This film begs the eternal question: Why don’t they spend as much effort on the script as they do the sets? This prehistoric prequel to the 1994 live-action film, which starred John Goodman, tells how our formerly animated pals first met. Mark Addy (The Full Monty) takes over the role of Fred and does an admirable enough job with the…
Opera, basketball, and a town tractor all play factors in this family tale set in a farming community in the Midwest during the tail end of World War I. Director Rich Cowan and screenwriter Don Caron make even the harsh theme of intolerance palatable through straightforward narrative and homespun morality. The presence of two German war orphans, Helmut and Brigitta…
Sofia Coppola brings a lot of talent-by-association to the directorial table. The daughter of landmark filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather), Sofia is married to director Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich). If her debut film is any indication, talent does run in the family — even if it is a somewhat disjointed talent. In The Virgin Suicides, writer-director Coppola…
Few people go to see movies to catch a glimpse of the real world, and with good reason. It’s considerably cheaper to look out a window than it is to buy a ticket. While realism in movies is optional, credibility isn’t. That’s why getting through first-time director Matt Williams’ adaptation of Billie Letts’ novel Where the Heart Is becomes…
It is A.D. 180 Germania refuses to accept the rule of Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of the Roman Empire. As soldiers await their orders in the cold, blue morning, General Maximus surveys them in their formations; the respect felt by the soldiers for Maximus is palpable, and their loyalties are as fierce as the general’s tenderness for his men. Moments…
Sky wars Congratulations to Michelle Rubin on her fair and balanced assessment of the airborne news-gathering competition in “Let the Newscopter Wars Begin” (“Static,” April 13-19). As a participant in the “games,” it is nice to see the reporter leave the final judgments to the reader. However, I would like to clarify my statement regarding the cruising speed of our…
Having fun at a park should not cause grief, but the Loop Road in Swope Park has caused plenty. Twenty-nine-year-old Freddie L. Heard died at the Loop on April 9. According to the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department, Heard was a bystander to an act of violence. But the incident has set off, once again, a major debate about…
When Camden Point Fire Protection District volunteers in Platte County, Mo., needed new equipment, they looked to their board of directors. Keith Dutcher, a volunteer firefighter for the district, asked the board in November 1996 to replace the fire department’s 28-year-old fire truck along with some personal firefighter protection equipment. Dutcher, a firefighter for six years, and eight other volunteers…
When 15-year-old James Stout arrived at Topeka State Hospital in June 1996, he had four shirts, three pairs of jeans, six sets of socks, a silver necklace with a wooden cross pendant, and a lot of emotional baggage from shuttling among foster parents, group homes, and mental hospitals all over Kansas since he was 6. Stout’s transfer from another mental…
