Woody Allen Is Likable But Exhausting in Play It Again, Sam

Thanks to the wonders of Netflix and Amazon Prime, watching streaming movies is a regular pastime for my fiancé and me. Our first of the year was Woody Allen’s Play It Again, Sam. Aside from clips of other movies, my experience of Woody Allen has been mostly limited to Annie Hall, which I didn’t much like. While some of the same elements are present in this film, I generally found it to be fairly enjoyable.

Allen stars as Allan in this Herbert Ross-directed movie based on a play, both of which Allen wrote. Allan is a film critic whose world falls apart in the beginning of the movie after his wife ditches him. They’ve only been married a couple years, and she’s been miserable most of that time. At this point, I wanted to feel sorry for Allan, but it wasn’t hard to see why Nancy left him. He’s a total drip who neurotic rambling throughout the movie is absolutely exhausting.

Still, he’s managed to retain two very devoted friends, the married couple Linda (Diane Keaton) and Dick (Tony Roberts). As soon as they hear of his troubles, they are at his side, and they remain that way for much of the movie. However, Dick is preoccupied with work, and toward the end of the movie, he goes on a business trip, leaving Allan and Linda alone together. While Allan attempts a couple of disastrous dates with women his friends select for him as possibilities, the only woman he has any real rapport with is Linda herself.

Their relationship is interesting to watch here. As stressful and complicated as the relationship between the central characters in Annie Hall is, this one is warm and friendly throughout, and Allan even manages to relax a bit while he’s around Linda. It turns out that when he is not so busy trying to win someone over, he’s actually rather charming in his own eccentric way, though the mental traps that cause him such trouble in his dating life rear their ugly heads when he begins to consider the prospect of an affair with Linda.

The most distinctive feature of this movie is the way it uses Humphrey Bogart as a foil and sort of coach for Allan. As he is a big Bogart fan with a particular fondness for Casablanca, Allan manufactures his own personal Bogey (Jerry Lacy), who advises him to follow in his own acerbic footsteps. Occasionally, an imaginary version of Nancy pops up as well to advise Allan in a softer direction. The movie abounds with quotes and references to Bogart movies, making it particularly fun for film buffs.

Play It Again, Sam has a bittersweet quality to it, and while some of Allan’s conversations with Bogey and Walter Mitty-esque daydreams are entertaining, his endless self-questioning prattle left me quite worn out. As I am prone to anxiety myself, watching him served as a reminder for me to rein myself in lest I drive others batty. Dick and Linda are affable and loyal, and the dynamics of their relationship add complexity to Allan’s struggle to figure himself out. He may make the journey more difficult than it needs to be, but it’s easy to hope that he will find his way eventually.

Mike and Sulley Meet in Monsters University

The folks at Pixar are known for crafting films that tell wonderful stories full of humor and heart. Rarely has the mix been better than in Monsters, Inc., the 2001 movie set in a world in which monsters power their city by collecting the screams of children in our world. These monsters, while wildly diverse in physical traits, are largely average Joes, particularly the huge, blue-haired James Sullivan (John Goodman) and the short, one-eyed Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal). An unusually close encounter with a toddler challenges their world-view and ultimately deepens their friendship, with far-reaching consequences for their society at large.

While I did not expect Monsters University to have the emotional and spiritual depth of the film that preceded it, I was excited to hear that more than a decade after they first appeared, these unconventional buddies would be gracing the big screen again, this time in a prequel. From a purely visual standpoint, I knew it would be great fun, since this particular world offers so many opportunities to exercise artistic creativity. I also relished the thought of seeing these fantastic friends in action again. While I don’t think this will attain the classic status that Toy Story 2 has, I found it a very enjoyable return to familiar territory.

While I would consider Sulley the slightly more main character in Monsters, Inc., Mike moves into greater prominence here. In fact, the movie begins with him as an adorable youngster rejected by his classmates for his small size, braces and overall nerdiness. A trip to the scare factory gives him a sense of direction, and his arrival at Monsters University is the result of intensive study. His passion for the material knows no bounds, but can this rather goofy fellow actually be scary? How will he stand a chance against the raw talent of someone like fellow freshman James Sullivan, a true jock among monsters?

In many ways, this is a typical college comedy about a nerd and a popular person learning from each other. Many of the jokes borrow from other films in that genre, but the creators put a fun Pixar spin on them that makes the movie great fun to watch. As in the first movie, the monsters display all sorts of creative characteristics, and here, the emphasis is on teamwork – finding ways to make those traits come together in productive ways. This is best demonstrated in the members of Oozma Kappa, the uber-dorky fraternity of misfits that Mike and Sulley join so they can enter a campus-wide contest to prove to the austere university headmistress, a dragon voiced by Helen Mirren, that they deserve to be students there.

At first, Mike and Sulley are rivals too blinded by their own pride to form a useful partnership, while their teammates are merely ineffective and lacking in proper leadership. Eventually, however, they learn to develop their strengths and use them to everyone’s benefit. Two-headed Terri and Terry and super-flexible Art are fun, but particularly prominent are the beautifully bland Squishy, his sweetly overbearing mother (in whose home the fraternity is housed) and Don, the fraternity’s middle-aged founder. Together, they make a lovable bunch of underdogs.

While there’s at least one line in the original movie that seems to clash with the storyline presented here, the film generally does a good job of meshing believably with Monsters, Inc., and the nods to that movie are fun, particularly running jokes like Mike’s tendency to get obscured in photographs. Not only do we see the evolution of Mike and Sulley’s friendship, but of their rivalry with Randall (Steve Buscemi), the sneaky chameleon-like lizard who causes them no end of trouble at the factory. His progression is an interesting study in the dark side of desiring popularity.

While neither the movie nor the charming short involving a blue umbrella’s quest to find happiness are the most memorable of Pixar’s efforts, they are thoroughly enjoyable, and the visual spectacle of the film is more pronounced than ever. The backdrops are particularly impressive. While many of the jokes seem to aim more at an adult audience as they draw on previous films, there’s nothing objectionable for parents to worry about, and there’s plenty of slapstick to keep the youngest kids entertained. A tribute to friendship and the value of hard work and overcoming prejudices, Monsters University is a fun and colorful summer flick.

A Killer Shark Makes for a Killer Movie

Last month, my dear friend Crissy moved from southern California to my hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania. My fiancé Will and I eagerly welcomed her, and one of our first quintessential Erie outings was to Tinseltown, our local multiplex, for its Wednesday classic movie showing. The film of the day was Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, the summery flick that made swimming at the beach a rather terrifying prospect.

As I’ve never been fond of man-eating sharks, I’d managed to go three decades without seeing this blockbuster, so I didn’t realize the breach of hospitality I was making by having our new fellow Pennsylvanian see this particular movie on her second day in Erie. Alas, how was I to know that a girl sharing her name would be the first to fall victim to those powerful teeth?

Happily, not only is Crissy made of stronger stuff than I am, but she’d already watched her name-twin get ripped to shreds before, so she survived the cinematic trauma beautifully. In fact, I was the only one of the three venturing into new movie territory. I was also the one eager to stick the popcorn box over my head every time John Williams’ helpfully unsubtle shark theme began to play. However, I am glad I can finally say that I watched this monster of a disaster flick.

