Disney's Frozen

ACTION/ADVENTURE, ANIMATED

Deep Freeze

10 out of 10 | Movie and DVD

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Rated: G  Animated peril and adventure
Release Date: November 27, 2013
Runtime: 1 hour 45 minutes

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Director: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
Writers: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Shane Morris, inspired by the 'The Snow Queen' by Hans Christian Andersen
Cast: Kristen Bell, Alan Tudyk, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff, Santino Fontana

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SYNOPSIS:  Fearless optimist Anna teams up with Kristoff in an epic journey, encountering Everest-like conditions, and a hilarious snowman named Olaf in a race to find Anna's sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom in eternal winter.

REVIEW: Writer/director Chris Buck (Surf's Up) and writer,first-time director Jennifer Lee (Wreck-it Ralph) create a wintery, not-so-wonderland, along with writer Shane Morris and a little inspiration from 'The Snow Queen' by Hans Christian Andersen. 

Elsa (Idina Menzel. Enchanted) and Anna (Kristen Bell, Hit and Run) are princesses in the kingdom of Arendelle. Anna loves it when her sister sneaks out of her room at night to makes snowmen with her. The only difference is that Elsa has magic that can create ice, snow and wintery weather. When an accident forces the king to take Elsa and Anna to a group of mystical rock trolls, they heal Anna and advise the king to have Elsa get control of her powers. Shut away from the rest the kingdom, Elsa lives a lonely life in fear of the powers inside her. Years later on the day of Elsa's royal coronation, she accidentally sets in motion an eternal freeze that endangers the kingdom and her people. Anna must help her sister using ice cutter Kristoff (Jonathan Groff, The Conspirator), his reindeer Sven, and an enchanted snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad, The Internship). Will Anna and her new friends reach Elsa in time to reverse what she has done, or will Arendelle continue to suffer the forever winter?

From the Walt Disney Animation Studios, Frozen is a CGI spectacle without the use of Pixar Studios. Following more in the footsteps of classic Disney animated films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and the more recent Tangled, Frozen is filled with song, drama, heart and laughs. You never hear Woody or Buzz Lightyear break into song at a moments notice. Once you settle in to the musical quality of the film, you are transported back to those earlier Walt Disney classics coupled with the enjoyment of state-of-the-art CGI animation.

As with most Walt Disney animations, tragic events put in motion an adventure of enchanted proportions. With lost parents, estranged sisters, and blessed magic turned into a curse, from the tragedy comes drama, adventure, and comic hijinks. With ice queens and kingdoms in jeopardy, Anna holds hope in her hearts that she can undo everything that Elsa been done. Helping Anna is Kristoff, his endearing and funny reindeer companion Sven, and a hilarious ice snowman named Olaf. Similar to Tangled, Sven says more with a snort and a raised eyebrow then with words. Everything that the snowman Olaf does, from words to deeds, will keep you laughing. And while Kristoff does not want to get involved he finds himself helping anyway.

The music is beautiful, the arts and scenery of the animation is gorgeous telling a story all its own, and the characters are likable and worthy of rooting for. From a great story with hearts, action and drama, Frozen is a delight for kids young and old. Not too scary for the young ones, Frozen still boasts an epic snow monster that chases Anna and her friends off a mountain. Otherwise it's good wholesome fun and fret for everyone.

Coming from Disney, you expect great storytelling and wonderful animation. Rebounding from the less-than-well received Pixar's Planes earlier this year, Frozen does not slip or falter in its attempt to thaw your hearts and keep you warm from the cold.

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Hit and Run

Cubic Inches

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Rated: R  Graphic nudity, drug content, pervasive language, sexual reference and some violence
Release Date: August 22, 2012
Runtime:  1 hour 40 minutes

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Director: David Palmer, Dax Shepard
Writers: Dax Shepard
Cast:  Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper, Tom Arnold, Michael Rosenbaum, Kristin Chenoweth, Beau Bridges

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SYNOPSIS: Former getaway driver Charlie Bronson puts his Witness Protection status in jeopardy when he tries to help his girlfriend get to Los Angeles. While on the roadtrip, Bronson and his girlfriend are pursued by both the feds and his former gang.

REVIEW: David Palmer, director of the acclaimed Showtime documentary Stripped: Greg Friedler's Naked Las Vegas, reteams with his Brother's Justice writer and star Dax Shepard in a new action comedy entitled Hit and Run.

