Fall 2005 PDF - Milton Academy

Springtime 2005 Flicks:Two Milton alumni write for Hollywood’s Silver ScreenHadley Davis ’89 and DavidLindsay-Abaire ’88 were leadscreenwriters for 2005 releasesIce Princess (Walt DisneyPictures) and Robots (Blue SkyProductions), respectively.Ice Princess Takes a NewSpin on Coming-of-AgeDramaHadley’s Ice Princess, for whom ahigh school physics project leadsto a love of skating, earns praisefrom Roger Ebert in the ChicagoSun-Times for beginning with aformula to deliver a fresh, wellactedstory that allows even itsvillains to transform and discoverthemselves.“The movie, written by HadleyDavis and directed by TimFywell, starts with a formula andthen takes it to the next level,”Ebert says. “We have two obsessivestage mothers and two drivenoverachievers, and the girlswant to trade places, to thedespair of their moms.…Thisleads to more substance thanwe’re expecting, and more acting,too, since the central charactersdon’t follow the well-wornroutines supplied by the GCFD-DPO formula (Gifted ChildFollows Dream Despite ParentalOpposition). They strike outwith opinions and surprises oftheir own.”Hadley, whose screenwritingcredits include “Dawson’s Creek”and “Spin City,” recently toldThe Hingham Journal that the IcePrincess screenplay was semiautobiographical:Hadley oncedreamed of becoming a professionalballet dancer. And, likethe film’s heroine, she enjoyedspending winter afternoons skatingon a pond in New England.Hadley also told the HinghamJournal that her Milton AcademyEnglish teachers taught her howto write.Robots Delivers GreatAnimation, SlapstickHumorDavid Lindsay-Abaire ’88 is bestknown as an award-winningplaywright. His credits includeFuddy Meers, Wonder of the Worldand Kimberly Akimbo.In Variety magazine, film criticJoe Leydon writes that David’snewly released film, Robots,“inspires sufficient wondermentto impress as spectacle and generatesenough guffaws to scorewith every audience segmentexcept the most toon-averseteens. Fox and Blue Sky Studiosfollow up their 2002 smash IceAge with an even more vividlyprecise and inventively realized3-D CGI package.“Climactic clash between goodand evil feels more chaotic thancomedic, but laughs come frequentlyeven during freneticfolderol. Pic overall aboundswith clever in-jokey references toother movies—note the guestappearance by a character fromsomewhere over the rainbow—and other instances of sophisticatedwit,” Leydon writes.Outside of live theater andRobots, David has also been writingfor television and is at workon other screenplays.Anne Neely’s “Going West”Irish landscapesAnne Neely’s “Going West”exhibit in West Cork, Ireland,opened at the CatherineHammond Gallery on July 29,2005. Works in the exhibit canbe viewed at www.hammondgallery.com.Anne’s small paintings,inspired by a fellowship from theBallinglen Arts Foundation inCounty Mayo, Ireland, explorethe relationship between manand nature, gravity and weightlessness.Anne has taught Miltonstudents since 1974.From Rose Langon’s Window, 11" x 14", oil on panelDay’s End, 11" x 14", oil on linen62 Milton Magazine