Jaws takes place in a small island town preparing for its lavish 4th of July celebration. Amity has a friendly name, but a dark threat has made it a less than ideal destination. Conscientious sheriff Martin Brody, played by a sympathetic Roy Scheider, wants to close the beaches as soon as evidence of the first shark attack washes up on shore, but he faces opposition in the form of the cheerfully oblivious Mayor Vaughn (Murray Hamilton), who can only see dollar signs from the island’s booming tourist industry, which depends mostly on the beaches.

The first half of the movie is a battle of wills between these two men, with Brody finding an eccentric ally in the form of disheveled shark expert Hooper, endearingly played by Richard Dreyfuss. It is during this portion that the beach scenes I’d always associated with the movie occur. The mass hysteria that immediately ensues when a shark attacks on a hot July day is chilling to watch, particularly as Spielberg allows us to linger for a moment on individual reactions.

I’d always found it a bit odd that a movie could sustain this premise for long; with no one in the water to attack, there’s not much harm a shark can do, and why would anyone be foolish enough to venture out into shark-infested waters? The first half of the movie keeps that tension up believably, though, partly because of the stubborn mayor’s actions that mask the threat to the public and partly because of a fierce shark hunt, the results of which produce a false sense of security among the townspeople and visitors.

What I didn’t realize is that half the movie takes place out at sea in the claustrophobic quarters of a small ship on which Brody and Hooper are under the command of eerie sea captain Quint, played with grizzled menace by Robert Shaw. This accomplished seafarer has more than a dash of Captain Ahab in him, with his thirst for revenge stemming from a chilling incident that he relates late at night when a comical comparison of “war wounds” turns unsettling.

The sense of isolation in the latter half of the movie makes it bleaker, but it also allows the trio to develop, particularly Brody and Hooper, each of whom has seen considerable unpleasantness but remains rather sheltered. This portion is marked by male bonding and an omnipresent threat of calamity as a rather rickety boat is all that stands between these hunters and their enormous prey.

While there are many startling moments throughout the movie, the humor is also plentiful. Hooper is a particularly funny character who is frequently ready with a wisecrack, but the film is full of little moments, some of them purely visual, that elicit a laugh. That makes it as fun as it is frightening, particularly since the violent bits are mostly spread out.

Will also postulated that it’s the ideal date movie, since the squeamish viewer will frequently seek comfort in the arms of the braver party. While I thwarted that notion by simply blinding myself with popcorn at the critical moments, it’s certainly a fun movie for chums to see together… just not too soon before a trip to the beach.

A Little Help Needs A Little Help

I’m a fan of The Office, particularly the sweetness of couple Jim and Pam, but while I have seen John Krasinski in other roles, I’d never seen Jenna Fischer in anything else. Hence, I was intrigued when my friend Libbie rented A Little Help, the 2010 Michael J. Weithorn movie in which Fischer stars as overwhelmed mom Laura Pehlke.

Fischer brings a darkness to this role that we never see in The Office. When the movie begins, Laura is not a happy person. Her pre-teen son Dennis (newcomer Daniel Yelsky) seems to hate her, and her husband Bob (Chris O’Donnell) is distant. She wants to improve both those relationships, but a few minutes into the movie, Bob dies of an arrhythmia, and she has to learn how to manage as a single mom on shaky financial ground. Just about the only person she can turn to who isn’t trying to run her life for her is her gentle brother-in-law Paul (Rob Benedict), who has loved her since childhood.

This movie is billed as both comedy and drama, but most of the funny moments were too painful for me to laugh at. It’s populated with profoundly miserable people, and bad things keep happening to them. It’s a deeply uncomfortable film, starting with the fact that several scenes take place in the dentist’s office where Laura works. Additionally, it’s set in New York City and begins nearly a year after September 11, 2001, an event central to the film as Dennis, having been forced by his overbearing Aunt Kathy (Brooke Smith) and grandma (Lesley Ann Warren) to attend a new school several towns away, tells his new classmates that his father was a firefighter who saved several people at the World Trade Center before perishing.

It’s a movie filled with broken relationships. The healthiest one we see is that between Paul and his 15-year-old son Kyle (Zach Page), an aspiring musician, and that is threatened by Kathy’s attempts to strong-arm Paul into discouraging Kyle’s music. Interestingly, music not only cements the bond between that father and son, one of Laura’s happiest memories involves singing along to the car radio with Dennis, an activity he usually considers too uncool now.

On the other hand, noise is a consistent source of stress in Laura’s life, from the parrot squawking at the office to the dog constantly barking outside. When Dennis has something he really wants to tell her, he sends her an IM; he’s noticed that she tunes him out along with the rest of it. One of the film’s most powerful moments comes when Dennis releases his neighbor’s dog in an effort to relieve his mother of his incessant barking. Laura runs after the pooch, calling him by name, and he meekly returns to her, whimpering. This seems deeply symbolic of her relationship with her son, whose angst and audacious lies are just his way of reaching out in a world where the person he needs most usually appears indifferent or hostile.

It’s interesting to see Fischer in such a different role, which she occupies well, though it takes most of the movie for Laura to become truly sympathetic. Benedict brings a higher likability factor to Paul, the most endearing character in the movie, but in some ways his story is the most pathetic of all. This is a film about rebuilding broken relationships; none of the three marriages we see is particularly successful, and the parent-child rifts sting. By the end, some measure of healing has begun, but is it enough? Despite touching scenes involving three significant people in Laura’s life, the conclusion, like the rest of the movie, left me feeling empty. I’m not sure if the film failed or if I just wasn’t the right audience, but aside from a few lovely glimmers, A Little Help left me out in the cold.

A Big Story Causes Major Stress in The Paper

When I was in college, I worked on the campus newspaper, first as a staff writer and eventually as the editor of the news section. Since then, I have written regularly for two other newspapers. Hence, I can relate somewhat to the stress exhibited in the 1994 Ron Howard movie The Paper, though none of my stories has had such high stakes as the one main character Henry (Michael Keaton) is trying to break.

This movie, which was written by brothers David and Stephen Koepp, takes place over the course of one very hectic day. Two lower-class black teenagers stand accused of murdering a white businessman. The audience knows it isn’t true, but Henry and his fellow reporters can only guess in pursuit of the truth. It would be easier to assume guilt, but if they can uncover a conspiracy and help clear innocent young men in the process, surely that’s worth the extra hassle, right?

This movie shows all the stresses that go into putting together a daily newspaper and the toll that it takes on the most dedicated reporters. Henry is one of those, a workaholic whose commitment to a newspaper that hasn’t always treated him very well frustrates his wife Martha (Marisa Tomei), a former reporter on the verge of giving birth, though she helps him pursue his story, as does cheerful renegade Michael McDougal (Randy Quaid), despite the displeasure of bulldoggish Alicia Clark (Glenn Close), the second-in-command who just wants to go to press on time since expensive delays could sink the struggling newspaper.

There’s a manic quality to the movie that made it hard for me to follow at first. It’s loaded with characters, many of whom are played by A-list actors. There are also several New York City personalities who turn up as themselves, and Howard’s parents, wife and brother all get cameos. This turns the movie viewing into a fun game of Spot the Star but distracts a bit from the plot, at least initially, though I found it easier to get into once I’d been watching for a while.

