Review:

"The Avengers" brings together many of the heroes from the Marvel universe who have already been featured in their own various films. The pictures have been constructed in an engaging "web" that, in some ways, is tied together in "The Avengers", and will likely be woven in single films (there are already "Iron Man", "Captain America" and "Thor" sequels in the works) whose stories lead back to another "Avengers" film (which is already hinted at in the post-credits scene from this film) somewhere down the line.

"The Avengers" opens with Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor's adopted and power-mad brother, breaking into a secret lab and taking the tesseract, a glowing blue cube that has the power to open gateways to other universes. He brainwashes Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Professor Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) so that he can have both a worker and a warrior, and goes about a plan that...Read the entire review

The new 3D conversion that's prompted the re-release of Disney/Pixar's Finding Nemo isn't exactly earth-shaking. It nicely immerses the viewer in its undersea world, yes, and spotlights a couple of already eye-catching foreground/background compositions (Dory reading the scuba mask while Marlin is chased behind her; the pair bickering as a whale approaches behind them), but that's about it. All told, there's not much of a reason to see Finding Nemo in 3D. But then again, there's not much of a reason to see any movie in 3D, a technology that mostly serves to throw a couple of more bucks in the pockets of penny-pinching studios while providing moviegoers a gratuitous level of "engagement" whose primary function (for this viewer, anyway) appears to be the expediti...Read the entire review

Take two of the mice from Cinderella, a couple of the alligators from the sequence in Fantasia with alligators in it, the evil villainess from 101 Dalmatians, a few other familiar character types, and you've got The Rescuers, one of the Disney company's more forgettable efforts from that dark period of their (and everyone else's) history: the 1970s. Although American film flourished in that decade, Disney's output did not. I have a soft spot for Robin Hood, but The Aristocats and The Rescuers are not among th...Read the entire review

The idea that Disney might take a powerful step forward into the 21st century with the story of a princess fighting to protect her freedom and independence when a "traditional," outdated marriage ritual is forced on her is an exciting one, and few branches of Disney are as respected as Pixar, whose track record for quality since Toy Story in 1995 is pretty much unparalleled. Sadly, Brave represents a surprising step back for the studio, which plays things safe and predictable throughout one of their most troubled productions.

When Brave was announced, it was going to take the same step on-screen and off: the film would focus on Pixar's first female protagonist, and the picture would be helmed by the studio's first female director, Brenda Chapman. Creative differences led to Pixar replacing her with Mark Andrews in October 2010, after an unspecified amount of the film had been com...Read the entire review

It took four years and at least five other movies, but The Avengers is here and eager to please. A culmination of Marvel Studios' meticulous film-as-comic-book serialization, the film could have gone one of two ways: leave out any pretense of explanation or setup in order to tack on an extended finale to every film in the stable, or play as a bonus crossover that stands above and alone for anyone to enjoy. Well, if the slow creep of content from the post-credits tag into the films themselves wasn't enough indication, the hiring of Joss Whedon to write and direct should've been a concrete indication of the former: this is a guy who knows geeks, and hiring him to write and direct is as obvious a play for the hearts of fanboys and fangirls the world over as any.

The story is less than a clothesline -- it's hardly even a string. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is back on Earth with a plot to steal the Tesse...Read the entire review

The first live-action film by WALL-E director Andrew Stanton, John Carter is a film struggling to find a balance between its desire to deliver Star Wars-esque, family-friendly fantasy and a modern, 21st century spectacle. At its best, the film is a nimble, exciting sci-fi adventure that moves from set piece to set piece like its gravity defying hero; at worst, it's poorly paced and mired in overly complicated mythology that Stanton and his screenwriters ought to have streamlined.

On Mars (known as Barsoom to its residents), a war rages on, with the final battle boiling down to Sab Than (Dominic West) and Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). Thoris is the heir to the throne of Helium, the last unconquered city, and she's furious when she discovers that her father Tardos Mors (Ciar n Hinds) has traded her hand in marriage to Than in exchange for letting the people of Helium live. But Than'...Read the entire review

What was true almost a decade ago is only more true now: traditional animation is almost a thing of the past. The films produced by Japanese Studio Ghibli are among the last feature-length theatrical animated films arriving in theaters; aside from their own Ponyo, the only other 2D feature I can think of as of late is Disney's The Princess and the Frog. I'm no purist, and computer animated films produced by the major studios are routinely beautiful, but Ghibli's new film The Secret World of Arrietty is a nice reminder of the warmth and life that traditional animation can convey.

