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Pleasanton Weekly December 7, 2007 Page 33 Living Living Section 2 P L E A S A N T O N W E E K L Y INSIDE Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Open Home Guide . . . . . 45 December 7, 2007 www.PleasantonWeekly.com Thousands come out to celebrate
the season of joy, giving H oliday celebrations are offi-
cially in full swing after
Saturdays annual Hometown Holiday Celebration.
Thousands gathered to take in
the parade, which was comprised
of community organizations, athletic
groups, scout troops, marching bands
and floats of all kinds. After the parade, Mayor Jennifer
Hosterman lit the newly decorated
holiday tree on the Museum On Main
Street lawncomplete with life-size
wooden elves designed by artist
Gloria Matsumoto.
Santa even took time from checking
his list twice to greet local families. Emily Atwood A hometown holiday With the flip of a switch, Mayor Jennifer Hosterman lit up the holiday tree in front of Muesum On
Main Street. The parade was packed with people from the community: community organizations, athletic
groups, scout troops and marching bands. The PleasanTones acted as Santas musical helpers by singing in the holiday. Thousands filled Main Street to watch the annual parade and tree lighting last Saturday. Jay Flachsbar th Jay Flachsbar th Jay Flachsbar th Jay Flachsbar th Page 34 December 7, 2007 Pleasanton Weekly Living Movie Reviews Love in the Time of Cholera Rating: R for sexual content/nudity and brief language.
2 hours, 18 minutes. Trying to adapt Gabriel Garcia Marquezs rich
and revered 1988 novel to the screen was a futile
exercise.
The Colombian-born
writers sweeping narra-
tive, evocative and sensory
imagery, and spellbind-
ing storytelling cannot be
reduced to the requirements
of a screenplaytranslated
to what viewers can see
and hear within a couple of
hours. Whereas the novel
conveys what characters
feel, think, remember and
forget, the movie merely
shows what they do.
Despite the talents of Academy Award-winning
screenwriter Ronald Harwood (The Pianist), only
the pale ghost of the Nobel Prize-winners love
story lingers on screen.
Even if you havent read the book, several things
about Brit Mike Newells direction (Harry Potter
and the Goblet of Fire and Four Weddings and a
Funeral) will strike you as wrong from the opening
moments. The tone wavers unsteadily between
drama and comedy, as wealthy Dr. Juvenal Urbino
(Benjamin Bratt) teeters on a ladder and falls to his
death. His widow Fermina (Giovanna Mezzogiorno)
sinks into a swamp of grief, and the romantic
Florentino Ariza (Javiar Bardem)who has loved
her for 51 years, nine months and four days
declares his undying devotion once again.
The principal cast members look like actors pre- tending to play elderly characters instead of making
us believe they are. The acting doesnt improve
when the film flashes back a half century. As the
father of the teenage Fermina, John Leguizamo
chomps on a cigar while spewing anachronistic dia-
logue out the other side of his mouth. Sometimes he
mumbles lines like Brando in The Godfather. Big
and broad also characterize the performances of Hector Elizondo, playing the
successful uncle of the young
Florentino (Unax Ugalde),
and Fernanda Montenegra
as his doting mother.
The film flits from era to era,
as Ferminas father takes her
far away from Florentino and
his love letters. The young
woman marries the good
doctor, and they spend two
honeymoon years in Paris.
The film has no dramatic
conflict, only the trite remind- ers of unrequited love expressed in Florentinos
occasional voiceover: Life is like the seatur-
bulent or Shes a splinter I cannot pull out or
My heart has more rooms than a whorehouse.
Meanwhile, the lovesick man dulls his pain through
a series of sexual conquests622, to be exact.
Despite the challenges of adaptation, one won-
ders if a director like Alfonso Arau (Like Water
for Chocolate) might have captured some of the
novels magical realism, or if the talented cast
might have performed more convincingly if speak-
ing Spanish. Instead a few humorous scenes offer
comic relief on the big screen, while the master-
piece about love and life can only be found on the
printed page. Susan Tavernetti Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium Rating: G as in good for all ages.
1 hours, 34 minutes. Welcome to the wacky and oh-so-weird world
of Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium, a mis-
guided fantasyland chock full of loose screws.
Mr. Magorium (Dustin Hoffman) is the 243-year-
old mad scien-
tist and propri-
etor of a magi-
cally frenetic toy
emporium thats
more migraine-
inducing than
c a p t i v a t i n g .
The ancient toy
impresario flits
about his shop
e f f o r t l e s s l y
overseeing a
cacophony of
playthings on
crack.
