Friday, June 16, 2006

WCBE 90.5 FM: "An Inconvenient Truth," "Over the Hedge," "L'Enfant"

WCBE 90.5 FM: An Inconvenient Truth, Over the Hedge, LEnfant
It's Movie Time co-hosts, writers, producers: John DeSando & Clay Lowe
Air Time: 3:01 pm & 8:01 pm, June 16, 2006
Streaming Live on the web and on-demand at: http://www.wcbe.org

The Script

John

An Inconvenient Truth CONVENIENTLY reminds us that Al Gore is warming along with the globe . . .

Clay

Over the Hedge is where the wild things are people . . .

John

LEnfant is TERRIBLE MAIS BON . . .

HIT MUSIC THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle:

"It's Movie Time" in central Ohio with John DeSando and Clay Lowe.''

MUSIC UP, THEN DOWN AND OUT

John

I'm John DeSando

and Im Clay Lowe

John (An Inconvenient Truth 126 words)

Al Gore is not waffling these days: He believes deeply in humanitys acceleration of global warming through harmful practices known well around the world. His documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, is also 100 minutes of mildly engaging Gore, not the failed campaigner for president in 2000.

The waffling comes now from the general population divided on the causes and remedies. But photos of earth before and after showing retreating shorelines and shrinking glaciers are convincing.

A subtext of this smartly-crafted doc is whether or not Al Gore can be a viable candidate in 2008. Yet the more salient question is whether the planet can SURVIVE long enough to let him do what he couldnt in eight years as vice president: Halt the inescapable warming of the earth.

Clay (Over the Hedge 130 words)

Well, folks, in Over the Hedge you may only partially warm up to the noisy little creatures who wake up one morning and discover their woodlands have been edged in by a huge hedge. That will teach them to sleep all winter.

But RJ the Raccoon (voiced by Bruce Willis) has already been over on the other side exploring the endless expanse of suburban homes whose cupboards are chocked full of fast food.
So, in the best heist tradition, RJ gathers together his forest friends and persuades them to joinhim in a quest to liberate that food.

On the human side is the Home Owners President who screams she will do whatever it takes to drive out her woodland invaders, even if she has to violate the Geneva Conventions.

And so it goes.

John (L Enfant 130 words)

This next film may drive them right back into hibernation.

The most exhilaratingly depressing movie in years is L Enfant, a winner at Cannes about street-gang Bruno and girlfriend Sonias out of wedlock baby. The central incident is his selling the baby and his attempt to get it back when she is hospitalized upon learning about his irresponsibility.

As only Europeans would dare to do, most of the shots are close-ups and glacial next to quick-cut American films. L Enfant miraculously keeps our sympathy for Bruno while he commits numerous antisocial acts.

Making him sympathetic is a marvelous feat given his slacker, emotionless persona.
Although Bruno has been damaged in his childhood, he shows an ability to be kind that partially redeems him in our eyes while never demanding we forgive him or predicting his success in life.

He is an enfant.

Clay (L Enfant 130 words)

An enfant, indeed John, as are we all in our most helpless moments. And thats where we find our characters when this story begins. Set in a bleak industrial town in eastern Belgium, its no wonder that these young people reflect the despair of the landscape around them.

Sure, they start out happy just to be together. They laugh, romp, roll, and playfully kiss but Brunos inner demons (or emptiness or lack of purpose) will not let him be. But its not until we witness his complete disregard for the feelings of others that we become convinced he is un-redeemable.

Dont give up too soon, however, or you'll miss the films astonishing
close. For during that last scene youll finally come to understand why despair can sometimes leadto catharsis.

But enough of global warming, urban sprawl, and blighted industrial landscapes, John, because
its grading time.

John

Holy HOTTIE Gore, Hooray!

HIT DRUMS, THEN UNDER FOR

John

An Inconvenient Truth earns a B for making Al Gore a man less than BORING . . . .

Clay

Over the Hedge gets a C because the CAUSE is right, but the movies CUTE little CREATURES are far too hyper . . .

John

L Enfant earns an A because ADOPTION is NOT an OPTION . . .

Clay

L Enfant gets a B because its a BIT unfair to wait until a movies last scene before your characters finally connect with their audience . . .

John

Clay, Im wondering why its so easy NOW to warm up to Al Gore. Maybe I should ask Karl Rove how THIS global warming could happen.

I'm outta here.

Clay

Well, John, Karl Rove probably couldnt care less about global warming, but he may still be worried about all that gore in Iraq . . .

Im outta here too.

See you at the movies, folks.

HIT MUSIC, THEN UNDER FOR

Richelle

The award winning "It's Movie Time" is co-hosted, written, and now produced by John

DeSando and Clay for WCBE 90.5. FM

MUSIC DOWN AND OUT

Copyright 2006 by John DeSando & Clay Lowe