Shout it Out

Details: Published: 14 March 2013; Created: 14 March 2013; Last Updated: 14 March 2013; Hits: 3552

burtwonderstone Abra-Carell-Dabra! In The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, our favorite Office-mate Steve Carell has been transformed from a middle manager into a middling magician, with equally hilarious results.

Together with his longtime BFF Anton Marvelton, who's played by Steve Buscemi, Burt (Carell) headlines a nightly illusion show in Vegas. The act, which has them dancing to cheesy 80s music in sequined velvet unitards, has turned the duo into big stars. But as we learn in the movie's opening scenes, they'd been outcasts as children—Burt a bully magnet; Anton a sunken-eyed asthmatic. ("Aren't you the kid who's always in the nurse's office?" Burt asks when they meet in grade school. "No, sometimes they take me to the hospital," Anton blithely replies, just one of the fun throwaway lines this flick's chockablock with.) Only when the boys learned magic tricks did their social lives take off.

Smug about his escape from dweebdom, Burt's grown up to be a narcissistic jerk. His assistants take flight more often than his collection of hat-trick doves. He's due to be taken down a notch, and fate is happy to oblige. A new magician (Jim Carey) billed as "The Brain Rapist" shows up on the Strip, with tricks that are literally cutting-edge. Burt and Anton suddenly seem more like Burt and Ernie, unable to match Grey's physically punishing brand of flair. Their act—which includes their latest assistant, Jane (Olivia Wilde)—breaks up. Since Burt's powers don't extend to money management, he's soon down and out.

The movie then settles in to its central plot: Burt's struggle to reinvent his act and himself, repairing old relationships and forging new ones. Yet the journey to redemption, so often a yawn-fest in similar movies, is a delight. There are awesome magic tricks, but also great supporting characters, most notably Alan Arkin as Burt's idol-turned-reluctant-mentor. You'll do popcorn spit-takes during their exchanges, some of which consist solely of screamingly funny facial expressions. Far weaker are the scenes with Olivia Wilde, whose emotions run the gamut from concern to consternation. (Yeah, that's, like, one emotion.)

Still, Jane, Bert and Anton make loveable underdogs, and you'll be rooting for them to have their day. Do they succeed? A true movie reviewer never reveals a film's secrets. See for yourself! You'll leave feeling surprised that nearly 2 hours of your life have mysteriously vanished—without you checking your watch a single time.

Note: This film has a bit of violence and a few squeamish moments. And a romantic scene in which Burt's about to make a certain body part of his, ahem, magically hide somewhere may yield a few uncomfortable questions from the young'uns. I'd only take a savvier kid to this flick, which has a PG-13 rating.

Author Abra-ca-Deborah Skolnik is a senior editor at Parenting magazine, the Scarsdale mother of two, and a former sunken-eyed childhood asthmatic.

Details: Published: 12 March 2013; Created: 12 March 2013; Last Updated: 12 March 2013; Hits: 5006

McGill Members of the Scarsdale Board of Education, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael McGill, and Assistant Superintendent for Business and Facilities Linda Purvis will discuss the proposed 2013-14 Scarsdale school budget at a meeting to be held by the League of Women Voters of Scarsdale on Monday, March 18th at 9AM at Village Hall. After a question and answer period, League members will come to a consensus on recommendations to the Board of Education on the proposed budget. Members of the community are welcome to attend the presentation and the question and answer period. Only League members may participate in the consensus discussion. Visit www.lwvs.org to join the League, or pay $60 to join at the meeting. For more information, contact Pam Rubin at 914-723-8137.

Details: Published: 07 March 2013; Created: 07 March 2013; Last Updated: 07 March 2013; Hits: 3881

Ozthegreat (Here's a Mom and kid review of Oz the Great - in theaters now!) The Wizard of Oz proved that you could take the story of a girl looking for her home and make it into a huge movie. Oz The Great and Powerful, its brand-new prequel, proves you can make a huge movie, and it can still have trouble finding a home. Is it a kiddie flick? Only kinda. Grown-up fare? I can't imagine heading there without a kid in tow. If you have a crush on Mila Kunis, you'll only enjoy half the show, till she becomes an ugly green witch. And if you have a crush on James Franco, our Wizard, stop buying movie tickets and save your money for therapy. Don't you remember how smarmy he was at the Oscars?