The tug among strong forces like integrity, business savvy and family makes it compelling as the characters face very difficult choices, while the sometimes absurdist solutions keep the laughter coming. Meanwhile, side stories add to the more serious overtones, particularly the quest of ailing editor-in-chief Bernie White, played by the always-excellent Robert Duvall, to reconcile with his estranged daughter.

The movie is rated R with good reason, particularly when it comes to language and violence. I wouldn’t recommend it for younger audiences, but high schoolers considering careers in journalism might want to have a look and see what they might be getting into. This movie shows the intense frustration that can arise from working in the newspaper business. However, it also celebrates the exultation of a job well done.

Aspiring Artists Should Not Take Lessons From Bucket of Blood

One day several months ago, my parents and I returned home to find my brother Nathan's head on the porch. We had scarcely recovered from our shock when we encountered Nathan's head again, this time attached to his shoulders, as he explained that this eerily lifelike bust was a school project he'd finally toted home from college. Over the next few months, he painted it and left it out on the deck to be weathered by the elements, creating a rugged representation of himself that took first place in the sculpture division of Panorama, an annual Erie art show.

Nathan is a sculptor. Walter, the main character in cheesy 1959 horror flick A Bucket of Blood, is not.

The film, written by Charles B. Griffith and directed by Roger Corman, stars Dick Miller as a nondescript waiter who's tired of feeling like a nobody. When he accidentally kills his landlady's cat, it seems like one more stroke of bad luck for a guy who can't catch a break. Then, something unexpected happens. Some bohemians from the café where he works spy the cat which he has encased in plaster as a cover-up and deem him a great artist. He begins receiving accolades - and demands for a follow-up piece.

The low production values and absurd premise help make this movie too silly to be scary, which is the only way I can stomach horror. Walter is actually a sympathetic protagonist, at least at first, but his lust for acceptance and acclaim brings out the worst in him. The movie also seems to critique the pretentiousness artsy types sometimes possess. Here, they all latch onto this hip new artist with his hyper-realistic sculptures, and one gets the impression that most of them think his work is cool simply because the others do.

While most of the beatniks are presented in a shallow light, Carla (Barboura Morris) has more depth, and she relates to Walter as a friend rather than a commodity - or an oddity. While she may be one of Walter's most ardent supporters, she is also one of the first to realize that something about this "artist" is amiss. Unfortunately, by that time, he has set his sights on her, and he has grown used to getting what he wants. Is her sweet spirit about to be rewarded with a taste of terror?

The story and main characters are engaging, and I also love the wry spoof of the contemporary counter-culture, particularly through the out-there Maxwell (Julian Burton). As a Glenn Yarbrough fan, I was tickled to hear a folk song performed by a man with a remarkably similar style; a bit of research informed me that he was Alex Hassilev - and he'd been in a band, the Limeliters, with Yarbrough.

If I could stomach this movie, I reckon most squeamish folks wouldn't have a problem with it. It's more goofy than grotesque, and it may make you appreciate the true artists in your life all the more.

Clark Griswold's Christmas Vacation Is Laced With Disaster

My boyfriend Will and I immersed ourselves in a multitude of Christmas movies this past holiday season, and since we watched some of them alone and some with my parents or a friend, a couple flicks got covered twice. One of those was the wacky 1989 classic National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

Along with A Christmas Story, this is the movie I most often see referenced by people whose stomachs turn at the steady trickle of treacle provided by so many holiday films. I’m a sucker for sap, so I never mind, but I can see how this movie written by John Hughes and directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik would appeal to those who consider Christmas primarily a hassle.

As he does in several other movies in the series, Chevy Chase stars as lovable schmuck Clark Griswold. Clark just loves Christmas, and he’s over-the-moon excited that he finally gets to host a big celebration of his own. His level-headed wife Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo) and embarrassed kids Rusty (Johnny Galecki) and Audrey (Juliette Lewis) aren’t so thrilled. Not only do they have to deal with his impractical extravagance, they must navigate the inconveniences posed by two sets of grandparents and an uninvited redneck cousin.

I’m always one to cringe at wanton mayhem, so I’m not wild about all the destructive sequences in this movie, though some of them do make me laugh. As an animal lover, there is one scene in particular that I find distasteful, and as obnoxious as they are, I do feel a little sorry for the neighbors played by Nicholas Guest as Seinfeld’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as they most often fall victim to Clark’s tinkering. From the oversized tree and the malfunctioning lights to the super-powered sled and the Christmas Eve hostage crisis, just about every mishap in this movie is a result, directly or indirectly, of Clark’s tendency toward excess.

Yet it is that youthful enthusiasm that makes him such a lovable character. Clark adores his family and still finds Christmastime magical. He wants everyone to share in the joy that he feels. As his big plans go further and further off the rails, he goes off the deep end, but it’s hard to imagine how anyone could do otherwise in that situation. Hence, while almost everything goes wrong in this movie, it doesn’t really feel like a cynical response to Christmas.

Clark’s heart is as expansive as his yard display, as the scenes he shares with little Ruby Sue (the adorable Ellen Hamilton Latzen) show especially well. Similarly, Randy Quaid brings a lot of sweetness to the role of Ruby Sue’s loose cannon of a dad, Eddie. He may cause everyone a heap of headaches, but in a pinch, he’s an awfully loyal friend.

I wouldn’t list this movie among my Christmas favorites, but it definitely has its own oddball charm, and I’ve little doubt that I will check in with the Griswolds during Decembers yet to come.

It's Not Quite Pitch Perfect, But Still An Enjoyable Movie

My friend Libbie and I have watched GLEE together many times, so the 2012 movie Pitch Perfect seemed like a natural movie choice for a recent girls’ night in. This Jason Moore-directed comedy based on the book by Mickey Rapkin is set on the campus of a college where some of the students take music very seriously. The primary focus is on the Bellas, a girls’ a cappella group struggling to rebound from a disastrous national performance the year before.

While the movie zeroes in on various students at different points, the central character is rebellious freshman Beca (Anna Kendrick), who dreams of being a music producer. It takes a lot of persuasion to get her to join the group, but once she does, she becomes a major source of energy and innovation, much to the displeasure of controlling group leader Aubrey (Anna Camp), whose mishap necessitated a fresh approach this year.

Brittany Snow is quite charming as Aubrey’s best friend Chloe, the only other returning Bella and the one who quickly recognizes Beca’s skill as a vocalist. Easily the sweetest of the bunch, she is much easier to take than Aubrey, whose obnoxious attitude usually cancels out sympathy for her unfortunate tendency to throw up when nervous. This running gag is probably my least favorite aspect of the movie, since they go to great pains to make the barf as absurdly exaggerated as possible, a la Airplane. The result is too gross to be funny, at least to me.

While none of the other humor is that grotesque, I did find a lot of it too low-brow or catty to really make me laugh, but there are some genuinely funny moments, particularly involving Australian breakout star Rebel Wilson as self-assured vocalist Fat Amy and Hana Mae Lee as the quiet, creepy Lilly. The film also has some sweet moments of blossoming friendship among fellow outcasts, as well as the slow-building romance between Beca and movie enthusiast Jesse (Skylar Astin), whose uber-geeky roommate Benji (Ben Platt), avid magician and collector of Star Wars memorabilia, is probably my favorite character in the movie.

