Review: ‘Philosopher Kings’ Finds Wisdom In Unlikely Places

By Michelle Solomon

I remember when I was little I would go to the neighbor’s house across the street, and sit on her porch. Mrs. Hughes would tell me stories that I found fascinating about how the street looked at one time, the people who had lived there before, and about a time when streetcars went up and down Main Street.

Mrs. Hughes wasn’t a politician or a professional woman. She was a housewife, but the things she told me stuck with me longer than some learned professors I had in graduate school.

Which brings me to “The Philosopher Kings.” Like my neighbor on the front porch, who knew that the meaning of life could be found with a group of college janitors? Director/producer Patrick Shen focuses his lens on eight janitors. From Josue Laujenesse from Princeton University who selflessly supports 15 family members in New Jersey and Haiti to Corby Baker of Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle sees his job as a custodian to surround himself with the arts, one of his passions. The others are Oscar Dantzler from Duke University; Jim Evener and Gary Napieracz from Cornell University; Melinda Augustus from the University of Florida; Luis Cardenas of the California Institute of Technology; Michael Seals of the University of California, Berkeley.

Each person has their own story to tell, and each weaves a tale that stirs personal emotions.

The producers worked with human resources and facilities departments at a number of colleges, then conducted telephone interviews with more than 30 candidates, and culled it down to the eight custodians who are more than magical in “The Philosopher Kings.”

While most of the action takes place in the cities where the custodians live, and in the schools where they work, the crew followed Laujenesse to Haiti to a remote village in the middle of the jungles of Haiti. The cameras capture his heartbreak as he realizes that he has a mission to provide water to the families. He has been working for the past three years by helping to finance a project for a simple plumbing system of 25 miles of PVC pipe that carries water from a nearby mountain. This story led the filmmakers to find partners for Laujenesse to help expand his project.

Perhaps its Laujenesse’s story that tells such a far-reaching tale, but life’s recollections by janitors such as Augustus, who works at the University of Florida’s Museum of Natural History, also hit a soft spot. Augustus takes us through the death of her mother with a very symbolic scene where she closes the gate on the ghosts of the past.

Luis Cardenas tells his story in his native tongue, Spanish, but his message is felt in any language: “I have always said, that if you are afraid to die, you don’t deserve to live.”

We watch Cardenas change a paper towel roll in a college bathroom using only his left arm. While driving to work early one morning, Cardenas’s truck was struck by a drunk driver. The crash severed his right arm and he was in a coma for two weeks. Pictures from his hospital bed show what one could imagine would be a painful recovery. He returned to work as a custodian at CalTech only ten months after his accident and began the difficult process of relearning the daily tasks that were once easy for him.

Shen’s camera follows the stories without ever passing any judgment on the “ordinary” people who possess an extraordinary wisdom. My neighbor Mrs. Hughes possessed that wisdom. A Chinese proverb says, “A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.” “The Philosopher Kings” provides eight of these conversations, each with something all of us can relate to.

“The Philosopher Kings” World Premiere will take place during the prestigious AFI / Discovery Channel Silverdocs Festival on Thursday, June 18 at 7:15 p.m. in the Washington D.C. area. The Philosopher Kings was selected from more than two thousand submissions from throughout the world to participate in what has been hailed as the “pre-eminent U.S. documentary festival.”

Movie Review: The Proposal is Perky, Predictable

Oscar Nunez dances for Sandra Bullock in The Proposal

By Michelle Solomon

Sandra Bullock doesn’t want her latest movie to be called a romantic comedy. Actually, what the actress who is starring in the new film “The Proposal” says this is, is a comedy with romance elements sprinkled throughout.

“The Proposal,” co-starring cute guy Ryan Reynolds, is a bit romantic comedy, but there’s enough story in the film to pluck it out of that category. While most of the plot relies on the foibles of the mismatched relationship of Bullock and Reynolds’ characters, there is a small dose of drama, but nothing that a few laughs doesn’t soon take away.

Bullock plays Margaret Tate, a “Devil Wears Prada”-like book editor who prompts instant message warnings across the editorial offices of a publishing house a la Simon & Schuster. Tate is so tightly wound that as soon as her Christian Louboutin stilettos hit the floor a hushed announcement of her impending office walk through prompts warnings of “The Witch Is On Her Broom.”

