In Toy Story 2, we find our toys just where they were left four years before. They haven’t aged a bit. Andy, though, has aged. Off to cowboy camp, he hopes to take Woody with him, but his arm, loosened
Pixar’s A Bug’s Life has shown that Disney’s old trick of retelling a fable can be made interesting and wholly new. For A Bug’s Life really is a retelling of Aesop’s The Ant and the Grasshopper, with a twist: The
[Ed. Note: After reading Charles’ insightful and convincing defense of “Wall-E” I asked him if he would do the same with each Pixar film. Themes are what give a story its emotional center and heft and are always the most
The Pixar movies have always had a special place in the heart of conservatives and libertarians because they show a commitment to human excellence without apology. While the films are directed at children, they are anything but childish. Each of
In WALL-E, we learn just what life would be like were the promise of the welfare state finally realized. Far from the schemes of Utopians, it seems downright hellish. Pixar animator and filmmaker Andrew Stanton told as much to the
My girlfriend and I drove the hour down to Beverly Hills to catch the education documentary, The Lottery. It ran for just seven days in the Los Angeles area, which boasts one of the least performing school districts in the
The movie of the summer won’t be in theatres, going instead straight to DVD on June 15. That’s a shame, because Unthinkable, a ripped from the headlines suspense thriller, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Carrie-Ann Moss, Michael Sheen and Brendan Routh,
March 31st is Cesar Chávez Day. In California and six other states, government offices are closed. At my college, Claremont McKenna and the Claremont Colleges, we celebrate Cesar Chavez for one full month. (It is widely known that even white
The Beatles had it best when they sung about the Tax Man. Now my advice for those who die (taxman) Declare the pennies on your eyes (taxman) ‘Cause I’m the taxman, Yeah, I’m the taxman. And you’re working for no
Every March, college students from around the country receive either a thick or a thin envelope. For many of them, this will be the biggest event in their lifetimes. It will be a source of pride for some; envy and
Many of my friends are currently unemployed or underemployed. They graduated from Claremont McKenna, one of the finest colleges in America, but have found it tough to get jobs. But one alum from our college, Jordan Barab, CMC ’75, is
As I predicted, Scott Brown’s triumphant victory as the first Republican U.S. Senator in 38 years was only the beginning. Next came the retirement of disgraced U.S. congressman, Bill Delahunt (MA-10), which this columnist helped expose at this website. Now
Sapphire, the author of Push, spoke at my college, Claremont McKenna on February 8. Her book was made into the movie, Precious – which is now a serious contender for the Oscars. The question and answer period quickly descended into
Yes, the Chavez-supporting Bill Delahunt I wrote about several weeks ago is the same Bill Delahunt who when he was district attorney let Amy Bishop, the neurobiologist who gunned down her colleagues, get away with murdering her brother in 1986.
At a speech at Claremont McKenna to honor Martin Luther King Jr. in mid-January, the subject of Jesse Jackson Sr.’s new ire was the “banksters” — Wall Street fat cats, who are causing all of our problems. Naturally, Jackson ignored
Nick George, a senior at my sister college, Pomona College, was detained by TSA earlier this year. On February 10, he filed a federal lawsuit with the ACLU against TSA, the FBI, and the Philly police. (His father is an
Writer Jamaica Kincaid has a long tradition of embarrassing comments at my college, Claremont McKenna, where she is a professor of literature. Remember, though, before you insist on calling her Professor Kincaid, that she only has a high school degree.
The Chowdah Revolution is far from over, if recent reports are read critically. And its scent has been picked up as far afield as Rhode Island and down on the Cape. This past week Congressman Patrick Kennedy announced that he
Imam Zaid Shakir came to speak at my school, Claremont McKenna, on December 9th to respond to the “tragedy of Ft. Hood.” Rather than respond to the massacre of American servicemen, Shakir spent the evening indicting the United States –