December 2004
Hop Aboard The Polar Express
By Jan Aaron
Bearing an uncanny resemblance to Chris Van Allsburg's original storybook, “The Polar Express,” also generates a new liveliness and magic that kids will love and enchant parents, too. READ ARTICLE
Journey Through Life: The Motorcycle Diaries
By Jan Aaron
Director Walter Salle's The Motorcycle Diaries tells how two middle class Argentinean buddies, the 23-year-old asthmatic med student Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (Gael Garcia Bernal) and the biochemist Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna), set out on a rundown motorbike to explore the South America they had only known through books.
READ ARTICLE
September 2004
MOVIE
REVIEW:
New Flair for Vanity Fair
by Jan Aaron MORE
THEATER
REVIEW:
Bollywood on Broadway: Bombay
Dreams
By Jan Aaron MORE
August 2004
Tense
Teen Trek: Maria Full of Grace
by Jan Aaron MORE
July 2004
MOVIE REVIEW
Fascinating Animals:
Two Brothers,
Weeping Camel & Garfield
by Jan Aaron
READ
MORE
THEATER REVIEW
Family Fun:
“Fiddler on
the Roof” & Tots’ “Cookin’” Show
by Jan Aaron
READ
MORE
Teen
Filmmakers In the Spotlight
by Michelle Accorso
READ
MORE
Performing Arts in
China
by Jan Aaron
READ
MORE
June 2004
High
School High Jinks—Mean Girls and Saved!
by Jan Aaron
READ
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May 2004
Bugs! A Rainforest
Adventure
by
Jan Aaron READ
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April 2004
Survival
Skills: Osama & Goodbye,
Lenin!
by Jan Aaron
Director Siddiq Barmakt takes us back into the horrors of
Taliban controlled Afghanistan in "Osama," the
first film to come out the country since the regime ended. READ
MORE
February 2004
A Rare Pearl Earring
by Jan Aaron
British director, Peter Webber has turned the famous Vermeer
portrait, "Girl With a Pearl Earring," into a lustrous
movie. The portrait itself hangs permanently in the Mauritshuis
in the Hague, capturing the imagination. READ
MORE
Bag
Full of Fun: "Where
Is That Bear?"
by Jan Aaron
Take all the kids you can to "Where Is That Bear?" and
celebrate the Paper Bag Player's 45th season. Then, don't shush
when they call out or stamp their feet. Bags' founder and long
time director Judith Martin wants kids to feel at home in the
theater. READ
MORE
December 2003
"Lady Next Door" Opens
Folksbiene's 89th Season
by Jan Aaron
A tale of 20th century immigrants, performed first in 1916,
gets the forever-young Folksbiene Yiddish Theater's 89th
consecutive season off to a great start with... READ
MORE
Looney
Tunes: Back in Action
& The Barbarian Invasions
by Jan Aaron
For holiday filmgoers who want to take the kids out or get
in touch with their inner child, there's Warner Bros. Looney
Tunes: Back in Action, a blend of live-action and animation. READ
MORE
Profile:
Zalmen Mlotek & the
Yiddish Theater
by Joanna Leefer
In the early 20th century, New York City was the host to two
dozen Yiddish Theaters troupes entertaining more than two million
people. As Jewish immigrants assimilated and moved out...READ
MORE
No Need for Tears
by Joan Constance Croft READ
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November 2003
Disney’s
Brother Bear
by Jan Aaron
The tale of three brothers in the Pacific Northwest, set
at the end of the Ice Age, Disney’s Brother Bear,
starts and ends with prehistoric story telling and ancient
rites. READ
MORE
“To Be and to Have”(Etre
et Avoir)
by Jan Aaron
One of the most touching and interesting movies about education
ever made, Nicholas Philibert’s terrific documentary
To Be and to Have chronicles one year in the life of Georges
Lopez who teaches kids in the Auvergne region of France. READ
MORE
September 2003
Film Review
by Jan Aaron
Catherine Hardwicke’s directorial debut, Thirteen,
is a raw drama about a teenage school girl who jumps from
pony-tailed innocence to hard-boiled rebel as tutored by
the school’s
bad girl. READ
MORE
August 2003
Camp & Spy
Kids 3-D: Great Summer Fare
by Jan Aaron
Actor screenwriter Todd Graff’s first feature, “Camp,” is
about a bunch of self-described “freaks” who
spend their summer at Camp Ovation, a musical workshop
for youngsters in upstate New York. Know any kids you’d
like to send to a place like this? READ
MORE
July 2003
Summer
Family Films: Sinbad; Legally Blonde 2:
Red, White & Blonde
by Jan Aaron
DreamWorks’ “Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas,” loosely
follows the adventures of the notorious Arabian sailor-thief
born over one thousand years ago in “The Arabian Nights.” READ
MORE
June 2003
Together Features Beijing Symphony
by Jan Aaron
First we meet Liu Xiaochun (Tang Yun), the 13-year-old
prodigy violinist featured in Chen Kaige’s, Together.