Reynolds plays Bullock’s oh-so-patient assistant, Andrew Paxton, who is working his way up the ladder to be an editor and eventually get his own book published. For some reason, he’s about the only one in the office who knows how to calm the queen of mean.

In a romantic comedy, of course, opposites attract, so some where along the way the two have to be set up. As Bullock is running her division with an iron fist, the publisher breaks the news to her that she is on the verge of being deported to her native Canada because of a glitch in her paperwork filing. No doubt, in the world of scriptwriting it is a bit contrived. Yet there is no choice for the audience but to play along.

We have to buy it because being deported would mean that Tate would lose the only relationship she can sustain ― her job. Quicker than anyone can say Green Card, she gets a brainstorm. She’ll marry her assistant, which will allow her to remain in the country. The unsuspecting assistant agrees after realizing that a bit of blackmail and conniving could make this business deal a win-win for both of them.

However, a suspicious immigration official (Denis O’Hare) could throw a wrench into the deal as he just so happens to question the validity of such a marriage.

In an effort to Cliff Note their relationship, the two head to Sitka, Alaska, to meet his family at a gathering celebrating Paxton’s grandmother’s 90th birthday. See where this is going?

From here, the focus is on Bullock as Tate in the typical fish-out-of-water scenarios. Big city New York girl is thrust into small town Alaska. This is a place where the ladies gather to slug beer and watch the town’s one male stripper, who also doubles as the butler, pastor and clerk at the general’s store. Oscar Nuñez from “The Office” elicits laughs for his unabashed portrayal, especially in a scene where he implores Tate in nothing but a thong.

While Pete Chiarelli’s script is over-the-top sitcom silly at times, director Anne (“27 Dresses”) Fletcher, who happened to be a choreographer at one point in her career, is able to move the action along. While frantic at times, Fletcher knows when to soften the focus and she creates some lovely moments as the two begin to realize their attraction. Bullock and Reynolds have just the right chemistry to pull off a number of different emotions, and a particularly hysterical scene, which has been trumpeted in the movie’s trailers, is when the two crash into each other’s naked bodies to absolute horror. You will feel their pain.

Other scenes don’t work at all like an impromptu fertility Indian dance in the middle of an Alaskan forest, and an eagle who has an affinity for small dogs and cell phones.

A supporting cast of A-list actors including Mary Steenburgen and Craig Nelson, plus a very perky and funny Betty White as Grandma Annie, lend a bit of credibility to “The Proposal.”

This romantic comedy, which isn’t really a romantic comedy but a romance with bits of comedy thrown in, is by the book and formulaic. Yet Bullock and Co. pull off “The Proposal,” and make us somehow care about this taming of the shrew.

Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock star in The Proposal

Eastwood Only Thing That Drives ‘Gran Torino’

_By Michelle Solomon

“Gran Torino” (R) Two 1/2 popcorn rating

Maybe it’s because I lived in the outskirts of Detroit for many years that I couldn’t buy into Clint Eastwood’s latest directorial-acting debut. There are so many events in “Gran Torino” that don’t make sense it’s difficult to care about any of the characters much less believe a storyline which finds Eastwood as a crotchety old man who suddenly finds favor with his Asian neighbors, and learns lessons about himself along the way.

Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, a retired Detroit auto worker who lives in a working class neighborhood that has seen better days. The complexion of the ‘hood is changing and Kowalski finds himself surrounded by a melting pot of races. “I have more in common with these gooks than with my own spoiled, rotten family,” says Walt at a gathering after his wife’s death.

There’s a lot of anger in Walt, most of it leftover from the Korean War; some of it aimed at modern day society who seems to care little about their fellow man. The title of the film also offers some high hopes about Walt’s love affair with his 1972 beauty Gran Torino, but sadly, a brief bonding at the end of the film is all that comes of it. Like much else in the movie, the car is another ploy to show how mean the streets of this little, once nice part of town have become.

Try as he may, Eastwood tries to shake off the weak screenplay by Nick Schenk and create a meaty character with Walt. At times, he succeeds, but other times the predictability is just so overwhelming he doesn’t have a chance. Are we supposed to laugh off Walt’s grumpiness or be sympathetic? And how can a man who has had decades to build intolerance see those walls come tumbling down in such a short amount of time. Other irregularities fray the nerves: A trio of thugs on a tough street corner is frightened away by this geriatric Dirty Harry as he saves a young Hmong girl from their harassment. And Walt’s cronies are so accepting of his newfound mentorship of a shy, young Asian boy that they give him a construction job and teach him “man talk.”

