Review: THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE

The Sorcerer's Apprentice certainly isn't any better than you'd expect, but it's also not any worse. It's clearly meant for a much younger audience than Jon Turtletaub's super fun National Treasure, so if you check it out, keep that in mind.

It's the quintessential Disney story. A young nerdy college freshman, Dave (Jay Baruchel) ends up becoming the chosen one, the one Balthazar (Nicolas Cage) has been searching for for thousands of years. He becomes his apprentice, and together they save the world. Dave is the guy every 8-15 year old boy will want to be, and Disney certainly knows how to sell tickets.

Review: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON

(Before I begin raving about this movie, I want to note that it was literally impossible to find a poster that doesn't have "3D" on it. Add this to the fact that DreamWorks has decreed that no theaters may show the movie in 2D if they don't allow it in 3D, and you see how the 3D movement is similar to propaganda of the worst kind. Ehem.)

I don't know if DreamWorks is back on track with their animation or it's just Chris Sanders that is the master of his craft, but How To Train Your Dragon is absolutely fantastic.

Review: NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN

I enjoyed Night at the Museum because of one reason: it was fun. It was simple, enjoyable, charming, and often times very funny. The only thing it had going against it was its predictability.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian has pretty much the same qualities going for it, except it might have been a bit less funny, and bit more predictable. *Sharp inward breath*

This movie has a comedy ensemble the likes of which I have not seen in a while; Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Eugene Levy, Hank Azaria, Christopher Guest, Alain Chabet, Ricky Gervais and Bill Hader. Not to mention some great cameos from Jonah Hill, Mindy Kaling, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, and Thomas Lennon. Also, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but the Jonas Brothers even have a cameo, and it is nothing short of delightful.

Let's start. Ben Stiller is his lovable Ben Stiller self. He has the rare talent of being able to work well off of every other actor in the movie, especially Hill, Adams, Azaria, and Chabet. He has some really funny one-liners, and to be honest, the movie would be nothing without him. Great job to Ben Stiller.

Hank Azaria, as usual, is hilarious. He plays Kahmunrah, Abe Lincoln, and The Thinker (the sculpture). Azaria just might be the greatest character actor of all time. His accent is amazing, his wit as sharp as his spear. The movie might be worth seeing just for his conversation with everyone's favorite Sith.

I have to give honorable mention to Jonah Hill as well. It's silly, but one of the reasons I didn't love the movie as much as the last one is because he was only in one scene. In it, he and Stiller banter back and forth for about five minutes of absolute comic brilliance. I would have loved to have seen one more bit with him.

Now for Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart. I am incredibly conflicted about my opinion of her character. For one, I want to say how ridiculous it is to have such a young, beautiful actress playing Amelia Earhart. I want to say that in school, I was told that Earhart was mean and grumpy all the time. However, Amy Adams plays her as smart, fun, and incredibly charming. She really is great. I want to say how ridiculous of an interpretation of her the movie had, but she was just too adorable for me to care.

This one was written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. Here's what I think: they should not be making PG movies. Balls of Fury is hilarious, because they don't have to censor themselves. Reno 911! is definitely not censored, and it's great. They need to stick to being filthy; it works much better.

As for Shawn Levy, he has yet to make a movie that really blows me away. He's clearly a very capable filmmaker, so why not try something that has more promise than films like The Pink Panther and Night at the Museum? I know he's got the talent. I'm excited for a project that has some depth to it.

So, Night at the Museum 2 gets a 3. It's not bad, it's just not good enough. Sequels should be better than the previous movie. No one wants to walk out of the theater thinking about their favorite parts of the first movie. And while it is very, very funny, its predictability brings it down. Not to mention the enormous buildup the movie has to an extremely disappointing finale.

Funny, but not the best.

Review: NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST

Don't let this picture fool you; Michael Cera is not this happy in the movie. He smiles about three times, and it never lasts very long.

His character is so monotone and sad the whole movie that is impossible to establish a likeable main character. Not to say Cera didn't do a great job with what he had.

Here's what I make of this movie: Hollywood decided they wanted to make a film that looks independent. It's as simple as that. And because of this incredible paradox, it is nowhere near as good as it would have been... if it was independent.

Why it's called Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, I have no idea. They both like music, but that seems to be the only clue.

Nick (Michael Cera) and Tris (Alexis Dziena) just broke up (what Nick saw in Tris in the first place is beyond me, as she just might be the worst person in the world). Nick is upset. As I said, he never really cracks a smile until the end of the movie. He meets a girl named Norah (Kat Dennings) one night at a show his band is playing. They hit it off, and the rest of the movie is about Nick learning to forget about Tris, and learning to love Norah. And it's not hard to love Norah - Kat Dennings totally steals the show here. She is really good, really real, and really funny. It makes her so much more likeable than Nick, to the point where you wish the movie was about her.

Imagine if Forgetting Sarah Marshall was set in New Jersey, with high school seniors. That's what this movie is.

Oh, and not nearly as good.

Not to say it was the worst movie I've ever seen. It has moments where I was laughing, and Ari Graynor's performance is truly fantastic, but with Michael Cera's newfound stamp of credibility, I thought this would be Juno quality.

George Lucas' Worst Nightmare

Ok, I can't wait for this movie.

In a little more than a month, there is going to be an epic collision of all the goodness in the world - Star Wars, Heist Movies, Comedies, and Kristin Bell.

Fanboys is the allegedly true story of a group of intense Star Wars fans who drove to Skywalker Ranch early to get their hands on a copy of Episode One before it was released.

The cast gives me a braingasm. Let's hear it:

Jay Baruchel, Dan Fogler, Chris Marquette, Sam Huntington, and Kristen Bell. I happen to love every single person listed. Not to mention cameos by Seth Rogen, Will Forte, Craig Robinson, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Danny Trejo, and, yes, almost the whole cast of Star Wars (including but not limited to Billy Dee Williams, Carrie Fisher, and Ray Park).


So in other words, if this is not the best movie ever, I don't know what is.

It was made a while ago, back in 2006 and 2007, and released independently in 2007.

But it will be here in November, and, I can almost guarantee it; the force will be strong with this one.



Coming to our galaxy November 26.