• Fun
• Nostalgic

‘Holes’

Lewis Sachar’s 1998 YA novel Holes won the Newbery Medal for “the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children,” was subsequently optioned by Disney, and made its way to the big screen in 2003. This story revolves around a young boy named Stanley Yelnats (a 16-year-old Shia LaBeouf, who earns an “Introducing” credit here for his first leading movie role after rising to fame on Even Stevens), who spends time doing hard labor at a juvenile work camp in the vast Texas desert after being falsely convicted of theft. The Andrew Davis-directed movie is stacked with an impressive cast — Oscar winners Jon Voight and Patricia Arquette star alongside the likes of Sigourney Weaver, Tim Blake Nelson, and Henry Winkler — and contains a potent mixture of exciting action sequences, gut-busting jokes, and powerful underlying themes.