Of course, there’s the requisite drive-by shooting and the “you saw that one coming” rape of the girl Walt saved from the three thugs. Predictable? Yes. Dramatic? No.

The story throws in the stereotypical red-headed Irish catholic naïve priest (Christopher Carley) who tries to save Walt from himself despite the curmudgeon’s constant insults. One of the choicest is his description of the clergyman as “a 27-year-old virgin who likes to hold the hands of little old ladies who are superstitious and promise them eternity.”

The movie finally comes into its own near the end of the film when Walt decides he has to take a stand not only for his neighborhood but for the newcomers who are trying to make a go of it.

But it’s too late for “Gran Torino,” which has too many sputters to make worthwhile. You can almost hear Eastwood saying in his gravely voice, “Hollywood just don’t make ‘em like they used to.”

Review: Holiday Turkey Arrives Early With ‘Four Christmases’

Every once in a while screenwriters will create a story that puts the cart before the horse. Such is the case with the most recent holiday offering “Four Christmases.”

As blatant as the red on Rudolph’s nose, you can almost see screenwriters Matt Allen and Caleb Wilson downing a couple of egg nogs while thinking up funny scenarios in which to place their characters, yet none of the situations ever reach the level of comic bliss.

Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon star as the most unlikely of happy couples. If you believe the story, the two are blissfully in love, although it’s vaguely established why the two are a match made in eharmony heaven.

The upscale San Francisco couple is getting ready to spend Christmas somewhere far from their dysfunctional families, all four of them due to that modern tradition known as divorce.

It’s a journey the pair has shared in their three years of dating. This year it’s Fiji where Brad and Kate will sip umbrella-decorated drinks while leading all four families to believe they are in Burma doing charity work.

The pair packs their tourist garb, complete with Hawaiian shirt and overly large sunglasses and head to the airport. But as movie fate would have it, their flight is grounded and all flights canceled. Of course, no sooner are the flights canceled that a local news crew shows up to interview the hapless pair.

At least one of the parents is tuned in to the newscast, but all four in short order are on the phone insisting they visit for the holidays.

The situations at the family homes allow for plenty of pratfalls, embarrassing moments, and even a scene where a home pregnancy test stick becomes a game of hot potato for a group of five year olds.

This Christmas story, at 88 minutes, stretches the limits of how far a family can go before they aren’t just dysfunctional but certifiably crazy. Brad’s father, Howard, superbly played by Robert Duvall, heads up a house where siblings work together to perfect the art of cage fighting while one of the brothers’ pregnant wife creates a casserole out of Doritos. She’s barefoot and pregnant offering Kate a frightening look at motherhood and explaining in detail what happens to breasts that have been subjected to childfeeding for too long. Add that to the category of TMI (too much information) as is a detailed conversation about grandma and grandpa’s sex life at Kate’s mom’s house. There’s also frequent projectile baby vomiting with Vaughn in a perpetual state of red-faced nausea. And a product placement for the game Taboo only leaves moviegoers clueless at its inclusion, yet when the story tries to veer away from its over-the-top silliness and works at incorporating a message about family, love, and all the joys of holiday gatherings, you’ll hope for another bout of baby spit up.

Brad and Kate expect the worst from visiting their families and that’s what they get. If moviegoers keep their expectations on about the same par, “Four Christmases” won’t be any more disappointing than the yearly fruit cake from Aunt Mildred.

Review: Far Away ‘Australia’ Suffers Ups, Downs

A cast of thousands with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman at the center makes this almost three hour long movie an epic, for sure, yet “Australia” also feels like you’re being taken hostage for the evening.

“Australia” is a journey that visionary filmmaker Baz (“Moulin Rouge”) Luhrmann wanted to make, but would the expensive film be something that moviegoers would enjoy or merely endure?

That’s a matter of opinion. From the onset, the complicated story takes time to figure out. Set in Australia, naturally, an English aristocrat leaves all the comforts of home in London to find her husband who has gone off to a place called Faraway Downs.

She’s decided to take the trek to find out if he has been involved in a love affair at the cattle ranch he’s been forced to sell off due to financial reasons.