Co-written by Hayao Miyazaki and directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi (a longtime Ghibli animator whose credits illustrate a nice climb up the food chain), Arrietty is an adaptation of Mary Norton's The Borrowers, about a family of tiny people living under the floorboards of a human-sized househ...Read the entire review

The Secret World of Arrietty is anadaptation (well, at least sort of) whichwas inspired by Mary Norton's TheBorrowers. You know the book. Thatone you were required to read in school. It's the story aboutpint-sized (...Read the entire review

Prep & Landing is adelightfully charming Christmasspecial produced by Disney in 2009. The story offers a unique take onone ofthe most important jobs held by an elf employed through good ol' SantaClause. There is a necessary position ofhandling the preparationand landing efforts so that Santa can successfully come down thechimney, eatsome of those scrumptious looking...Read the entire review

After 12 years away from the big screen (and, for the most part, the public eye), the Muppets are back in a big way with The Muppets, a big-budget, semi-star-studded road picture meant to kick off new Muppet adventures for the 21st century. It's been a passion project for star/writer/executive producer Jason Segel, who memorably included puppet numbers in his Apatow-produced romantic comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and his devotion to the franchise and its characters shows through -- in ways both good and bad.

The story finds Henson's felt friends in the same place they are in reality: out of the limelight (well, okay, save for reality's six months of advertisement for this very movie). Kermit (Steve Whitmire), estranged from the rest of the gang, is on the verge of signing over the Muppet Studio to oil baron Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), who claims he'll turn it into a museum celebrati...Read the entire review

When Mary (Amy Adams), Gary (Jason Segel) and his puppet brother Walter (Peter Linz) visit the Muppet Studio early in the new Muppet film (titled, sensibly enough, The Muppets), they find it in cobwebbed, abandoned disrepair. The image of that forgotten space is a none-too-subtle metaphor for the current state of the Muppet film series, which has been the object of occasional attempts at reinvention and reanimation, in film and on television, but has never been able (in the honorable Star Wars tradition) to even approach the magic of the "original trilogy." In a move so edgy and loaded with disaster potential that it remains shocking that Disney made it, Segel and Nicholas Stoller--who worked some puppet-based humor into their R-rated romantic comedy Forgetting Sa...Read the entire review

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Disney's 24th animated feature, The Fox and the Hound (1981) is very much a transitional, passing of the torch work plagued with innumerable internal conflicts and other problems culminating in the walk-out of a dozen animators, led by Don Bluth, who then formed a rival animation studio. They had been honing their craft as disciples of the "Nine Old Men," Disney's core group of animators who had been with the company since the early days, but the conflict between the old guard, new generation, and poor management at the top all boiled to the surface just as production was getting underway. The walkout and other factors resulted in The Fox and the Hound missing its planned Christmas 1980 release, forcing it into the less-desirable summer of 1981.

Though financially successful, the company wasn't and isn't very proud of the movie that resulted. It's not part of their "Masterpiece Collec...Read the entire review

THE FILM

"Mars Needs Moms" is a peculiar viewing experience where its least effective element boils down to a single obnoxious performance. Lively, richly animated with intriguing motion capture fluidity, and pleasingly designed with special attention to sprawling Martian environments, the feature is nearly sunk by the efforts of co-star Dan Fogler, who's biologically incapable of delivering funny business, squirting his spastic funk all over this nifty CG-animated chase film.

A young boy tired of his domestic duties, Milo (performed by Seth Green, voiced by Seth Dusky) has grown to resent his mother (Joan Cusack). When Martians bent on finding human mothers to help raise their newborns come to Earth and kidnap his parent, Milo is accidentally whisked away on the ship, taken to a subterranean alien kingdom where he meets Gribble (Dan Fogler), a daffy Earthling who found ...Read the entire review

Simplicity reigns supreme in "Winnie the Pooh," which isn't a reimagining, reconstruction, or reevaluation of a classic character. Instead, it's just a breezy, endearing, humorous romp with everyone's favorite stuffed bear, going back to the basics of traditional animated feature filmmaking. Imagine that, an entire motion picture built around the innate charms and feisty personalities of its cast of characters, without the need for bathroom humor or story padding. This movie is downright huggable.

It seems there's a bit of a mystery developing deep in the heart of the Hundred Acre Wood. Having lost his tail, Eeyore (voiced by Bud Luckey) is looking for a replacement, with the likes of Winnie the Pooh (Jim Cummings), Tigger (also Jim Cummings), Rabbit (Tom Kenney), Owl (Craig F...Read the entire review

Why on Earth would Pixar sequelize one of their lowest grossing, least critically favored motion pictures? Never underestimate the power of toy sales, which has fueled "Cars" fever since its 2006 debut. "Cars 2" at least makes an attempt to shake up the whimsical formula, turning the franchise into a spy comedy, but the effort is lackluster and misguided, dialing up the noise and violence while a cast of allegedly beloved characters are left in the rear-view mirror, playing second fiddle to explosions and gunfire.