Of course, given the theme of the movie, there’s a lot of singing here, and most of it is quite good despite the fact that there are a couple of songs we hear ad nauseam. A rivalry between the Bellas and the all-male Treblemakers, of which Jesse is a part, adds drama to the movie, and it’s fun to hear the arrangements that they come up with. As a penner of filksong lyrics, I was also fascinated to hear Beca discuss the process of creating mash-ups, which similarly involves finding the common ground between two seemingly unrelated things and fusing them together. In the case of mash-ups, both song theme and chord progressions come into play, often with very creative and pleasing results.

A cappella music and choral groups in general have experienced increased popularity in recent years thanks to shows like GLEE and groups like Straight No Chaser, and those who get a kick out of those tight-knit harmonies might want to give this movie a try, though they should be warned that much of the comedy is crude, albeit only at a PG-13 level. Additionally, it definitely feels informed by GLEE, but it’s hard to say whether it spends more time celebrating or mocking the spirit of that show. There’s certainly a tongue-in-cheek tone to the movie, but at its most earnest, it demonstrates the power of music to unite even the most different of individuals.

Christian Bale Suits Up for the First Time in Batman Begins

When The Dark Knight came out in 2008, one of the reasons I was interested in it despite the violence the trailers portended was that I’d seen part of Batman Begins and liked it. This month, I watched the first movie in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy and realized just how little of it I’d actually seen. Nonetheless, I did find it an enjoyable movie, much more so than the second.

Batman Begins is like The Dark Knight Rises in that it spends a lot of time getting into the head of Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale). While the focus of The Dark Knight is a bit different, these two movies make natural bookends. We see several flashbacks to Bruce’s childhood, during which he is tormented with anxiety over the bats that live in a cave on the grounds of Wayne Manor. This terror ultimately has deadly consequences, leading him to revisit it as an adult and use it to face more monstrous villains, including an unlikely but terrifying foe who preys on people’s deepest fears.

Batman is a dark superhero forged through tragedy, and we see a lot of that brooding angst here. However, we also see the strength of his moral principles, which were instilled in him by his parents. While he struggles with a desire for revenge, his refusal to become a bloodthirsty vigilante plays an important role in his development, particularly in regard to Ducard (Liam Neeson), the martial arts master from whom he receives extensive training during a lengthy absence from Gotham City.

The movie is very action-packed, with numerous explosions and altercations, but it also has quieter moments and bits of humor sprinkled throughout as welcome seasoning. Michael Caine is magnificent as his faithful butler Alfred, a father figure and devoted friend with a wry sense of humor, and Morgan Freeman is similarly enjoyable as inventor Lucius Fox, who provides Batman with all of his nifty gadgets. Meanwhile, Gary Oldman brings dignity and warmth to the role of kindhearted Jim Gordon, one of the few cops in Gotham City who is truly concerned about justice.

The screenplay by Nolan and David S. Goyer does a great job of establishing the complexities of Bruce’s motivation and the darkness of the city he aims to protect. The scenes in his childhood and early adulthood are particularly effective at making him sympathetic despite his aloof manner and tendency toward darkness. As childhood pal Rachel Dawes, Katie Holmes helps drive home the distinction between his noble aims and his sometimes excessive methods.

While I’m much more of a Superman fan, Nolan and these talented actors are very effective in bringing a unique vision of this iconic character to the big screen.

The Homecoming Introduces the Waltons to the World

Growing up, I watched The Waltons occasionally, though never enough to feel a deep sense of familiarity with the characters. Still, I found the homespun charm of the show endearing and was intrigued when my boyfriend Will suggested watching The Homecoming, the movie that started it all.

The television movie features the same cast of children as the series, along with the same grandma. The most noticeable cast difference is that Olivia Walton, the mother of the large family, is played by Patricia Neal. Aside from John-Boy, who is portrayed by gangly, lovable Richard Thomas, Olivia is the character given the most attention as she struggles to mask her anxiety over her husband’s late return from an out-of-town job on Christmas Eve.

Like many Christmas movies, this is a heartwarming tale of family togetherness. The hardscrabble setting of a farm during the Depression makes the economy a major source of conflict. These are good salt-of-the-earth people who must work tirelessly and support each other in order to survive. While the driving concern in the film is why John is late and whether he is all right, it also deals with the children’s individual fears and frustrations, particularly John-Boy’s desire to strike out on his own and become a writer and Mary-Ellen’s (Judy Norton) teen angst.

The heart of the special is in the family, particularly the close-knit but chaotic ensemble of the seven children. While the Waltons are simple people trying to scrape out a living, they still have hopes and dreams, and the children have plenty of silliness in them. Kami Cotler is particularly adorable as the tiny Elizabeth, whose innocent remarks rarely fail to elicit laughter.

The movie also deals with various other members of the community, the most colorful of which are the mildly batty Baldwin sisters Mamie (Josephine Hutchinson) and Emily (Dorothy Stickney), elderly spinsters who sustain themselves by selling their father’s famous bootleg whiskey. One of the best scenes in the movie involves John-Boy and vivacious preacher Hawthorne Dooley (Cleavon Little) attempting to coax a favor out of these feisty ladies. Hawthorne, incidentally, is strikingly contrasted with a sanctimonious missionary whose attempt to minister to the local children is both comical and nightmarish.

Anyone who enjoyed The Waltons should have a look at this movie that launched the series, even if it is a bit odd to see some of the familiar characters played by different actors. The spirit of the series is certainly present in this tale of individuals in hard times doing what they must to make it and helping each other to do the same. Based on the author’s own childhood experience, this wholesome yarn is ideal for cozy Christmastime viewing.

Jordin Sparks Takes the Spotlight in Sparkle

During a recent girls’ night out, my friends and I went to see Sparkle, a movie that marks the end of Whitney Houston’s movie career and the beginning of 2007 American Idol winner Jordin Sparks’. Directed by Sam Akil and written by Mara Brock Akil and Howard Rosenman, the movie deals with the formation of a fictional girl group in the late 1960s.

The head of the group is the tempestuous Sister (Carmen Ejogo), who has a beautiful voice and arresting stage presence but is dogged by bad decisions, particularly involving men. Its heart, however, is the titular Sparkle, whom Sparks plays. The younger Sparkle is used to living in the shadow of her sisters , not only the glamorous Sister but the studious Delores (Tika Sumpter), who aspires to be a doctor. While Sparkle has plenty of musical talent, particularly as a composer, she feels uncomfortable in the spotlight and doesn’t want to upset her mother, washed-up singer Emma (Houston), by following her into an industry that nearly destroyed her.

Sparkle has its light moments, and certainly Sparkle herself is meant to be an inspirational figure as she goes from surreptitiously scribbling song lyrics in a book only she sees to performing her own music in front of appreciative crowds. She also gets glammed up, which of course means losing the geeky glasses she sports at the beginning of the movie, something that this proud four-eyes always finds annoying in geek-to-chic-type movies. But the clothes are a minor detail. The important thing is that she is finding her way in the world, with some help from romantic interest Stix (Derek Luke), who knows the music business and thinks she ought to be a part of it.

Because this is a movie about three sisters and their mother, there is a strong family element to it. Each sister is distinctly different but has been heavily influenced by Emma’s strict rules, as well as her troubling missteps. As the oldest who suffered most from Emma’s early mistakes, Sister seems in greatest danger of repeating them, and her storyline is the darkest, delving into issues of domestic abuse and drug use. Because of this, the movie does get a bit gritty at times, but not enough to be a challenge to the PG-13 rating.

