CNN gets it right: a reporter's life is stressful

I hate when I follow a blog or a columnist and it is days, weeks - or even months on a rare occasion - between postings. So I feel a little guilty that my postings have been much more infrequent in recent weeks. In fact, as anyone who follows this blog knows, it's been nearly a week since I posted.

Blame it on the Pinnacle Awards special section I had to design, edit, and partly write, last week. And on the day I took off to drive back from the U2 concert in Pasadena. Or the student interns who called in sick or took a week off to go to Hawaii. This week felt like I was weeks behind schedule, even with the work I did on Saturday, and writing a couple columns late in the day on Monday, after getting very little sleep and driving for nearly six hours. It's the life of a journalist, and probably one of the reasons "reporter" was named to CNN Money's list of stressful jobs that pay badly.

Others jobs that made the list include social worker and probation officer, so basically reporter is right up there with people who are breaking up families or following around criminals.

I am technically not a reporter anymore since my official title is city editor, but I still do plenty of reporting, writing, page designing and sometimes even handle receptionist duties since that position is filled by a part-timer. But perhaps I am not the only reporter in the world who is grinding my teeth in my sleep and having nightmares about work on a regular basis - and occasionally crying a few frustrated tears.

But there is a reason some of us reporters stick with a job that offers a mediocre salary and lots of stress. There are moments that make it all worthwhile, such as the reader who came in today and said he feels like he knows me since he always reads my food column. Or discovering last night that someone who has been a mentor with the Puente program at Gavilan College for going on three years (I am a mentor with the program, too) signed up originally when he read a story I wrote about the need for more male mentors.

It might be a world of stress, but the little impact I can have on the world makes it worthwhile.

U2 will rock the Rose Bowl and YouTube

I might have mentioned a time or two, or a dozen times, that I am a big fan of U2. So when tickets went on sale for their latest tour I knew I had to see them. I've seen every tour since Popmart and didn't want to miss the latest tour, but when tickets went on sale for the U.S. stops, nothing was listed in the Bay Area. The closest options where Pasadena or Las Vegas. Being a working journalist - which means I don't have a lot of expendable cash (and the tickets were already pricey) or free time - so I thought going to Pasadena would require less time and money.

But when I bought the tickets for Pasadena there was one big thing I didn't take into account - the venue for tomorrow's concert is the Rose Bowl. It hit home about two months ago when I started getting mass e-mails from the Rose Bowl staff encouraging U2 ticketholders to pre-pay for parking or shuttle bus passes and that the parking lots would open at noon - for a 7 p.m. concert. The first e-mail said 96,000 people are expected at the concert. That is a lot of people to transport to a venue. Suddenly, the quick trip to Pasadena seemed like it might require a little more planning. So we rented a hotel room near Old Town Pasadena, got tickets to one of the shuttles, and planned for an earlier arrival time just in case there is mass traffic on the highways and streets of Pasadena.

By this time tomorrow, I will be wading through a sea of people to my seat, awaiting the Edge, Bono, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. For anyone who hasn't scored tickets for the concert and wants to see it, it is supposed to be played live on YouTube at 8:30 p.m. PST.

Now I better go find those tickets and prep for the long drive early tomorrow...

Two Eggers' movies take characters on a journey far from home

I have never read a Dave Eggers book, but somehow in one weekend I managed to watch two movies based on screenplays by the writer. The first was a movie that is out on DVD that I wanted to see when it came out in theaters, but it never opened locally. The other is the movie with mainstream draw that opened this weekend, "Where the Wild Things Are."

In some ways both of the movies are about finding place to belong and learning how to be a family. In "Away We Go," which starts on a note not for anyone with prudish tendencies, Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) discover that they are expecting a baby. They are both 33, unmarried and not quite sure what to do when Burt's parents announce they are moving overseas for two years. Burt is an insurance salesman and Verona is an artist of sorts. So when she is six months pregnant, the two decide to set out on a cross country trip to find a place they might belong. They criss cross to Phoenix, Madison and Montreal, visiting old friends and the few family members they have left. Verona worries constantly that she will be a bad mother or that the two of them are, as she says "fuck ups."