Which is not to say that this Wizard isn't wonderful at times. Its briskly funny opening introduces us to Oscar ("Oz"), a rascally magician with a traveling circus in Kansas. Between shows, he passes time seducing every gal in sight. When one of then turns out to be a strongman's girlfriend, Oscar leaps into a hot-air balloon to escape a well-deserved beatdown. Just as he floats away, though, a tornado strikes. We're right with him as he endures a (literally) whirlwind journey. When he touches down again, he's clearly not in Kansas anymore.

The land of Oz is more magical than ever in this 3D extravaganza. You'll be picking your jaw back up off the sticky theater floor after seeing crystal flowers and glittering, translucent rainbows. But this beautiful world soon reveals its dark size: A wicked witch is menacing Oz, and the two good-witch sisters who've been guarding the Emerald City have been waiting for a Wizard to rescue them all.

Lured by the promise of a huge reward, Oscar pretends to be their man, setting off on the witch-hunt with two sidekicks. The first is a flying monkey who, unlike his scary cousins in the original Oz movie, is as winsome as a Webkinz. Oscar's other pal is a living china doll. She's meant to be cute, but, as my older daughter whispered, "that's the creepiest thing I've ever seen."

The plot that unfolds is part adventure, part romance (Oscar and Glinda? Who knew?) , and a tale of personal growth as our Wizard realizes his true potential. It's all punctuated by capable if not exceptional performances: Mila Kunis, as a good-witch-gone-bad, holds her own, sweet and vulnerable till, well, she isn't. Michelle Williams, as Glinda, thankfully keeps the sappiness at bay.

The ending is uplifting, and happily no one dies. There's even a moral—that you can't be great without being good first—though neither of my girls, aged 12 and 9, got it. (My hint was when they asked, "But mommy, is there any lesson?"). Both gushed about the film, though. At least till nighttime. Then my 9-year-old insisted on sleeping with me because she was spooked. Gee wiz, Disney, thanks.

Note: This PG movie is rarely violent, but has startling moments and spooky Dark Forest creatures. Unless you don't mind co-sleeping, I'd recommend it for the 10-and-up crowd.

Deborah Skolnik is a senior editor at Parenting magazine and the sleep-deprived mother of two.

Review by daughter Clara Enders

If you like the original Wizard of Oz movie, you've probably heard of the new Disney remake, Oz The Great and Powerful. Oscar Diggs was a circus magician until he got caught up in a tornado while riding a hot air balloon. After the whirlwind ride, he finds himself in the magical and beautiful land of Oz. He lands in a river and after he wades around for a few minutes, "good" witch Theodora sees him and mistakes him for the wizard, someone who is supposed to come and fulfill Oz's prophecy. The next day, she takes him to the Emerald City and along the way he meets a monkey named Finley who promises to be his lifelong servant. When they reach the Emerald City, Oz quickly learns that in order to be king he must defeat the Wicked Witch. Oz and Finely travel down the yellow brick road until they reach China Town, a place where all the little china people live in teapots and teacups. They find a small girl, referred to as China Girl, whose family was killed in a fight with the Wicked Witch. The pair becomes a trio as they travel to the Dark Forest. As the movie progresses, they pick up new friends and come up with creative and brave ways to outsmart the Wicked Witch. Oz also starts to believe that even though he is not THE Wizard, he could still defeat the witch.

I enjoyed all the special effects in this movie. They helped to make it scarier and more imaginative. I thought all the actors were very good, and they played their parts in believable ways. Even all the extras, like the munchkins and tinkers, added more to the film. I think this movie could appeal to everyone, but some little kids could be scared of some intense parts. For instance, the flying monkeys look more like flying beasts, and the fight between Oz and the Wicked Witch is a little bit frightening. I enjoyed this movie and think a lot of other people will too.

