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The Kite Runner is charming and visually rich in its portrayal of Amir and Hassan as they grow up together in a Kabul that now exists only in our imaginations: making minor mischief, watching American movies, and – of course – flying kites.
Director Mike Nichols brings his wisdom, cool incisiveness, and keen ability to crack wise in this odd yet most potent paste-up job of a socio-political satire. We revel in the period piece funhouse of its ’80s kitsch and the gonzo jerry-rigging of politics to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan – as cleverly maneuvered by former Texan congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) and a few conspirators.
In 1936’s Sweeney Todd the barber was simply insane. He hacked bodies into meat pies just because he could – it was the kind of frightening ambiguity that the old Tim Burton might have relished in. It surely would’ve made a far richer character for Johnny Depp, who’s nearly asleep throughout this remake.
Before he became the next Woody Allen, Judd Apatow was a writer and producer of such un-ennobling projects as Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, a film that Walk Hard unfortunately recalls. This flick will blows no one away with its scattershot satirical take on films that cry out for fiercer retribution.
Do you love the Christmas season but find that the sound of sleigh bells jingling is already making your stomach churn? Whether you lay the blame on retailers who start playing holiday tunes in October or just the fact that no one’s come up with a good yuletide jingle since the 1950s, there’s finally a cure for your woesand most of it isn’t in English.
Punctuality be damned; since the quiet release of Sufjan Stevens’s limited-edition, 40-song ode to Christmas last year, I have been waiting with unbridled anticipation for an excuse to bust the collection out again.
Movie studios wait until the end of the year to release their best stuff, so they can capitalize on the many awards being handed out around now.
There aren’t too many people who can go from standing in the crowd at a NOFX show in Santa Barbara to supporting the band at a sold-out show in Moscow. But, then again, there aren’t too many people like the Mad Caddies. In a career that has spanned more than 10 years and yielded half a dozen albums, the Solvang natives have taken their delectable offering of punk-infused roots music to the world.
LUCKY THIRTEEN: While wrapping up 2007 in music on disc, in the form of this annual cross-genre baker’s dozen list, we were struck by the fact that the rules of the game are rapidly changing.Radiohead‘s name-your-price release of In Rainbows, one of the year’s greatest and most artful hit releases, arrived not as a physical product but rather as a download and a brave new idea (well, not exactly new, considering similar concepts from Jane Siberry and Prince).
They say it takes a village to raise a child, but the reverse can also be true: Sometimes it takes a child to raise a village. When it comes to addressing the world’s gravest ills, young people often have a freshness of vision that is an invaluable tool for creative problem-solving.
