Editor's note: There's so much that's beautiful, funny, smart and informative on the Internet. Problem is, there's also a bunch of garbage. Here's the best of the web right now.
1. Dave Chappelle has a meltdown onstage in Connecticut. Comedian Dave Chappelle's return to the standup stage has not always been a smooth one. The outspoken comedian once again lost his cool, this time at a show in Hartford, Connecticut. Chappelle reportedly sat on a stool, chained smoked cigarettes, and read passages from an audience member's book for 15 out of his allotted 25 minutes onstage.
2. Kittens bring the New York subway, and our melted hearts, to a halt. A pair of purring kittens brought part of New York's subway system to a standstill for nearly two hours. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority suspended subway service after the felines were spotted on the tracks in Brooklyn. Christened Arthur and August, the kittens are scheduled to be put up for adoption.
3. Darla Holloway, 4, sings "God Bless America" at Fenway Park. Little Darla Holloway was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when she was just 2 years old. Now, at the ripe old age of 4, she's taking a break from chemotherapy to sing this song and remind you why life is so precious.
4. Ben Rector hits a 70-yard field goal with a Frisbee. Singer-songwriter Ben Rector is a jack of all trades. He also happens to love Frisbee and Baylor football. We give him extra style points for waving the disc through the uprights and for not wearing shoes at Floyd Casey Stadium.
5. Grandparents develop iPad app to stay in touch with family. Whoever says you can't teach an old dog new tricks never met Charlie and Maria Girsch, the most technologically savvy grandparents on the planet. The couple (who are an ex-priest and nun, no joke) created the iPad app FamZoom to stay in touch with their six children and eight grandchildren. The app syncs screens so that whatever one person is drawing, saying or playing displays on both screens. The app should be available soon.
Dave Chappell spent 15 minutes chain smoking and reading a book onstage at a recent show.
Andrew Garfield, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Claire Foy, Phoenix Laroche, and Billie Gadson in The Magic Faraway Tree.
With kids and families always on the hunt for entertainment, it’s typically a safe bet for a movie studio to offer up something new, even if it is a film based on an old property. The Magic Faraway Tree, based on a series of books that started in the 1930s, is a very old property, one that its filmmakers have tried to liven up with a few stars, a lot of whimsy, and a boatload of CGI.
The Thompson family, led by stay-at-home dad Tim (Andrew Garfield) and breadwinner mom Polly (Claire Foy), are forced to move to a rundown country home when Polly gets laid off. The kids - Joe (Phoenix Laroche), Fran (Billie Gadson), and Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) - are used to the perks of city life like wifi and electricity, and each of them rebels in their own way to their new lot in life.
Fran, enticed by a fairy named Silky (Nicola Coughlan), is the first to venture out of the house, making her way to a magic tree that transports her to a world full of strange characters like Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns), Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning), and more. Her adventures there not only broaden the world she thought she knew, but may be the key to helping her ailing family.
Directed by Ben Gregor and written by Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2, Wonka), the film is a pleasant enough lark, but it fails to fully capture the imagination. The five-member family has a lot going on, from an initially-mute Fran to a domestic situation that raises more questions than it answers. The film tries to incorporate an anti-technology message through Tim’s hatred of a smart refrigerator (voiced by Judi Dench!) and the kids' addictions to devices, but it’s quickly shed in favor of other options.
Once Fran makes it to the Magic Faraway Tree, there’s a nice shift in the storytelling, but it’s unclear what the ultimate goal is. It’s a good idea to have Fran, the youngest of the children, convince her older, more cynical siblings about the virtues of the magic world, but the conflict in the real world doesn’t seem to rise to the level needed for the escape the tree provides.
There also seems to be a missing link in the storytelling for viewers to understand the importance of the fantastical characters. The visuals of seeing Moonface and his crescent moon-shaped hair, a man with a suit full of banging pots, and more are fun for a while, but not enough to carry the whole film. A last-minute revelation feels like it was something that should have been disclosed much earlier to help strengthen the emotions of the story.
A two-time Oscar nominee, Garfield is making his first foray into family movies (if you don’t count playing Spider-Man), and while he does a good job, he doesn’t make the best fit for the semi-goofy role. The same goes for the Emmy-winning Foy, who isn’t given much of anything to do. The movie puts the story on the shoulders of the three child actors, and while each of them acquit themselves well, none of them are so outstanding as to be noteworthy.
With nearly 90-year-old source material, The Magic Faraway Tree needed to be something truly special to stand out in the 21st century movie world. Unfortunately, it features a mostly forgettable story that features some fun visuals, a couple of cute kids, and not much else.
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The Magic Faraway Tree is now playing in theaters.