The whole point of the movie seems to be that Burt and Verona discover that even the people they know who seem to have it altogether still have their faults, their pains and their breakdowns. In the end, the thing that matters most is not whether they are married, have good jobs or have a complete plan for parenthood, but that they love each other and the baby on the way. The movie isn't quite a feel-good journey, but there are some funny and heart-breaking moments along the way. The main downside of the movie is that Burt's character isn't developed strongly enough to make people forget that Krasinski plays Jim on "The Office." Verona comes away as the more developed character, with a family background that explains her actions and concerns about becoming a family.

"Where the Wild Things Are," based on a children's book by Maurice Sendak, is also about finding a place to belong. Max (Max Records) runs away from home after he feels ignored by his sister and mother. The creatures he finds when he sails away to a far away island represent all the angry, hurt and scared feelings he has about his family. Though it is not spelled out in the movie, it's clear Max's parents are divorced and his mother has just started seeing someone else. The creatures make Max king, but he learns that it's not so easy to be the one who is responsible for keeping everyone safe and happy. The creatures are voiced by James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara (who also plays Burt's mother in "Away We Go"), Lauren Ambrose and Paul Dano, among others.

The movies may have completely different premises, but in the end they are both about going home.

My dreams are keeping me up at night

This week has been a rough one for me, and unfortunately I haven't even been able to escape into a good night's sleep. I've been sleeping just fine, but my nights have been full of very vivid and disturbing dreams. It seems as if my stress during the day finds a way to manifest itself at night.

I've always had very vivid dreams and have been pretty good at remembering them. Whatever is going on in my life is usually what makes it into my dreams - my friends and family make a lot of appearances as does work-related stuff. I usually know I am developing a serious crush when a guy I know shows up in my dreams. But some weeks the dreams just seem to come out of nowhere.

One night this week I dreamt that I argued with the owner of my company, a man with whom I speak probably just a few times a year. Most of the other details have faded, but it was an argument about a membership renewal not being paid.

The next night I dreamt about vampires, perhaps because I had watched an episode of "Vampire Diaries" right before bed. The dream incorporated some of the ideas from the show, and in it someone was trying to get me to let a snake bite me because then if a vampire bit me they would get poisoned and would leave me alone. I woke up in the middle of the night scared until I realized it wasn't real, and then I thought if I could only remember all the details it might make a good screenplay some day. And then I went back to sleep and dreamt some more about vampires.

The night after my brain incorporated characters from "Dexter" and the guest star from the last "Law and Order: SVU." I wasn't involved in this dream, but was watching it like a movie. Dexter, Astor and someone else were driving all around trying to track down Stephen Rea (who played the guest role on SVU) so that Dexter could murder the bad guy. There was even some elaborate scheme set up at Rea's hotel for Dexter to get him. I woke up again feeling on edge.

I got one night's reprieve before I dreamt about going down to the U2 concert at the Rose Bowl (which I will be doing Oct. 25) and not being able to get to the concert because we didn't have our shuttle bus tickets. The dream was full of waiting in line and struggling to get to the venue. And for some weird reason, the shuttle stop was in an amusement park, and was like an amusement park train instead of a real bus. We had yet made it to the concert when I woke up. Luckily our shuttle tickets came in the mail today, our reservations for the hotel are set and I've got the U2 tickets put away for the day of the concert.

After nights like these, I often wake up feeling almost as tired as I did when I went to bed. But, of course, the worst nights are the ones when I dream about work. There are nights when I dream about designing pages and missing deadlines. I guess the worst dreams, however, are the ones where I dream that I have already gotten up and gotten ready for work, and then wake up to find I haven't done any of that.

I'm not really sure what to do to eliminate these dreams. I could stop watching so much TV, I guess, but I think these dreams are probably coming more from a stressful few weeks at work. I can only hope that tonight when I go to bed my dreams will be normal again, or better yet, maybe I won't even remember them.

