When you get to a certain age, you realize it’s time to prioritize your to-do list. Not to discount her enthusiasm, but I think Ms. Routson exaggerated in my fifth-grade yearbook when she wrote, “Teacher, writer, astronaut, president—you can do it all!” The truth is, the moon and the White House are not the only … Read more
Get to know the people who named their beloved son Gay Focker. The director and stars behind Meet the Parents, which achieved a certain cult status, return with a tale about the in-laws, demonstrating on film that concept familiar to any couple: Your parents are just as weird as mine. The hyper-chill Fockers are played … Read more
In the beginning, there was the self-help book. With its stirring message of movin’-on-up empowerment and its ten directives for highly effective living, the Bible is the cornerstone on which today’s human-potential industry is founded. Yet the products from self-help authors never garner the same respect as the book that started it all. No other … Read more
Currently, Howard Hughes is best remembered for being a reclusive freak incapacitated by obsessive-compulsive disorder. Martin Scorsese is out to change that with this biopic that focuses on Hughes as a pioneering renaissance man, integral to the evolution of electronics, aviation, and Las Vegas casinos. Not to mention his role as an eccentric Hollywood film … Read more
In 1996 I was a junior at the University of Minnesota when a friend invited me along on her family’s annual outing to see A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater. At the time, I was taking Gender and Geopolitics, a class that had me deeply engrossed in the study of socioeconomic strata. Naturally, I … Read more
The plight of the unlucky Baudelaire orphans springs to big screen life in this fantastical adaptation of Lemony Snicket’s deliciously dark young adult novels. The Baudelaires, cloaked in dark garments and wearing appropriately long faces, run in a gothic world made of flying buttresses, black seas, and amethyst skies. The film boasts an all-star cast, … Read more
It’s a rather cruel indulgence to base a film on a childhood game that tends to revolve around abusing a shy classmate with glasses—but there’s no denying that often, that’s just the kind of thing moviegoers are ravenous for. Underdog owner of the Average Joe gym (Vince Vaughn) faces foreclosure unless he can raise fifty … Read more
To hell with exploitative kitsch-mongers and the mean folk who like to point out that he died on the toilet: We still have a soft spot for the King. We remember that he not only had a truly dreamy voice and an electrifying stage presence—he was also a real actor. At least he wanted to … Read more
Wim Wenders’ cult classic follows the slow unfolding of a damaged man as he literally comes in from the desert and learns to talk again, with the aid of his seven-year-old son. Artful and anti-Hollywood, the film, with its lush cinematography and a haunting soundtrack by slide guitarist Ry Cooder, makes the story stick in … Read more
The person who has nothing—there’s one in all our lives. Perhaps they’re bereft of worldly possessions by divine will or karmic revelation, or maybe they’ve simply “downshifted” into intentional thinglessness. Either way, these folks can stump even the most discerning gift giver! Our “Aught for Naught” gift basket is the perfect answer. Also a good … Read more