I have always been a fan of Peter Pan. When I was a graduate student living in Kensington, London in the mid-1990's, I made a literary pilgrimage one Sunday to pay homage to the boy who never grew up and the places that inspired the geography and magic of Neverland. I walked first to Kensington Gardens and then to nearby Hyde Park and the Serpentine to see the island of the lost boys and finally to the wistful statue of Peter Pan (and fairies) that Sir James Matthew Barrie donated in 1912. … [Read more...]

Christmas with the Kranks will open in a few days starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis. It's based on John Grisham's 2001 novella, Skipping Christmas. Tim Allen is Luther Krank and Curtis plays his wife, Nora. When their 23-year old daughter and only child, Blair, joins the Peace Corps and departs for Peru the Sunday after Thanksgiving, Luther realizes that he and Nora don't have to do the Christmas thing this year, and can just skip Christmas. So he figures out that he and … [Read more...]

Mean Girls is the latest in my catch-up program for films released earlier this year that I missed in the theater. Tina Fey, of Saturday Night Live, wrote the screenplay and acts in the film as a math teacher. I have to admit at the outset that my benchmark for entertaining flicks about teen life is Amy Heckerling's 1995 film Clueless, that is an updated version of Jane Austin's Emma. Mean Girls is not as funny as Clueless and bears similarities to many teen flicks without … [Read more...]

The Motorcycle Diaries, is the story of a road trip taken by Ernesto "Che'" Guavera (Gael Garcia Bernal of El Crimen de Padre Amaro) and his friend Alberto Granada (Rodrigo de la Serna) in 1952. Their plan was to ride a motorcycle from Buenos Aires, around the southern most tip of South America and north to Venezuela in four months - arriving in time to celebrate Alberto's 30th birthday. Che' Guavera is known as one of the major leaders of the Cuban revolution who was eventually … [Read more...]

I loved The Polar Express. Just saw it this morning, and I thought it was wonderful. It ranks very close to Pirates of the Caribbean for me, in that it was that kind of pure entertainment that makes a trip to the multiplex worthwhile and satisfying. The Polar Express is a different kind of entertainment that Pirates, but films like these are strong reminders of what Hollywood is capable of when all the creativity is generously poured into bringing stories like these to the screen for the … [Read more...]

A Cinderella Story with Hilary Duff as the over-worked and ill-treated teen, is an updated 'tween version of the fairy tale, only for those who have strong teeth that won't melt from the sugar. I just voted at www.imdb.org (I gave it a 2 out of 10) and saw that viewers either loved it or hated it. Roughly 25% have it a 10 (excellent) and 25% gave it a 1 (awful) and all other votes scattered in between. It must have hit it's target market: girls loved it and parents - or a huge number … [Read more...]

Hi everyone! At long last I am back from my trip to Rome and my 30 Day Retreat. It was awesome, especially the silence. Silence is a gift. I went to see two new films today, and I will be writing about them, but first let me play "catch up" once again on recent films that I missed (blessedly) in theaters, but caught up with on the long flights to and from Rome. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story was one big bark, like that of a dog howling under a full moon and starving. I thought that Vince … [Read more...]