Annie (Kristen Bell, Big Miracle) and Charlie Bronson (Dax Shepard, Idiocracy) live a romantic, semi-idyllic life in a small town. When Annie is given the opportunity to create a college program in Los Angeles by her college dean Debbie (Kristen Chenoweth, Four Christmases) she is forced to make the decision to move away to LA without Charlie. The reason why she would have to leave him behind is because Charlie is in witness protection and unable to travel outside the city limits. After some soul searching, Charlie decides to leave the program and his US Marshall handler Randy (Tom Arnold, Madea's Witness Protection) to drive his girlfriend to LA for this once in a lifetime opportunity. But driving Annie to the City of Angels carries with it more than just the miles on the odometer. 
Charlie's old bank robber buddies Alex Demitri (Bradley Cooper, Limitless), Allen (Ryan Hansen, Last Call) and Neve (Joy Bryant, Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins) get tipped off and put the pedal to the metal on Charlie's trail, Annie's obsessive ex-boyfriend Gil (Michael Rosenbaum, Smallville) tries to get her back, US Marshall Randy tries to save his career by getting Charlie back into the town limits, and Charlie has to deal with the repercussions of hitting the open road again.

Dax Shepard and David Palmer create a throw-back action dramedy with plenty of horsepower. Filled with car chases, open road discoveries, and high-speed pursuits, Hit and Run starts off idling for a while before the accelerator jams into the floorboards. At times the story seems more comedic than dramatic, flip-flopping between the two. Tom Arnold's US Marshall Randy has more goofy and unwarranted things happen to him in and around a vehicle than one man should endure. Michael Rosen's ex-boyfriend Gil brings plenty of angst and obsessiveness to become more than just a funny thorn in Charlie Bronson's side. Bradley Cooper's bank robber mastermind rides a double yellow line between tracking down Charlie and dispensing passionate advice about the proper dog food to buy.

Hit and Run starts to accelerate when Charlie and Annie leave their small town behind. Once the town limits fall away in the rear view and Charlie opens up the throttle of a custom rebuild 700 horsepower 1967 converted Lincoln Continental project car heading west, the couple find more than their fair share of obstacles. With Randy, Gil, and all of Charlie's old bank robbery buddies on their trail, Charlie and Annie's relationship is put to the test.

Shepard and Palmer make great use of both high-octane high-speed pursuits and great 60s and 70s thumping music. From Jimmy Hendricks to James Brown to AC/DC, every selection of music is perfectly placed in the story. Aside from heart-pounding anthems, Shepard and Palmer also insert some choice lighter selections to counter some strange moments, especially during an interchange between Bradley Cooper's dog lover and a muscle-head who does treat his animals with the same level of respect. Car chases abound throughout - as one would suspect - taking advantage of a variety of vehicles including the Lincoln Continental, a lighter Pontiac convertible, and even a minivan!

The story is filled with pithy dialogue, some funny and some more serious. Add in car chases, pursuits, and some heavy-handed pursuers, and you have a wild, indie ride. There have been flicks with superior car chases like Smokey and the Bandit, movies with better banter like Pulp Fiction, and stories with more heart. Dax Shepard and David Palmer do put together a solid thrill ride that does have its charms and crashes.

Hit and Run has been screening for several months. On the eve of its release, this small indie flick should have enough horsepower to carry it a ways down the asphalt. Funny and adrenalized, and filled with action and adventure, Hit and Run runs on most cylinders.

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WORTH:  DVD or Rental

Safety Not Guaranteed

Rewinding Regrets

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Rated: R  Some sexual references and language.
Release Date: June 8, 2012
Runtime:  1 hour 24 minutes

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Director: Colin Trevorrow
Writers: David Connolly
Cast:  Aubrey Plaza, Jake M. Johnson, Karan Soni, Mark Duplass, William Hall Jr., Kristen Bell, Mary Lynn Johnson, Jenica Bergere

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SYNOPSIS: One Seattle magazine reporter and two interns track down the person who wrote a classified personal ad looking for a companion to travel through time with.

REVIEW: Writer/director of the 2004 documentary Reality Show, Colin Trevorrow, returns to direct a independent sci-fi dramedy written by television movie Gary: Under Crisis scribe Derek Connolly which Trevorrow also directed. This year, Safety Not Guaranteed was shown at the Sundance Film Festival, garnering a nomination for the Grand Jury Prize (Colin Trevorrow) and winning for the Waldo Salt Screening Award (Derek Connolly). 

