Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is a clumsy but inventive young Viking, who lives on the Island of Berk and who yearns to fight the dragons that repeatedly raid his village. To his father, Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler), however, Hiccup is simply a disappointment and an embarrassment.
Searching for a way to impress his father, Hiccup invents an aerial snare, and one night during a dragon raid he snares a mysterious Night Fury dragon. The next day he finds the trapped Night Fury in the woods, but he's unable to kill it. Hiccup names the dragon Toothless, and the two bond and become great friends. Hiccup learns that he and the villagers have seriously misjudged the dragons, and that both humans and dragons have a common enemy, whom they must work together to defeat.
This full-length animated film features incredibly dazzling animation, a plausible story line, and surprisingly satisfying character development and dramatic depth.
Labels: adventure, animation, comedy, drama, family, fantasy
IMDb 81/100
MetaScore (critics=75, viewers=87)
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=79, viewers=86)
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This fascinating Smithsonian Channel documentary traces the complicated history of the Hope Diamond and its owners... among them, King Louis XIV of France and British financier Henry Philip Hope, for whom the gem is named.
One of the world's most famous jewels, the 45-carat blue diamond has been linked to a curse ever since the original 115-carat stone was brought from Asia to Europe by a gem trader who was rumored to have stolen the stone from a temple statue in India, and who subsequently died a grisly death.
Labels: history, mystery
Internet Movie Database
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=NA, viewers=NA)
Amazon.com
Michael was an imaginary friend to Jane until her tenth birthday when he disappeared. Now, twenty-eight years have passed and Jane (Alyssa Milano) is all grown up, a producer at her mother's theater, and about to marry Hugh (Ivan Sergei) a self-absorbed actor of TV soap operas and stage plays.
Jane is planning their wedding, but she can't make any of the critical decisions about flowers, cake and wedding dress. Her best friend and psychiatrist (played by Kristin Booth) knows what the problem is, that Jane isn't really in love with Hugh. But it's only when Michael (Eric Winter) appears to her again, now as a real grown-up, and reconnects Jane with her childhood innocence and dreams, that she appreciates what she has been missing in her life. Gradually Jane realizes that Michael is her true soul mate, while she remains committed to marrying Hugh.
This PG-rated Lifetime Television romantic drama suffers from a plodding, predictable screenplay, banal dialogue and lackluster direction. The only thing saving the film is the energy and enthusiasm that Alyssa Milano and Eric Winter bring to the production. Imagine a low-budget, made-for-television, happily-ever-after version of City of Angels and you will have a good idea of what Sunday at Tiffany's offers. Ardent fans of Alyssa Milano will be rewarded. Others should pass.
Labels: drama, romance
Secretariat is the incredible true story of the chestnut stallion known to his trainer and jockey as Big Red, and who was arguably one of the greatest thoroughbred race horses in the history of the sport. In 1970, housewife and mother Penny Chenery Tweedy decided to take over her ailing father's Virginia-based Meadow Stables. Against all odds, Penny bet the future of the family farm on Secretariat, an untested yearling. With the help of veteran trainer Lucien Laurin and jockey Ronnie Turcotte, Secretariat won theHorse of the Year award in 1972 as a two-year-old, and then won the 1973 Triple Crown, breaking records in both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, and winning the Belmont Stakes by a mind-boggling 25 lengths.
Written by Mike Rich (Finding Forrester, The Rookie, Radio), Secretariat features excellent lead performances by Diane Lane as Penny Chenery Tweedy, and John Malkovich as Lucien Laurin, as well as an impressive supporting cast including Otto Thorwarth as Turcotte, Dylan Walsh as Penny's husband Jack Tweedy, Margo Martindale, James Cromwell, Fred Dalton Thompson and Scott Glenn. Even if you are not a fan of horse racing, I invite you to watch this stirring, uplifting motion picture.
Labels: Diane Lane, drama, family, history, sport
Internet Movie Database
Metacritic 61/100
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=61,viewers=76)
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After receiving the healing powers from a magical flower, baby Princess Rapunzel is kidnapped from the palace by Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy) who needs Rapunzel's magical golden hair to preserve her youth. Now, eighteen years have passed and Rapunzel (Mandy Moore), having spent her entire life in Mother Gothel's tower, yearns to experience the floating lights that she has seen from her tower every year on her birthday.