His second
in command
( s w e e t h e a r t
Natalie Portman
as Molly Mahoney) is along for the ride, scotching
her concert pianist dreams to engage children
and adults alike in the wonders of play.
And there are wonders galore: a rubbery room-
ful of bouncing balls, shelves stacked high with
overly demonstrative stuffed animals and unique
fresh fish mobiles. I smell merchandising deals
(or is it the flounder?).
A reality check arrives in the form of buttoned-
down accountant Henry Weston (Jason Bateman)
who isnt in sync with the enchantment, hired by Magorium to determine the emporiums value so
that Magorium might pass it along to Mahoney
and finally take leave of this world.
Much to the dismay of Mahoney who loves
Magorium with all of her aching heart. Or is she
using her connection to the store and its owner
as an excuse to avoid facing her own shortcom-
ings? Visually Magorium is the ultimate picnic;
chaotic colors and motion without bounds. Bits of tantalizing allure
are scattered
t h r o u g h o u t
(most thanks to
Portman). Left
to its simple
devices and
straightforward
charms it might
stand on its
own.
But writer/
director Zach
Helm presents
his holiday
offering as a
Message Movie
and its a mess.
A laundry list
of touchy-feely,
New-Age bro- mides meant to reflect the magic in all of us.
Believe in yourself, find your sparkle, rise to the
occasion that is your life. Blech. Sappy script-
ing borders on the slapstick: specifically when
voiced by 9-year-old narrator/protagonist/mal-
adjusted man-child Eric Applebaum (Zach Mills)
who cant make friends but will single-handedly
save Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium from
itself. Good grief. Jeanne Aufmuth Attention Advertisers: There will be early Holiday Deadlines for the following issues Dec. 28th Issue Ad copy due Dec. 14 at 10am Jan. 4th Issue Ad copy due Dec. 21 at 10am Dec. 28th Issue Ad copy due Dec. 17 at 10am Jan. 4th Issue Ad copy due Dec. 26 at noon Lights of the Valley Remember or honor someone special this holiday season with the purchase of a symbolic light, star, name on a wreath or angel. Your donations help us provide end-of-life care for patients and grief support for families. Please return form with donation to: HOPE HOSPICE
6500 Dublin Blvd., #100 Dublin, CA 94568 925.829.8770 PW Circle One: In Memory (M) or Living Tribute (T) Name: _______________________________________ M/T
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Phone: ___________________ Email: __________________ Memory Book Locations: Dublin Livermore Pleasanton San Ramon Memory books listing those honored will be on display at each Tree location. Donate online: www.hopehospice.com I wish to order the following:
___ Symbolic Light(s) . . .$20 EA ___ ___ Symbolic Star(s) . . . .$50 EA ___ ___ Memorial Wreath . . .$100 EA ___ (ribbon with name of person) ___ Symbolic Angel(s) . .$250* EA ___ *You will receive an angel ornament for a gift of $250 Total Tax-Deductible Donation ________ Thank You for Your Kind Donation! __ Check __ Discover __ AMEX __ MC __ VISA ________ Exp. Date ______________________________ Card# Illumination Ceremonies Ready to Rent Paris, Je TAime First Look Pictures DVD
1 hour, 56 minutes
Directors: Ensemble Paris, Je TAime (Paris, I Love You) is a collection of 18 short films
by some of the worlds most celebrated modern directors who embellish,
engage and sometimes embalm the City of Lights in a movie that I found,
on the whole, to be one of the most enjoyable of the year if only for its pure
audacity. What is most fascinating is the length of the shortsreduced to
less than five minutesas to see what the directors could milk out of the
perceived short amount of time which proves, in most cases, that a good
movie can never be too long and a bad one never too short. Luckily, I
would say that 90 percent of the shorts here are good, very good in fact,
enough to fill our stomachs and not feel engorged by the end of the two-
hour running time because the best of these shorts is saved for the very last.
The movie is arranged around the different arrondissements (boroughs) of Paris, in which there are
20 positioned in a spiral formation that make up the city (two of the segments fell through). The path
that the movie takes is not geographical, however (I looked), its more spiritual as to match the flow of
the narration. The better of the bunch include Quais de Seine by Paul Mayeda Berges and Gurinder
Chada about a student who takes up a conversation with a Muslim girl; Le Marais by Gus Van Sant
about the language divide between two men, one of which thinks the other is his soul mate and, Pere-
Lachaise by Wes Craven about a woman who breaks up with her fianc

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