The beginning of the film is a mish mash of situations. Lady Sarah Ashley is picked up by a guide in a rickety truck, a drunkard man sits between her and the rough driver. A brawling bar scene is even more confusing and used as a backdrop for Lady Ashley’s underthings to become part of the antics. It’s circa 1939 funny.

The film takes place from 1939 to 1942 with lots of shots of desert terrain, plenty of CGI cattle herds, an involved story of greed, death, witchcraft, and some really great costumes.

Channeling Clint Eastwood in the early moments of the film, Hugh Jackman also shows shades of Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, and even Spencer Tracy. People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive, plays the rugged Drover, a cowboy who says that “no man hires him and no man fires him.” He lives his life for the land and cattle.

Jackman gets plenty of screen time to look rancher handsome with a beard, tight cattleman’s costume, and, at one point, a sexy water scene in slow motion. We also get the clean shaven, doe-eyed version of Jackman in a tuxedo dressed like a prince for a ball.

Kidman opts for a terse lipped Katharine Hepburn as she sits upright in overloaded truck that carries her in an awkward bit of symbolism to self discovery. As her character evolves, she lets loose and that’s where the real talent of Kidman shines through. Despite some goofy moments, she keeps her wits.

Review: ‘Quantum of Solace’ Is Darkest Bond Film Yet

For all the detractors out there who didn’t believe Daniel Craig would make a good James Bond, if “Casino Royale” didn’t convince you, “Quantum of Solace” might.

Still, Craig is a different kind of Bond. The first blonde Bond, his jagged face is more rugged than the pretty boy Bonds (Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan), but it gives him all the more sex appeal. Too bad director Marc Forster decided for this Bond sex appeal was out and brooding was in.

The film picks up where “Royale” left off and this time Agent 007’s mission is personal. Betrayed by Vesper Lynd in the last film, he wants to uncover the truth and find out what really happened that led to her death.

If action’s what you want from a Bond movie, action is definitely what you’ll get with “Quantum Solace.” Almost void of Bond’s bedding of numerous femme fatale, his martini is only shaken, not stirred once around.

So audiences must get their kicks from adrenaline pumped up in the form of non-stop car and foot chases, shootouts, exotic locales, and mysterious enemies by the names of Mr. White and the evil Dominic Greene. Greene is the focal point of Bond’s rage as the crafty conniver tries to control Bolivia in an effort to control one of the world’s most important natural resources. So what does this all mean? Nothing really. It just sets the stage for an intercontinental trek across six different locales including the United Kingdom, Panama, Chile, Mexico, Italy and Austria.

An incredible car chase opens the 22^nd adventure as Bond eludes bad guys in an Aston Martin DBS vs. them in an Alfa Romero (we don’t know who they are, what they represent and does it really matter?). The Aston Martin became infamous after the scenes were filmed because it was the one that Craig’s stunt double was seriously injured in. You can see why during the incredible nail biters where the $233,000 car takes quite a beating, but that’s chump change to Bond and the British Secret Intelligence Service. Our hero escapes with only a few cuts and scrapes, and when it’s all over, you catch your breath and think, ‘how’d they do that?’ “

There won’t be much time to ruminate on that thought because soon after Bond is caught in another tight situation, this time as he fights with a man beginning in one of the rooms of a hotel then spilling out onto the balcony. It’s one of the most highly choreographed fight scenes seen on screen since the empty hand fighting in “The Bourne Ultimatum.”

Bond does just about every stunt imaginable including flying a DC-3 plane over a South American desert, stealing a motorcycle and driving it through narrow streets, running an exhaustive foot chase through a bell tower, and driving a rickety speed boat that is able to jump large vessels with amazing agility while dodging water bombs.

There there’s the new Bond girl in town. Doe-eyed Olga Kurylenko plays Camille who is seeking some revenge of her own. She’s more of a hands-on Bond girl than her predecessors; when it comes to fighting, she chooses her own battles and sees them to the end.

Russian-born Kurylenko, 28, may be new to U.S. audiences, but has a reputation for many steamy scenes in foreign films. In this outing, however, her Bond with bond is based on satisfying revenge. Frankly, the two barely click in the chemistry department.

It’s actually Dame Judi Dench and Craig that click in a way that adds depth to the film. As “M,” Bond’s boss, Dench utters one of the best lines in the movie. “If you could avoid killing every possible lead, it would be greatly appreciated,” she says with icy conviction.

She’s right. It’s almost unbearably un-Bondlike when he throws the body of a dear old friend in a dumpster, then lifts his wallet.

