Rango

Yeah, OK, I can see it. I mean, there’s nothing super profound here, but you do get an entertaining animated movie that has some good laughs, fine visuals (including some nicely clever visual references), and a relatively standard though still compelling Western style story line. I’ve seen worse stuff tossed out there under the cynical, “you’ll watch anything animated” philosophy; this film rises above that. Worth a look.

Cedar Rapids

Who knew the Upper Plains could be so funny? Ed Helms, apparently, who gives a note perfect performance as a naif who finds more than he bargained for--to his ultimate gain--at an insurance industry convention in the titular town. The story stays odd and appealingly skewed throughout, and--unlike many a self-aware 'zany' comedy--never veers off into the completely improbable. (There's one plot glitch--involving the Helms character's major sin--that's not really true to form, but it's a very minor, almost unnoticeable thing.) The result is often laugh out loud funny and a good time at the movies. Check it out.

Red State

So this is what Kevin Smith's now-perpetual cloud of weed smoke hath wrought--a genuinely good indie film, with surprising philosophical depth, storytelling skill, and an almost oddly sympathetic engagement with its central crazies. If this really is his penultimate film (preceding the forthcoming Hit Somebody!), one could argue Smith is going out with a bang--and maybe just when he's finally figured out this whole film-making thing.

The Men Who Stare at Goats

That title? Dynamite. This movie? Well...more like a sparkler; it seems like it'll be fun, but then you start the thing and it just sits there, throwing off the occasional gleam of something good, but never really lighting things on fire. A good cast does perfectly fine work, but they don't have enough good material to really make this flick fly. The biggest takeaway is the idea that a documentary on the movie's germ of truth--weird military experiments into the psychic--would have made for a better, more interesting film.

Finding Nemo

Hate to say it, but this isn't as good as you think it is. The film is technically brilliant, of course; Pixar has that template down pat now. And the vocal performances are well done. But there are a lot of elements here which seem stale and recycled (the goofy sidekick, the motley collection of friends, even the Disney staple of the dead parent). If you've been paying attention, you have to feel like you're being suckered. If you're as uncritical as a child, then sure, go ahead. But adults might have a harder time swallowing these fish sticks.

Office Space

An uneven piece from Beavis & Butt-Head and King of the Hill creator Mike Judge. It offers an occasionally hilarious satire of corporate life that turns dark one or two times too many. But mostly, it's funny and worth it.