Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole

Zack Snyder ("300" and "Watchmen") directs this animated feature based on a popular children's book series.  Soren (voiced by Jim Sturgess) is a sweet-natured barn owlet who lives happily with his parents, older brother Kludd (Ryan Kwanten of HBO's "True Blood"), and younger sister Eglantine.  Soren is a dreamer who loves to listen to his father tell the ancient stories of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole, an alliance of owls who are sworn to protect the owl kingdom from evil.  Though Soren fully believes in the old legends, Kludd - an angry and resentful owlet jealous of Soren's natural talents - dismisses them as fairy tale nonsense.  One night, Soren and Kludd are kidnapped by a secret organization that trains owlets to become soldiers against their will - all in a sinister plot to build an army to defeat the Guardians and rule over the owl kingdom.  Now, it's up to Soren to escape and warn them before it's too late.  Snyder knows nothing if not how to make a wickedly impressive action flick.  His past directing efforts have proven his skills at masterfully creating visually-grand fight scenes that unfold like perfectly choreographed dances, and this film is no exception.  In case you're wondering if it's possible to make battles between cute, feathered creatures as captivating as those between gladiators or superheroes, trust me: In Snyder's capable hands, it is.  Every owl brawl here is as thrilling as you would expect from any live-action film.  The voices selected for each character were also perfectly cast.  Sturgess (who is known for portraying sweet, earnest characters) imbues Soren with just the right blend of naiveté and noble courage.  Kwanten also impresses as the spiteful and cowardly Kludd; Emily Barclay as Soren's timid friend Gylfie, and an always magnificently entertaining Geoffrey Rush as the grizzled and eccentric Ezylryb round out the star-studded cast.  If you're looking for a cute kiddie movie about adorable birds, be forewarned: "Happy Feet" this is not.  "Legend of the Guardians" is a gripping, intense, and exhilarating adventure of epic proportions.


5 out of 5 stars

The Other Guys

From the creative team that brought you "Talladega Nights" and "Anchorman" comes another absurd action comedy.  Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg star as Allen and Terry, two NYC detectives relegated to desk duty.  Terry is paying penance for an accidental shooting (the flashback is priceless) and Allen just prefers the mundaneness of being a number-cruncher after having overcome a sordid past (again, another funny flashback).  With two superstar cops in their precinct nabbing all the headlines, Terry longs for some of the spotlight.  When a high-profile case unexpectedly falls in Terry and Allen's lap, this could be their big break to prove what kind of cops they really are - but can the inexperiened duo really pull it off?  If you're a fan of Will Ferrell movies, you'll definitely enjoy his trademark humor in this one - though in several scenes it's refreshing to see him play the straight man during Wahlberg's angry tirades.  Actually, Wahlberg plays the angriest character I've seen him do since the cop in "The Departed" - and he once again pulls off making rage and nasty insults guffaw-worthy.  Nothing much new from Ferrell, but again if you like Ferrell being Ferrell than you'll be satisfied by his performance here.  There are some great cameos as well from Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson as the heroic cops on Terry and Allen's force, as well as Steve Coogan as the weaselly, Madoff-like bad guy (who, in my humble opinion, was criminally underused).  Director Adam McKay also does a solid job of making the action sequences both impressive and over-the-top hilarious.  All in all, "The Other Guys" may not have you rolling in the aisles gasping for breath, but there are definitely some hearty chuckles to be had, and Ferrell and Wahlberg make a memorable comedy duo.

