Change Isn't Inevitable - "Young Adult" Review

It has almost become a cliché when discussing high-school reunions to express enthusiasm over getting a chance to catch up with the "popular" crowd just to see how badly their lives have gotten.  To get a cursory glimpse at pain in the life of someone that once wielded such social power can be a rejuvenating and validating experience.

Young Adult operates in the same manner, but instead of providing just a brief glimpse into the life of a former high-school "royalty" it probes deep into the life of someone who hasn't quite let go of her glory days.  It presents a portrait of a woman who may be a lot of things, but an adult isn't one of them.

Film's Future and Past Arrive - "Hugo" Review

Much has been made of the revolutionary 3-D work in James Cameron's Avatar, but despite all that excitement no film has stepped forward to utilize the effect in the same way.  Instead, theaters have been plagued with films that suffer horribly from a postproduction 3-D conversion, which typically looks absolutely horrendous (The Last Airbender, Clash of the Titans), or whose effects are so subtle that the 3-D is unnoticeable (Toy Story 3).

So it came as quite a surprise when director Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island, The Departed) announced that he would be directing an adaptation of the popular children's book The Invention of Hugo Cabret in no less than three dimensions.  With the release of Hugo there is one question that the film begs to answer:  Has Scorsese proven that 3-D, when used by a master artist, can be an effective storytelling tool that can take film to new heights?