Author Archives: Nora Wessel

Most Yale courses don’t have a dress code. Then again, most students spend class sitting at a desk. But for the students of Emily Coates ’06, tights and a leotard is expected. On a Wednesday afternoon, 12 girls enter a pristine studio in the newly-minted Broadway Rehearsal Lofts. They spend the first hour on a »

“Enchanted” may fail to fix Disney foibles, but the revised fairy tale formula will beguile viewers willing to embrace the cliches. At once, it is homage to the Disney musical and an amalgamation of classic narratives, a romantic comedy both trite and funny, respectful and sardonic. It gets the ingredients right, even if the aftertaste »

“Lars and the Real Girl” uses fantasy to persuade viewers to reassess reality — even if the lead is a sex doll. Director Craig Gillespie feeds the Indie viewer with quirky scenarios that perfectly compliment comedy and tragedy, making “Lars” worth the gimmick. Lars (Ryan Gosling), a peculiar, socially stunted loner, can barely speak to »

Though it documents the trajectory of death, “Into the Wild” is a story of life in its purest form. The vitality and free spirit that emanate throughout Sean Penn’s adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s novel salvages the film from cliched pitfalls. Despite the generic narrative trope of privileged children forgoing opportunity to indulge in hedonistic pleasures, »