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February 06
Edition

Pages in PDF

Regular
Features

› Son Of A Gun
  with Mick Pacholli

› Fab's Ravings

› Technology
  with Chris Jacobs

› Are You
  Puzzled?
  with
  Narelle Stegehuis

› Family Issues
  with
  Marilyn Brideson

› Planet Clare

› Lovatts
  Crossword

› Live Theatre
  with Blair Edgar

› Movie Scene
  with
  Charlie Alexander

› Entertainment
  with Gary Turner

› Grazing in the
  Suburbs
  with Mick Pacholli

› Fab's Travel

› Talking Manure
  with Mick Pacholli

› Furry Friends
  with
  Dr Graeme Smith

› Racing
  with Ted Ryan

› Rant & Rave
  with
  Paddles Hackett

› Bowls
  with Mick Pacholli

› Motoring
  with Garry Fabian

› Short Cuts
  Writers
  Competition

Myths and Rumours

[by Charlie Alexander]

Rumor Has It

What if you felt like you just didn’t fit. You were very different to your family and nothing in life seemed like it was meant to be a part of your existence. Sarah Huttinger is in this space.

She is engaged to her perfect man, Jeff, but the all pervading sense of unease about returning to her family in Pasadena, California is opening up all the old insecurities about her place in this world and she questions her decision to marry.

The one true joy in Sarah’s family is her grandmother, Katharine (Shirley MacLaine) who tells Sarah (Jennifer Anniston) that cold feet is OK. Her mother (now dead) had similar concerns before she married.

In fact a few days before the wedding she ran off with another man before coming home to marry.

This curiously ties into a rumor about a scandal that was being whispered around Pasadena at the time. The rumor came from a book called ‘The Graduate’.

Sarah is terrified that they are the “Robinsons”. So she leaves Jeff (Mark Ruffalo) hanging and tracks down ‘the graduate’ (Kevin Costner) seeking to determine if he is in fact her true father.

Rob Reiner has directed a movie here based on a very clever premise and interspersed the, at times harrowing, experiences of Sarah with warm humor.

Shirley MacLaine’s performance as the ageing Mrs Robinson is sensational, making it easily possible for the other cast to contribute to the mix. “Rumor Has It” is a ‘chick flick’ with attitude and as such has something for everyone.

On general release

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

An adaptation of the celebrated C.S. Lewis novel, this is the story of four children made homeless during the bombings of London in WWII.

Sent to the country for safety, they find themselves on a large estate, in a huge mansion with a shrewish housekeeper and a reclusive professor.

During a game of hide and seek, the youngest of the four, Lucy, chooses to hide in a large wardrobe. Some hours later, she returns to tell her siblings of her adventures in Narnia and the faun she met and befriended.

The siblings are mystified as Lucy has only been gone for moments. Eventually the four find themselves in the wardrobe and through to Narnia where they are drawn into an ancient prophecy about four siblings who will assist Aslan the Lion defeat the White Witch, Jadis.

Originally unwilling to assist in the war against Jadis, the siblings are forced into action by the White Witch’s desire to foil the prophecy by killing the children. Ably assisted by one of the children, Edmund, Jadis and her secret police of wolves hound their quarry across the land.

The performance of Tilda Swinton as the White Witch is superb and is supported by clever scripting and CGI animation with the animals that either support or hunt the four human children.

Of particular note are the beavers. They lead Lucy, Susan, Edmund and Peter across the world to meet Aslan and prepare to meet their destiny and destroy the Witch in battle.

With excellent use of CGI animation, this movie delivers a moving and very entertaining story that is visually rich. While not necessarily being either brilliant or memorable, viewers will be captivated by the imagery on screen and likely remember the magic of the book the first time they read it.

Directed by Andrew Adamson, this is a very worthwhile movie for both child and adult, though the battle scenes are quite brutal.

On general release

by Charlie Alexander

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