City of Ember

[[Oliver]] and [[Catherine]] and I went out to see City of Ember last night — we’ve got to seize any opportunity to see non-animated films that don’t involve evisceration or casual drug use.

There were few scenes of implied giant-rat-on-man violence that caused Oliver to shriek loudly, but otherwise the film lived up to its “family” designation and I think we all enjoyed it.

On one hand it’s a simple adventure story, but it’s also got good doses of “kid empowerment,” “self-reliance will win the day” and “wonderfully executed whirligigery.” If you liked Charlie and the Chocolate Factory I think you’ll like City of Ember for many of the same reasons.

By the way, with runs up and down University Avenue every 30 minutes it’s super-convenient to get to the movies on the bus. Leave a little early and have dinner at Café So-Ban in the mall’s food court: they serve great Korean and Japanese food and make a mean kimchi.