Lars and the Real Girl 2007 • Rated PG-13 Directed by Craig Gillespie Review by Craig Detweiler Take a lonely, conflicted young man in a frozen Midwest setting. Add an anatomically correct, blow-up doll named Bianca. Put them both in a chaste church setting. And somehow, the creators of Lars and The Real Girl produce one of the sweetest, most transcendent films of 2007. Lars and the Real Girl is a sheer delight. Like the gentle character Lars Lindstrom, it is ...

~ by Craig Detweiler ~ How strange to see the battle over a comedy show devolve into tragedy. Yet the Leno versus Conan debate reflects an underexplored generation gap. One more baby boomer refusing to retire, blocking the path to a patient (but ultimately frustrated) Gen Xer. NBC’s late night talk show drama has echoes of royal succession plans (with all the accompanying skullduggery). Only five hosts have occupied The Tonight Show throne. When Johnny Carson was tapped to replace Jack Paar, he was under contract with ABC. It took a couple of months to make room for Carson, who ...