3 out of 5 stars

Winter's Bone

Newcomer Jennifer Lawrence stars in this noir indie drama set deep in the Ozarks.  Lawrence plays Ree Dolly, a mature beyond-her-years teenager who takes care of her two younger siblings and mentally-ill mother.  When her meth-cooker father skips bail, Ree's family home is on the line.  Now it's up to her and her alone to either find her deadbeat dad or prove to the authorites that he's been killed so she can keep a roof over her family's head.  But how far will she go before she is risking her own life to protect those of her loved ones?  Director Debra Granik creates a stark, harsh landscape to intricately weave her tale.  The imagery is so gray and desolate that it seems post-apocalyptic.  It's amazing to watch this story unfold partly because it's astonishing to see that there are people living in such extreme poverty right here in the U.S., not in some remote African village or war-torn Eastern European city.  Lawrence is riveting to watch; she portrays Ree with such emotional depth and resolve that you almost forget you're watching a fictional character and not someone in a documentary.  The pace of the film is steady and methodical, which only adds to the tension that builds as Ree searches for her missing father.  The gripping drama is a true testament to the excellent screenwriting since there are no thrilling car chases or fight scenes to rely on, just some good old-fashioned storytelling.  "Winter's Bone" is that rare gem of a film - a quiet, thoughtful thriller that doesn't prematurely boil over, but instead comes to a slow and satisfying simmer.


4 out of 5 stars

Machete

Is a fake movie trailer enough to base a full-length feature film on?  Director Robert Rodriguez attempts to answer this question in the exploitation action flick, "Machete" (based on the movie trailer he directed in "Grindhouse").  Danny Trejo stars as an ex-Federale named Machete, with revenge on the brain and nothing left to lose.  A Mexican crime boss murdered Machete's wife and family and left him for dead.  Now he's a vigilante hunting down the man who tried to kill him.  But when he's framed for the attempted murder of a high-profile politician, he'll need to enlist the help of friends in low places to clear his name and wage war on the Mexican mob.  To say this film is violent would be an understatement; there's more dismemberments, impalings, and eviscerations than one can count.  Rodriguez does his best to keep the action gruesomely entertaining.  But with a plot weaker than costar Jessica Alba's acting, the story has nowhere to go.  It just becomes one gory scene after another, with mediocre jokes thrown in to show the funny irony of it all.  Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good comical beheading as much as the next guy.  But here the violence is so relentless and senseless that after awhile, the movie wears tired and thin.  Maybe next time Rodriguez will take a page from the book of his friend and frequent collaborator, Quentin Tarantino, and watch "Inglourious Basterds" for an example of how extreme violence and captivating storytelling can coexist harmoniously.


2 out of 5 stars

Going the Distance

Real-life off and on again couple Drew Barrymore and Justin Long star in this romantic comedy about the hardships of long-distance relationships.  When Erin (Barrymore) and Garrett (Long) meet cute at a NYC bar in front of a vintage arcade game, the timing is less than ideal - Garrett broke up with his girlfriend just a few hours before and Erin is moving across the country in 6 short weeks to finish her graduate degree.  Yet, neither can ignore the chemistry between them and they decide to take it casual until Erin has to leave for school.  But when their time is up, Erin and Garrett don't want to lose what they have and decide to stay together - despite the problems that being 3000 miles apart can cause.  "Going the Distance" is not your cookie-cutter romantic comedy.  Yes, there is plenty of gross-out humor (mostly provided by Garrett's hilariously juvenile friends), but the film doesn't follow the generic rom-com formula.  First off, Erin and Garrett aren't polar opposites who go from loathing each other to realizing their true feelings of love later on.  These are two mature and refreshingly flawed people, with shared interests and dreams and plenty of their own baggage; Garrett's known for being unable to emotionally commit in a relationship and Erin's been burned before by dropping out of school to follow a guy across country.  All this contributes to two people who enter into a relationship a little jaded and with both eyes wide open and end up falling for each other anyway, which makes it feel all the more real.  We care for Erin and Garrett and we root for their relationship to survive because - unlike in other superficial, trite stories - we know that love like this doesn't just happen everyday and that making it work isn't easy.  By the end, you'll be pleasantly surprised that the film doesn't resort to any of the predictable character conflicts and instead focuses on the sweet and complicated heart of the matter: this smart, funny, and likable couple that you hope overcome their obstacles to stay together in the end.


