Dec 9 - Review Round-up (Captain America, Larry Crowne, Harry Potter, Transformers and more)

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON – C
Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel
This second Transformers sequel isn’t as numbing as number two, but there’s still no denying that the franchise has gotten very rusty. Though things eventually pick up, the first half of Dark of the Moon seems to consist entirely of actors trying to be as annoying as possible.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER – B-
Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones
There has been a lot of build up to The Avengers, but Captain marks the first origin story (following Thor, Iron Man and Hulk) that plays more like a preview than a stand-alone movie. Despite its retro, good ol’ boy charms, Captain doesn’t really build to a satisfying conclusion.

LARRY CROWNE – C
Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Bryan Cranston
Hanks has shown pretty good instincts when it came to picking his projects before and behind the camera. But it is hard to get a finger on what he was thinking when he co-wrote and directed Crowne, an aimless and one-note comedy that plays like a sloppy episode of Community.

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEALTHY HALLOWS, PART II – B+
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
After a surprisingly disappointing Part I, the Harry Potter series returns to its glory with this deeply satisfying swan song. Though certain elements of the story seem rushed, it all remains spell-binding, emotionally captivating and meticulously crafted. Farewell Potter.

 
GREEN LANTERN – C+
Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard
Not as bad as you may have heard but not as fun as you would have hoped, Green Lantern is a forgettable superhero adventure that is ultimately unable to find the right balance between goofy humor and legitimate thrills. It looks nice but it doesn’t ever really engage.

Nov 4 - Review Round-Up (Fast Five, Horrible Bosses and more)

FAST FIVE – B-

Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson

After sputtering on empty for the last few films, the Fast franchise gets some extra muscle here with the addition of Johnson to the cast. Director Justin Lin also has more fun with the set-pieces than before, allowing the destruction to overshadowing the lumbering dialogue and performances. 

HORRIBLE BOSSES – B

Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston

A clever blend of 9 to 5 and Throw Momma From the Train, with three friends plotting to kill their bosses. Though Colin Farrell’s role is too small, most of the laughs are generated by the evil superiors, with Aniston in particular offering an uproarious performance as a nympho dentist. 

 

ROOMMATE, THE – D

Minka Kelly, Leighton Meester, Cam Gigandet

No one was really clamoring for a remake / rip-off of 1992’s Single White Female, but we got one anyways with this achingly awful thriller about a pyscho college student and her dorm mate. Watching the ridiculousness unfold, you just feel embarrassed for everyone involved.

JUST GO WITH IT – C-

Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Brooklyn Decker

No matter what you may think of Aniston’s post-Friends career choices, one thing is clear: She is definitely the best part of this unfocused and limp romantic comedy, bringing sparkle to even the most tired dialogue and lame set-ups. It’s not enough to save the rest of the film, but it helps.

RED RIDING HOOD – D+

Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Virginia Madsen

Hood director Catherine Hardwicke also brought us the first Twilight film, so you can excuse her for trying to tap into the same gothic romance vein as that successful series. What you cannot excuse her for is such a dreadfully serious and clumsy interpretation of the classic kids’ story.

CEDAR RAPIDS – B-

Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Anne Heche

Imagine a milder version of The 40-Year-Old Virgin and you’ll have Cedar Rapids, a moderately engaging comedy about a small town insurance salesman who gets shaken upside down by a trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It’s all fairly pleasant, but not particularly memorable.

MECHANIC, THE – C

Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Tony Goldwyn

In this remake of a 1972 Charles Brosnan film, Statham plays yet another hitman who gets double crossed and must clear his name. Where it all gets silly instead of just repetitive is when Statham brings in an apprentice and seems to teach him everything he knows in just 10 minutes.

Oct 29 - Review Round-Up (Take Me Home Tonight, African Cats, Lincoln Lawyer and more)

TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT – C

Topher Grace, Anna Faris, Dan Fogler

Despite the emphasize on wild ‘80s fashion and music, Tonight isn’t designed as a spoof of the decade so much as a tribute. Unfortunately, it just ends up coming across as a reheated leftover, with a generally shapeless narrative, overly aimless characters and bland screenplay.