I love a rainy night

There is something about a good rain storm that makes me nostalgic for the few months I spent in Ireland when I was 20. When the hills around Gilroy and Hollister start to turn green in winter, and there is a fog in the morning, this area looks surprisingly like parts of Ireland.

I studied abroad in Northern Ireland in Coleraine at the University of Ulster for three months one fall. While it might seem like it's been raining forever as the storm continues into its 16th hour here in the Bay Area, it rained every day I was on the emerald isle. I went nearly 90 days without a sunny day.

In Ireland, no one uses umbrellas or raincoats. The rain is heavy and wind so strong that these barriers to the weather offered little protection. For most of the time I was in Ireland, my outergear consisted of a pea coat and a variety of sock caps, especially after I did the unthinkable and shaved my head.

My memories of Ireland are scented with damp wool and stale cigarette smoke, and the smell of whiskey on a cute boy's breath. Most of my weeknights were spent at the student union pub with the quick friends I made. We'd shrug off our jackets and huddle together in a booth, and my friends would drink Guiness while I sipped cider or Bailey's Irish Cream or vodka and orange juice. After I gave up drinking toward the end of my adventure (because I had a crush on the only boy in Ireland who didn't drink or smoke), the bartender took to calling me O.J. for the orange juice I ordered all night long.

I had a love-hate relationship with the rain in Ireland, and there were times were I missed the sun as much as I missed my family and friends. But sometimes it felt like the weather was something that drew my new found friends closer to me, as we huddled together in the booths at a restaurant or a pub and drank to warm ourselves up, or the night my crush took my hand as we walked home from a party because as he said, it was cold out.

There was something exhilarating about heading out in the rain for class or to the grocery store or just for a night out with friends without worrying about how wet my clothes would end up or what my hair would look like without an umbrella - certainly not an issue after I cut most of it off. It was a time when I felt braver, and freer, and more innocent than I do now.

Now that I am older and less spontaneous, I worry about the flooded streets I will encounter on the way to work, about my heels becoming slippery in a puddle, and about the electricity going out on my busiest day at work. So I'm glad I'm in California, where I know the storm will pass, to be followed by plenty of sunshine.

In Bray, Ireland, circa fall 1998, with my pea coat and my minolta 35 mm slr.

Two new shows that are doomed for failure

Most of the time I give a new show a few episodes to grow on me. It offers a chance to get used to the format of the show - like the characters talking to the camera on "The Office" - and a chance to get to know the characters. But sometimes the networks come up with shows that just seem like they are destined to be a bomb from the very first episode.

There are two new shows that make the list so far this season for me. The first is "Three Rivers," yet another hospital show. But this one is focused on transplants. The only reason I started watching it is because my mom heard the main character would be played by Alex O'Loughlin, who starred in the short-lived vampire series "Moonlight."

The show was supposedly so bad that the creators reshot the pilot and added in a new character. The one review I read said that the whole episode showed about a hundred close-ups on Alex O'Loughlin's bright blue eyes.

Now my first issue with the show is that at the beginning of the episodes viewers watch people get sick or get into accidents. It's a little like Sesame Street's "one of these things is not like the other" skit because one of the people gets into a much more serious accident. And guess what? That's going to end up being the organ donor for all the rest of the sick people. And that's probably my second problem with the show - that somehow this one organ donor just happens to match blood types and markers with multiple people awaiting organs in the transplant unit.

The other issue is that the dialogue is sooooo bad it's hard to stomach. Instead of creating characters and letting us get to know them, the directors give up too much time to gazing into O'Loughlin's earnest eyes. Case in point: When one man finds out there is a kidney donor match for him, he tears up and says "I've been connected to this dialysis machine three days a week for eight hours a day for years" and I guess we are supposed to get from that how happy he is and how crappy his life has been. It just isn't very sincere.

The next problem is that since the pilot was reshot, the second episode repeats tons of things from the first episode. It reintroduces characters and seems to backtrack on other things we already know about the characters. It was a little bit like reading the second book in a trilogy and then going back to the first one. After epsiode two of this, the season pass is getting deleted. Better luck on the next series, O'Loughlin.

