Our 13-Year-Old: The Catholic Woody Allen?

Our son and his best friend have entered a film contest. The idea is to remake a scene from a movie. They chose to redo a scene from Woody Allen's romantic comedy "Annie Hall," which won the 1978 Academy Award for Best Picture.

The friend's mother dubbed Lucas "the Catholic Woody Allen." What do you think?!(Our son plays Alvy Singer, the film's protagonist. No, our son has never seen Annie Hall, which, in addition to including more cultural and literary references than any other picture to win an Oscar, has a lot of adult themes. But the two did look at the scene between Christopher Walken and Woody Allen.)

Here is the original scene.



Here is how two middle school boys portray it, using his friend's bedroom as the backdrop.

"Admission:" From Thoughtful Book to Funny Movie

After dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant last night, my husband and I drove over to our local multiplex for the opening of the romantic comedy "Admission." This PG-13 movie stars Tina Fey and Paul Rudd; she as Portia Nathan, an uptight Princeton University admissions officer and he as John Pressman, the founder of an alternative high school in the boondocks of New England.

This is a delightful movie that had us laughing and smiling and kept us thoroughly engaged for its 117 minutes. Don't judge this movie by its trailer, which would make you think it is a slapstick comedy. While there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, this sweet movie also weaves in the questions of what constitutes maternity and what makes life meaningful.

Before I continue, I need to make my own admission: Jean Hanff Korelitz, whose 2009 novel of the same name was adapted to the big screen by Karen Croner, is a dear family friend and her eighth- grade son, who has a brief, nonspeaking part in this movie, has been our younger son's best friend since nursery school.