MOVIES

It makes you wonder, doesn’t it…? Does a pimply boy with a wand represent the hopes and dreams of the world, the ultimate movie that everyone wants to see?

Yes. And until July 15th, it’s been justified.

The new Harry Potter movie attracted millions of viewers two weeks ago, when the world was full of hope that the good folks at WB would put on a worthy show once again. In the darkened atmosphere of the theater, what fans found was less than what they’d hoped for - a complicated storyline, complete with overacting, useless plot points, and one crazy creature after another.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a big fan of the franchise, and the film had its moments - a dark Snape and his Unbreakable Vow, an expertly animated waterscape of foamy waves outside the cave where Voldemort (ooh, I said his name- again, overacted) hid a Horcrux, and of course, Dumbledore himself (Michael Gambon) and his amazing acting performance right up to the death of his character - through which he wins the Best Actor award for this movie. But the film is simply taking away all that J. K. Rowling put into the sixth book. Many of the Dumbledore-Potter escapades through the Headmaster’s Pensieve are gone, as well as many of the Slughorn details. Come on, Hollywood! Make a movie that’s as good as the book for a change! And then there’s the seventh film split into two. Of course our loveable money-crazed producers didn’t think about the fact that all the stuff worthy of putting in a movie happens in the second half of the book. Go figure.

Also, Ron’s going to be 21 when you finish this series. What’s up with that?

Admittedly, you couldn’t see a funnier movie out now than the third and seemingly final installment of the Ice Age franchise than “Dawn of the Dinosaurs.” But besides one or two major focus points of the story, everything seems to be centered around creating a joke.

But besides that, the film features several major actors including Josh Peck and Queen Latifah, as well as the Best Actor for the movie, Simon Pegg, who plays a mentally damaged weasel named Buck. As always, Blue Sky, the creators of Robots and Horton Hears a Who, have developed incredible fun and animation, as well as satirical irony to rival The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

It does lack, however, the abundance of touching moments of Ice Age and Ice Age: The Meltdown, while retaining the action-packed scenes and quick thinking from the Ice Age team. I would advise you to see it while it’s still out.

Click here: YouTube - Pixar's Up second trailer

UP it Goes in the Hearts of Fans
Sorry for the delay. I should have reviewed this movie the instant after I saw it, but I was too amazed to say anything for several weeks. Wow. The memories still reverberate around the house of this unbelievable film. “SQUIRREL!” Ha ha. (See DUG.) Starring the voices of the renowned Ed Asner as balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen,and of Christopher Plummer as Charles Muntz, a crazed explorer. Up is the tale of a quiet old widower (Carl) with a pang of sadness in his heart for Ellie, the adventurous woman he married. He uses millions of balloons to escape his boring life and go where he and Ellie always dreamed of going, to the fictional Paradise Falls in South America, accidentally bringing irritating Wilderness Scout Russell. Okay, let me make this very clear- SEE THIS MOVIE. If you don’t, you might as well not bother reading Grandkid’s Eye View ever again, because it embodies all our values in a movie: A little bit of sadness and compassion, craziness, and hilarity all over! Starting with this issue, I’ll be giving out a Best Actor Award to any performer that I think deserves one. For UP, congratulations to Bob Peterson, voice of both Dug and Alpha, two of the funniest characters in the movie. Here are some of their quotes:

DUG
“I just met you, but I LOOOOOOOOOOVE you.”

 “My master gave me this collar, so that I may talk- SQUIRREL! (pause) Hi there.”

 “Ooh, I do want the ball! I will go and get it, and then I will bring it back to you.”

ALPHA
“(high-pitched voice) Soon the bird will be ours once again.”

BETA
“(bursting into laughter) Your voice sounds funny.”

I hope I’ve made clear that this is the best film of the year. Go see it. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

THEATER

Aaron Tveit, Alice Ripley and J. Robert Spencer in the revelatory birthday scene of the musical  Next to Normal.   Photo: Joan Marcus.

“You Don’t Know” If You Haven’t Seen This Show.
“Next to Normal” Hits the Booth Theater

It’s a sort of a rock opera. Or just an opera. You could call it anything you want. It would still be the same- a fun-filled time for the whole family (if by whole family I mean parents). Though loud and a bit overbearing, the voices and skills of the six actors in this play will overwhelm you.

Some might call it the story of why modern medicine is failing. Some might call it the story of dysfunction. Still others might call it the story of ghosts from our past. I call it all of them. (There is a ghost, but I’m not telling.) I’m amazed at the boldness of the show, the affronts and stories in miniature developing in it, and the thoughtfulness of the writers and set designers, how obviously long they took to choose everything they did, to ultimately produce Next to Normal, a show that is not, in any way, normal. In that its name is correct.