He is living in a provincial town where his father,
Liu Cheng (Liu Peiqi), is bringing him up. From here,
the two travel via calm, idyllic waterways to hectic
Beijing. Because the teen won a music competition,
they are heading to an audition at a music school there. READ
MORE
May 2003
Kid-Friendly
Broadway Show A Year With Frog & Toad
by Jan Aaron
New at the Cort Theater, A Year With Frog and Toad is a
charming musical based on the books by the late Arnold
Lobel. READ
MORE
Terrific Latino Teens: Raising Victor Vargas
by Jan Aaron
Worth seeking out: Here’s a modest feature full of heartfelt
emotion and human foibles. Raising Victor Vargas marks an impressive
writer-director debut for Peter Sollett. READ
MORE
February 2003
BAG
FULL OF FUN: THE CAT’S
MEOW
Paper Bag Players
by Jan Aaron
The cat’s in and out of the bag and crooning a happy
tune in “The Cat’s Meow” by The Paper
Bag Players. This famous children’s troupe takes
its name from its clever sets: Everything is paper or... READ
MORE
January 2003
Just Love: Evelyn Perky Potter: Chamber of Secrets
by
Jan Aaron
Atmospheric, interesting and enjoyable family entertainment,
Evelyn is the true-life saga of an Irish father Desmond
Doyle (Pierce Brosnan) who battled the Irish government
for legal custody of his three children in a groundbreaking
court case in 1953. It’s David and Goliath theme
might even carry over to classroom discussion. READ
MORE
December 2002
Emperor’s Club’ Hails
Education
by Jan Aaron
Paying tribute to Education Update’s seven years, the
December movie spotlights education. While the Greek
and Roman classics may be rare in today’s classrooms,
many modern educators will identify with Kevin Kline’s
plight in Michael Hoffman’s The Emperor’s Club... READ
MORE
Yentl, A Heart-Warming Play for the Holidays
by Pola Rosen,
Ed.D.
Even if you don’t understand Yiddish, (headphones with
simultaneous translation are provided for those who need them)
Yentl transcends language, time and place. Its theme deals
with the place of women in a society that views them as “married
with children,” the old “Kirchen, kuchen, und kinder” READ
MORE
November 2002
Teen Trauma:
White Oleander; Gun Culture: Bowling for Columbine
by Jan Aaron READ
MORE
October 2002
Upbeat
Uptown: “Harlem
Song”
Dramatic Downtown: “Shanghai Ghetto”
by Jan Aaron READ
MORE
February 2002
Antics:
Snow Dogs & WayDownTown
by Jan Aaron READ
MORE
Movie Based On Pulitzer Prize Book: Newspaper Life In Small
Town
by Jan Aaron READ
MORE
January 2002
This Beauty Is No Beast!
by Jan Aaron READ
MORE
Wizardry
on the Screen: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s
Stone
by Jan Aaron READ
MORE
December 2001
Sparring
Partners: McKellon And Mirren In
“Dance Of Death”
by
Jan Aaron
Don’t miss these two great British stars in top form,
Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren as Edgar and Alice, in August
Strindberg’s Dance of Death. However, be prepared
for some surprises. READ
MORE
Bilingual
Musical Spoofs Genesis: “Songs of Paradise”
by
Jan Aaron
Who could imagine Abraham as a cool dude sunbathing in the
Garden of Eden in a Hawaiian printed shirt? Or the scheming
Laban as Groucho Marx? READ
MORE
November 2001
Bumps on the Road to Higher Education:
Riding in Cars with
Boys
by Marie Holmes
Drew Barrymore heads a talented cast in Riding in Cars
with Boys, based on the life story of Beverly Donofrio
as told in her memoir of the same name, published in 1990.
