season is upon us and I know how stressful it can be to dig up receipts, fill out the forms and file the ol' taxes. Although my friend
Savvy wouldn't be too happy to hear this, I have a bad habit of procrastinating and will find any reason to avoid doing my taxes. This year I have a new strategy: hold a money movie night with the following films and then do my taxes — no more excuses.

Though he wasn't nominated for any awards, I believe some of the year's best performances have come from Christian Bale (
3:10 to Yuma,
Rescue Dawn), and I'm a little sad that he's missing from the red carpet. The man has been honing his craft since he was a wee child and has been working steadily for years since. To properly pay my respects to the talented Mr.