by Mike Parnell | Feb 11, 2008 | Opinion
“Juno” deals with the issue of teenage pregnancy, but it does so with a sense of pluck and humor. This is not an “after-school special” look at the issue. It has laughter and tears, which all pregnancies have. And it has as its central...
by Mike Parnell | Feb 5, 2008 | Opinion
“No Country for Old Men” addresses an age-old problem: Why is it hard to do the right thing? A character from a forgotten movie once said: “Funny, ain’t it, how it comes around. Right way’s the hardest, wrong way’s the easiest. Rule...
by Mike Parnell | Jan 29, 2008 | Opinion
Daniel Day-Lewis gives a stellar performance as Daniel Plainview, a turn-of-the-20th-century robber baron in “There Will Be Blood.” Paul Thomas Anderson (“Magnolia”) wrote and directed this bleak picture on the intersection of money and...
by Mike Parnell | Dec 18, 2007 | Opinion
Naomi Levy, in her book To Begin Again, tells the story of a parishioner in her synagogue who survived a brutal attack on Yom Kippur. The victim asked: “Where was God? Was God so busy at the Yom Kippur service in synagogue that God forgot about me?”...
by Mike Parnell | Dec 11, 2007 | Opinion
One of Garrison Keillor’s stories drew large amounts of mail because it had no ending. He responded that many stories in his life have yet to end. No ending is usually bad for a movie, and “The Golden Compass” (now playing) attempts to tell a story...