4 out of 5 stars

Knight and Day

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz star in this romantic action flick directed by James Mangold ("Walk the Line").  Diaz plays June, an unsuspecting woman who bumps into a handsome stranger named Roy (Cruise) at the airport on her way to her sister's wedding.  Little does June know that Roy is about to give her the thrill ride of her life.  Soon, June is thrown into a world of espionage and gun chases as she helps Roy to obtain a mysterious energy source that was stolen from the U.S. government.  Will Roy be able to recover the stolen item and keep June alive long enough to steal her heart?  Of course, when we are talking about a couple like Cruise and Diaz, the audience knows it's inevitable that these two characters will fall for each other, and the movie wastes no time in throwing the pair into a romantic relationship.  I guess it makes sense given that Roy and June are in extremely emotionally-heightened situations that lend themselves to a constant undercurrent of sexual tension.  But even so, the romance between them seems forced and beside the point.  The two actors were chosen because they are nice to look at and make dangerous action sequences look good.  In that respect, the film works and the action is nonstop fun.  Cruise's and Diaz's excellent comedic timing also adds some much-needed humor to the mix.  Overall, "Knight and Day" doesn't cover any new territory in the action/comedy genre, but it's still highly entertaining and elevated by two actors who know how to make the most of the material they are given.

3 out of 5 stars

Shrek Forever After

The fourth (and supposedly final) installment of the lucrative Shrek series finds our ogre hero dealing with a mid-life crisis of sorts.  Having met the love of his life in the first film, conquered his fears of scary in-laws in the second film and impending fatherhood in the third film, Shrek should be living in a fog of domesticated bliss.  Instead, he starts to feel the walls crowding in around him as the responsibilities of fatherhood and tedium of married life wear him down, and soon Shrek is pining for his carefree days as a single ogre.  So he turns to the fairy tale mischief maker, Rumpelstiltskin, for one day of his old life back... but the request comes at a hefty price.  In true "It's a Wonderful Life" fashion, Shrek gets to glimpse the world as it would be had he never been born.  He meets his downtrodden friends, who no longer know who he is, and must win his wife's hardened heart all over again.  Though there are plenty of laughs thrown in for the kiddies, the message of the story is clearly for grown-ups: You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.  Shrek - who started off the series as a one-dimensional grouch - has now evolved into a modern day man with real fears, problems, and regrets.  We see him selfishly give up his family life and then repent for his sins afterward, and the journey he goes through is cathartic.  Shrek may not be of Jimmy Stewart caliber, but the role suits him well and the film is tender and heartfelt.  Here's hoping the filmmakers don't make good on their promise of this being the last film and continue giving us more of this lovable curmudgeon.


4 out of 5 stars

Easy A

"Easy A" is a sweet, goofy, and romantic high school comedy that is much smarter than you would expect a teen comedy to be.  Emma Stone stars as Olive, a good girl who gets good grades and comes from a loving home.  One day, she inadvertently starts a rumor that she lost her virginity to a college guy.  That one rumor spreads like wildfire, and Olive goes from flying low under the public radar to everyone in her school talking about her overnight.  But one rumor leads to another, and soon Olive is the most popular girl in school - for being known as the town tramp.  Can Olive successfully maneuver her newfound popularity without losing her sense of self-worth?  Based loosely on Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel The Scarlet Letter, the story examines the power of rumors and how the way people perceive you can affect self-esteem.  Even though Olive doesn't do any of the things her peers are saying about her, the talk starts wearing her down until she starts to believe that she really is the slut people are calling her.  Stone plays Olive with an unselfconscious air that is completely charming; she is every high school boy's dream by being sexy, yet self-deprecating and accessible.  Just watch the scene where Olive sings and dances along to one of those obnoxious musical greeting cards for proof of her easy likability.  The film is clever and touching in the way it depicts a young woman's relationship with her family and friends, and how she intelligently navigates the shark-infested waters of high school... and Stone makes the comedy seem effortless.  "Easy A" gets a high grade in my book.


4 out of 5 stars