Foxy Luvers

In accordance to the familial mandates of Thanksgiving, I consented to accompany my progenitors to The Fantastic Mr. Fox. The difference between those who have a car, however, and those who do not, is greater than most imagined. I cannot claim a surfeit of virtue in this case, since I was briefly the sole passenger on the bus, but the mode of transportation still determines how much consideration is given to time of travel. In short, I arrived ludicrously early at my destination, a situation with which I am intimate. Since it was a familiar situation, I resorted to my default plan: find a coffee shop wherein I might abide. There were several other culinary establishments near the 4-Star, but all of these were either proper restaurants or involved drinking of the Dionysiac kind. I went to Luvers, which (contrary to what might be gleaned from its name) was a coffee shop rather than a business rival for Good Vibrations. Its interior is well-appointed, although I do not know what their usual customer profile is.

As for The Fantastic Mr. Fox, I enjoyed it greatly and did not find any indication of the Uncanny Valley in the stop-motion animation. I must confess that I have never read the book - my preference was The BFG - but one of the endearing traits of Roald Dahl's fiction is his refusal to pander to the "Children's Hour" censors. The anthropomorphised  animals of British fiction are less sentimentalized than their American counterparts, and that tradition shows in Fox. It also lacks the mandatory unqualified victory with which the American audience is besotted - or perhaps the American film industry, since Lord of the Rings made plenty of money.
George Clooney was an excellent choice as the titular Mr. Fox, although one does wonder if there were not less high-profile names who could perform the voice equally well. The bitter antagonism between Ash and Kristofferson, which had been added to the script to lengthen the still short movie, was a realistic portrayal of adolescent strife.