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This page is a Monthly Archive of entries from December 2008 listed from newest to oldest.
Having knocked around Hollywood for over a decade and once garnering the attention of Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button finally arrives on the big screen courtesy of director David Fincher. The filmmaker responsible for such disturbing modern classics as Seven and Fight Club might seem a strange choice for an odd love story, but he’s always been a capable visual craftsman, creating moments of existential dread and social chaos as well as any other modern director. Here, he achieves a sense of grace and in weaving this tale of a man who ages backwards as time moves forward, giving us a modern fairy tale that’s a testament to unconditional love and faith.
If you're looking for a last-minute Christmas gift, then I would highly recommend More Information Than You Require by John Hodgman. You may not know Hodgman, a self-professed "famous minor television personality," by name, but his visage is well-known as the PC in the Mac commercials. More Information Than You Require may not be the deepest, most life-changing book available in your local bookstore, but it's endlessly entertaining and easily consumed in short bursts, if necessary.
I don't consider myself too easily amused, but this book reduced me to giggling fits on nearly every page. Hodgman maintains a consistently amiable tone, despite his completely nonsensical subject matter. As in his previous book, The Areas of My Expertise, Hodgman assembles this volume in the form of a fake almanac. There is even a list of "Shitty Aphorisms," per the law that any book calling itself an almanac must contain at least four of them.
I was prepared to hate Marley and Me. This is probably something a film critic shouldn’t admit but the trailers for this adaptation of John Grogan’s best seller features all the tell tale signs of being a shameless, manipulative tearjerker. Truth be told, by film’s end, I had shed a tear or two, but only because the focus of the film was not on the title dog; rather the film dealt mainly with the ups and downs of an American family, sincerely delivered by director David Frankel and his cast.
After parental complaints, Champaign’s Unit 4 School District recently compromised on allowing the reading of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner in its sophomore honors English classes. Controversial books are usually the ones most worth reading. One of the books I remember having to read was The Scarlet Letter. I suppose it was as good a book as any, but I never finished it. Within the last few chapters I gave up and went through the motions until the end of the unit. Losing interest in a classic book is not difficult. Its language may be antiquated, the sentence structure too hard to decipher and timely subject matter tends to lose its relevancy over time.
John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men may have escaped the curse of inconsequence for the same reasons it was banned from public schools for most of the 90s. It contains offensive language, racial epithets, sexual overtones, violence and death: the makings of a good story. While it has lost a bit of significance since 1937, the inherent loneliness of the major characters and their subsequent longing for companionship are always relevant.
Barack Obama won big while refusing (for the most part) to go negative. Perhaps he won precisely because he refused to attack his opponent, to “pick on an invalid,” as Ronald Reagan—in an alarmingly effective slam—backhandedly did to Michael Dukakis in the George H.W. Bush-Dukakis election year of 1988. Certainly Obama succeeded, in part, because he responded, in a typically dignified manner, when he himself was targeted—something Dukakis, and John Kerry after him, tragically did not do.
We might be tempted to believe that we have entered an era where political battles are won not by going on the offensive, not by “stripping the bark off the little bastard” (our opponent), as Lee Atwater promised to do (and did) to Dukakis, but by hitching smart, workable policy to the soaring rhetoric of change. Getting a hold of a copy of Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream, by Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam, editors at The Atlantic—and studying it—further convinces us of this.
Looking for some wholesome holiday fun this Saturday? Maybe you just need an excuse to pry the kids away from the Wii for an afternoon? Or possibly your vocal cords need to shake off a layer of dust prior to caroling? Whatever the reason, stop by Urbana's Lincoln Square for The Community Center for the Arts' free presentation of Green Santa, a kid-friendly "giant puppet drama" centered around environmental issues.
The play kicks off at 4 p.m. tomorrow, Dec. 13, with activities scheduled around it. At 3 p.m., local, youth-oriented group the Bow-Dacious String Band will perform, followed by caroling before and after the play. Environmental groups, such as the local chapter of Greenpeace and the C-U Green Business Association, will also have displays on hand.
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to go to Australia. Lest you think that this was a sexy vacay with a special someone or even a fun trip with friends, let me clarify — I was chaperoning 40 high school students with a group of fellow teachers. Still, Australia’s round-trip air fare alone is out of my immediate reach, so I seized the opportunity.
