The Sorcerer's Apprentice: “Dragon Ring”
Posted on Jul 01, 2010 @ 06:49PM - Add a comment
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Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage) is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina). Balthazar can't do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel), a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé. The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash course in the art and science of magic, and together, these unlikely partners pit their powers against those of the fiercest—and most ruthless—villains of all time. It'll take all the courage Dave can muster to survive his training, save the city and get the girl as he becomes “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.”
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The Sorcerer's Apprentice : “Dragon Ring”
DVD Releases for Tuesday, June 22
Posted on Jun 22, 2010 @ 06:36AM - 1 comment
Green Zone (R)
Matt Damon is back in butt-kicking mode mode as Roy Miller, a bad-ass Army soldier gone rogue in Iraq. When Miller gets stuck with faulty intelligence, he dives into a dangerous maze of secrets and lies before it’s too late, and another war breaks out. Bonus: The film re-teams Damon with his Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum director, Paul Greengrass. (Matt Damon [Roy Miller], Greg Kinnear [Clark Poundstone])
Remember Me (PG-13)
Hollywood’s sexiest vampire takes a more human route to romance in this film about love and redemption. Robert Pattinson plays Tyler, a wealthy New York college student who’s been hardened by a family tragedy and suffers major daddy issues. When a pretty girl arrives on campus, he does some half-hearted wooing -- only to start sweating her in a big way. As their love blossoms during a hot city summer, they each find the will to let go of their pasts before a final crisis that shakes the film to its core. (Robert Pattinson [Tyler Hawkins], Emilie de Ravin [Ally Craig])
DVD Review: She's Out of My League
Posted on Jun 22, 2010 @ 06:28AM - 1 comment
Can average guys get the hot girl? What does it really take to win women over? And how do dating leagues really work?
She’s Out of My League tackles these and life’s other burning questions with over-the-top characters, cringe-worthy antics and lots of poor advice. Kirk (Jay Baruchel) is the everyman who gets the outrageously gorgeous girl. Despite his less-than-manly looks, crappy car and lack of ambition, babe-alicious Molly (Alice Eve) actually digs him. But alas, the young lovers are doomed! As their romance blossoms, Kirk’s family of dim-wits and his misguided friends wear him down, convinced that the unlikely match is simply impossible.
Movie Review: How to Train Your Dragon
Posted on Mar 26, 2010 @ 12:37PM - Add a comment
Fitting in is hard to do, especially when you’re from a clan of dragon-slaying Vikings but have zero hunger for the kill.
In How to Train Your Dragon, the new 3-D adventure film from Dreamworks, Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) is the laughingstock of his dragon-hunting class, failing at every turn to take the reptiles down. Even his own father (voiced by Gerard Butler) is disappointed, fearing that his son will tarnish his legacy as the most bad-ass slayer in town. Hiccup’s fortunes -- and, ultimately, those of his society -- change when he secretly befriends a rare type of dragon, exchanging fish for a little inter-species trust.
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In many respects, How to Train Your Dragon is like Avatar for kids, minus the guns and loincloths. Hiccup doesn’t start with an anti-dragon stance per se, but his diplomatic efforts pit him against his community and endanger his new scaly friends. His unpopular politics also up the tension between him and his Dad, who suffers from an overabundance of testosterone, hubris and high-calorie Viking roasts.
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Dragon’s essential story arc is familiar, but the original characters and unusual aesthetics give it a freshness and feel-good vibe. Sure, there are some requisite adult jokes (one memorable bit makes fun of Viking breastplates), but not enough to become a smarmy sub-text that might undermine the movie’s kid-centric style. Hiccup himself is adorably earnest but not too cute, and the cast of schoolmates and dragons that round out his crew are each drawn -- literally and figuratively -- with a gentle sense of humor and smart sensibility.
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Some of Dragon’s endearing details are evident in its range of characters. Apart from Hiccup and Stoick, his dad, there’s Astrid (voiced by America Ferrera), the ambitious and rambunctious classmate who’s determined to finish first in her class -- and becomes the first to discover Hiccup’s secret. With her thick braid and feisty little animated face, she evolves from being a thorn in Hiccup’s side to, predictably, his adoring side-kick. Snotlout (voiced by Jonah Hill) is another student in the rag-tag Viking posse, with aggression to burn and a chip on his shoulder about Astrid’s fading affection.
While the Vikings are an inspired and rowdy lot, it’s really the dragons that make the movie the gem that it is. Toothless is Hiccup’s special dragon friend, and the unwitting star alongside his human trainer. With a flat, snout-shaped face and big eyes, the black creature is both cute and imposing. Directors Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders exploit every trick in the book to cull the “oohs” and “ahhs” for Toothless, and it works. He becomes for Hiccup what Neytiri was for Jake Sully, becoming the surprising hero who saves the human, battles be damned.
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Unlike Avatar, Dragon is accessible for humans of any age. Toothless and Hiccup are platonic partners in flight (never mind the straddling and leather) whose union has significant political consequences. Despite these tacit lessons in diplomacy and heroism Dragon is, at heart, nothing but joyful entertainment that deserves praise for bringing a little fun back to politics and growing pains, even if it’s all pretend.