 AFRICAN CATS – B

Documentary

This Disneynature documentary, narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, has a more consistent storyline than previous efforts like Earth and Oceans as it follows a single mom cheetah and a pride of lions. But while it may be more engaging for children, it also loses some scope in the process.

LINCOLN LAWYER, THE – B

Matthew McConaughey. Ryan Phillippe, Marisa Tomei

Fancy lawyer duds look good on the customarily shirtless McConaughey in this slick thriller, favourably bringing to mind his early turn in 1996’s Time to Kill. Lincoln occasionally falls back on familiar procedural tropes, but the drama’s shifting moral compass keeps things interesting.

DILEMMA, THE – C

Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly

Director Ron Howard returns to his roots with this comedy built on a shaky premise for laughs: a cheating wife and clueless husband. The film ends up straining under the weight of all the misunderstandings that could have easily been solved if the characters actually spoke to each other. 

UNKNOWN – C

Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones

Neeson continues his late career bloom as an action hero (following 2009’s Taken) with this absurd thriller about a doctor with questions about his past. Unknown comes across as a pale imitation of The Bourne Identity, with an exceedingly inexpressive Jones as Neeson’s wife.

October 17 - Review Round-Up (Thor, Win Win, Hoodwinked Too, Super)

THOR – B

Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins

A solid if unremarkable origin story for Marvel’s God of Thunder. Director Kenneth Branagh was an inspired choice for bringing weight to the otherworldly conflict in the story, but too much of the action feels decidedly earth-bound, with not enough at stake for real excitement.

SUPER – C

Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler

Super shows up late to the superheroes-with-no-powers game given the 2010 releases of Defendor and Kick-Ass, but Super isn’t just hobbled by over familiarity. It’s also a decidedly unpleasant comedy, without any likeable characters or anyone worth rooting for. 

HOODWINKED TOO!: HOOD VS. EVIL – C-

Hayden Panettiere, Joan Cusack, Glenn Close

The low-grade animation (voices don’t line up with mouths) is one of the many distractions in this unappealing sequel to the 2005 original. Coming across as a third-rate Shrek spin-off minus the memorable characters, Hoodwinked Too has a lot of energy but barely any wit or laughs.

WIN WIN – B+

Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale

Director Thomas McCarthy (The Visitor) offers another finely tuned portrait of a man in crisis. This time, it’s a small town lawyer / wresting coach who befriends a lost teenage boy. Giammati finds new shades to his sad-sack persona and Win Win make for an appealing champion.

October 14 - Review Round-Up

Just playing a little catch-up here:

ARTHUR – C+

Russell Brand, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner

Brand may have found new layers to his wild guy roots with Get Him to the Greek (2010) but his just seems to be running paces with this flimsy remake of the 1981 Dudley Moore comedy. There wasn’t enough thought put into his character, with very inconsistent levels of idiocy.

BATTLE: LOS ANGELES – D+

Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Pena

Imagine a low-budget, dusty and highly impersonal version of Independence Day and you still wouldn’t have this shockingly inept alien-invastion drama. None of the characters here have any personality, which makes it more than a little difficult to care if they are shot down.

BEASTLY – D

Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens, Neil Patrick Harris

A stunningly awful revamp of the Beauty and the Beast story about a vain high schooler taught the importance of inner beauty. Complete with ludicrous casting (Mary-Kate Olsen as a witch), stiff lead performances and ear-ache inducing dialogue, Beastly certainly lives up to its title.

BEAVER, THE – C+

Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Anton Yelchin

Provided you are able to look past Gibson’s recent off-screen antics, this is a surprisingly affecting look at a man who is able to control his depression with a stuffed puppet. But it all goes wildly off the rails in the second half when Gibson’s character becomes an unlikely celebrity. 