The other show that will probably get the ax is "Flashforward." It is an interesting sci-fi premise and it stars Joseph Fiennes who is adorably British (though he doesn't have his accent on this show.) On the first episode all the characters are going through their lives when suddenly EVERYONE on the planet suddenly blacks out for two-plus minutes. But it turns out everyone wasn't blacked out - they were all having visions of the future. Now the FBI is trying to investigate what caused the black outs and is looking into how to keep them from happening again. And everyone is dealing with what they saw in their blackouts - a relapse into drinking, cheating on a spouse, or not seeing anything at all.

The problem with the show is that it is likely to go the way of "The 4400" and "Heroes" as shows that get so overwhelming that viewers can't keep up. It's just not a premise that can be carried over multiple seasons. It would have made a better movie than TV series.

I will watch one more episode, just to see dreamy Joseph Fiennes, who has been absent from the movie and TV scene for far too long. But I don't have much faith that the show will last long.

Teaching an old dog new tricks

I think my dog might fail out of graduate school - or more appropriately my mom and I might fail out of graduate school.

Yesterday was our third week of graduate class with our dog Cassidy. It's our third group class, and man, it's started to be a challenge.

Cassidy has always been a sharp dog. She was potty trained when we got her from a shelter at 2 years old, and she knew some simple commands such as sit and down. When we first started working with a trainer - one on one because Cassidy hates other dogs and wasn't allowed in dog classes - she quickly learned some other basic commands. Within a week, she had learned to stay off the furniture, with a simple command for "off." The command is also used when she jumps up on people. She learned to wait at doorways for us to pass through first with the command "wait." She learned "stay" and "watch me."

Her first group class was one called "Rehab for Raging Rovers." The point of the class was not so much to teach the dogs commands as expose them to other dogs and teach the owners way to redirect the dogs' attention to keep them from getting overwhelmed. The other dogs in the class included a greyhound who had already been in raging rovers several times, a pit bull mix, a cattle dog and a few other dogs who were leash reactive. Of the dogs in the class, Cassidy was actually the one to act up the least and if she did growl, we were often able to calm her down quickly. Especially when we had a bag full of hot dog bits.

At the end of the class, our trainer suggested we send her to daycare a few times a month to keep her exposed to dogs, walk her at parks where we are likely to see other dogs and enroll in the beginner's obedience class. When we started the beginner's class last spring, Cassidy was the star pupil since many of the commands were things we'd already practiced with the trainer or in the rehab class. She had the "watch me" command, one that gets the dogs to look at your eyes, one that has been especially helpful in keeping Cassidy calm around other dogs. She picked up the "come" command quickly and learned the emergency recall command "come now" even faster (since a piece of beef jerky is offered up to her when she listens to that one.)

But the graduate class is finally the one that has slowed down our quick-learning dog. We are in the midst of teaching the dogs heel, and it's a tough command to teach. Our instructor said on the first day as we tried the string of commands together that it's a bit like learning the steps to a new dance. But I don't dance for a reason...I lack coordination. So for the heel training we string together a bunch of commands the dogs already know, except now they have to learn to do them on the left side, without us facing them. We practiced it at home all last week and we could get Cassidy to do all the steps - heel, sit, down, watch me, but we just could not get her to do the stand command. We could tell when Cassidy was getting frustrated with us, as she went through her repertoire of tricks, trying to figure out what we wanted. And sometimes we knew we were getting frustrated and just needed to walk away. Sometimes she seemed to just give up, too, and would hide under the kitchen table.

When we got to class yesterday, the first thing all the owners had to do was take the dogs through the heel commands. Cassidy flew through the commands, but when it came to stand, she jumped up on her hind legs or laid down. The trainer pointed out that my mom was holding the treat for the stand command too high up for Cassidy to reach. So the whole time we were practicing it at home there was a reason Cassidy couldn't get it. It wasn't her, it was us. But the training has been going better, so maybe you can teach an old dog (me and my mom) new tricks.

