Christi Vasquez

NEWS 3/18/10 7:00pm

Baker Shake's 40th production continues tradition of quality

By Christi Vasquez

Baker Shakespeare's production of As You Like It opens with a bombastic fight sequence, and it only gains momentum from there, culminating in a comical, yet touching, wedding ceremony in which everybody ends up with his or her true love.The 40th production of the Baker Shakespeare company, As You Like It completely engages audiences with the movement of the play. Enchanting and delightful, the play genuinely enraptures the audience with the cast's intense energy and talent, transporting mind and body into the Forest of Arden.

NEWS 10/8/09 7:00pm

Zombieland brings the goods

By Christi Vasquez

Judging by their aggressive mainstream and viral ad campaigns,the makers of Zombieland weresetting fairly high expectations for fans of the genre, as well as for casual moviegoers. And to both, this film delivers in every way it possibly could - and more. Zombieland chronicles the journey of Columbus (Adventureland's Jesse Eisenberg) from college in Austin, Texas, to his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.But his journey fails to live up to typical college road trip standards: Due to a strange disease that swept the nation, the United States has become a land teeming with millions of undead zombies hankering for some very alive brains. Things begin to unravel onceColumbus meets up with Tallahassee, played by the utterly brilliant Woody Harrelson (Seven Pounds).

NEWS 9/17/09 7:00pm

Clear forecast for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

By Christi Vasquez

With spaghetti tornadoes and ice-creamed neighborhoods, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs succeeds in making an entertaining 90-minute movie from a book that takes, at best, five minutes to read. While the plot of the film wildly diverges from Judi and Ron Barrett's best-selling children's book, audiences won't be disappointed with the changes.Flint Lockwood (voiced by Bill Hader of "Saturday Night Live") is an aspiring inventor living in the island town of Swallow Falls. His streak of failed inventions leads him to create something that would benefit the town as a whole: a machine that turns water molecules into food, a necessity since the town has been forced to eat sardines after their industry took a turn for the worse. This invention, however, is yet another addition to Flint's list of failures. After things go awry and Flint's machine ruins the town's tourism prospects, it is shot into the sky, where, to the town's surprise, it results in showers of cheeseburgers, pancakes and other foods.