Moralistic Nanny Diaries avoids children's plot
· In the recently-released The Nanny Diaries, Scarlett Johansson (The Prestige) plays nanny Annie in a world of Manhattan socialites, bound-for-Yale toddlers, stuck-up mothers and philandering fathers. The movie reads like a chick flick, but by entering the realm of down-to-earth drama that attempts to show a dark side of New York City while presenting a practical moral, The Nanny Diaries manages to stay away from the superficial, feel-good mantras of other chick flicks.
Ritter breaks old habits with successful new mix
· What has Josh Ritter conquered? He has conquered his fourth full-length studio album, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, and with it the challenge of following up a critically acclaimed volume of work without disappointing. The lone Roman helmet on the album cover only alludes to Ritter's epic intentions, and after the first listen it becomes obvious that he is exploring new musical territory in what may be his best album yet.
Truly racy theater, art strips values, not clothes
· Back in my younger and more carefree days, before all you upperclassmen voted me into the editor in chief's office, I was the Thresher's arts and entertainment editor. The job has always been near and dear to my heart, in large part because it always comes with a lot of arguing about aesthetic values -- and, if you know me well enough to know I'm a philosophy major, you probably also know how much I love vehemently defending my subjective opinion as if it were the objective truth. Which, more often than not, it is. Care to disagree?