Articles by Diana Beechener

Five Loaves and Two Fish

Breakfast Club takes childhood hunger battle to the streets

Nathaniel Quimby spent the summer of second grade worried about his friends. The elementary schooler fretted that a friend who depended on cafeteria meals would go hungry during the break. “He wanted to know where kids got their meals during the summer when schools close,” says Ingrid Quimby, Nathaniel’s mother. “We came up with the idea of the Breakfast Club. With my pastor at Cedar Grove United Methodist Church, we decided to offer breakfast there....

Article - News; by Diana Beechener; 8/4/11

Cowboys & Aliens

A fun but mindless action movie puts the plot out to pasture in order to focus on effects and fun

A man with no name rides into a dustbowl of a western town. No, he’s not Clint Eastwood, but it’s a reasonable facsimile. The man is Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig: Defiance), a former bank robber who lost his memory around the same time he got a mysterious metal cuff on his wrist. When Lonergan is caught in town, local cattle baron Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford: Morning Glory) demands the right to hang the robber. This classic Western...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener; 8/4/11

Captain America: The First Avenger

This patriotic hero had more dimension in comicsCaptain America: The First Avenger

Writing a negative review of Captain America: The First Avenger makes me feel a traitor. But here goes. On paper the Cap (Chris Evans: Puncture) is a pretty good idea: He wears a costume that pays tribute to the stars and stripes. He fights Nazis with gusto. And unlike other action heroes, his virtue is beyond reproach. He’s as American as apple pie. And just like that tasty treat, his character has a tendency to be too sugary and stick to the roof of your mouth....

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener; 7/28/11

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

A decade of magical movies ends with a spellbinding film

Dirty, exhausted and ready to embrace his fate, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) enters the forest for a showdown with the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes: Clash of the Titans). Most moviegoers know how the story ends, yet the movie audience gasped as the battle began. That’s the power of Potter. Because of the fanatical devotion of readers and cinematic fans, Deathly Hallows Part 2 was almost guaranteed a wild box office success, no matter the quality of the film. In truth...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener; 7/21/11

Horrible Bosses

Three friends prove the best revenge makes for great comedy

Everyone has had a moment of wanting to kill the boss. Maybe it’s a fleeting thought after a bad meeting or a constant daydream in a hostile work environment. Either way, typically, calmer heads prevail and no lives are lost. In Horrible Bosses, calmer heads don’t prevail, and it’s pretty damn funny. The film follows three buddies who each have nightmare bosses. Nick (Jason Bateman: Paul) has been working for eight years for Dave Harken...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener; 7/14/11

Winnie the Pooh

A silly old bear and his buddies prove you don’t need 3D to make great animation

Since Walt Disney last visited the Hundred Acre Woods, animation has seen the advent of 3D, computer rendering and gross-out humor. This no-frills revisit to the classic story of Winnie the Pooh is a return to hand-drawn animation. The story is so simple that even the youngest can play along: While on a search for a replacement tail for Eeyore, Pooh discovers a note from Christopher Robin. Soon Pooh and the rest of the Hundred Acre Woods crowd become convinced that their...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener; 7/28/11

Cars 2

A southern-fried catastrophe ruins Pixar’s stellar run at the top of animation.

After 16 years of producing the most lauded animation in the film industry, Pixar has earned the blind trust of critics and audiences alike. This is why the horrible, thoughtless cash grab of Cars 2 seems like such a betrayal. It’s like finding out your favorite uncle secretly enjoys kicking puppies. The plot, such as it is, revolves around the antics of Cars’ country-fried sidekick, Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy: Witless Protection), who was at best...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener; 7/7/11

Super 8

JJ Abrams writes a love note to Stephen Spielberg with aliens, explosions and boyish wonder

Did you ever wonder what would have happened if ET had been found by the government instead of that adorable moppet Elliott? When extraterrestrials don’t get to phone home, they get mightily pissed, according to JJ Abrams’ (Star Trek) new film Super 8. Less an original monster movie than a homage to Stephen Spielberg’s ET and works of the 1970s and ‘80s, Abrams gets away with the tribute by keeping his writing solid and his cast of characters...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener; 6/30/11

Getting the Show on the Road

The South County Senior ShowStoppers prove that ambition isn’t a young person’s game

The South County Senior ShowStoppers want you to know they’re more than just belly dancers. Shimmying seniors on Social Security may be what gets the variety troupe noticed, but this diverse bunch has more than swiveling hips to recommend them. The troupe has earned the Governor’s Leadership in Aging Award for Performing Arts, recognizing outstanding contributions to quality of life and the field of aging. “People are pleasantly surprised at the level of...

Article - People; by Diana Beechener; 6/9/11

This Week’s Creature Feature ... Blue-Water Boaters...

Each year, thousands of citizens report their bird sightings to the Christmas Bird Count, the longest-running citizen science project in the world. This year researchers are hoping that citizens will take this bird sighting zeal from land to sea. The Christmas Bird Count at Sea aims to obtain information on pelagic birds, which spend their lives at sea. Because the birds are rarely researched, there is little way of telling how their habitats and lives are affected by...

Article - Creature Feature; by Diana Beechener; 6/9/11