The film, directed by Penny Marshall, spans 20 years of
Donofrio’s
life, recording her transformation from a boy-crazy teenager
to a young mother struggling to hold onto dreams of going
to college and becoming a writer. READ
MORE
October 2001
Football
Film a Winner: “Go Tigers!”
by
Jan Aaron
As the gridiron season kicks off, Kenneth A. Carlson’s “Go
Tigers!” scores a touchdown as a keenly observed
non-fiction feature that’s highly entertaining.
While cheering for the team, the film also offers a not-so-flattering
view of Massillon, Ohio, a town obsessed with football.
Educators will be fascinated by how the school system’s
fortunes are tied to the team’s. READ
MORE
September 2001
The
Bard And Bland America: “O” & “Ghost
World”
by Jan Aaron
As summer ends, two films about teens light up movie
screens. Tim Blake Nelson’s “O” transfers Shakespeare’s “Othello” to
an all white, Southern boarding school, and Terry Zwigoff’s “Ghost
World” reinterprets a renowned comic novel by
Daniel Clowes who collaborated on this film script. READ
MORE
The Adventures Of Maya The Bee
by Jan Aaron
The Culture Project’s charming puppet show “The
Adventures of Maya the Bee” is now in its second year.
It’s a must-see for preschoolers to age 6 and accompanying
adults— how often does a young kid’s show combine
rod and shadow puppets and a jazz score that would make Miles
Davis tap his toes? READ
MORE
August 2001
Spielberg’s
Bright Summer Film: Artificial Intelligence
by Jan Aaron READ
MORE
Film
Feasts: Vertical Ray Of The Sun & Tortilla Soup
by
Jan Aaron READ
MORE
July 2001
Funny Fairy Tale: Shrek
by Jan Aaron
This engaging, unusual PDI/DreamWorks (“Antz”)
animated feature about an ornery ogre is fine family
fare. READ
MORE
Tuneful Treasure: Songcatcher
by
Jan Aaron
Wonderful music, memorable images and a strong performance
by British actress Janet McTeer (“Tumbleweeds”)
make this movie a first-rate summer choice. READ
MORE
June 2001
Love & Chess:
The Luzhin Defense
by Jan Aaron
Alexander Luzhin, the main character in The Luzhin Defense,
one of Vladmir Nabokov’s lesser novels, is an idiosyncratic
Russian chess grand master, here played with stunning
intensity by the great actor John Turturro. READ
MORE
Royal Treat: King Hedley
II
by Jan Aaron
August Wilson’s King Hedley II, directed by Marion McClinton
(Jitney), plays more like an opera than a play. Lovely, long
lyrical aria-like discussions of past grudges, life’s
injustices, abandonment and other frustrations, and how they
scar generations, hurtle the characters toward inevitable
destinies. READ
MORE
May 2001
Theatre
Review: Laugh Attack at Union Square Theatre—“Bat
Boy: The Musical”
by Jan Aaron
Can a Bat Boy discovered in a cave in Hope Falls, West
Virginia, find happiness in New York? Yes—judging
from the laughter and applause at the Union Square Theatre. READ
MORE
Television Review: lose-Up on Teen Life:
American
High
by
Jan Aaron
PBS’s teenage reality show, “American High,” is
a few weeks into its13-part run on PBS. The critically acclaimed
program that aired briefly on the edgier Fox network was
created by documentary-film maker R.J. Cutler (“The
War Room,” a
behind the scenes look at the 1992 Clinton Campaign). READ
MORE
April 2001
New Star Player in Lunar Drama: The Dish
by Jan Aaron READ
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Math Play Adds Up To Fine Broadway: Proof
by Jan Aaron READ
MORE