Photo by Melissa Flores
Cassidy in the down position.

Songs of 'Glee'

So after the first few episodes of "Glee," it's clear the music performances are an important part of the show. I don't think they always necessarily add to the plot, but they are often entertaining. The football players dancing to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" made me laugh more than anything else on the show yet.

I have a few suggestions of songs I'd like to see in the future.

"Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake - Journey has already become a mainstay on the show, so why not another '80s power ballad?

"The Boy is Mine" by Brandy and Monica - This song could be a showdown between Quinn and Rachel as they both continue to long for Finn, who seems unsure of which girl he really wants. Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" or "Teardrops on my Guitar" would also be good songs for Rachel, but Swift is kind of overplayed right now. Or maybe it's just overplayed in my car on the way to work.

"Jump" by Kriss Kross - This would complete the really super cheesy hip-hop songs from my childhood. The writers already used "Poison" by Bel Biv DeVoe and "I wanna sex you up" by Color Me Badd.

"What Have I Done to Deserve This?" by the Pet Shop Boys - Finn can sing this when he discovers that you can't really get a girl pregnant by sitting, clothed, in a hot tub, but that it can happen when your best friend sleeps with your girlfriend.

"Faith" by George Michael - I don't have a scenario for this song, but I just think it would be funny to see Will Schuster sing and dance to it. He could even wear a little cross earring like George Michael does in the music video.

"Boys Don't Cry" by the Cure - Football Coach Tanaka can sing this when Emma breaks his heart.

"Save Me" by Aimee Mann - The lyrics to this song are perfect for the misfit kids in the glee club.

"Creep" by Radiohead - Puck can sing this when Quinn again denies his advances and that her baby is actually his.

"I Want You to Want Me" by Cheaptrick - This song has be sung in a bunch of movies, but I still really like it and think it would be perfect for like have the cast to sing - Rachel to Finn, Emma to Will, Tanaka to Emma,Kurt to Finn...you get the picture.

"Perfect Day" by Lou Reed - This song is just lovely and would be perfect for when any of those involved in the unrequited love situations actually end up together.

I can't think of a perfect song for when Will finds out his wife is lying to him about her pregnancy and scheming to get a teenage girl's baby. And I also can't think of any good songs for Artie (the wheel chair guy,) Mercedes (the black girl,) or Tina (the Asian girl) so hopefully their characters get a little better develops as the series goes on.

A hometown kind of fair

I spent Sunday afternoon at the San Benito County Fair. The annual event is the last fall in the state, and one that still has a hometown feel to it. While my main goal for the trip was to get some pics of fair food to use for my food column (see Well-Seasoned Cuisine in Friday's Wekeend Pinnacle), it was also fun to walk around and see the entries. There were livestock entries from the local FFA and 4-H clubs. Local artists entered drawings, photographs and other work, and I recognized at least half the names listed next to the pieces.

Two Jersey dairy cows rest Sunday afternoon at the fair.

The San Benito Model Railroaders club displayed trains during the fair.

Sheep fresh from a shear wear fashionable body suits to keep warm.

Deep-fried mushrooms were just one of the fried foods available at the fair.

The cheese ravioli sold at the fair can be bought year-round at San Benito Pasta, where jars of marinara and handmade frozen ravioli are sold.

A barbecue tri-tip sandwich from the fair.

A whole onion is dipped in batter and deep fried.

A funnel cake is sprinkled with powdered sugar and then topped with strawberries.

Avoid these movies like the plague

When it comes to end-of-the-world movies, I avoid them like, well, the plague.

But it seems like filmmakers and the movie-going population must like something about these kinds of stories. During a recent trip to the theater to see "Zombieland" (see the review in the Weekend Pinnacle Friday), which in its way is an apocalypse movie, though I prefer to see it as a zombie comedy, I saw previews for two new movies to add to the end-of-the-world genre.

