Inkheart
Movie for Hungover Middle School English Teachers Starring: Brendan Fraser, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany By Andy Younger “Reading is sometimes an ingenious device for avoiding thought.” –19th century essayist Sir Arthur Helps. Adapted from the German novel of the same name, Inkheart is a Scholastic Book Fair of YA fantasy retreads cobbled together with winking references to classic stories in lieu of talent or originality. With...
Waltz With Bashir
Standing at the fore of Israel’s burgeoning conscience, filmmaker and former Israeli Army soldier Ari Folman creates an intensely personal animated documentary regarding his complicity in the massacre at the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in 1982 Lebanon—and in the process questions the moral fabric of a nation forged out of tragedy with devastating conclusions. A meeting with his childhood friend,...
Gran Torino
Maintaining an Active Lifestyle for Seniors Starring: Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang Clint Eastwood must be full of regrets. After five decades in film, the towering American icon seems resigned to play the role of a man whose best days are behind him. Estranged from his children and his church, Eastwood’s Walt Kowalski is a former fighter in need of something to fight for—essentially reconstructing the same character he inhabited in...
Yes Man
Familiarity Brings Contempt Starring: Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel Standing at the crossroads of Jim Carrey’s career, Yes Man attempts to reconcile the actor’s slapstick comedies with more serious fare—and fails miserably at both. The film’s premise borrows heavily from Carrey’s own Liar Liar as he portrays protagonist Carl Allen, a divorced loan officer whose job and personal life consist of declining...
Bolt
Toy Story With Animals Starring: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus By: Andrew Younger “If the dog believes it, the audience believes it.” That declaration, uttered by the television director of the show Bolt (voiced by Inside the Actors’ Studio host and part-time shill for GEICO James Lipton) shoulders the weight of the entire film. If you can stomach that line, please continue reading. If not, I just saved you five minutes of your...
Slumdog Millionaire
Vindicating Ten Years of Who Wants to be a Millionaire Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto By: Andrew Younger Question: Why do bad things happen to good people? Answer: So they can use their misery to answer trivia on a Hindu game show. At least that is the explanation posited in the film Slumdog Millionaire. Jamal Malik (actor Dev Patel), a product of the slums of Mumbai with no formal education, is poised to become the first twenty...
Madagascar Escape 2 Africa
Because Numerals in Place of Words Makes You Sound Street By: Andrew Younger Starring: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock Like any young, white, middle class suburbanite, I often find myself experiencing a severe deficiency of African culture that I can co-opt as my own and reduce to utter pablum. Thankfully, the good folks at Dreamworks have done the hard work for me. Taking its rightful place in the pantheon of numerically inspired artistic...
