Tangled

Yeah.

Tangled, Disney's interpretation of Rapunzel, is a fun, colorful and entertaining addition to the holiday season. It's very girly and may not appeal to young boys, despite the suave, witty and adventurous swashbuckling male lead, who is actually going to appeal more to moms than he would to a young male demographic.

This is a princess movie through and through, and I have to say, it's about time Disney went back to their Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty roots. Other than The Princess and the Frog (which I really didn't like) the studio had abandoned their classic tendencies and relied heavily on Pixar or individual "talent" (Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Lindsey Lohan) to rake in the dough for them. While Tangled may not have appealed to me personally, it's success will, hopefully, encourage them to produce more titles like Aladdin, and The Lion King.

Tangled's one flaw is that it might be too quirky for it's own good. Movies like the aforementioned classics take place in a specific time period and region of the world and the characters act appropriately. Tangled is a cartoon and the characters "act" like they're in a cartoon instead of a medieval kingdom; making this movie lighter and cuter than the animated stories from the 1990's.

You should absolutely take the time to check out Tangled. It's beautifully animated and a fun story.

Tron: Legacy 3D

sigh...  No...

... I wanted so bad for this movie to exceed my dismally low expectations and sadly, it was only able to meet them.

Aside from the special effects, Tron: Legacy has very little to offer other that a cool score written by Daft Punk. The performances are either over-epically serious or sickeningly cutesy-cute. Why Disney would put this tent-pole holiday release into the hands of a first time director is mind-blowing, but I'm really not 100% sure that it would have been all that much better in the hands of a seasoned director, anyway.

I think the biggest disappointment is probably special effects related. While the movie was stunning to look at, there was never any huge special effects climax or overly impressive stunt to "wow" the audience beyond the pretty standard effects that fill the movie. The visual effects are just a stagnant aspect of the movie that you'll take for granted by the 30 minute mark.

The story was both overly complicated and irritatingly unoriginal and while the effects were enough to keep me engaged for the length of the movie, I wouldn't necessarily recommend that anyone spend money to see Tron: Legacy unless you are only looking for eye-candy and your standards for what qualifies as eye-candy is on the low side.

The Kids Are Alright

Yes.

The Kids Are Alright was released in theatres on 7/30/10 and on DVD and Blu-ray on 11/16/10.

I really liked The Kids Are Alright. Besides the stellar performances from he entire cast, it has an original storyline, great dialogue and an intriguing look into the concept of family without ever exploiting its subject matter.

The Kids Are Alright is a perfect fit for the "dramedy" genre. As long as you have an open mind, this fresh look at contemporary family unit has the perfect mixture of wit, charm, intelligence and earnest. Highly recommended.

The Tourist

No.

Really? A Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture... what a joke. There is nothing "best" about The Tourist. The only explanation for the nomination is that the movie was just released so it  was fresh in the mind's of the Hollywood Foreign Press nominating committee.

That being said, I didn't absolutely HATE The Tourist. There was just nothing there to really like. The story was silly and we just arrived in the middle of it. There was so much going on before the cameras started rolling that they could have made a better movie just from what was left out. There was very little chemistry between Jolie and Depp, however, there was a very strange dynamic between Jolie and Paul Bettany; certainly there was a history (seemingly romantic, based on the tension) between the two of them that the writers failed to explore.

The action wasn't all that intense and the jokes weren't all that funny. I wouldn't even know what genre to classify The Tourist as. While I don't feel like I wasted 2 hours, if I had paid for a ticket, I would have been pissed.

Jonah Hex

No, come on!.

Jonah Hex was released in theatres on June 18th and on Blu-ray and DVD on October 12th.

I had absolutely no interest in seeing Jonah Hex from the second the first trailer hit the screen. I had a hard time watching it and actually had to take a break somewhere in the middle of the less than 90 minute run time, just because I was bored.

If you don't like a genre, it's still possible for you to like the movie because of powerful performances or an interesting, original story. There's very little a movie can to get you interested in the story if you're just not interested. The story in Jonah Hex is... well, virtually non-existent. Since the characters were ALL mean-spirited and ugly and I hate westerns, it was impossible to care about anything that was going on.

Don't bother with this one. Jonah Hex will just make you angry.

The Warrior's Way

No.

I have no idea what that was. It was like a western, kung fu stage play. All of the sets looked like they were backdrops and cardboard cutouts... as did the actors. I mean they must have just told the actors to be as stereotypically westerny/kung fuey as possible...

... and it wasn't so much western as it was a circus movie... there were carnies everywhere and all so that they could put a sniper in the half-built ferris wheel. THE WHOLE CONCEPT OF THE MOVIE WAS BASED AROUND A SINGLE SET PIECE.

Absolute garbage. The movie was greenlit so that the studio would have something to release on the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Love and Other Drugs

No.

A good rule of thumb when writing a movie is that you should either put ordinary people in an extraordinary situation, or put extraordinary people in an ordinary situation. When you put ordinary people in ordinary situations, there isn't a whole lot to keep the audience engaged. A drug rep falling in love with someone with Parkinson's disease is a very specific version of an ordinary situation that could happen to anyone. Maybe he won't be a drug rep and maybe she has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Are they gonna make a movie about that, too?

Love and Other Drugs isn't unbearable, but it's definitely not worth the price of a ticket.

Morning Glory

No.

I get when celebrated actors feel the need to do something light, and I'm sure Diane Keaton is a nice lady, but why is she allowed to continue to make schlocky movies. She gets nominated for an Oscar once each decade. The last time was in 2004 for Something's Gotta Give... a romantic comedy... costarring Keanu Reeves and Amanda Peet. Maybe it's time she tries something a little more weighty than the last 5 movies she made (Mad Money, Because I Said So, The Family Stone, Something's Gotta Give and Town and Country). Anyway, she's barely in Morning Glory at all, so I'm not sure why she angered me so much...

... Maybe thats why I didn't like the movie, though. I truly wanted to care about these people, but really didn't have enough time to get to know them. The movie was too much about the show they producing and not enough about the people who were producing the show.

Morning Glory is one of those movies that, as a two hour film, is pretty inconsequential, but as an HBO or AMC character study, where we might learn to like some of these people and get to know them on a deeper level, it might have been entertaining.

Due Date

Nah.

Due Date was funny... but not funny enough for me to recommend. It really is just a road trip movie with Alan Garner (from The Hangover) and Tony Stark (Iron Man). The wackiness that ensues is all clearly set up leaving no room for surprises.

I have to say that, with Due Date coming from the same director as The Hangover, I really had higher hopes than I should have, so it's partially my fault. At the end of the day, Due Date just misses the mark.

It'll make a fine rental one day, but don't waste a trip to the theatre.