How to Train Your Dragon

Hiccup reveals his desires in life neatly in the opening minutes. As a teenager, he wants to be his own man but still lives and longs for his father’s approval. He’s a nerd, and rather than wield an ungainly axe or hammer, he aspires to use his mind to invent new ways to do things, i.e. hunt pesky dragons. And, of course, he wants the girl, but he’s a nerd and doesn’t think he has a shot.

It’s not that How To Train Your Dragon is all that original, it’s just SO WELL DONE. In the first five minutes of the movie, filmmakers successfully create a fully relatable character. From then on, Hiccup's voice and desire drives the plot, and we completely understand how he and Toothless, the bad-ass misunderstood dragon, could secure such a deep bond. The jury’s still out on the 3-D trend, but in this case it’s a MUST SEE in 3-D. Filmmakers deliberately use 3-D to showcase the depth and danger of Hiccup’s hostile home, and it’s a delight to see him and Toothless dart through the jagged rocks and islands and shoot up into the sky.

To put it another way, it’s not like they reinvented the wheel, they just made one REALLY good wheel.

One Too Many Mornings

Interesting, ultra-low budget buddy comedy about a young party animal trying to quit drinking. Noble cost-cutting efforts and some decent performances make it watchable, but the script felt like it missed some opportunities. Still, a really strong effort.

The Green Zone

A very well-made movie, but a bit of a downer. We all know how it’s going to end: our elected officials lie about WMDs to justify invading Iraq. So in spite of some extremely dynamic and exciting action sequences, and another rock-solid portrayal from Matt Damon, it’s hard not to come out of the theater feeling pissed off.

Alice in Wonderland

Enjoyable in 3-D, but not a lot of heavy-duty story. The effects are great, and the lead Mia Wasikowska is sturdy and watchable, but the moments that are supposed to be funny aren’t really that funny. So it’s a mixed bag, but worth seeing for the visual feast.

Brooklyn's Finest

This should have been called, “Whatever you do, don’t go to Brooklyn. It’s a gang-infested hell-hole.” The movie skillfully jumps around between multiple characters all of whom are cops. The acting is strong but we don’t spend enough time with the characters to REALLY get to know them. Technically impressive, suspenseful sequences of police raids in tight, confined gang lairs make for gripping drama. But it’s ultimately a depressing depiction of corruption and good cops’ fruitless efforts to control drug-violence.