Challenged by the arrogant Francesco (John Turturro) to join the illustrious World Gran Prix race, Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) decides to bring Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) along for the trip, taking his sheltered friend to Japan, Italy, and England to help expand...Read the entire review

THE FILM

It was bound to happen sooner or later. With "I Am Number Four," Hollywood attempts to branch out to other genres to find a new "Twilight" -- something with heavy romantic and superhuman overtones that could be massaged into a brand new franchise to take over the hearts and wallets of teens when the sparkly vampires take a bow in 2012. Though dealing with intergalactic invasion, corporeal powers, and laser guns, "I Am Number Four" is a relatively tame creation, lacking a thunderous, textured cinematic quality that would separate it from the average ABC Family movie.

An alien from the planet Lorien, Number Four (Alex Pettyfer) has come to Earth to hide from a vicious enemy known as the Mogadorians. Guided by protector Henri (Timothy Olyphant), Four is working his way through adolescence, finding himself in possession of several "Legacies" that offer him exceptio...Read the entire review

People can think whatever they want about the commercialization of Hollywood, but sometimes, at least it's a goal. Although a director like Michael Bay is far from a "great" filmmaker in the sense that his films are not artistically inclined, there's still a technique and skill set that goes into making something look glossy and eye-popping, and Bay in particular brings a self-aggrandizing flair to it that occasionally legitimizes what he does. There's a reason Armageddon and The Rock are in the Criterion Collection: Bay's movies may be loud, expensive, elaborate displays of explosions and computer graphics, but he gives himself over to that kind of vision, completely and without reserve.

Said devotion to the product is the difference between greed (or whatever it is that drives studios to make expensive movies in the hope of expensive returns) and obligation, the latter of which is the...Read the entire review

In the months leading up to the release of "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," certain members of the production have attempted to distance themselves from the wreckage of the last two sequels, "Dead Man's Chest" and "At World's End." While box office was bountiful, fan reaction to the follow-ups was as harsh as an empty jug of rum, with the matinee joys of 2003's "Curse of the Black Pearl" officially scrubbed away by overwritten screenplays, convoluted mythologies, and halfhearted performances. While it's obvious why some would claim a rebirth in "Caribbean" mojo with this latest installment, the sad truth is "On Stranger Tides" simply resumes the mirthless antics of a franchise that's completely lost its course.

Having narrowly escaped imprisonment in London, Jack...Read the entire review

Many films claim reverence for the work of John Hughes, insisting their high school scripts match the idiosyncratic tone and wit of the late filmmaker. "Prom" is an unassuming dramedy that also genuflects before the "Breakfast Club" architect, only this reserved production actually manages to replicate a minor amount of Hughesian DNA. Though at times unforgivably plodding, this gentle teen picture keeps matters surprisingly human, evading abrasive Disney Channel trappings to play more sensitively, thus encouraging a heartier emotional investment.

It's prom season at a bustling high school, with all the students buzzing about dates and plans for the big party. Overachiever Nova (Aimee Teegarden) is head of the prom committee, horrified to find props for the dance have been dest...Read the entire review

Disneynature has taken on "Earth" and "Oceans" with reasonable box office success, but a story was clearly missing, something substantial to support the glorious images of life unleashed. "African Cats" attempts to rectify the situation by assigning personalities to an assortment of wild creatures, manufacturing a human drama to compliment the animal one. Thankfully, the producers stopped at exaggerated narration from Samuel L. Jackson, turning down the opportunity to have these regal creatures of Africa speak or possibly rap.

"African Cats" takes cameras deep into the heart of a Kenyan wildlife preserve, where a crocodile-infested river divides a family of cheetahs from a pride of lions. Here, the sides do their best to survive the elements, relying on their instincts to hunt...Read the entire review

Greetings, programs!

Disc One

"TRON: Legacy" presented in Blu-ray 3D.

Disc Two

"TRON: Legacy" on Blu-ray.

