Monthly Archives: April 5, 2026

Movies
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Movie Award Preview:  Best Opening Credits

In this era of single-card opening credits, the art of the creative opening credits sequence is an all-but-lost art.  Gone are the glory days of Richard Williams (The Pink Panther Strikes Back, Casino Royale) and the great Saul Bass:  Who can forget the bold graphics that turned into Manhattan skyscrapers at the beginning of North By Northwest and West Side Story, or the sauntering cat that introduced us to Walk on the Wild Side?  And the graffiti and street-sign credits at the end of West Side Story?  Forget about it.  In those movies, the opening sequences were delicious little miniature movies unto themselves.

 

Happily, there are a few filmmakers who still commission such delightful confections to open movies.  There are three notable examples of this lost art this year:

 

In Moon, the words in the sly opening titles slid in front of and behind objects in the picture, setting up that film’s themes of claustrophobia and deceit.  Clint Mansell’s haunting score added to this intriguing opening.

 

In An Education, Nic Benns’ snappy graphics accompanied a jazzy soundtrack, giving us an irresistible invitation to travel back in time half a century.

 

And Up in the Air put us up in the air, showing us a cornucopia of idealized birds-eye views of this great land we fly over.

 

I hope the creative opening sequence will continue to shine, even if rarely.  I would miss it if it were gone forever.

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 244 user reviews.

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Politics, Pop Culture, Pronouncements
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The latest salvo in the absurd “War on Christmas” initiative from the Religious Right comes from Merry Hyatt, a 61-year old substitute teacher in Redding, California.  She is attempting to force a state ballot initiative requiring public schools to expose students to overtly Christian Christmas music.  Yeah, you read that correctly.

 For some reason, many arrogant conservative Christians in our country don’t so much like the Constitution.  They feel the Establishment Clause (which mandates the clear separation of Church and State) shouldn’t apply to THEIR religion, since it’s the “majority religion” and the (supposed) religion of our Founding Fathers.

 Hyatt is appalled that her students aren’t required to sing about Jesus in public school.  She’s convinced that if they sing about Jesus, all school problems will melt away. 

 “These kids, they need it, ” she said. “They need to see that we believe in Jesus, and He is the Prince of Peace. That’s why we are the best country on Earth.” 

Really, Merry?  THAT’s what makes this a great country?  Not our Constitution?  If that’s so, then why isn’t EVERY Christian nation “the best country on Earth”?  Does think the U.S. is the ONLY nation on Earth with a Christian majority?  I sure hope she isn’t teaching Social Studies!

 Also note than whenever these theocrats demand that the Establishment Clause be broken, it’s ONLY for THEIR religion.  Do you think Merry would be out there attempting to gather the required 464, 000 in order to force Hanukah songs to be singing public schools?  How about Kwanzaa carols? 

 There’s a word for what Merry Hyatt is:  A bully.  That’s what anyone who clamors for the Tyranny of the Majority is, a bully.  Is Hyatt really so clueless that she thinks the Constitution doesn’t apply to her religion, but just to all OTHER religions?  More likely:  she believes her God’s law supersedes the Constitution. 

 There’s a really effective way for Merry to make sure that children she cares about hear Christian music in school:  Send those kids to a private, religious school.  The fact that she thinks taxpayer dollars – that is, money collected from Hindu Californians, Jewish Californians, Sikh Californians, Muslim Californians, not to mention agnostic an atheist Californians. 

Hyatt’s quote about the kids “needing” her Christian music makes clear that she doesn’t care about the constitutional issue involved here.  Like so many true believers, she thinks rules shouldn’t apply to her since she’s on God’s Team.  Her position is un-American.  Demanding that the law insert her religion into public schools is simply an indefensible position.

All Christians should be embarrassed by this clown, and if she has any intelligent friends, they need to hand her a copy of the U.S. Constitution and encourage her to get a clue.

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 157 user reviews.

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Games
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Everyone loves Nancy Drew.  Well, everyone with any sense, anyway. 

 

Are you a Mom with a daughter?  Looking for a fun activity to do together?  Read on . . .

 

Does it surprise you that moi, , rough-and-ready manly man Ray Ivey that I am, am a huge Nancy Drew fan?  It shouldn’t.  I do have a big sister, after all, and I grew up with the books in the house.  I loved them.  Of course, when I became aware of Teen Sleuth Series that was gender-appropriate, I tried it.  But like many other disappointed readers I quickly learned that compared to Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys are lame, lame lame.

 

I also love computer games, and so I was very happy that Seattle software developers Her Interactive (“For Girls Who Aren’t Afraid of the Mouse”) began releasing Nancy Drew adventure games in the late 1990s.  Since 1998, in fact, they have released twenty-one of them. The games are terrific, and I’ve long been a big fan of them. 

 

Starting a few years ago, a new type of casual adventure games began appearing on the PC.  Known as “Hidden Object” games, they are fast, fun, and yes – casual.  I love them as well.

 

Therefore I’m very happy to report that the talented folks at Her Interactive have adapted the plucky teen sleuth for the Hidden Object Game market! 

 

Their spin-off series is called The Nancy Drew Dossier, and I just had the pleasure of finishing the first game, Lights, Camera, Curses. 

 

The plot is classic Nancy:  There’s been trouble on a movie set!  A remake of an old Egyptian epic has been plagued by mysterious accidents, and Miss Drew has been tasked with going undercover to get to the bottom of the mystery.

 

Upon launching the game, I immediately recognized that Her Interactive’s biggest strength – recreating that elusive yet essential “Nancy Drew Vibe” – had translated beautifully into this new, more casual format.  All of the elements of the game – art, music, sound, voice work, puzzles and arcade sequences – work together to immerse the player in that irresistable atmosphere created by the original books. 

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The game takes the Hidden Object formula and adds a nice twist:  The goal on most screens is to figure out how pairs of objects work together.  This makes the hunting-and-finding chores feel less like chores and more like good detective work. 

 

The plot, which features a greedy studio head, a flamboyant film director, a questionable production manager and a high-maintenance star, feels just right as well.

 

Clues are important to pay attention to, as at several points Nancy finds herself in conversations in which the player must choose the correct responses based on the information that has been available.

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The game includes several fun mini-games which add a nice break from the hunt-and-find action.

 

Sneaking around the movie sets and production offices as Nancy Drew is a blast.

 

My only regret is that it took me so long to get to this game, which was released in 2008.  Upon finishing it, I immediately went back to Big Fish and downloaded the second game in the series, Resorting to Danger. 

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I highly recommend The Nancy Drew Dossier:  Lights, Camera, Curses to Mom-and-daughter teams and to anyone else who is a fan of the durably appealing teen sleuth.

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 286 user reviews.

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