There’s a dark undertone to this film much like the turn that the “Dark Knight” took in the “Batman” franchise. This is a colder, more solemn Bond. There’s no room for a dripping wet Daniel Craig to emerge from the Caribbean Sea in a La Perla Grigioperla Lodato swimsuit. And darn it for that. We can see an action film any day, but what we love about Bond is his way with the ladies, and his way with a drink. Give us solace: Can we have our sexy Bond back?

Gloria Estefan Review From New Times – Hard Rock Hotel

Gloria Estefan
Friday, October 24, 2008
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Hollywood

Better Than: The Santiago de Cuba Carnival

Who can pack a crowd of Gringos and Latinos equally in one South Florida concert arena? If you guessed Gloria Estefan, you are right. Step to the head of the class.

Estefan brought the final show of her tour that took her to Europe for summer vacation to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The evening of her greatest hits and music from her latest CD 90 Millas was billed as a benefit, in part, for the Education Funds of South Florida.

Anyone who looked at the fine print of their ticket would see that $2 went to the education fund. Tickets, by the way, were priced at $250, $175, $125 and $95. Sorry, kids.

Benefit or not, Estefan had the fans at the Hard Rock in the palm of her hand, and the hostess was continually gracious for that. “Thank you for sticking with me all these years,” she said. She was happy to be home, singing for la familia y sus amigos. The familiarity of South Florida gave the performer comfort after an up and down European tour that was embraced by fans in an outdoor concert in Valencia, where she greeted a crowd of 50,000 for the kick off in August and slogged through a torrential rainstorm, but saw a smaller crowd at London’s Wembley in September; a reviewer from the London Times said the stadium was “half sold at best.”

On Friday night, the swelling Hard Rock crowd grew restless waiting for the 8 p.m. start time as the clock ticked and ticked. However, piped-in, pre-music gave way to an impromptu letter formation to the Village People’s YMCA by the floor crowd, and provided entertainment for at least a few minutes.

When she arrived 40 minutes late, Estefan, in a bright red full-length flamenco-type skirt with a Western jacket top, performed nothing short of a Gloriafest, a two-hour show that brought her back for a 15 minute encore.

She played to everyone, winking, pointing and waving at the front row all the way up to the rafters. She was a politician and this was her platform. Watch out, Sarah Palin.

At one point she accepted the feathered fedora from the Seminole tribe chief who was standing and cheering in the front row. “Shake your booty chief,” she said from the stage.

It was a tour de force. Glorious Gloria didn’t miss a beat. Even when she popped a button off her tight white shirt after the second costume change, she grabbed hold of the pulsating dance hits that made her a club favorite with the Miami Sound Machine in the mid-80s (“Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,” “Turn The Beat Around,” and, of course, “Conga”) and took things down a notch for the adult contemporary hits (“Anything For You,” “Don’t Wanna Lose You”). The Spanish ballads and those with an upbeat tempo proved her versatility. She dedicated “Con Los Años” early in the first set to her husband of 30 years, Emilio Estefan, with whom she built her storied career. Not forgetting her roots, she made an opening speech about the freedom she hoped that the people of her native country would some day enjoy, then launched into “Cuba Libre.”

It was all in the family as Emilio came from back stage to share a dance with her for her 1989 “Oy Mi Canto.” Daughter, Emily, 13, gave Mom a rest as she commanded the stage with some searing guitar riffs while the band backed her on Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out.” A strange choice for this crowd, but that’s teen rebellion for ya. Then she hopped up behind the drum kit and showed off her skill with the sticks. Cute, fun, but a bit of out place.

But this was Gloria’s show, dammit, no question about it. As a plug for a movie she has in the works, the singer presented a nostalgic tribute to Connie Francis, who was in the audience Friday night. Estefan sang two of Francis’s hits, “Where the Boys Are” and “Hold Me,” while a video montage of Francis rolled in the background. Estefan wrote the screenplay and will star in the biopic.

At 51, she may not salsa as sprightly as she used to; she still needs physical therapy after an accident in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1990 involving her tour bus, where two of her vertebrae were shattered. (Personal aside: I was working the music beat at a newspaper in Scranton at the time and actually vividly remember the accident.)

And sometimes those high notes seem a little more difficult to reach, but on Friday night when it was just Gloria and her guitar for the ballad “Always Tomorrow,” there was no mistaking that Mrs. Estefan has cemented her place in music history. Viva la Gloria!