As if on cue, a handsome, charming thief named Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi) scales the tower while escaping from palace guards. Rapunzel hits him with a frying pan, takes him captive, and strikes a deal with him to be her guide to experience the floating lights. Little does Rapunzel know that she is about to experience the most exciting and thrilling journey of her life.
While the plot of Tangled, the Disney version of Rapunzel varies somewhat from the traditional fairy tale of Rapunzel, Tangled contains three basic elements, the same ones that are found in Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Snow White: (1) a beautiful princess; (2) an evil fairy/witch/stepmother who is jealous of her beauty and purity, and who imprisons her or casts a spell over her; and (3) a loving prince or suitor who rescues her. While Tangled is visually entertaining, the plot is really too thin to support a full-length animated feature. In addition, there are numerous plot points that just don't make sense, even given our willingness to suspend disbelief. Finally, there's nothing particularly magical about the music. Tangled is entertaining enough; it's just not enchanting. I much preferred Ever After: A Cinderella Story and Enchanted.
Labels: animation, Cinderella-story, comedy, family, fantasy, musical, romance
Internet Movie Database
Metacritic 71/100
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=75, viewers=82)
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Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) owns a pet store, and seems to treat the men in her life with less respect and affection than she gives the puppies and kittens in her store. After years of waiting for the right one to come along, Zoe has decided that she wants to have a baby through artificial insemination. Ironically, though, on the same day she's inseminated, she wanders through her local NYC farmers market and meets Stan (Alex O'Loughlin), who sells goat cheese he makes on his upstate goat farm. As Stan and Zoe get to know one another better, he seems perfect. But, how does Zoe break the news to Stan that she's pregnant?
The Back-up Plan was written by Kate Angelo and directed by Alan Poul, both of whom have spent their careers writing and directing for mediocre, short-lived TV comedy series. This is the first big-screen effort for both and it shows. The film's concept is thin, with a script better suited to a half-hour TV comedy episode than a full-length feature. Direction is sloppy, with absolutely no romantic tension between Lopez and O'Loughlin, and a resolution that is unconvincing and embarrassing. Like so many Jennifer Lopez films, this one is simply another star vehicle (the cinematic equivalent of vanity book self-publishing) for Lopez to look pretty and impress us with the size of her derriere - as in The Wedding Planner and Maid in Manhattan. Unless you are a forgiving fan of Jennifer Lopez I would stay far, far away from this film.
Labels: comedy, romance
IMDb 53/100
MetaScore (critics=34, viewers=56)
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=37, viewers=62)
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Wally (Jason Bateman) and Kassie (Jennifer Aniston) are New Yorkers who've been platonic friends for seven years; there just doesn't seem to be any heat and passion in their relationship. As Wally's boss and friend Leonard (Jeff Goldblum) describes it - Kassie put Wally in the friends zone years ago.
Now, though, Kassie is approaching forty and her biological alarm clock is going off. She decides to conceive a child, with Roland (Patrick Wilson) as the sperm donor. Her friend Debbie (Juliette Lewis) throws a conception party, during which she gives Wally a recreational drug, after which he flushes Roland's semen and substitutes his own – and later has no memory of the event. After confirming that she's pregnant, Kassie moves back home to Minnesota.
Fast-forward seven years and Kassie reappears in New York with six-year-old Sebastian (Thomas Robinson) whose appearance and mannerisms bear a striking resemblance to Wally's. As Uncle Wally bonds with Sebastian, his memories of that long-ago party begin to surface. Wally realizes he has to tell Kassie, but, meanwhile she and Roland have kindled a romance.
This story hinges on the credibility of the relationship between Wally and Sebastian, and happily, Jason Bateman and Thomas Robinson are able to pull it off. Jennifer Aniston is actually quite believable in her role, since she doesn't have to convey a romantic attraction for either Bateman or Wilson, nor any parenting skills for young Robinson. And Jeff Goldblum is amusing in a supporting role. The Switch is yet another variation on the theme of how a child helps two adults recognize their true feelings for one another, but it's a mediocre effort compared to the modern classic The Parent Trap starring Lindsay Lohan, as Annie and Hallie, two mischievous preteen twin girls who plot to bring their divorced parents (played by Dennis Quaid and the late Natasha Richardson) back together. Nevertheless, The Switch will likely appeal to fans of Aniston and Bateman who have had personal experience parenting a young child; most other viewers may have trouble relating.
Labels: comedy, drama, family, romance
Internet Movie Database
Metacritic 52/100
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=54, viewers=64)
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