« April 2006 | Main | June 2006 »
May 19, 2006
Over the Hedge
(out of four)
The foragers — a raccoon, a turtle, a skunk, a squirrel, two possums and a family of porcupines, for those keeping score at home — eat to live. When they're not hibernating, these critters spend the rest of the year gathering bark and berries to hold them over the next winter.
As for the humans just over the hedge, "These guys live to eat," explains RJ (Bruce Willis, more Death Becomes Her than Die Hard). "For humans, enough is never enough. And what do they do with the stuff they don't eat? They put it in gleaming silver cans just for us." Leave it to a raccoon to condense the lessons of Fast Food Nation into a monologue worth the price of admission.
Continue reading "Over the Hedge"
Posted by Peter Debruge at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)
May 12, 2006
Goal! The Dream Begins
(out of four)
Born in Mexico, soccer natural Santiago Munez sneaked across the border to the United States when he was 10 years old. Raised in Los Angeles, he honed his game in his free time, before finally flying to England to try out — and eventually play — for Newcastle United.
It's a timely setup in light of the current immigration debate, but for Santiago, home isn't Mexico, the United States or even his team's English turf. Instead, "it's green and it's got a goal post at each end." His is a passion that's bigger than borders, and Goal! The Dream Begins is the sort of compulsively watchable movie for people who don't snicker when they read a line like that.
Continue reading "Goal! The Dream Begins"
Posted by Peter Debruge at 10:12 AM | Comments (1)
May 05, 2006
Hoot
(out of four)
Carl Hiaasen makes a big deal of nicknaming all of his characters in his novel Hoot. There's Roy Eberhardt — "Tex" to his friends, "cowgirl" to his enemies. Roy just moved from Montana to Coconut Cove, Fla., and he hates it. "Tex" refers to ... well, I'm not sure what. Then there's "Beatrice the Bear." No bully in his right mind would mess with her. But most intriguing is "Mullet Fingers," the barefoot kid everyone pretends not to see when he runs past the school bus. His nickname's a mystery (at least for a while).
Posted by Peter Debruge at 11:18 AM | Comments (0)