For the most part, the music is done well, though I didn’t find any of it particularly memorable. What I enjoyed most were the songs Sparks tackled alone or with back-up, rather than the group songs in which she is relegated to the background. Sadly, Houston’s voice is not in fine form here; she appears unwell throughout the film, which is somewhat appropriate for the character but still difficult to watch in light of the pop idol’s untimely demise.

The cast on the whole is solid, with Sparks and Luke particularly standing out to me. I also enjoyed Curtis Armstrong as Larry, the kind but slightly acerbic executive at Columbia Records who expresses an interest in Sparkle’s group. All told, it’s a fairly forgettable but nonetheless enjoyable movie that is well suited to those who like Motown or Jordin Sparks.

Bill Murray Heads to Summer Camp in Meatballs

Last week, my friend Julie came over for a movie night, and we decided on Meatballs, a 1979 summer camp movie starring Bill Murray toward the beginning of his career. Neither of us had seen it, while my boyfriend has seen it several times and counts it as a favorite. It proved a fun flick that also sparked some discussion about our own summer camp experiences.

Murray plays Tripper, a camp counselor and practical joker who particularly relishes picking on square counselor Morty (Harvey Atkin). At the same time, he truly cares about the kids under his supervision, even if his laconic comments might sometimes suggest otherwise. Many of these kids are return campers, so he already has them pretty well figured out and knows just how to push their buttons. This year, however, he has taken a special interest in a lonely, insecure young man named Rudy (Chris Makepeace).

The friendship that develops between Tripper and Rudy really becomes the heart of the movie, but there are all sorts of side stories going on as this is a camp full of quirky characters, most with goofy nicknames to boot. Among the older campers, the members of the opposite sex are the prime preoccupation. Girls compare chest sizes and read smutty novels; boys spy on the girls and dissect the possible meanings in their interactions with them. As the end of the summer draws near, they also become increasingly focused on beating their slick rivals from a nearby summer camp in the annual multi-event competition, and they don’t care if they have to play dirty to win.

As summer camp movies go, this is pretty typical, though most of the movies of this type that I have seen came afterwards so it may have helped set the standard for them. The movie is full of the sort of hi-jinx one would expect from a bunch of youngsters thrown together for several weeks in a vast outdoor playground, as well as the bonding that occurs as a result of these close quarters. It was filmed on the site of an actual summer camp in Canada, and the scenery is gorgeous. While the camp has a reputation for being a bit on the ramshackle side, the kids couldn’t ask for more idyllic surroundings.

This movie is probably most suitable for the summer months. It left me wanting to jump in a lake and go for a swim, but it’s gotten a little cold for that now that we’re firmly in fall. Still, whatever time of year you watch, it’s a funny, nostalgic look at the joys and traumas of summer camp that makes for good light-hearted viewing.

Christine's Perfect Little Angel Is a Bad Seed

It’s coming up on Halloween, the time for all things spooky, and I got a jump start on that the other day when I watched The Bad Seed, the 1956 thriller directed by Mervyn LeRoy about an eight-year-old girl who is not nearly as sweet as she seems. Earlier this year, I watched the shuddersome We Need to Talk About Kevin, the disorienting and disturbing tale of a sociopath who makes his mother miserable from infancy and ultimately turns to the violence she suspects he is capable of. This movie is much more watchable but still quite unsettling.

Patricia McCormack plays pig-tailed blonde Rhoda Penmark, who by all accounts seems perfectly sweet and well-mannered when we first encounter her. She plays piano, she curtsies perfectly, she showers her father, departing on business for several weeks, with affection. It isn’t long, however, before we catch a glimpse of her sense of entitlement and the way it can quickly spiral into rage. In these moments, McCormack’s performance reminded me of Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Unlike Veruca, however, her manipulation of her parents is more subtle and insidious.

Playing Rhoda’s mother Christine is Nancy Kelly, who starts the movie seeming slightly addled and eventually goes into full-tilt madness as her world begins to crumble around her. The plot provides an explanation for Rhoda’s behavior that is some comfort to the audience, since her veiled malice didn’t just spring out of nowhere – though it could make someone think twice about adoption. Christine loves her daughter, but she also fears her as evidence of her potential for evil begins to build.

The movie is pretty effective in letting that proof come together slowly, though when a boy Rhoda resented turns up dead early in the movie, it’s not much of a leap to imagine that she was involved. His parents are an interesting study in how a family responds to tragedy; Frank Cady is the dignified Henry, who bears his pain with quiet stoicism, while Eileen Heckart’s Hortense takes to perpetual drinking and lodging half-formed accusations at Christine. Her performance would be comical were its trappings not so tragic.

It’s also interesting to study other characters and their interactions with Christine and Rhoda. Evelyn Varden is Monica Breedlove, neighbor and landlady who delights in spoiling Rhoda as much as she can. The slight tension between her and Christine in regard to this overindulgence provides the first hint that something about Rhoda may be just a little off. Joan Croydon is a bit prickly as school administrator Miss Fern, who clearly knows something about Rhoda that she isn’t telling, and sneering janitor LeRoy, played by Henry James, knows how to get a rise out of Rhoda better than anyone else.

The movie is black and white, which amplifies the fact that this is an older movie and that certain things just don’t fly. Hence, most of the unpleasantness is well off-screen, making it perfectly watchable for even someone as squeamish as me. My boyfriend, who directed the play once, found aspects of it to be a bit ham-fisted, and he also noted how differently the movie ended from the play. The conclusion as it stands is a bit cheesy, but one can certainly understand how movie-goers, particularly those of the 1950s, might prefer it. But then I’ve already said too much, as a stern post-credits warning insists that viewers not divulge any details of the climax.

I doubt this is a movie I would have chosen to watch on my own, but it’s suitable for this time of year, and I found myself drawn into it quite well. I agree some of the acting seems a little over-the-top, but then again, half a dozen major cast members created those roles on Broadway first, so it seems that sometimes, they simply didn’t tone things down enough for the screen. Some directing choices also seem a little odd, like showing the highly intelligent Rhoda assembling a wooden puzzle designed for kindergarteners. On the whole, however, it’s an effectively troubling movie that makes for an appropriate pre-Halloween feature.

Betsy's Wedding Is a Beautiful Disaster

M*A*S*H is my all-time favorite sit-com, so I’ve always been pretty familiar with Alan Alda, but I mostly think of him in association with television, so it was interesting to see him in the 1990 movie Betsy’s Wedding, which he also wrote and directed.

In this comedy, Alda plays Eddie Hopper, a devoted dad with big dreams. There’s a Walter Mitty-ish quality about this man who spends so much of his life in daydreams, but he has achieved some measure of happiness in the real world as well. He and his wife Lola (Madeline Kahn) love each other, and they have two grown daughters, one of whom is about to get married.

Brat Pack staple Molly Ringwald plays Betsy, the spirited young woman for whom Eddie is determined to throw the perfect wedding. The problem? Betsy’s future in-laws are equally adamant about throwing the wedding themselves, and neither wedding fits with the vision that Betsy has. With so many different people determined to have a hand in this ceremony and the reception to follow, will the happy couple get lost in the shuffle?

