‘Madagascar’
Madagascar, from
Dreamworks Animation (Shrek, Shark Tale), is about a lion, a zebra, a
hippo, and a giraffe from the Central Park Zoo who find themselves in the
“wilds” of Madagascar. After they fall off a boat and wash ashore, four
penguins hijack the boat to Antarctica, pronounce that it “sucks,” and go back
to join the Malagasy fun. Along the way, we dally with nature-versus-nurture, as
Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller) considers his buddy, Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock),
as a food source.
Lila (8) and my two younger kids loved it, of course. Lila
liked Melman, David Schwimmer’s hypochondriac giraffe, because “his attitude
was weird.” The wacky lemur king (echoing King Louie from The Jungle Book) was a hit with her, and so were those crazy
penguins.
But not much happens with the promising setup. Alex is silly
and good, starts biting butts, then finds sushi and is good again. It’s a buddy
movie, but Stiller and Rock have nothing like the chemistry of Tom Hanks and
Tim Allen in Toy Story. And while
animation is great for presenting the fantastical, internal logic takes a
holiday. It’s too strange that the lion and the zebra can lie down together in
a fenceless enclosure at the zoo. And why does Marty’s beach dwelling have
hardware in addition to bamboo and coconuts?
Lila liked it better than Shark Tale, not as much as the Shrek flicks. “It dragged a bit,” she opined. In a world with The Incredibles, and from the studio that made Shrek, we expect more, and I found Madagascar fairly disappointing.
— Adam Wilcox
This week for families
Brighton Memorial Library storytimes: Mondays 10 a.m.
(ages 3-4), 10:30 a.m. (ages 1-2.5); Thurdays 7 p.m. (families) | 2300 Elmwood
Avenue. 784-5300, www.brightonlibrary.org
Camp Pinewood Open House Sun, June 5. girls ages 6-17
and families, 2-4 p.m. 292-5160, www.gsgv.org
Family Appreciation Event Sat, June 4. kids’
presentations, lunch, Rochester After School Academy participants and families,
James Madison School, 200 Genesee St, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Fathers’ Leadership Academy Thurdays, through June 29.
Parent Center, 30 Hart St, 6-8 p.m. Free. 262-8456.
Henrietta Public Library storytimes: Wednesdays 10:30
a.m. (preschool). | 455 Calkins Rd. 359-7092
Strong Museum 1 Manhattan Square.
Sat-Sun, June 4-5, Mr. McFeely visit, Sat 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Sun 1-4 p.m. | Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood — a Hands-On
Exhibit, June 4-Sept 5. | Hours: Mon-Thur 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Fri 10 a.m.-8
p.m.; Sat 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun 12-5 p.m. Tix: $7; $6 seniors, students; $5
children. 263-2700, www.strongmuseum.org
Summer Arts in Action
Program Scholarships summer arts camp for ages 4-12, Hochstein School. 454-4596,
www.hochstein.org
Summer Reading Kickoff Wed, June 8. music by Urban
Steel, Phillis Wheatley Community Library, 33 Dr Samuel McCree Way, 3-4 p.m.
Free. 428-8212
Young Visionaries Awards
Program applications
due by June 30, Rochester Museum & Science Center, 657 East Ave, rmsc.org
If music be the food of love…
My son wears black and digs punk rock (especially the
Ramones) and I couldn’t be more proud.
When I was his age, I couldn’t listen to most of my parents’
records (Broadway soundtracks). There were a few exceptions. Once, my parents
brought home wigs, beads, and the West Coast Experimental Pop Art Band’s LP Part One (including a cover of Frank
Zappa’s “Help I’m a Rock”) for a psychedelic theme party thrown by a Cleveland
Heights neighbor. Another time, my mother bought B.B. King’s Live at the Regal. That and Trini Lopez
was about as cool as it got.
Being the oldest, I wound up the hard-core Beatle fan of the
family. My three sisters planted their feet firmly in the Monkees camp. I’d
heatedly argue the Beatles’ musical supremacy but would always be outnumbered.
Perhaps that’s why I wound up a (former) record store employee.
Sharing a passion with your child can be deep and powerful,
whether it be baseball, fly fishing, or the differences between a Gibson SG and
a Mosrite. Yes, Virginia, there is a common ground on which I can communicate
with my son. And as I share with him the breadth of my knowledge about the
history of popular music (especially punk rock), we also talk about life’s
issues as we explore the choices made by rock icons. Plus, it’s really nice to
be able to listen to the same music as my kid!
— Stan Merrell
This article appears in Jun 1-7, 2005.