Critic’s Notebook

Personal Bias: Gloria’s taste in clothes was questionable Friday night (lose the piñata skirt, please), but girl, where were you hiding those Christian Leboutin shoes you were wearing for the encore?

Random Detail: I never realized that Gloria Estefan looked like a drag queen in her video for “Everlasting Love” (1994) until she was 50-feet-tall on the big screen last night.

By the Way: Gloria has been invited as the headliner this year for Bette Midler’s annual Hullaween Gala in New York City. The Gala benefits the New York Restoration Project and more than $2 will go to the fund.

– Michelle F. Solomon

‘High School Musical Mania Continues

For anyone who wants to bash “High School Musical 3,” don’t even think about it.

Released as a Disney Channel Original Movie on Jan. 20, 2006, the first “High School Musical” became the most successful television movie that Disney ever produced. And so the mania began. Ice shows, more television movies, merchandise — you name it, it’s got “High School Musical” plastered on it.

Now, “High School Musical 3: Senior Year,” up on the 50-foot screen, is poised to dance and sing its way into box office record books.

In London, at least, “HSM 3″ broke records with the biggest advance ticket sales ever in movie history, beating record holder “Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire.”For tween girls, the target demographic of the movie, seeing the Disney Channel hit at the movies will be better than getting a deluxe makeover at Club Libby Liu.Case in point: When the advance screening started, the theater erupted in squeals when the girls saw Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) bigger than life. It was definitely a Beatlemania moment.

Efron, with his perfectly coiffed hair and blue eyes, is also knocking every teen heartthrob, including Daniel “Harry Potter” Radcliffe, off of their thrones.

In case you’re wondering, there is a plot. The film opens with the ever-popular East High School Wildcats, with Bolton as captain, of course, in the last 16 minutes of their game, but they are also in the last 16 minutes as senior basketball players for the ‘Cats.Of course, in “High School Musical” tradition, this leads to a jaw-dropping choreographed song “16 Minutes” using the basketball players, basketballs, cheerleaders and the crowd in the stands for a synchronized song and dance fest . The song features the lyrics: “16, 16, 16 minutes left; Better get it done; 16, 16, 16 more minutes; Get ready, game on! “While there are scenes where singing and dancing comes out of nowhere, such as the aforementioned basketball game, there is a real high school musical brewing in the land of movie subplots. The “let’s put on a show” routine has been done more times than anyone can count since Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland uttered the line as teen heartthrobs back in “Babes In Arms” in 1939.

Well, the formula works, and it works in “High School Musical 3.”

Before senior year ends, the kids at East High will put on their spring musical. With more talent than one can even find at a High School for Performing Arts, East High’s student body is loaded with it. They have a girl who can write and compose all the original music, and a boy choreographer who would give Bob Fosse a run for his money. But this is Disney land, so you’ll just have to buy into it.Meanwhile, Troy, in addition to being a star basketball player, is also an incredible singer and dancer. Brainy Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) is also just too talented. Of course, there’s no question that the duo will star as the leads in the school play, much to the chagrin of perpetually pink Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tinsdale).

The musical follows the seniors through daily life and chronicles the ups and downs of the last few weeks of school including college decisions, prom night, true love, and many goodbyes.And even though Troy, Gabs, and the rest of the crew are all off to college, there’s no mistaking that “High School Musical 4″ is already in the works.This film introduced three sidekicks who appear to be ready to take center stage. Meanwhile, those who need a dose of Efron can catch him in another film musical. After his success in “Hairspray,” he’ll take on Kevin Bacon’s role in the upcoming remake of “Footloose.”

Stone Beats Around The Bush In “W.”

By Michelle Solomon

(2 1/2 popcorn buckets out of four)

There are a few things you’ll take away from Oliver Stone’s new biopic on the United States 43^rd president.

Josh Brolin as George Dubya

One is that George W. Bush was never really ready to be the leader of the free world, two that he was ill advised going into Iraq, and three that anyone can be president.

There’s no doubt that Stone rushed this movie into theaters just three weeks before one of the most important elections in United States history, and there’s also no doubt that he did so in an effort to sway public opinion.

Who would want to vote for another Republican based on a movie that shows the current Republican president as a misinformed fool whose closest confidants couldn’t even advise him correctly?