This is a fun comedy that shows how crazy a wedding can get when there are two very different but equally strong-willed sets of parents involved. Groom-to-be Jake (Dylan Walsh) comes from a very wealthy family, and his parents’ snobbery is even more aggravating than the appeals from Betsy’s relatives to incorporate both Catholic and Jewish traditions into what she intends to be an irreligious wedding.

Less directly involved with Betsy but very enjoyable are her scuzzy uncle Oscar (Joe Pesci), who rents the couple a decrepit apartment and makes shady deals with Eddie to finance the wedding, and young, gentlemanly mobster-in-training Stevie Dee (Anthony LaPaglia), who undertakes an old-fashioned courtship of Betsy’s sister Connie (Ally Sheedy), a tough-talking cop.

The film is fun and zany without being unrealistic, though Eddie’s fantasy sequences add to the fun of the movie. There’s also a definite warmth to it, especially from Eddie’s end as he comes to terms with this big change in his family and in the sweetness of the romance between Stevie and Connie. Movies revolving around weddings always have plenty of room for disaster as emotions run high and everyone strives to ensure this day is absolutely perfect. Betsy’s isn’t, but the chaotic events that punctuate it only serve to make it more memorable and a truer reflection of the bride and groom.

Derek Jacobi Leads a Masterful Cast in I, Claudius

When I paid a visit to my boyfriend Will’s house earlier this month, he suggested that we make our way through the miniseries I, Claudius while I was there. He had seen it before; I hadn’t, and while I’m not as much of a history buff as he is, I was up for it, especially once I realized the title character was played by Derek Jacobi, a classically trained British actor I first encountered in a memorable episode of Frasier.

Jacobi serves as the wizened narrator whose comments bookend most of the episodes, while we see him in various younger forms in the flashbacks that make up most of the story. The nearly 11-hour-long miniseries covers a span of about 80 years during the Roman Empire of about two millennia ago. We see the reigns of austere Augustus (Brian Blessed), bitter Tiberius (George Baker), crazed Caligula (John Hurt) and finally gentle Claudius, the stammering, twitching, limping fellow who survives decades of carnage by letting everyone think he’s a simpleton. It’s a masterful performance of a character who seems out of step with his violent time, a wise scholar deeply in touch with his emotions and committed to a family that barely notices him.

The cast is outstanding in all respects, as is the screenplay by Jack Pulman, who adapted the Robert Graves novels I, Claudius and Claudius the God for the screen. While the dialogue has a feel of antiquity about it, it also crackles with wit, and each part of the miniseries has moments that are laugh-aloud funny. Of course, this is far from a comedy, and I found myself grateful that Will had watched it first, since he could tell me just when I ought to avert my eyes and usually warned me ahead of time precisely what sort of unpleasantness would follow. While much of the violence occurs off-screen, there are still plenty of moments that I would consider too grotesque for sensitive eyes.

Because Claudius is so lovable, not to mention the one character you know is going to stick around until the final installment, he is an anchor in the midst of the madness that often surrounds him. Many of the characters are sympathetic at one point or another, but most are also conniving or cruel. The most methodically murderous one of the lot is Augustus’s wife Livia (Sian Phillips), who subtly and patiently plots to remove any and all obstacles that lie between her son Tiberius and the throne. While her actions are largely despicable, Phillips is fascinating to watch in the role, and she and Augustus, the long-lived, rather curmudgeonly Caesar who is my second-favorite character in the series, have some wonderfully playful scenes together.

Blessed is largely endearing as Augustus, who comes across as a pretty decent fellow, all things considered. While he lives to a much riper age than most of the characters in the miniseries, he is the one I missed the most after his departure, and he and Tiberius both come across as extremely hen-pecked by Livia. The most absurd of the four emperors is Caligula, and Hurt seems to revel in his madness as he turns the palace into a den of debauchery and orders executions for nonexistent crimes. Even before assuming the throne, his cold heart and depraved pursuits are chilling, but ultimate power amplifies his beady-eyed insanity.

While I was unfamiliar with many of the actors in the uniformly excellent cast, it was a treat to see some I recognized from later films. My Star Trek geekery and Lord of the Rings fandom were both satisfied by the presence of Patrick Stewart as Tiberius’s ambitious right-hand man Sejanus and John Rhys-Davies as Macro, who helps drive one of the most stomach-turning scenes in the miniseries. I also found it very interesting to see the Biblical Herod Agrippa (James Faulkner) from a different perspective as the worldly but affectionate longtime friend of Claudius.

While I couldn’t say just how accurate this miniseries is, anyone who has an interest in ancient Roman history would most likely enjoy this intricate tale directed by Herbert Wise. Those with a weak stomach should take warning that poisonings, stabbings and outright slaughter are frequent occurrences, and it’s also worth mentioning that there are some pretty steamy scenes, particularly the seedy exploits of Caligula and of Claudius’s libidinous young wife Messalina (Sheila White). I would not recommend this to anyone younger than high school, but it could be a great means of getting older teenagers excited about history.

As for me, while I looked away multiple times, I found I, Claudius a thoroughly rewarding venture that showcases some of the shining stars of British stage and screen, particularly Blessed and Jacobi, and gives me an instant reference point when I hear someone suggest that the world has never been as violent or immoral as it is now.

The Dark Knight Rises, and So Do My Spirits

Four years ago, The Dark Knight hit the big screen to great fanfare, and I was eager to see what all the hoopla was about. I figured this was a movie worthy of opening night, but I hadn't counted on just how many people would turn up at that hour in Erie. As a result, we arrived an hour early and all three showings were sold out, and I didn't try again until it made its way to the dollar theater, where I came to the conclusion that it was far too oppressive for my liking. Would I feel any differently about The Dark Knight Rises, which concludes Christopher Nolan&#146s trilogy?

As a matter of fact, I did. It helped that this movie night was a lead-in to my boyfriend's family reunion and that the charming Town Hall Theatre in Lowville, NY, is of great sentimental value to him. The graciousness of the proprietor and the amusing remarks of a friend who has seen the campy Batman movie from the 1960s far more times than she would like added to the fun of the outing, as did the fact that this was the first movie we saw together on the big screen. Nonetheless, I'm certain that no matter what the circumstances of my watching it had been, I would have found it the most enjoyable installment in the trilogy.

The film is set nearly a decade after The Dark Knight in a time when Gotham City has been seemingly purged of its unsavory element. Hundreds of criminals sit stewing behind bars while ordinary law-abiding citizens breathe a sigh of relief. In the depths of the city's most expansive manor, a billionaire broods, trapped in a prison of his own. His name is Bruce Wayne, and without vigilantism to occupy himself with, he has lost his sense of purpose. Will he ever be able to leave Batman behind him and start over?

Christian Bale returns as Bruce, but this time around we see very little of him in costume. Considering how much his Batman voice annoyed me in the second movie, I didn't mind. Besides, that allowed plenty of time to really focus in on Bruce and delve into his psyche. Until the last segment of the movie, he has little direct involvement with battling its baddies. Instead, he wars with himself while others team up to fight the bomb-wielding terrorists led by the chilling Bane (Tom Hardy), who breathes intimidation under his voice-altering mask.