BRIDESMAIDS – B+

Kristin Wiig, Maya Rudolf, Melissa McCarthy

An uproarious comedy that hits a better comedy jackpot than The Hangover. Wiig – who cowrote the film – offers a terrific performance as a disastrous Maid of Honor, expertly balancing comedy, charm and an undercurrent of sadness, even if she’s constantly upstaged by McCarthy.

CONSPIRATOR, THE – B-

James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Kevin Kline

Robert Redford’s look at the aftermath of Lincoln’s murder – particularly the trial of the mother of one of the men involved (Wright) – is involving and well constructed. But the oddball casting of some minor roles with lightweights like Justin Long and Alexis Bledel is distracting. 

DRIVE ANGRY - D

Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, Billy Burke

A vile and putrid action horror film about a father escaped from hell and out for vengeance. Cage spends the whole film looking like he’s suffering from constipation and the storyline is insulting when it isn’t just blantantly stupid. It makes one wish for the sophistication of Ghost Rider.

EVERYTHING MUST GO – B-

Will Ferrell, Michael Pena, Rebecca Hall

Kudos to Ferrell for trying a more dramatic roll – here playing an alcoholic who camps out on his lawn after his wife leaves him– but his established persona still ends up hurting the film. Even without obvious laughs in sight, one keeps expecting something just around the corner.

GNOMEO & JULIET – B-

James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Tom Wilkinson

A sweet animated spin on the old Shakespeare play, substituting red and blue garden gnomes for the title lovers. But though the visuals and story are colourful, all of it enlivened by bouncy Elton John pop songs, it still feels a little too derivative of the Toy Story and Shrek films.

GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD, THE – B-

Documentary

Super Size Me’s Morgan Spurlock takes a look at ever present product placement with this comic documentary. But though Spurlock aims to peel back the curtain on marketing, most of his insights aren’t particularly revealing. It’s all amusing enough but fairly forgettable.

HANNA – C+

Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett

Joe Wright’s teenage girl take on The Bourne Identity has a nice visual texture and features another subtle yet expressive performance from Ronan. But there is very little coherent motivation behind many of the characters on screen, leading to a rather aggravating experience.

I AM NUMBER FOUR – C-

Alex Pettyfer, Dianna Agron, Teresa Palmer

This blatant attempt at creating a new Twilight series “borrows” many elements from its predecessor – swapping moody teenage vampire for moody teenage alien – but somehow manages to be even more silly. Pettyfer is a stiff bore and Agron barely registers as his love interest. 

INSIDIOUS – B

Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey

The creaky haunted house concept gets a welcome facelift with this smart horror film, wisely focusing on the mysteries of the unknown and genuine parental concerns. Sure, it is constructed from familiar horror tropes, but it’s all put together with enough skill to get under your skin. 

JANE EYRE – B

Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell

The Charlotte Bronte classic gets a facelift with this gothic-style drama about romance and secrets. Though Alice in Wonderland’s Wasikowska is a bit too controlled as the orphaned girl who transfixes the man of the house (Fassbender), her costar smoulders with passion and intrigue.

JUMPING THE BROOM - B

Paula Patton, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine

With its culture-class storyline, you’d be forgiven for expecting Broom to be another stereotypical comedy along the lines of Our Family Wedding. But while Broom has a familiar set-up, it smartly spins its characters in surprising ways. If only Patton toned her performance down a little.

LAST NIGHT – B

Kiera Knightley, Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes

The two sides of adultery – emotional and physical – are explored with sensitivity in this deliberate drama about a married couple tempted to cheat when he leaves on a business trip. The genuine emotions in Knightley’s side overshadow Worthington’s more sexual explorations.

LIMITLESS – C+

Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, Abbie Cornish

There are some interesting ideas and visual tricks rattling around in Limitless, but the film is too ambitious for its own good. Far too many important questions are left unanswered, the connect-the-dots narration is intrusive and the story bounces around like a hyperactive ping-pong ball.

