Movie Review: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

Dustin Hoffman plays Mr. Edward Magorium, a 243 year eccentric old man who owns a toy shop in NYNY. Edward Magorium is on the cusp of retirement and “departure” i.e. voluntary death. Natalie Portman portrays a young female composer, Mollie Mahoney, who manages the toy shop for Mr. Magorium. Having writer’s block, Mollie’s life is at an apparent standstill. The bulk of the plot involves the interplay of Edward Magorium’s final plans for his Magic Emporium and Mollie’s quest to recover her musical creativity.

Dustin Hoffman’s acting versatility shines in his role as the elderly eccentric. Natalie Portman’s acting is lackluster. The basic plot had much promise, but really did not connect very well at movie’s end.

Movie Review: "Lars and the Real Girl"

The stories centers around Lars, a shy delusional young man in a small northern Midwestern town, who purchases a sex doll. Lars lives a quiet life working at a mundane office job and lives in a garage apartment next to his brother and sister-in-law. In his intense search for intimacy, he constructs a fantastic platonic relationship with his doll “Bianca.” In an attempt to not offend Lars, friends and family pretend to interact with his doll. The concepts of intimacy, maturity and mercy are slowly developed through the film.

Ryan Gosling and Nashville native Paul Schneider give better-than-average performances as Lars and his brother Gus. The movie is comical and inciteful.

Review of "Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape"

Camille Pissarro is known as “The Father of French Impressionism.” Most of the landscapes on display are from the decade of 1864-1874. During this decade, Pissarro developed his impressionist style. Representative works include his early years at Louveciennes, his seven months of London exile during the Franco-Prussian War, his return to Louveciennes, Pontoisse and his final years in Paris.

Throughout the procession of paintings, you can see Pissarro’s gradual transition from the use of black and dark colors. His depiction of snowy scenes become more sophisticated as he develops more loosely painted landscape and cityscapes.

My favorites were “The Farm on the Grounds of the Château of Marly” and “The House in the Woods.”

Admission includes a personal audio guide, a thirty minute video by art historians and thirty nine of his paintings. This exhibit is running at the Brooks Museum of art through January 6, 2008.