But the movie digs its heels a little deeper, or so it likes to think, into the psyche of George Dubya Bush, a man who has never been able to win the affection of his father (played by James Cromwell), and whose privileged life got him a get out of jail free card on a few occasions, and an easy in to Harvard Business School. After he gives up booze and finds the Lord, according to the film, he’s destined to become president because, as he tells a pastor, “he got the calling.”

Actor Josh Brolin gives it all he’s got with a human depiction of the “Man From Midland.” From an early scene where he’s being inducted into a fraternity at Yale, we see glimpses of the future president. Unlike the other pledges, he’s able to name everyone in the room, and gives them all nicknames, which became a Dubya trait for closest members of his staff, journalists, and other politicians on the Hill, and is now legendary.

The one most overused in the movie is his nickname for his dad, Poppy. George Senior is shown as Dubya’s Achilles heel throughout the film. If you believe the screenplay by Stanley Weiser, it is the Oedipal nature of George W.’s psyche that guided him from Day One and will right on into the final days of his presidency. Weiser and Stone suggest that George junior continued the battle with Saddam because it was a war his father walked away from. The “mission accomplished” appearance with George W. dressed in full military fighting gear was another way to show dear old dad, and the dismantling of the Saddam statue held significance showed another analogy that George W. had actually toppled his father.

There are also lines such as this one after his born-again experience when he says that he doesn’t ask his dad for advice because “there’s a higher Father I appeal to.”

Yet there’s something missing in “W.” that Stone doesn’t quite hit like he did in his depictions of “JFK” and “Nixon.” Perhaps it is that this one portrays a character still present in the public’s psyche and not merely remembered in photos and history books. Stone also lets the film go South with a lot of board room scenes with people hashing out complex political strategies that most likely will be over the heads of most Americans, who may use these segments as excuses to get more popcorn or take a bathroom break.

The supporting characters have their struggles, too. Richard Dreyfuss never seems to be able to hit the gruff character of Cheney on the head, presenting him as more of a guy content to be in the background than the menacing and tough guy veep. Thandie Newtown’s portrayal of Condoleezza Rice seems too stilted and not genuine as the president’s “yes” woman. The best performance in addition to Brolin’s is Jeffrey Wright as Colin Powell, who comes off believable and earnest as the secretary of state and decorated general who is unable to steer anyone in his direction. Toby Jones is also a keeper as longtime adviser Karl Rove, a.k.a. “Bush’s Brain.”

Stone doesn’t really break any new ground with the film and it probably won’t have much of a shelf life when there’s a new president in the Oval Office.

For what it’s worth, this movie should probably be taken as seriously as Tina Fey’s portrayal of Gov. Sarah Palin. Perhaps that’s what the filmmakers think, too, since Josh Brolin will be promoting “W.” on the same late-night comedy sketch show the day after the film’s opening.

Zach Efron Keeps ‘17 Again’ Retread Afloat

By Michelle Solomon

That story, again? A middle-aged man (we’ve seen it with a women in the role, too), gets taken back to their younger days so they can see what life would have been like had they appreciated their blessings. “17 Again” is “Big” again. “17 Again” is “13 Going on 30″ again. “17 Again” is “18 Again.” But the good news is, “17 Again” also has Zac Efron, who somehow makes this retread of a movie seem fresh. The movie opens on a basketball court with a shirtless Efron, no doubt purposely planted to make the teen idol’s fans swoon. Efron plays Mike O’Donnell, who isn’t only a star on the high school basketball court, but one of the most popular boys in school. He has everything going for him, a college basketball scout in the stands, and a beautiful girlfriend named Scarlet. When Scarlet shows up at the game to tell him they are expecting a baby, his hoop hopes exit out the gymnasium door, along with his college scholarship. Almost 20 years later, Mike (Matthew Perry) works at a pharmaceutical company and drives a Ford Taurus. His teenagers barely speak to him and his marriage to Scarlet (Leslie Mann) has fallen apart.