NO STRINGS ATTACHED – C+

Ashton Kutcher, Natalie Portman, Kevin Kline

Strings wants to be a new style romantic comedy, focusing on friends (Kutcher and Portman) who decide to have sex without the emotional connection. But the screenplay ditches its concept far too early, quickly falling into a routine of overly familiar rom-com beats.

PAUL – B-

Seth Rogan, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost

The folks behind Superbad and Shaun of the Dead unite for this uneven but amiable alien goof about two British nerds helping an alien get home. Rogan’s performance as the alien is a bit too familiar to his turn in Monsters Vs. Aliens, but Kristin Wiig is a treat in a supporting role. 

PROM – C+

Aimee Teegarden, Cameron Monaghan, Nicholas Braun

The fantasy version of prom – the prom all girls expect when they are 12 years old - is turned up to 11 with this chaste and bland Disney drama. Minus the moderate charms (and peppy songs) of the High School Musical franchise, Prom is a wholly forgettable experience.

RANGO – B-

Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Timothy Olyphant

An odd little film, Rango is at once visually dazzling – with a lot of attention to detail – and yet so grimy and ugly that it is hard to cuddle up to. There are some existential elements to the story that will be confusing to youngsters and many of the cleverest gags will go over their heads.

RIO – B-

Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Jamie Foxx

All the colours of the rainbow are on display in this lively animated tale about two blue macaws trying to evade poachers in Brazil. But despite the bright visuals and energetic music, the storyline sags a bit when it should be soaring, mostly because the romantic angle of the story lacks spark. 

SANCTUM – C+

Richard Roxburgh, Ioan Gruffudd, Rhys Wakefield

James Cameron produced this thriller about trapped cave dwellers and though the film admirably tries to keep things realistic (no Descent-style creatures here), it underwhelms in the drama department. The story has major issues with pacing, particularly early and late in the game.

SOMETHING BORROWED – C-

Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, John Krasinski

It’s hard to say which is more obnoxious in this contrived, tiresome and formulaic comedy – Hudson’s irritating performance as the selfish best friend of our heroine (Goodwin) or the fact that we’re supposed to buy that these two would even be friends in the first place. Something stinks.

SOUL SURFER – B-

Annasophia Robb, Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt

This touching drama focuses on Bethany Hamilton, the real-life surfing champ who survived a freak shark attack. But while Hamilton’s triumph is inspiring, too much of the focus is on her return to the ocean instead of the emotional trauma that would have come with losing an arm.

SOURCE CODE – B

Jake Gyllenhaal, Verga Farminga, Jeffrey Wright

Yes, this trippy sci-fi mystery about a man who keeps travelling back in time to discover the truth behind a train bombing borrows heavily from The Matrix and Inception. But it is still undeniably involving, with a deliberate pace, intriguing mystery and skilful performances. 

SUCKER PUNCH – C-

Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone

Director Zack Snyder takes his visual style from 300 to a whole new level with this adaptation of a graphic novel about girls locked in an insane asylum. But fancy graphic work can’t disguise the fact that the story is cold and the structure – one wild fantasy after another – dully repetitive. 

TRUST – C+

Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, Liana Liberato

David Schwimmer (yes, that David Schwimmer) directs this cautionary tale about Internet predators. But though the intentions here are good, the film feels a bit too much like a preachy TV-movie-of-the-week instead of a stirring drama, with too much focus on the anguish of a father (Owen).

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS – B+

James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence

A first class prequel to the X-Men trilogy, focusing on the backstory between Professor X and Magneto. The clever origin elements extend throughout the entire film, allowing for a deeper understanding of the characters while also delivering plenty of action and mutants.  

YOUR HIGHNESS – C+

Danny McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman

If you’ve ever wondered just how many penis jokes you can fit in a single film, you don’t need to look much further than this juvenile riff on Monty Python. Though there are a few laughs here and there, too much of the comedy focuses on the same naughty themes again and again.