THE FILM

It's almost impossible to consider it's been 28 years since Disney's "TRON" provided a new language of special effects to the industry, bonding scruffy visual peculiarity to a story of awkward heroism, set inside a forbidding digital landscape of programs at war. Though a box office underperformer in 1982, "TRON" developed into a sizable cult hit over the years, boosted by the retro smooch of its groundbreaking use of CGI and endearing quarter-fingering arcade appeal. "TRON: Legacy" is most certainly a continuation of the original, yet the new picture endeavors to find its own footing as an epic of unreality, ...Read the entire review

"Mars Needs Moms" is a peculiar moviegoing experience where its least effective element boils down to a single obnoxious performance. Lively, richly animated with intriguing motion capture fluidity, and pleasingly designed with special attention to sprawling Martian environments, the film is nearly sunk by the efforts of co-star Dan Fogler, who's biologically incapable of delivering funny business, squirting his spastic funk all over this nifty CG-animated chase film.

A young boy tired of his domestic duties, Milo (performed by Seth Green, voiced by Seth Dusky) has grown to resent his mother (Joan Cusack). When Martians bent on finding human mothers to help raise their newborns come to Earth and kidnap his parent, Milo is accidentally whisked away on the ship, taken to a subte...Read the entire review

THE FILM

During its nearly 70 years of existence, "Bambi" has grown from a box office disappointment to one of the defining treasures of the Walt Disney Animated Studios. A feature of immense beauty and appealing cartoon behavior, the 1942 picture feels just as alive and relevant all these decades later, sustaining as a richly imagined saga of life and death, discovery, and instinct, communicated by true masters of the animation craft, turning the yearlong experience of a maturing deer into mesmeric cinema.

Within the great forest, a fawn has been born. Named Bambi, the young creature is about to embark on an education of epic proportions, following his beloved mother around the woods, learning the ways of life with help from pals Thumper (a mischievous rabbit) and Flower (a shy skunk). As the seasons change and danger arrives in the form of Man and his penchant for hun...Read the entire review

Even by animated filmmaking standards, "Gnomeo & Juliet" is a strange picture. Imagine William Shakespeare's immortal classic of love and death acted out by a society of garden gnomes, scored to the music of Elton John. And the voice cast includes Hulk Hogan, Dolly Parton, Ozzy Osbourne, and Maggie Smith. Feeling a bit dizzy? While thoroughly bizarre, "Gnomeo" is a vibrant bit of cheeky entertainment, a beautifully animated romp that plays better cute than clever, offering miniature merriment and cheerful blasts of classic rock while pantsing the Bard.

As neighbors in a serene English suburb (on Verona Drive), the Capulets and the Montagues bicker endlessly, with their war carrying over to a community of backyard garden gnomes and assorted lawn decorations, as Lord Redbric...Read the entire review

The original TRON is a hard-to-believe movie, in the sense that the unprepared viewer must wonder what compelled anyone to write such an odd project, much less convince others to bankroll developing it, casting it, shooting it, and releasing it in theaters nationwide. The concept of being sucked into a computer is simple enough, but writer/director Steven Lisberger's idea to visualize programs in the image of their programmers, trapped in a civil war with more powerful programs, in a strongly religious allegory, is a far-out idea. And that's before one takes into account Lisberger's unique-yet-bizarre back-lit photo-animation cinematography that made characters like Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) and TRON (Bruce Boxleitner) glow with light from the inside. Whether or not it is even harder to believe that 28 years later, Disney has revived TRON as the next blockbuster franchise, is up for deba...Read the entire review

It's almost impossible to consider it's been 28 years since Disney's "TRON" provided a new language of special effects to the industry, bonding scruffy visual peculiarity to a story of awkward heroism, set inside a forbidding digital landscape of programs at war. Though a box office underperformer in 1982, "TRON" developed into a sizable cult hit over the years, boosted by the retro smooch of its groundbreaking use of CGI and endearing quarter-fingering arcade appeal. "TRON: Legacy" is most certainly a continuation of the original, yet the new picture endeavors to find its own footing as an epic of unreality, creating an immense electronic realm of peril to encourage a fresh generation of "TRON" devotees.

Troubled since the day his father, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), disappear...Read the entire review

The CG-animated "Tangled" is perhaps Disney's most calculated effort since 1997's "Hercules," often caught begging for love from every demographic. It's a gorgeously mounted motion picture with impeccable artistic flair, but there's something rattling in the engine of this film that doesn't sit right, a desperation that grows more insistent as the movie motors along. Disney magic gives the feature a satisfying lift, but the ride is rocky, caught between the lights of Broadway and the battering ram comedy tempo of a Looney Tunes production.

Stolen from her royal parents as an infant, Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore) has been raised by the villainous Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy), who needs the child's magical mile-long locks to keep her youthful appearance. Housed inside a towe...Read the entire review