The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

But Joe Morgenstern in the Wall Street Journal commented: "The film succeeds to the degree that it does -- partially, but honorably and sometimes affectingly -- because it was made as well as it was. And Sheri Linden in the Los Angeles Times concluded that writer-director Mark Herman "crafts an affecting drama that refuses to soft-pedal its harrowing conclusion. ... Full Review

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is not for children, but I recommend it highly for adults. Thewlis is a compelling actor who often takes on unlikable characters, and in this film he's truly despicable. ... Full Review

We will remember them," we profess religiously on at least an annual basis, but filmmakers have always been overawed by the sheer horror of the Holocaust. ... Full Review

As the privileged 8-year-old protagonist, Asa Butterfield is innocent but never cutesy, self-centered but possessed of a restless, searching spirit. Translating this dark fable to the screen, Herman for the most part maintains the book's oversimplification of historical events, but he nonetheless crafts an affecting drama that refuses to soft-pedal its harrowing conclusion. ... Full Review

Herman shoots these scenes delicately, but it also sends the film into a real storybook mode, which makes the film disturbing in ways not intended. Herman frames this detail matter-of-factly, as one more image in the composition, trying to place the point-of-view somewhat from Bruno's perspective, which, as the film progresses, becomes trickier and trickier to maintain. ... Full Review

Director Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" was named best film of 2008 by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures on Thursday in the first major award of the Oscar season. ... Full Article

Angsty trend-of-the-year high school vampires sucked at teenage allowances this weekend and made a haul that topped last weekend's Bond-o-rama.Those crazy blood-sucking heart-throbs of Twilight drained away $70 million taking the fourth highest all time November opening. ... Full Article

At Grandin Theatre."The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" brings us the Holocaust through the first-hand observations of an 8-year-old German boy.Little Bruno (Asa Butterfield) doesn't fully comprehend what is going on. ... Full Article

On page 11 of the current issue of Entertainment Weekly , next to an article about the Oscar race, there is this brief item: "Earning some of the harshest reviews of the year, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is... ... Full Article

Jack Scanlon as Shmuel and Asa Butterfield as Bruno in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Mark Herman crafts a taut World War II drama that packs a controversial wallop. ... Full Article