EAT PRAY LOVE - C+

Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, James Franco

Having never read the 2006 memoir Eat Pray Love, I cannot comment on how closely this version matches the original work. I can, however, say that I can only hope that all this selfish naval-gazing came across better on the page than on the screen, even with all the fancy global backdrops.

DESPICABLE ME - B+

Steve Carell, Jason Segal, Russell Brand

By this point, it isn’t the technical achievements of animated films that really provide the dazzle – it’s the screenplay and the story. Despicable Me aces both, offering a lively, warm and often hilarious tale about a bad-guy (Carell) whose heart gets melted thanks to three little girls.

COUNTRY STRONG - C+

Gwyneth Paltrow, Garrett Hedlund, Tim McGraw

There are some very appealing actors in Country Strong and they do what they can with a rather ragged script, most of it stitched on top of the framework of the superior Crazy Heart (2009). Unfortunately, the film never grasps the demons that haunt the film’s central country star. 

COMPANY MEN, THE - B

Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper

Upper management may not be the most sympathetic group of people for a drama about recession fall-out, but this is a smart and engrossing – if a little uneven – debut from writer-director John Wells. It certainly helps that the entire cast of veterans (yes, even Ben Affleck) is top notch.

CATFISH - C+

Documentary
Despite a decent build-up, this “reality thriller” about a Facebook romance gone fishy sends off a surprising number of false notes for a supposed documentary. Unfortunately, that nagging sensation ends up overwhelming the film, especially after the surprise is out of the bag.

CASINO JACK - C+

Kevin Spacey, Barry Pepper, Kelly Preston
Spacey has the right combo of venom and charisma for this look at the downfall of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, but the rest of the film is far too muddled, with wild shifts in tone from somber drama to easy-going comedy (a smarmy turn by former SNLer Jon Lovitz doesn’t help).

BLUE VALENTINE - A-

Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Mike Vogel
This raw drama from director Derek Cianfrance skips back and forth from the first blossoms of love to the brutal explosion of a relationship. It’s deliberately paced and acted with such brutal honesty that it hits you emotionally like a sucker punch. Not an easy film, but a fantastic one.

BIUTIFUL - B-

Javier Bardem, Maricel Alvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib
Javier Bardem suffers mightily in Biutiful and indeed it is a staggering depiction of emotional and physical pain. But ultimately, that’s all there really is to Biutiful – a depressing film that lays on the agony so thick that there isn’t room for any other characters or the film itself to come to life. (2010)

ANOTHER YEAR - B+

Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen, Lesley Manville
The act of aging is graceful, humiliating, bittersweet and melancholic in this thoughtful look at a slightly bohemian couple happily settling into retirement age. Marked by stellar performances, this is one of his quietest and most thoughtful films of writer-director Mike Leigh’s career.

ALL GOOD THINGS - C

Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst, Frank Langella
All Good Things may star the always compelling Ryan Gosling, but this love story / mystery – based on a notorious unsolved murder case – is vague and clichéd, with major structural issues. Director Andrew Jarecki places far too much reliance on the intrusive score, ultimately dulling any suspence.

LIFE AS WE KNOW IT - C-

Katherine Heigl, Josh Duhamel, Melissa McCarthy
Someday, Katherine Heigl may star in another romantic comedy that isn’t groan-inducing (her last decent one being Knocked Up), but this awful and woefully predictable effort – centered on an ridiculous story about irresponsible parents - certainly isn’t it. It’s as painful as teething.

Ladies and Gentlemen... It's The Muppet Alphabet

Just as a lark, I started to play around with designing the letters of the alphabet as Muppet characters. Turns out that a few of them translated quite well, so I thought I would put it all together as The Muppet Alphabet. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed putting it together. It has also inspired few other Muppetational ideas that I may post in the future.

By the way, I know I cheated a little with Sam the Eagle as "E." The only other idea I could come up with was the Elvises, but I thought Sam deserved the spotlight. Plus, I couldn't come up with any ideas for X, not even after considering Fraggles and Sesame Street Muppets.

