The Movie Nut

The holiday season's upon us with a plethora of upbeat cinematic offerings.

One can usually gauge our economic woes by the deluge of lighthearted fare emanating from Hollywood. Mickey Mouse saved our grandparents from the Depression, and it looks like Disney just might take the helm again this time around.

I do hope the sleeper phenomenon of the year hits Acorn Country before Christmas—and if you haven't heard the buzz yet, that would be director Danny Boyle's irresistible "Slumdog Millionaire."

But, for the moment, the Thanksgiving crush begins with two remarkable (and remarkably different) holiday gems.

Bruno (Asa Butterfield) is 8 years old, the son of a high ranking Nazi offer, living in Berlin. In Bruno's world, the war is a distant rumor that barely threatens Germany's brave new world. Under the protective watch of his mother (Vera Farmiga), Bruno knows only peace and playfulness.

When his father (David Thewlis) is transferred to a new post in the country, Bruno and his sister reluctantly, obligingly go along. Bruno's father speaks of family harmony and unity. He's a seemingly nice father, dutiful and loyal, who happens to wear the black-and-silver skull of Nazi's dreaded Waffen-SS on his collar.

So the family moves to a nice house in a serene setting. On a distant hillside, a fenced farm occasionally belches black smoke that "smells funny." Bruno wants to explore, but he is forbidden.

The thing about 8-year-olds? They usually find a way.

"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," based on John Boyne's 2006 novel, is a stylishly filmed, oddly poetic story about innocence and its eventual surrender. It is, of course, a microcosmic glimpse of the Holocaust as seen from a naive, possibly unique perspective. I suppose how one is able to view the Holocaust is how one will viscerally react to this film.

There are those who may see the film as sympathetic to Nazi Germany (although I believe that perspective misses the point). Yes, this is a film about the Holocaust, but at its most personal level, it's about a single child's loss of innocence. I believe it indelibly etches into one's psyche the incomprehensibility of war, and in that regard it utterly succeeds.

All I really want to discuss is the ending. I can't, of course—except to say that it is enigmatically necessary and unwarranted, essential but bewildering, probably historically inaccurate in a multitude of ways (although I can't be sure). Yet, as a parable, as a glimpse of war's impersonal and persistent insanity, it is crucial.

A final note: Although the film is about an 8yearold boy—ultimately about 8-year-old friends— it is not a film intended for younger viewers. It may indeed be an essential family film (for older teens), but only a family film in the truest sense, to be talked about and mulled afterwards. Because it is a film that should be talked about, the next moment or the next day or the next week—perhaps the essence of great drama. And I do believe "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" to be an essential film.

Not long ago, I thought Disney Studios, without the creative assistance of Pixar ("Finding Nemo," WallE") would be reduced to producing inconsequential and formulaic CGI tales. Well, if "Bolt" is Disney's idea of formula—bring it on.

"Bolt" is one of the most refreshing, kid-friendly animated tales since—well, since the aforementioned "Wall-E." Some adults may not agree, because "Bolt" lacks that readingbetweenthelines panache, but in its unabashedly gosh-darn attitude of childlike simplicity—a true movie for fun's sake—lies its real charm. Yeah, it's all canine fluff and flutter—but "Bolt" is like a fluff cocoon that just seems to envelop one's cheek muscles (those would be smile muscles), and you just can't help yourself from enjoying pretty much every moment.

Bolt, you see, is a TV wonder dog who believes his own P.R. To Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) his fantasy is his reality. Bolt is overprotective of his TV co-star Penny (Miley Cyrus), truly believing he's constantly battling the evil Dr. Calico (an actor, of course) from kidnapping Penny.

But Bolt is accidentally shipped off his soundstage, where reality— in the form of an alley cat name Mittens, a hamster named Rhino and an incidentprone crosscountry trek to "save" Penny (albeit without superpowers)—all play a part in Bolt's journey home. And what an incredible journey it is.