GRANDKID’S EYE VIEW
By James Feinberg

“WHITE in AMERICA: The Children”
(Comedy Central, May 7, 2009)

In a spoof of CNN’s Black in America documentary series, on May 7, 2009, Larry Wilmore, of John Stewart’s The Daily Show, explored with eight “smart white kids” what might happen in the year 2050, when white people will become the minority.

To the scores of people who approached this column with the near certainty that the kids were working from a carefully rehearsed script, it should be pointed out that this sequence was patently unscripted. None of the kids were acting. They were interviewed, without any pre-knowledge of the subject, and consequently not a single one received any compensation.

“In 2050, we’ll still be America. What if this happens and only good change occurs in America? What if we’re all good? What if we’re all trying to help? What if the number of people that are black doesn’t make a difference?”

Click here: White in America - The Children | The Daily Show | Comedy Central

MOVIES

Star Trek
The first thing that really alerted me to the presence of the new Star Trek movie was one of my favorite television shows, The Colbert Report. J. J. Abrams, the movie’s director, was featured as a guest on the Report (pronounced without the “t”, as in Colbert’s name) and interviewed about the apparent change in storyline of this new installment. A few days later, I went to see Star Trek, and found that despite the change in storyline, the film is one of the greatest in theaters today. (It will not be said that I say that about every movie, so let me point out that Monsters vs. Aliens is still better and still the best film of the century.) Star Trek features incredible acting and special effects, and excellent work on the part of the director and casting director. The film takes place in the past, when James T. Kirk has still not enlisted in Starfleet and Spock’s feelings didn’t show nearly as much. One of the prominent memories a viewer will have of the film is the surrounding audience laughing at the sight of the younger TV characters. This movie is astounding, amazing, incredible, and whatever other word you can think of. While dull during the beginning, the movie’s scale broadens and becomes more exciting during the course of its running time. Featuring popular actors and familiar ones (look for Leonard Nimoy as Spock from 126 years in the future), this feature film cannot be missed, but avoid bringing younger children into the theater. Boldly go where thousands will also be- Star Trek!

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
There are many movies in which one of the greatest actors is the villain. For instance: The Tale of Despereaux and Monsters Vs Aliens, both reviewed in previous columns, are greatly improved by the acting skills of their antagonists. The sequel to the highly acclaimed Night at the Museum (2006) - the venue being New York’s American Museum of Natural History - is one of these movies. Hank Azaria portrays the hilarious evil pharaoh who has “come back to life!” in an amazing film, much better than the tame and repetitive original. In this movie, Ben Stiller plays a stalwart night guard who travels to Washington, D.C., in order to rescue his ragtag AMNH friends from a horde of eccentric villains intent on taking over the world, including Ivan the Terrible (“actually, my name translates to ‘Ivan the Awesome’) Al Capone, and the rejects of the villain world: Darth Vader and Oscar the Grouch. He journeys into paintings and museums galore, all the while learning new lessons (of course) and meeting new friends (though this makes the movie sound sort of corny). In my opinion, the best work in this movie (yes, better than Azaria) was Eugene Levy as the Albert Einstein Bobbleheads, minor characters with serious comedy appeal. Congratulations, Mr. Levy. Audiences, be sure to look out for his characters - you can’t miss brightly colored and slightly crazy bobbling geniuses who sing “That’s the way- uh huh uh huh- we like it”.

[James will recount his second “Night at the Natural History” Museum visit on June 19 in his next column. His sister Lily will write a separate review of the sleepover experience in the column Grand Times with Your Grandkids]