The 17-hour flight (Chicago to LA, LA to Sydney) was a true test of character. Much to the delight of myself and all fellow passengers, the kids did not sleep at all. As much as this frustrated me, around hour six, I decided to completely surrender to the experience. I became a high scorer on a video game whose name escapes me. I played “flashlight tag” and blatantly lied when confronted by the flight attendant about my participation. And I had meaningful conversations with a few students that I will always treasure. When we landed, the magic had already begun and was only enhanced by the breathtaking spectacle that is Australia.
Like most Americans, I was taught that in passing the National Voting Rights Act of 1965, LBJ betrayed the South, and this region then folded itself, seemingly for good, into the arms of the GOP. So be it, was the Democrats' response. Such, to their way of thinking, was the cross to bear for finally standing up to racist hicks.
Yet, I could never quite reconcile this image of the racist South to my experience in the North, having grown up as I did in the "white flight" suburbs of Chicago, and knowing what I knew about Chicago’s history.
It is good, then, that a new book compellingly muddles this showdown between good and evil. Bob Moser — a native of North Carolina and political correspondent for The Nation — offers a fascinating study of the South: Blue Dixie: Awakening the South's Democratic Majority (Times Books, August 2008). Here, he complicates the image of southern racism, and argues that only a strategy of economic populism can turn Dixie blue again.
It may not be the fourth-greatest film ever made, but Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight is destined to be one of those fondly remembered pop masterpieces, the rare film which satisfies a large number of people on a number of fronts. It is hard to integrate such thematic depth into a format which allows for so little subtlety, as Hollywood film does in general and the superhero film does especially. Whatever its faults, the film is eminently watchable, not just for the Iron Man crowd or the prestige film crowd, but for large groups of both. The Dark Knight requires you neither to turn your brain off nor think too hard, and does so without seeming forced or pretentious. That accomplishment is no small one in any fiction.
My co-worker reminded me that the new season of Lost comes on the day after Inauguration Day (Jan. 20, 2009), which means January’s looking up for TV and general happiness. My TV watching will be what it always is in troubled times like these: constant and random. I’m stuck in the hiatus between the show I’m obsessed with (currently Mad Men) and the next show I’m obsessed with (probably Lost, if it’s as good as it was last season). This hiatus includes, among other things: football, Food Network, Top Chef, 30 Rock and The Office, for some ungodly reason Jon & Kate Plus Eight, The Departed on HBO for the 47th time and possibly the greatest channel that has ever existed, PBS’ Create TV.
On the surface, it appears that director Danny Boyle’s films have very little in common. From the harrowing, cautionary descent into drug-addiction and madness that is Trainspotting to the unbridled optimism contained in Millions, it seems that this artist revels in keeping critics and the public off-guard. With two misguided modern adventures under his belt (The Beach, A Life Less Ordinary) as well as two well-made and received sci-fi films (28 Days Later, Sunshine), Boyle’s filmography seems to be nothing but a mixed bag of genre experiments.
However, a closer look reveals that the one recurring theme in all of his films is that of underdogs trying to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds as they try to reinvent their lives. His latest project, Slumdog Millionaire, explores this theme even further as it focuses on one young man’s efforts to gain instant riches on India’s version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Already garnering mostly positive reviews, the film is posed to be the little movie that might, as it is being touted as a dark horse in this year’s Oscar race.
Click the jump to read Chuck's interview with Danny Boyle.
I stumbled upon Bethany Cooper's artwork while I was searching Etsy's local galleries. Bethany's work is extremely affordable and also very darling. I received so many compliments on my bee earrings and pendant, I had to spread the word about these little gems. Two pieces I'd like to buy next: the red bird and the bunny cameo pendants. Or perhaps the peeking snail. It's so hard to choose because I truly admire all her work.
When going to purchase gifts this holiday season — or really anytime of the year — remember to think and buy local. Artists, like Bethany, need your support! This weekend, other local artists' work (including Mrs. Cooper's) are for sale during the Local Matters event.
Now without further ado, Smile Politely presents Bethany Cooper:
Consumed by: color and texture!
Occupation: I teach Rhetoric part time at UIUC and metal clay classes at GlassFX in Champaign, and I sell pendants and jewelry online, in boutiques and at craft shows.
A few people have spent time predicting the end of the superhero movie in recent months, but the genre-movement whose demise I'm anticipating (sooner and with more glee) is the children/teen-oriented fantasy film. The Lord of the Rings films were decent, but let's be honest with ourselves here: how many similar films since then have been any good? Four out of five Harry Potter films are complete dreck, and you know when Hollywood starts tossing out adaptations of His Dark Materials and Eragon that the genre is in trouble.
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