UPDATE: I've posted a NEW and IMPROVED Muppet Alphabet at http://muppet-mania.blogspot.com/2011/06/ladies-and-gentlemen-its-muppet.html. I think this may have solved the issue with the missing "X"

UPDATE: Along with the NEW Muppet Alphabet, I've also started taking on a whole bunch of new projects. Designs based on The Simpsons, Sesame Street, Pixar, the Muppets and more can be found at http://baboondesign.blogspot.com/.

LOVE RANCH - D+

Helen Mirren, Joe Pesci, Sergio Peris-Mencheta
Love Ranch is set in a legal Nevada brothel in 1976, but this aimless drama from director Taylor Hackford sidesteps its interesting backdrop for a woefully bland plot about a boxer (Peris-Mecheta) looking for redemption. It’s at turns deadly dull and unintentionally ridiculous.

I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS - B

Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, Leslie Mann
Glenn Ficara and John Requa direct this so-crazy-it-must-be-true tale of a conman (Carrey) who found love in the slammer and went to great lengths to protect it. It’s a tricky balance of humour and heart, but the compassion of the actors and directors help pull it all together.

WILD TARGET - C

Emily Blunt, Bill Nighy, Rupert Grint
The Brits take on a 1993 French farce with Wild Target, a frustratingly uneven comedy about a bachelor hitman (Bill Nighy). Despite an appealing cast, the screenplay is desperately low on real laughs and Grint’s character in particular comes across as interesting as a blank wall.

JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK - B+

Documentary
Even if you aren’t a fan of Rivers’ often crass and mean-spirited comedy, this look at the woman beneath the plastic surgery is enlightening and often very funny. The Rivers on screen here is at turns prickly, protective, insecure, needy, clever, desperate and almost always fascinating.

CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER - C

Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley
Everyone just seems to be going through the motions in this third entry in the Chronicles of Narnia series. Sure, there’s lots of action and positive messages flying around, but as directed by Michael Apted, it feels hollow and shopworn, driven less by a sense of magic than by tired duty.

SWITCH, THE - B-

Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Jeff Goldblum
Yes, one can spend most of this passable comedy focusing on the fact that Aniston’s character has nothing in common with her supposed best friend (Bateman). But instead, why not enjoy the spot-on casting of Thomas Robinson as Bateman’s son and the droll supporting work by Goldblum?

LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA'HOOLE - B

Jim Sturgess, Sam Neill, Helen Mirren
It may be from the animators of Happy Feet, but this is a decidedly darker and more involving film, with an epic story of good versus evil that feels like Star Wars with owls. The more kid-friendly elements are occasionally jarring, but this remains a gorgeous and inventive picture.

HEREAFTER - B-

Matt Damon, Cecile De France, Jay Mohr
Three people are haunted by death in their own different ways in this thoughtful but overly long and occasionally cheesy drama. Director Clint Eastwood opens with such a breathtaking depiction of the 2004 Thailand tsunami that it is difficult for the rest of the film to live up to it.

DUE DATE - B

Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Jamie Foxx
Director Todd Phillips reunites with his Hangover star Galifianakis for this Planes, Trains & Automobiles-style comedy. What makes Due Date such a hoot – despite a few lapses in character consistency – is that both Downey and Galifianakis are allowed to be foolish on their own terms.

TANGLED - B+

Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy
It may be rendered in CG, but Tangled shares more than just the Disney logo with studio classics like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. This is a lively and adventurous take on the Rapunzel story, heavy on humor and heart. The visuals, music and characters sparkle.

NEXT THREE DAYS, THE - B-

Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde
Credit Paul Haggis for the way he tries to root the prison-break thriller The Next Three Days in reality – the shift as Crowe moves from community college prof to criminal is relatively convincing. Less believable are any scenes of copwork and the generally sluggish first half.

MORNING GLORY - C

Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton
Rachel McAdams is exhaustingly cheerful, Harrison Ford is dismayingly one-note and Diane Keaton is too often pushed to the sidelines in this flimsy workplace comedy about the backstage shenanigans at a national TV morning show. It all plays like Broadcast News without the flavour.