Bane is no less horrific than the Joker, and the threat that he places over Gotham City could hardly be grimmer. Nonetheless, the movie feels far easier to take. We don't spend the entire film under gloomy cloud cover or in the midst of bleak industrialism. Bright sunshine and glitzy halls are equally abundant. While the scene concludes in calamity, it was great fun to see the moment set in a football stadium and know that all those yellow jerseys belong to Steelers fans in nearby Pittsburgh. I appreciated the score, which often had a classical feel to it and only occasionally reprised the pounding cacophony heard throughout much of The Dark Knight. Despite the dire circumstances, it just felt like a lighter movie.

I also loved the partnership that develops between noble but world-weary Commissioner Gordon, once again masterfully played by Gary Oldman, and idealistic cop Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), whose childhood loss of his parents gives him a sense of deep solidarity with Bruce. These two profoundly good men do not have all the fancy tools at their disposal that Batman does, but they do work very effectively together. I also enjoyed Anne Hathaway's performance as the sly, seductive Selina, otherwise known as Catwoman. Her playful prowess makes her great fun; she is an accomplished thief who burgles for sport and greed, but a sweet vulnerability lurks not too far below the surface. Her ambiguity makes her one of the most compelling characters in the series.

I have always had a soft spot for Bruce's loyal butler Alfred, and I have particularly loved the magnificent Michael Caine in the role. While he is off-screen for the majority of the movie, he is at the heart of two gut-wrenching scenes; elsewhere, his dry wit provides several laughs. Morgan Freeman also returns as sage inventor Lucius Fox, and I found him just as delightful as in the previous films as well. While they have only brief scenes, I also enjoyed seeing LOST's Nestor Carbonell, back as the city's slightly overwrought mayor, and Brett Cullen, who plays a hapless congressman at the beginning of the movie.

The Dark Knight Rises is just as much an action movie as its predecessors, but it also has a deeply introspective quality to it. The threat of violence is severe, but what we actually see on screen is considerably less grotesque than in The Dark Knight. While the adrenaline-pumping moments are edge-of-the-seat fun, what I really appreciated were the quieter bits that really gave us a chance to know Bruce Wayne and understand what makes him tick.

Before I saw this movie, my brother warned me that while he found the ending appealingly optimistic, the night truly is darkest before the dawn in this case.  I assured him that I would shield my eyes at the appropriate times, and he replied, "I don't think you'll have to shield your eyes much...  It's more shielding your soul."  Yikes.  However, after that ominous warning, I have emerged from this film experience unscathed.

I'll readily confess that I like Batman best in his corniest incarnation, but for a dark series, this movie offers a conclusion that makes it well worth the ride.

Peter Parker Swings Back Onto the Big Screen in The Amazing Spider-Man

I’m usually pretty up on big summer blockbuster, but my friend caught me by surprise yesterday when she called to ask if I wanted to see the midnight release of The Amazing Spider-Man. I’d heard a couple whispers of its existence, but I didn’t even realize it was coming out this summer. Still, I’m never one to pass up a major cultural experience, even if I am a bit bemused at the idea of a brand-new Spider-Man film series just a decade after Sam Raimi’s mega-popular trilogy began.

If I’d been actively anticipating this movie, I might have rewatched the 2002 film in preparation, but as it is, my capacity to make comparisons is a bit limited. Still, there are certain key differences between that movie and this, which was written by James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent and Harry Potter scribe Steve Kloves and directed by the appropriately-named Marc Webb. Perhaps the most significant is that Peter Parker’s transformation from regular teen into web-slinging vigilante feels less like chance and more like fate. The Amazing Spider-Man is very much a journey of self-discovery, and that means delving into the past as well as introspective examination.

Andrew Garfield makes an excellent Peter, rather awkward and bumbling but already making a name for himself with his camera. Interestingly, his photography plays only a minor role in the film once he dons the Spidey suit, though it does serve as a catalyst for a major incident late in the movie. Still, there is no explosive J. Jonah Jameson to report to with exclusive shots. Financial concerns don’t seem to trouble Peter much; he’s far too focused on revenge enacted to ease his own fury with himself for the tragic consequences of a particularly angsty moment. He is dark, but he also comes across as a really decent and rather geeky young man.

In this movie, there is no friendship with Harry Osborn and no pining after Mary Jane. Instead, he begins to forge a relationship with sweet, intellectual Gwen, demurely played by Emma Stone. Moreover, he turns to his father’s old friend and colleague, Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), for mentorship, and he becomes one of two men who serve as both helper and antagonist to Peter throughout his journey. Ifans delivers an intense performance as this man who is torn between a genuine desire to do good for the world and the destructive frenzy that comes with the acquisition of too much power.

As before, May and Ben, the aunt and uncle who raise Peter after the abrupt departure of his parents, provide much of the story’s heart, and their gentle influence in raising him is apparent throughout the film. Sally Field is excellent as the very maternal May, but it’s Martin Sheen who makes the bigger impression as the sometimes jovial, often wise Ben. He comes across as a bit hipper than the 2002 Ben but just as powerful a paternal figure. Less instantly likable but still engaging is Denis Leary as Gwen’s dad, the police captain who happens to be intent on capturing Spider-Man and bringing him to justice.

A marquis mix-up caused me to watch this movie a little differently than I otherwise might have. When we arrived, a great big letter R sat next to the movie title, so I waited with increasing puzzlement for the movie to take a turn that would merit such an unexpectedly heavy rating. I assumed that it would be due to violence, especially after the first 20 minutes or so passed without any profanity that I noticed, but while the movie is full of intense action sequences, there is very little gore, and the 11-year-old sitting next to me was only startled a couple of times. The reptilian foe Peter must ultimately face is really the only aspect of the movie likely to cause much alarm, though there are moments of sadness preceding the creature’s debut.

In part because of that misleading marquis – which had been corrected by the time we left the theater – I found the movie refreshingly innocent with plenty of laugh-aloud light-hearted moments like Peter’s clumsy attempts to get a handle on his newfound abilities and a brief scene featuring Marvel legend Stan Lee. Yes, it’s still probably best suited to older kids, but aside from some creepy business with hybrid technology, it’s mostly the story of a good guy trying to find his place in the world with some help from mentors, friends and two very devoted relatives. Did Spidey really need a reboot so soon? No, probably not. But I look forward to seeing where Garfield and crew will take this saga next.

An Impetuous Princess Learns to Be Brave

When it comes to movies, this year is dominated by The Hobbit, a film I have been eagerly anticipating ever since Return of the King came out in 2003. However, that won't hit theaters until December, so I had to have another release to tide me over in the meantime. Happily for me, another summer meant a new Pixar movie, and one that seemed to go especially well with The Hobbit to boot.

Unlike previous Pixar flicks, Brave is set in the distant past, and it happens to take place in the bonny land of Scotland, which I have always found singularly alluring. When the first trailers began to surface, I was swept away in the majesty of the animation and the lilting score and intrigued by apparent indications of an epic scope with scenes reminiscent of Lord of the Rings. I found myself anticipating this movie more highly than any Pixar film preceding it.

Now that I have finally seen it, I am not prepared to unequivocally state that it is my favorite of Pixar's offerings, but it is an excellent film that does ignite that adventurous side of me. It's the tale of Merida (Kelly MacDonald), a Scottish princess with an unruly mop of fiery red hair that matches her personality. She is a whirling dervish who has always been more interested in archery and running free through the forest with her horse than training to be a proper queen. When her parents announce to her that they have invited representatives of the neighboring clans to a tournament in which the princes will vie for her hand, she is appalled.

