Daily Staff Writer

“Apt Pupil”

For anyone interested in the dark horrors of the Third Reich, or anyone looking for a chilling, suspenseful thriller, “Apt Pupil” is the movie to see.

Based on a Stephen King novella, the movie explores a boy’s thirst for knowledge and the release of an inner evil within the man the boy taunts.

Todd Bowden (Brad Renfro from “Tom and Huck” and “The Client”) is the boy on a dangerous quest for the surreal horrors of Nazi concentration camps.

Todd discovers that an ex-Nazi, Kurt Dussander (“Gods and Monsters’s” Ian McKellen) is living in his neighborhood, and seeks him out. Todd blackmails Dussander into sharing with him his darkest secrets from the job he once held.

As Dussander dives deeper into his thoughts, he slowly rekindles the evil and hatred that once drove him to help kill millions. The fact that Todd buys — and forces him to wear — a Nazi uniform doesn’t help matters.

The duo go on to become entangled in an evil catharsis resulting in the murder of a transient man.

Todd’s grades slip and he begins to have trouble with the nerdy guidance counselor, (“Friends’s” David Schwimmer) until he blackmails him into submitting.

McKellen’s portrayal as an ex-Nazi soldier is astounding, not only making him the most believable character in the film, but also making the film a surreal and compelling twist on history.

-Kevin Hosbond

“Bottle Rocket”

It’s so hard to find a truly fresh idea on film these days, but “Bottle Rocket” is one of the exceptions.

“Bottle Rocket” was the first feature from director Wes Anderson, who recently directed “Rushmore.” It is the story of three disenchanted twenty-somethings who decide to try their hand at a life of crime.

We begin the movie with Anthony (Luke Wilson, from “Home Fries” and “Rushmore”) as he is leaving a voluntary mental hospital. Anthony has checked himself into the hospital for “exhaustion.”

Outside the hospital waits Dignan (“The Cable Guy’s” Owen Wilson) who doesn’t realize that it’s a voluntary hospital, and has formulated an elaborate plan for an escape.

After that, the duo commit a practice robbery, on what we find out is actually Anthony’s parent’s house. They then hook up with the pitiful Bob (Robert Musgrave), who they have decided will be the getaway driver because he is the only one who owns a car.

Following a hilarious robbery at a bookstore, the trio goes on the lam and waits to meet with Mr. Henry (James Caan from “Rollerball” and “The Godfather”), an organized crime boss that Dignan met while mowing lawns.

While hiding out at a roadside motel, Anthony falls in love with one of the housekeeping ladies, and Bob finds that his brother has been arrested in connection with a marijuana farm Bob was operating. This leaves Dignan as the only one still enthusiastic about the life of crime.

The film is episodic, and eventually leads to a big heist at the end.

What makes “Bottle Rocket” such a great comedy is that it’s after more than just big laughs. The characters are real flesh-and-blood people whom the viewers care dearly about by the end of the film.

Anthony’s character is very much a modern Holden Caulfield. He cares so much about beauty and innocence that he is unable to function in the materialistic, upper-class society he was born into.

One scene in particular, where Anthony visits his younger sister and is struck by her cynicism is practically lifted right out of “Catcher in the Rye.”

Dignan, on the other hand, is a person who has been given the short end of the stick for his entire life. He is good natured but dumb, and people take advantage of him.

Anderson is probably the most interesting new film maker working in Hollywood. His films bring insight that is often funny, but the comedy never comes at the expense of the truth. “Bottle Rocket” is certainly no exception.

-Ben Godar