BLACK SWAN - B+

Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel
Black Swan is a whole lot nuttier than Darren Aronofsky’s last film, 2008’s The Wrestler, but it is just as transfixing as it traces the emotional destruction of a ballerina on the cusp of her biggest role yet. It’s like an art-house horror film with an amazingly delicate Portman at the core.

HOW DO YOU KNOW - C+

Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd
This romantic comedy features Wilson at his scruffy best and some moments of great physical comedy from Rudd, but writer-director James L. Brooks and a too deliberate Witherspoon oftentimes just seem to be trying too hard. Far too many of the scenes feel false and fabricated.

GOING THE DISTANCE - B-

Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Christina Applegate
Barrymore and Long show a realistic and sweet chemistry in this mild romantic comedy, even if Long still seems like a sidekick who has been shoved into a central role. Too bad that the laughs are only sporadic here, most of them delivered by Applegate as Barrymore’s disapproving sister.

ALPHA AND OMEGA - C

Justin Long, Hayden Panettiere, Dennis Hopper
There’s little of distinction with this disposable animated adventure about two relocated wolves trying to make their way home. The CG animation is mediocre and the characters are forgettable, with too much of the story stolen from other – and significantly better - children’s films.

LITTLE FOCKERS - C-

Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson
There are more stars along for the ride this time (Jessica Alba, Laura Dern, Harvey Keitel), but the focus for this woefully predictable sequel remains the tired relationship between De Niro and Stiller. We’ve seen it all before, which means everyone here just goes through the motions.

TOURIST, THE - C

Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Paul Bettany
They may be two of the biggest movie stars in the world, but Depp and Jolie are poorly matched in this Venice-set caper, showing about as much chemistry as a pair of erasers. Jolie poses more than performs and Depp seems completely out of his element. It's all nice to look at though.

FAIR GAME - B

Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Noah Emmerich
You don’t necessarily need to know the background on former CIA agent Valerie Plame to appreciate Fair Game, but it certainly helps. This is a thoughtful and measured account of Plame’s story, smartly directed by Doug Liman, but with a bit too little focus on Plame’s homelife.

STONE - C

Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Milla Jovovich
Considering the one-two punch of De Niro and Norton, one expects fireworks in this drama about a parole officer and an inmate. But the explosions never come thanks to a tepid screenplay and disappointing performances. A dull De Niro seems lost in a cloud the whole time.

YOGI BEAR - C

Dan Akyroyd, Justin Timberlake, Tom Cavanagh
If you’ve enjoyed Scooby-Doo, Alvin and the Chipmunks and other recent CG updates of classic cartoons, you’ll likely enjoy this tame and generally harmless update. Really, though, this no more than a standard kiddie affair with surprisingly poor animated effects.

SKYLINE - C-

Eric Balfour, Donald Faison, Brittany Daniel
Considering its rumored $10 million budget, the effects in this sci-fi spectacle are surprisingly decent. A lot less successful is the film’s aimless and generally dull story, which follows a group of friends after an alien invasion and really seems to have no clue where it is going.

127 HOURS - B+

James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn
Yes, this is the true life story of mountain climber Aron Ralston, who cut off his own arm in order to survive. But as vibrantly directed by Danny Boyle and passionately acted by James Franco, it is so much more than that one scene – it is a portrait of a man stripped raw by circumstance.

KNIGHT AND DAY - B-

Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard
Tom Cruise’s real-life activities may have overshadowed his work over the last few years, but he’s at his grinning, happy-go-lucky best in this lively if overlong action comedy. Cameron Diaz is a great comic partner, even if her character takes a couple of eye-rolling turns in the last act.

CONVICTION - B

Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver
Based on a true story about a woman who went to law school just to overturn her brother’s murder conviction, this is the kind of story that Hollywood loves to slap into a conventional framework. But the film commendably handles everything with restraint instead of histrionics.