Merida has no interest in monarchy or matrimony. All her life, she's felt trapped by the role for which she is being prepared, and she is desperate for a way out. When her cleverness and skill fail to provide her with the chance to carve out her own destiny, she turns to magic in the depths of the forest... and gets more than she bargained for.

Merida is a feisty lass, and while this setting is more antiquated than most, she feels quite modern in her attitudes. Of all the previous Disney princesses, she reminds me most of Ariel in her persistent defiance, though Mulan also comes to mind as she has the heart of a warrior. She also feels younger than most Disney princesses; I didn't catch an age, but she doesn't strike me as much older than 14, so it's little wonder she's freaking out about the adult responsibilities about to be forced on her. She also feels very teenagerish in the snippy way she treats her mother, and that relationship is more central to the tale than any other.

Emma Thompson is perfectly regal as the elegant Queen Elinor (and this Austen geek loves that she shares a name with Thompson's character in the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility, for which she wrote the exceptional screenplay). Her voice is still recognizable, but there's a bit of a brogue in there. Her accent is not as strong as Merida's, but that is partly because the queen is so refined; that hint of a Scottish lilt felt like perpetual wink to Elinor's wilder side.

By contrast, Billy Connolly's brogue as King Fergus is robust and unrestrained as he weaves his gleefully embroidered tales about his close encounter with a belligerent bear. This peg-legged king is a natural-born storyteller, and while his sweetly unruly spirit leaves him in frequent sympathy with his daughter, it's clear that the queen really rules the roost in this family. As much as I love the journey of understanding that Merida and Elinor take together, this boyish rascal is my favorite character.

The film is absolutely gorgeous to look at, particularly in terms of landscapes, and Patrick Doyle's Celtic score complements that beauty perfectly, as do the songs that are incorporated as background. The central plot is not quite as grandiose as I expected, occurring closer to home rather than taking Merida on a lengthy journey through the Scottish highlands. Nonetheless, this film feels very much in the realm of fantasy and adventure, and as such, it has a slightly somber feel to it that is atypical for Pixar. Consequently, it isn't as funny as most, particularly in terms of dialogue, though it does have its moments, and there is considerable physical comedy, particularly involving Merida's mischievous little triplet brothers and the rather ridiculous neighboring clan leaders and their sons.

Preceding the movie is the short La Luna, which fits in well with the theme of a communication gap between parent and child and a youth's creative way of facing obstacles. In this case, it's a wide-eyed boy helping his father and grandfather complete a wondrous nightly task involving the moon. Though no actual words are exchanged, the inflection in the muttering voices makes it easy to infer the gist of the conversation. It's worth it to stay to the end of the credits, too, as the filmmakers offer a short additional scene as a reward.

In the beginning, Merida is not so much brave as she is impetuous, but by film's end, she has a much better handle on what genuine bravery involves and how best to express it. She, and maybe those in the audience, also come to understand that being brave does not always have to mean going it alone and that learning to work alongside those you love, however deep your differences, may be one of the most courageous acts of all.

Peyton Place Is Not as Tranquil as It Seems

Last month, my friend received her Master’s degree in Special Education, and afterward, I came over to her house to celebrate. The method of celebration she selected was watching the 1957 movie Peyton Place, in which the topics of education and graduation are most prominent.

This film takes place in the early 1940s, and the titular tiny New England town is hardly a haven from the war that is causing such turmoil in the world. However, it is an insular community, and at times it is difficult to remember that there is so much more out there than the often petty concerns of the townsfolk.

Diane Varsi stars as Allison Mackenzie, an intelligent and articulate but naive young woman on the cusp of adulthood. Her uptight mother Constance (Lana Turner) has hidden the darker details of her past from Allison, and this is only one of many instances in the town of secrets being kept for the sake of an appearance of propriety. In some cases, this white-washing has deadly consequences.

The town is populated with intriguing characters, including Norman (Russ Tamblyn), the cowed young man whose overinvolved mother won’t let him get too close to Allison, and Michael (Lee Philips), the progressive new school principal who takes a shine to a resisting Constance.

Of the remaining teens, the most compelling is Selena (Hope Lange), a gentle farm girl who suffers horrific abuse at the hands of her alcoholic stepfather Lucas (Arthur Kennedy), while my favorite of the adults is Dr. Swain (Lloyd Nolan), an eloquent man whose position affords him the opportunity to unearth a few of the town’s darkest secrets.

This is an interesting movie that contrasts the picturesque beauty of a tiny community with the ugliness simmering below the surface. The wartime setting gives it an extra punch as Allison and her classmates are forced to realize very quickly how big a world lies beyond Peyton Place. Parts of it are pretty edgy for 1957, though as I understand it, the movie tones down the novel a bit. As it is, this is not a movie for children, and it would probably bore them anyway.

At two hours and 40 minutes in length, Peyton Place is pretty long, and sometimes the pace feels pretty plodding. At its most intense moments, however, it is riveting, and it finishes very strong, with its final devastating indictment ringing in the mind long afterward. It may take a while to get going, but this movie is worth the journey.

Dudley Moore Gives Me Another Arthur to Love

I’ve always had a soft spot for Arthur, the noble king of British legend, and I have nothing but affection for animated Erie icon Arthur the aardvark. I’ll also readily admit to an excessive fondness for golden-voiced Arthur Garfunkel and endearing Muggle-loving wizard Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter series. One Arthur that has always eluded me, however, is the titular character in the 1981 romantic comedy written and directed by Steve Gordon. While he’s easily the most obnoxious of the five, I’m still happy to add him to my list of Arthur acquaintances.

Dudley Moore plays Arthur Bach, a swingin’ rich kid who never grew up. He’s well into adulthood now, but he still surrounds himself with toys and devotes his life to lavish pleasures, including a steady intake of alcohol that leaves him perpetually soused. When his father expresses his disapproval with his lifestyle and threatens to cut him off if he doesn’t enter into the marriage long arranged for him with socialite Susan (Jill Eikenberry), Arthur reluctantly agrees to his terms. Then he meets Linda (Liza Minnelli), and life gets a little more complicated…

The movie takes place over a short period of time as Arthur prepares for the wedding he doesn’t want while wooing sweet but street-smart Linda, who works as a waitress to support herself and her beloved father, who dreams of a better life for them both. When a multi-millionaire begins to take an interest in his daughter, his enthusiasm at the prospect is quite entertaining.

Arthur’s own father isn’t in the picture much; instead, Arthur spends his time with Hobson (John Gielgud), the elderly butler who has been both father figure and best friend to him throughout his life. Gielgud’s performance is my favorite of the film as he skewers Arthur, Linda and others with his withering Simon Cowell-esque wit but occasionally betrays flickers of his deep regard for this man who needs his mentorship so desperately. Arthur’s feisty aunt Martha (Geraldine Fitzgerald) also cares for him in her own peculiar way, and her shocking remarks are among the movie’s funniest, and his cheery chauffeur Bitterman (Ted Ross) brings a smile to the face while he’s on screen.

This is a charming coming-of-age film if you can get past Arthur’s perpetual drunkenness. It examines whether wealth or freedom is a more valuable commodity and shows the dangers of having too many resources and not enough ambition. Mostly, though, it’s just a movie with an entertaining lead and a story of mentorship that is just as heartwarming as the romance.