“Who’s your favorite artist?”

For those that follow pop stars in the era of social media, we know the danger that comes with criticizing any of them. The biggest Top 40 artists all have their own armies (or in one case Navy) who go to great lengths to bully critics into silence and obscurity. While it would be easy to tell those super-fans to get a life, their dedication speaks to an unbreakable bond we often feel with celebrities that…

In 2000, Nicholas Cage played Memphis Raines, a master car thief in the film Gone in 60 Seconds. Incentivized by a big payday, he came out of retirement to steal 50 luxury cars in one night. I recall cheering for his success as he came close to hitting his number, and pondering how the filmmakers were able to manipulate my emotions in this way. How do writers and filmmakers convert the audience from sympathizing with protagonists to cheering for antagonists?…

Quite often, we feel our stories are isolated, that no one cares about them but us. While it can sometimes seem difficult to find a sympathetic audience, there is indeed such an audience. Occasionally, we must figure out how to navigate to them and present our stories in ways that elicit empathy. This is apparently what happened with 20-something year-old Annabel in 1985, when 60-something year-old Josef catches her breaking into his Los Angeles home and rather than shooting her,…

Admittedly, as I have gotten older and cynical, I have written off nearly every movie with talking animals or inanimate objects as “for kids.” I may watch them with my niece and chuckle but never fully believe there are any life lessons to be learned. What could a kid’s movie tell me about life (never mind that all of these movies are made by adults)? Every now and then, though, I sit down with an open mind and get a…