Darius (Aubrey Plaza, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Parks and Recreation) goes through life in a denied depressed funk, working as an intern at a Seattle-based magazine. When the boss Bridget (Mary Lynn Rajskub, 24) looks to her reporters for new stories, Jeff (Jake M. Johnson, 21 Jump Street) brings up a classified ad he had come across where the submitter of the ad asks for a companion to time travel with. Spinning it to his boss as a gripping expose on the writer of the classified ad, Jeff, intern Darius and intern Arnau (Karan Soni, Touch) travel to the small coastal town of Ocean View to investigate the owner of the PO Box on the ad. When Darius discovers the owner of the box is a man named Kenneth (Mark Duplass, Your Sister's Sister), she follows him to find out more about him, where he work, and where he lives. When Jeff can't any more details from Kenneth when he poses as a responder to the ad, Darius is asked to approach Kenneth as a better suited possible companion for the ad. Once Kenneth starts to trust Darius, she realizes that there may be more at work than just a crackpot with a hair-brained notion of time travel, especially when she, Jeff, and Arnau discover that there are other, more government agency types following Kenneth too.

    WANTED: Somebody to go back in time with me.
    This is not a joke. You'll get paid after we get back. 
    Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed. 
    I have only done this once before.

Derek Connolly wrote this script based on a real classified personal advertisement that found itself on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in the "Headlines" segment. As intriguing as the original ad was, Connolly and Trevorrow craft an even better story for film. Set in Washington state, Trevorrow portrays the Ocean View town as a hidden, out of the way, sleepy summer getaway - a far cry from the Seattle skyline filled with cynical magazine employees looking to debunk and interview the obvious loon who would write up such a crazy Wanted ad. Duplass' Kenneth must be crazy by all accounts but comes across as intelligent and hopeful. Even his absurd theories of quantum entanglement and divergent and alternate timelines, and paranoia about phantom agencies tailing his movements and recording his conversations doesn't dissuade or diminish our care for him or the mission. Comically, Kenneth runs through silly target practices with handguns and his new friend Darius. Darius may be in a several year funk, but her sharp wit delivers several great one-liners, including a response to the query of facing certain death. Connolly and Trevorrow add in the notion of nostalgic romance with Kenneth's long-standing quest to save an old girlfriend Belinda (Kristen Bell, Big Miracle) from death, dedicating his efforts to return to before the accident. Reporter Jeff returns to Ocean View with the singular mission to reconnect with an old teenage high school fling with a girl named Liz (Jenica Bergere, Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer). Coupled with the romantic notions is the dramatic twinge of regret that accompanies both the anguishing sudden loss of love and the idolization of a love lost to the days of the calendar and the miles of the road.

Connolly and Trevorrow brilliantly cast Safety Not Guaranteed, almost guaranteeing a superior film. Aubrey Plaza, already well-versed in cynical, crass behavior as April Ludgate on NBC's Parks and Recreation, brings the same intensity and bite to the role of Darius. Jeff, played by Jake M. Johnson, conveys the same manic flighty demeanor that serves him so well as Nick from New Girl. Karan Soni, as intern Arnau, doesn't share Darius and Jeff's cynicism, instead relying on innocence and romanticism to get by. Mark Duplass, as Kenneth, manages to balance an obvious obsessive unattainable science with the pursuit of his life's mission, like Don Quixote tilting at windmills. Jenica Bergere completes the main cast as the former object of Jeff's adolescent desires, Belinda's eyes gleaming with the same wants and needs as when she was younger. While none of the cast are big screen superstars, their humanity and realism is what makes the film a success.

We all know that time travel is only real in books and in the movies. In the world of Safety Not Guaranteed, time travel is no more attainable than it is here in the real world. But Kenneth believes he can do it, and slowly starts to convert Darius as well. With actual agents tailing Kenneth, Jeff, Darius, and Arnau start to believe that there is something more at work than meets the eye. Even though the likes of Einstein never broke the physical barriers of space/time, we all wish there was a way back. Regrets of poor decisions, unforeseen dramatic events of our youth, and more plague our stray thoughts at any given moment. What would have happened if we had asked that girl or guy out on a date? What if we would have turned right instead of left at the stop light? What if our last words would have been different? When our elders impart their wisdom on the younger generations, they are attempting to erase the errant mistakes of their own youth.

Safety Not Guaranteed is a rare film that bucks the normal conventions, characters, and concepts. It entertains throughout, never skipping a beat or losing our attention. Even as each character faces their own pains of regret and questions decisions made, we all wonder and hope that Kenneth can actually get his device to work - at least once more. 