I knew what "2012" was going to be about when I saw the title of the film. I learned about Aztec culture in Spanish class where we watched a film about it. Apparently the Aztec calendar predicts the end of the world on Dec. 12, 2012. That's only a few years away. It doesn't bode well for my chances of winning a pulitzer, writing a novel or falling in love and having a baby, if that timeline turns out to be accurate.

The movie "2012," which is set to come out in December, is about the end of the world and the people who survive it. Even John Cusack, who I enjoy watching in most films, isn't enough to make me want to watch this movie.

The other movie previewed this weekend is "Legion" and I got totally turned off when an old woman bit a man in the preview with crazy weird fangs and then scampered up a wall like a bug. And then evil angels came down to Earth. From what I can gather of the preview a pregnant waitress is carrying the messiah and has to be protected to save mankind.

These, of course, are just the most recent in a long line of movies. In fact there are so many, there is a whole Web site devoted to them. The Web site classifies the movies by date, dating back to the 1950s or by sub genre. They include zombies, plagues, nature, aliens and more.

The Web site is updated regularly because it does have movies for 2009 listed, including "Zombieland" and "9.

I will admit I've seen my share of apocalypse movies, inlcuding the animated film "9" and the zombie comedies "Zombieland" and "Shaun of the Dead."

But it is rare that a movie about the end of the world will get me to the theater. I just happen to see some when they are out on DVD or because it just happens to be on TV when there is nothing else on. I saw "I am Legend" with Will Smith, though I didn't really get it. I saw "City of Ember," which I didn't really think of as a post-apocalyptic movie until I saw it listed on the apocalyptic movie site, though given that it is about a city under ground I guess it fits into the category. I saw "Children of Men," the drama starring Clive Owen as a man who has to ferry the only fertile woman to safety in a dangerous world, but again I didn't really get it.

Most of the time I just don't like these movies because they are downers since they all involve a world that humans have destroyed - though sometimes aliens or zombies do the deed. They usually run for two hours, and then offer a little glimmer of hope. I'd rather have more hope up front. And I guess a little part of me feels that all the production and marketing money spent on these films could be better spent on fighting global warming or world hunger or any one of the plagues that is killing humans right now.

Of course, if a virus mutates to turn humans into zombies that can be passed through a rabid zombie bite, we're all probably just screwed.

The library in my life

I've rediscovered the Gilroy Library in recent months. The local library was part of my life long before I even remember it. My parents' first apartment together when they got married was a small one next to the library, where the City Hall is now. My mom would take me on walks to the library at least once a week to check out kiddie books. When I was old enough to walk on my own, I'd collect leaves along with the books.

Storytime and summer reading clubs were a part of my life when I was a kid and 'tween (well before the that term was invented.) My sister and I would sign up for turns on the computers in the kids area to play computer games such as the Oregon Trail and Reading Rabbit, since we didn't have a computer of our own at home.

Every three weeks, we'd turn up to turn in the books we'd finished and check out more. I'd leave with an armful of books I could hardly carry, many from the adult section of the library long before I was an adult. I devoured Christopher Pike books and William Faulkner and anthologies of poetry.

When I was a teenager and spent the summers babysitting a toddler cousin, trips to the library became part of our ritual, too. In the kid's section, there was a tub of wooden puzzles for little ones and my cousin could play with them forever. He loved pop up books and the kids' books on tape where the narrator would make different voices for each character.

I stopped going to the local library when I went away to college. My time for leisure reading dried up, and when I finished school and had more time to read again, I also had more discretionary money. I started buying books. It was easy when Barnes and Noble opened up in town, and then Costco with its discounted Oprah Club books. I created an Amazon.com wishlist and it made it easy for people to get books for me for birthdays or Christmas.

It was just a few months ago that I decided to mix in a book or two with my regular reading of New Yorker magazine. But instead of buying books, I thought I would save the money (and the space since my bookshelf is already overflowing) by going to the library. I was a little embarrassed when I went back and tried to use my library card only to discover it had expired. But it's the public library so I had a new card in minutes and an armful of books.