Best Actor goes to Aaron Tveit as Gabriel Goodman, for his incredible voice, physical flexibility, and the enthusiasm in which he approaches every challenge in his role. Congratulations.

Photos: Joan Marcus

No Me Diga.

On the Subject: Lullaby of Broadway - NYC Theme Makes Millions for Young Playwright.
In the Heights
Richard Rodgers Theater
226 W. 46th St.
212-221-1211

In the Heights is a musical about NYC. That is by far the best kind. Look at the success of Annie, 42nd Street, On the Town, and many others. Because viewers from the city feel more chauvinistic when watching them, they become hits, and are more fun to watch. But In the Heights is among the first to recognize the lower class, and in a captivating way. Using rap and the benefit of seven years in the making, In the Heights is quickly becoming “out there” as a musical, as someone “on the scene” would say. (Oh, kids say the darnedest things!) It’s fun and sweet, beautiful and funny. And those rhymes! Whoa! I can tell why it took the brilliant 29 year old author/composer/actor Lin-Manuel Miranda that long! For instance: As long as you buy ‘em, “L’Chaim.” Seriously, I enjoy writing poetry myself, and it would have taken me eight years to write any one of the songs. In short, it’s a witty, fun story about Washington Heights and sudden wealth. Best Actor goes to Robin de Jesús for the part of Sonny. Hilarious!

MUSEUMS

Based on the Wildly Popular Film? Or Vice Versa?
A Night at the Museum
American Museum of Natural History
79th St. & Central Park West
212-769-5200
www.amnh.org/sleepovers

Upcoming Sleepover Dates
Friday, August 21
Saturday, Sept. 12
Friday, Sept. 25

Last year I visited the Natural History Museum for the night of a lifetime, uncontained fun in the form of complete freedom to do whatever I wanted in a museum no longer stuffed to the brim with excited and loud visitors. I returned again this year accompanied by my sister and both parents to search for a good time, but a time seriously devoid of the opportunities I experienced last year. It’s still a rollicking good time, but somehow it seems more controlled, quieter, and the schedule is missing a lot of last year’s hits. However, I will not deny the fact that it is a thrill to sleep beneath the blue whale in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, and to have almost free rein of the large and constantly changing museum grounds. Changes in repertoire include a Raptors Show (captivating but crowded), a Frogs Exhibit “Scavenger Hunt,” and the deletion of an IMAX film (by which I mean the rounded screen that you must actually look up to watch), which was replaced by a tall-screened “thriller” called, Dinosaurs Alive, which contains such enlightening facts as might be found on the underside of a Snapple cap: e.g.“Less than 2% of the fossils on Earth have been found.” As I realized and my father wondered out loud, how could you know that if they haven’t been discovered yet? My reservations are only those of one who looks fondly back on features of yesteryear. If you’re a first-timer, you must not miss this. I’m very serious. This sleepover is the chance and fun of a lifetime.

OUTDOOR ART

Earth and Grass, 2007-2008. Maya Ying Lin, American, 1959-. Storm King Wavefield, 240,000 sq. ft. (11 acre site). Photos: Jerry L. Thompson.

Mermaid, 1994, Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997). Painted carbon fiber and epoxy skin over aluminum and honeycomb core. 8 ft. high, 80 ft. long (approx.) © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein.

Momo Taro, 1977-68). Isamo Noguchi (1904-1988 ). Granite, 8’x34’ 7”x 21’ 7” (overall). Specially commissioned for Storm King. © Storm King Art Center.

Sculpture on the Hill
Storm King
P.O. Box 280, Old Pleasant Hill Road
Mountainville, NY 10953  - (845) 534-3115
New York State Thruway (I-87) Exit 16.
www.stormking.org

As the tram passes by the small lake, the expectant passengers can see the artist’s conception of an enormous racing yacht that represented the US in the Americas Cup in 1995 . It is painted in the guise of a sleeping mermaid. Where else could you see this sight, but Storm King Art Center? An outdoor art museum located in Mountainville, NY, this is likely the most thrilling display of sculpture you can see anywhere, featuring everything from Noguchi’s Japanese fairy tale about a little boy born out of a peach, to a field designed by Maya Ying Lin to appear as if it is the surface of the ocean to a giant slice of cake. My advice would be to take a ride on the tram and learn about each masterpiece. It’s a wonderful ride and a wonderful view. One visit will compel you to go there again. The fields seem to complement the mammoth pieces perfectly, and even the elevator from the fields to the Administrative Offices seems like artwork.

The World’s Shortest Infomercial
By James Marshall Feinberg.

Click here: YouTube - Amnesia Spray!
Or Copy and Paste
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyzzNgCcaJQ