The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Four young adventurers playing hide-and-seek in the country home of an old professor stumble upon an enchanted wardrobe that will take them places they never dreamed. Stepping through the wardrobe door, they are whisked out of World War II London into the spectacular parallel universe known as Narnia--a fairy-tale realm of magical proportions where woodland animals talk and mythological creatures roam the hills. But Narnia has fallen under the icy spell of a mad sorceress, cursed to suffer through a winter that never ends by the White Witch Jadis. Now, aided by Narnia's rightful leader, the wise and mystical lion Aslan, the four Pevensie children will discover their own strength and lead Narnia into a spectacular battle to be free of the Witch's glacial enslavement forever.

I read the Chronicles of Narnia books as a child and remember that the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe was one of the more boring books of the series. As I told my wife that as we left the movie, she said "well, then they did a really good job with it". Indeed they did. Few times will I ever say that a movie translation of a book adds to the story or makes it better, but in this case I feel it does. Everything about this movie is incredible, from the bombing of London at the beginning to the final battle at the end. This movie will give Harry Potter a run for its money in capturing the hearts and minds of children as well as rival Lord of the Rings in quality and scope of story. I was skeptical in how the talking animals would be portrayed. I didn't want to see anything too cartoony and I wasn't disappointed. They were perfect. Liam Neeson does great as Aslan. Tilda Swinton, however, was absolutely incredible as the White Witch. What a perfect movie to have as an option for families during the holiday season.

Disney made sure to keep the movie fairly tame to appeal to parents of younger children. However, there are some creatures and scenes that may be a bit too intense for very young children. Nothing as scary as the orcs or Uruk-Hai in Lord of the Rings, but some scary creatures nonetheless. Parents should also be aware that some last minute cuts had to be made to this film to make the violence level at the PG level rather than PG-13 so be aware that the violence, while neither gory nor graphic, is at the ceiling of the PG rating.

I tried hard to find something wrong with this movie. The only thing I could think of was it did drag a bit while the children were playing around the mansion. Also I even found the kids a bit annoying, but they will grow on you throughout the film. This is a perfect film for families with children (or anyone of any age) to see this holiday season. What I'm most excited about, however, is if this book was translated so well to screen, how awesome will The Voyage of the Dawn Treader or The Silver Chair be? Disney did it right this time.

4.9 out of 5

Good Night and Good Luck

Taking place during the early days of broadcast journalism in 1950’s America, a chronicle of the real-life conflict between television news man Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee. With a desire to report the facts and enlighten the public, Murrow, and his dedicated staff--headed by his producer Fred Friendly and Joe Wershba in the CBS newsroom--defy corporate and sponsorship pressures to examine the lies and scaremongering tactics perpetrated by McCarthy during his communist ‘witch-hunts.’ A very public feud develops when the Senator responds by accusing the anchor of being a communist. In this climate of fear and reprisal, the CBS crew carries on regardless and their tenacity eventually pays off when McCarthy is brought before the Senate and made powerless as his lies and bullying tactics are finally uncovered.

Movies can be like books. There are some you enjoy because they are fun and there are some you enjoy because you think about it after it is over. This movie is the second type. George Clooney has become very active politically and this movie lets it show. For those of us who weren't alive during the era of McCarthyism, this movie is an important history lesson of what our country was once like. I was very impressed by the fact that they used actual footage of McCarthy for all scenes where he responded to Murrow and for the Senate hearings where he was censured. The movie did drag a bit at times, but I was overall impressed by the quality of the film as well as the message it gave.

The PG rating ensures little objectionable content. The only reason it is PG instead of G is the few bad words and constant smoking of the central characters.

George Clooney has skillfully recreated the atmosphere that was undoubtedly present in that era. This movie is an excellent example of what a historical movie should be.

4.8 out of 5