The great thing about stopping in at the library is that since I don't have to pay for the books I can pick up things on a whim. After all, if their no good, I can just return them in a few weeks with no money wasted and just a little time. And with the online Web site, I can request books so that I have access to books from the entire Santa Clara county public library system so there is a lot to choose from. That means now when I read a book review that looks good, I can just log into my library account, request the book and then I get an e-mail when the book has arrived in Gilroy. Easy.

On my last trip I checked out a book I'd read about in a magazine that I'd requested, "The Girls from Ames" and I picked up two books from the new arrivals shelf at the library. All in all, it's been good to get back to a public place that has been such a part of my life. The only downside is that I've stayed up way too late engrossed in a good book a few times, just like I used to when I was a kid and I would read until 2 a.m. to finish off a novel.

'Fame' movies share a name, but differ dramatically

For viewers who want to get a sense of the difference between the newly released "Fame" remake and the original 1980 film, all that is needed is a look at the work of the directors. Kevin Tancharoen directed "The Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll," "Dancelife" and Britney Spears Live from Miami. Alan Parker, who directed the original, on the other hand, went on to direct such heavy fare as "Mississippi Burning," "Come See the Paradise," "The Commitments" and "Angela's Ashes."

Though the movies are both based on a story by Christopher Gore, who wrote the screenplay for the original, the two films are quite different in their content and feel.

Some of the scenes and storylines in the new film are taken straight out of the original film, but even so they lack the impact of the original. "Fame," 2009, is at its best when it looks like a music video - and in fact, there are several scenes in the film that do little else but let us watch the large cast sing, dance and play musical instruments. The dance scenes are the best part of the movie, and probably what will draw viewers to the theater. But don't expect much more out of the 2009 version of the film.

Both films have a large cast and follow a dozen or so students through four years at the High School for the Performing Arts in New York City. The original film comes in with a two hour, 14 minute running time, and perhaps that extra half hour gave the storytellers just enough time to go into more depth with the characters. There is more interaction between the students, their families and the teachers so that by the end of the movie it feels like the characters are real people with real problems. Viewers watch as one character reveals his homosexuality; another reveals how his father abused him as a child; and we discover one of the most talented dancers in the school can't really read.

The original is stacked with curse words, a few topless scenes, and it deals with the issues of homosexuality, abortion, drug abuse and racism, all in the context of students who want to become famous performers.

All of that is missing from the new remake, as it has been toned down for a younger audience. The new movie is aimed at the viewers of "So You Think You Can Dance" and the "Step Up" movies - the 'tween and teen set.

Some of the characters in the new film are similar to those in the original, but screenwriter Allison Burnett and Tancharoen, in toning down the rougher edges of the film also toned down the characters so much that it is hard to care about them.

As with the original film, the 2009 movie starts out with the students at auditions before freshman year. The scenes are cut almost like a music video, in that it goes back and forth between departments and characters.

It is easy to pick out which students will be admitted to the school since those are the ones given the most time on screen. The characters viewers can expect to get to know include Jenny Garrison (Kay Panabaker,) a shy actress, Victor Taveras (Walter Perez), a talented musician who is more interested in producing than learning classical music, Alice Ellerton (Kherington Payne), a dancer who thinks she is the most talented student in the class, and plenty more. There is an actor/rapper who is filled with a rage, a ballet dancer who might not make the cut and a classic pianist who wants to be more.

The teachers at the school are played by well-versed actors such as Kelsey Grammer, Bebe Neuwirth, Charles S. Dutton and Megan Mullally, but their talents are not used here since their lines are few and far between.

With so many characters and the need to cram in four years of high school in an hour and 45 minute movie, few of the characters get much screen time. The characters come across as flat compared to the ones in the original. All of the emotion has been removed from the remake and been replaced by flashy dance scenes and stage performances.

The adult set should leave the remake to the youngsters and see the original, which is much harder hitting while still offering some entertaining dance and music scenes - including dancing in the streets scene to the movie's theme song "Fame."