His divorce is looming and he’s moved in with high-school nerd-turned-uber-billionaire Ned (Thomas Lennon). He also gets passed over for a promotion at work for a new hire, a giddy twentysomething blonde girl. Mike’s days couldn’t get any worse. How it ends up that Mike is given another chance when he’s sent back to 1989, isn’t nearly as clever as “Big’s” mechanical gypsy ― a Santa Claus-esque janitor suddenly appears and its Mike’s attempt to save the man’s life that propels the sad sack into a whirling tunnel of water. Moviegoers are given the obligatory teen in a baggy man’s suit who is totally confused about his new lack of chest hair. But it’s Efron’s true believability as a Dad caught up in pubescent angst that keeps this movie from sinking. Add to that some very funny pop culture references (Scarlet now thinks the new teenager on the block is actually in search of an older woman, a la The Cougar, and the new Mike thinks dressing in bedazzled Ed Hardy gear will make him cool at his new school).

A hilarious subplot that focuses on Ned, who courts the high-school principal (Melora Hardin, Jan on “The Office”) after posing as the new kid’s father, drags on a bit. But Lennon as a man-child with an undying passion for the worlds of science fiction, fantasy and comic books, and who speaks Elfin, steals many a scene. A memorabilia fight using lightsabers is sure to become a collectible movie moment for obsessed “Star Wars” geeks. With “17 Again,” Efron proves he’s more than the David Cassidy of the 21st century and possesses more acting depth than his usual role as a Disney poster boy.

“17 Again” is likely to open up new acting doors for Efron. Someone somewhere is probably already considering him for a role in a revamp of “The Graduate.” You heard it here first.

Review: ‘Despereaux’ Is Tiny Tale With Big Heart

By Michelle Solomon

Let’s start by saying that if you saw “Ratatouille” and you believe “The Tales of Despereaux” might traverse that same road, don’t give it a second thought.

Sure, this lovable children’s tale is about rodents and soup like “Ratatouille” before it, but that isn’t even close to the half of it. It does lead you to wonder, what is it with animated scripts of late that insist on having French chefs involved in soup making only to become hopelessly entangled with rats and mice. Well, in this case, it’s not the main crux of the story anyway. Soup and chefs are just a means to other things unlike “Ratatouille” whose plot surrounded soups, kitchens and French chefs.

Yet, we must admit, in “The Tales Of Despereaux” there is a bit of a story about soup. In the soup-loving kingdom of Dor life revolves around the yearly creation of an outstanding soup by the personal chef to the King and Queen. Meanwhile, a rat with a culinary six sense arrives in Dor just in time for soup day. Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman), whose days are mostly spent on a pirate ship, gets so enthralled with the soup, he accidentally dives into the queen’s bowl. She suffers ill consequences from the event and Roscuro is banned to the underground Rat World forever.

Furthermore, the King issues a proclamation that there will be no more soup or rats in the kingdom of Dor.

It is then that we meet another layer below the King’s castle, which is mouseworld. The day we’re invited in, the birth of a mouse baby is imminent and the proud papa couldn’t be happier. It turns out there’s only one problem, besides his newborns exceedingly large ears, he soon realizes the mouse isn’t afraid of anything.

Try as they might, even at school where mice students are taught to cower, Despereaux continues to be the odd mouse out, taking daring risks much to the chagrin of his friends and especially his parents. His final act of courage, his desire to interact with humans, which is a no no in the mouseworld, lands him in trouble. He is sent to the rat world.

Matthew Broderick keeps the voice of Despereaux at just the right strength in
order for the little guy to get his points across, and Dustin Hoffman as the downtrodden Roscuro couldn’t be better. A pleasantly voiced Sigourney Weaver narrates the story, which also has a third plot about a girl named Miggery Sow (Tracy Ullman), who dreams of one day living in the castle and becoming princess, but ends up as a castle handmaiden instead.

What’s beautiful and original about “Despereaux” is it actually has the feel of reading a storybook. It’s been kept true to its 2003’s children’s book of the same name by Kate DiCamillo. There’s something so enjoyable and relaxing about an animated movie that doesn’t follow the current pack of Cartoon Newtork type productions complete with pop culture references and too loud and too annoying hip hop music.

“The Tales of Despereaux” just lumbers along with its ode to once upon a time, and there’s enough of a story even to keep the toddler set entertained. It also helps that Despereaux himself almost leaps off the screen with his adorable pink nose, floppy ears and all.

“The Tales of Despereaux” is a sea of calm in the recent crop of over the top animated noisefests. In a world where animated movies are created to satisfy marketing initiatives for drive through kids toys at fast food burger joints, “Desperaux” stands out in the crowd. It carries a message about overcoming the odds and blazing your own path. It also drives its point home that very good things do come in small packages.