Clara Enders is a seventh grader at Scarsdale Middle School.

Details: Published: 26 February 2013; Created: 26 February 2013; Last Updated: 26 February 2013; Hits: 6114

idarraga A rapid response by Scarsdale Police officers on Friday evening 2/22 resulted in the arrest of three fleeing burglary suspects who had just robbed an Eastchester home. According to Scarsdale Lieutenant Thomas Altizio, an off-duty Eastchester Police Officer, Richard Natoli, spotted a suspect leaving the backyard of an Eastchester home. When the man was questioned, he jumped into a car with two other men and drove north on Scarsdale Avenue. The driver of the escape car then made a left turn onto the Popham Road Bridge and was spotted by Scarsdale Police officers on traffic duty on the bridge. They notified headquarters that the getaway car had turned south on Garth Road. Scarsdale Police officers rushed to Garth Road and stopped the car containing the three men at Garth Road near Harney Road at 7:00 pm on Friday night. The men were taken into custody and held until they could be turned over to the Eastchester Police.

Stolen items from the home were found in the car.

The three men were identified as: Anderson B. Moncada, 24, of 39 Thomas St. in Brentwood; , 29, of 46-08 74th St. in Elmhurst; Juan D. Hernandez-Moncada and Fabian Idarraga, 29, of 21-22 30th St. in Astoria. They were charged with robbing two homes in Eastchester – one on Vernon Drive and the other on Hilburn Road, a second-degree burglary. They are now being held on $150,000 in Westchester County Jail.

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Details: Published: 20 February 2013; Created: 20 February 2013; Last Updated: 22 February 2013; Hits: 4725

daspalmer For those who are concerned about new DAS antennas in Scarsdale, here's the latest. Following a meeting of the Scarsdale Planning Board on February 11 to discuss changes to the zoning code to accommodate DAS in Scarsdale, residents saw new DAS antennas going up around town.

One was installed on Palmer Avenue and we also heard that several went up on the Post Road. Since these roads are state owned, the telecommunications company did not need Scarsdale's permission to install antennas in the right of way.

We called Village Planner Elizabeth Marrinan on February 18 to inquire about the antennas and she says that the Building Department will spend an inspector to look into who installed the antennas and confirm that they were authorized. This has not been done to date. We also emailed Peter Heimdehl of Crown Castle, the company that applied to install DAS antennas on residential streets in Scarsdale. He did not reply to our request for more information.

However, we did hear from public health advocate Deborah Kopald who is running a
Conference called "Corporate Interference with Science and Health" in NYC on March 13th and 14th. She has convened a group of experts to discuss food, fracking and wireless technologies. According to Kopald, "The wireless piece is the topic nobody knows about or is talking about- but it is a huge public health threat-especially in NYC, which is the least regulated environment in the world."

The panel will include an international expert on cell phone health effects; Lennart Hardell, MD, PhD from Sweden. Hardell's work was the basis for the World Health Organization's (WHO) declaration that radiofrequency radiation a class 2b carcinogen. The other experts speaking on this topic (which includes the transmitter infrastucture such as wi-fi, cell towers and "smart meters") are David O. Carpenter, MD from the Presidential Cancer Panel, Representative Andrea Boland (Maine), Toxicologist Magda Havas, PhD, Deborah Kopald and former US Attorney Whitney North Seymour, Jr.

Kopald says that "New York City is one of the only places in the world with no regulations on cell transmitters where they pop up outside peoples' bedroom windows and on the decks of fancy penthouses and are a major public health problem, along with Wi-Fi ... a concept that I realize is anathema to almost everybody!"

She believes that the risk has not been adequately covered by the media and contends that reputable scientists say that if you look at non-industry sponsored research, radio frequency radiation looks to be a worse health threat than global warming.

Panelists at the meeting include: