Parents Talk

Time for the Oscars: Do You Log Family Time Seeing the Nominees?

Are the films vying for the coveted Academy Award a draw for moms and dads and kids? Our parent film buffs talk about what attracts their families to the movies.

  Watching movies is possibly one of America’s favorite pastimes (after baseball, of course!). Films allow us to escape reality for a couple of hours while spending time together with our significant others, friends, children or families. And if we are lucky, taking in a film may teach us a thing or two about history and the human spirit (and sadly, show us the uglier side of reality, too). The best the film industry has to offer is celebrated each year with several award presentations, but since its inception in 1929, no other ceremony has been more significant than the Oscars, which are coming up fast on Feb. 26. This year, Martin Scorsese’s Hugo got the most nominations, over other films like The Descendants, The Help and Moneyball. The…

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‘The Help': Black and White Make Oscar Gold

Make time to watch fine actresses bring light to volatile 1960s Mississippi.

There are some books that are so colorful they’re hard to forget. Kathryn Stockett’s debut novel The Help (available at Bay Books) featured the distinct voices of African-American maids in 1960s Jackson, Miss. Readers across the world embraced Stockett’s story as the maids explained the effects of racial injustice while simultaneously helping a white woman come of age in a shockingly segregated community. Now the book has been made into a film worthy of the Oscars. If you want to see it at the Village Theater, you might want to purchase a ticket in advance. Why? The film is selling out, and for good reason. When converting a novel to a visual medium, filmmakers too often make the story bigger, change the emphasis, pepper it with special …

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