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WORTH: Matinee or DVD

Big Miracle

Coming Together

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Rated: NR  Language
Release Date: February 3, 2012
Runtime: 1 hr 47 min

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Director: Ken Kwapis
Writers: Jack Amiel, Michael Beglar, from the book "Freeing the Whales" by Thomas Rose
Cast: Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, Ted Danson, Dermot Mulroney, Kristen Bell, Vinessa Shaw, Tim Blake Nelson

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SYNOPSIS: While shooting a series of news stories in Barrow, Alaska, a cameraman and reporter discovers a family of whales trapped under miles of frozen Arctic Circle ocean with only a single access to air. A Greenpeace volunteer, an oil businessman, the Alaskan National Guard, and the entire community of the small town at the "Top of the world" try to keep the whales alive long enough to come up with a plan to get them to the open ocean.

REVIEW: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants director Ken Kwapis returns to the big screen with the big true story of three whales in the Arctic Circle trapped under rapidly forming ice with no escape to the open ocean. Based on the true story and the book "Freeing the Whales" by Thomas Rose, Raising Helen writers Jack Amiel and Michael Begler take on some mighty massive mammals. 

Small town Alaskan reporter Adam Carlson (John Krasinski, The Office) spends this time providing color news pieces for the Anchorage news channel. During one of the last days of filming, he discovers that a family of grey whales is trapped under the ice outside of the town of Barrow, with only a single unfrozen area to come up through for air. After the Anchorage newscast piece airs at the national level, the situation grabs the attention of Adam's ex-girlfriend, passionate Greenpeace volunteer Rachel Kramer (Drew Barrymore, Everybody's Fine) flies up to try and find a way to rescue and save the whales. Filled with fight, Rachel forces the attention of Alaskan Northern Oil Corporation CEO J.W. McGraw (Ted Danson, Damages), the Alaska's governor Haskell (Stephen Root, J. Edgar), the Alaskan National Guard headed up by pilot Colonel Scott Boyer (Dermot Mulroney, The Grey), the national news outlets, and Kelly Meyers (Vinessa Shaw, 3:10 to Yuma) from the office of the President of the United States under Ronald Reagan. The three whales, affectionately names Fred, Wilma and Bam-Bam, become center spotlight for both the small town of Barrow and for the nation.

At the top of the world, where everything from avocados and nacho chips for the Mexican restaurant to batteries for a personal Walkman have to be imported hundreds of miles, this true tale set in the town of Barrow, Alaska in October of 1988, is more than just a story about the three trapped grey whales. At the beginning of the end of the Cold War era (no pun intended), as the situation in the small town becomes a sensationalized national media event and all eyes remained glued to their televisions, the Reagan administration is portrayed as using the event to reverse their public image concerning the environment, agonizing over the decision whether to let a Soviet icebreaker come in to break the near-impenetrable pressure wall of ice that would be the last barrier to the whales' freedom to the open ocean. Not only does the government want to use the event to change their image. The head of an oil drilling corporation, J.W. McGraw, at odds with Green Peace's Rachel Kramer over the politics of giving the oil company additional rights to drill in the Alaska landscape, uses the grey whale story as a public relations opportunity to heighten the company's image in the area. Even the traditional way of life of the native Eskimo tribes living and dying in the remote Alaskan wilderness, mostly cut off and isolated from the rest of the world, is touched on as the world starts looking at the whale situation calls into question their traditions concerning whale hunting for food and ongoing survival.

With all of the complexities of the above said, Big Miracle is still a heart-warming, emotional and funny film set in the wintry wonderland of the Great White North. With all of the politics and differing of opinions converging upon this singular event, director Kwapis keeps the film light enough to avoid soap boxing about any single view or position. Oil companies, natives, activists, the government, and the media all are portrayed and given equal time as they come together to save the majestic mammal leviathans, whatever their motivations. There are enough quirks to make you chuckle, just ask a frozen eyelid. In addition, there is enough emotion to make you tear up. When Rachel makes a pleading interview with ex-boyfriend Adam behind the camera, Adam and the audience are taken to a tear by her words. And the plight of the whale family touches the heart on more than one level.

Adding to the situation is the dynamic between several of the characters. Adam and Rachel have a cordial but hurt relationship. Adam takes a shine to cub Los Angeles reporter Jill Jerard (Kristen Bell, Scream 4) looking for her big break. Greenpeace's Rachel and oil company CEO McGraw stalk each other about their intentions to the other. Colonel Boyer and White Houser Kelly have a differing of opinions about politics. And the natives of the white landscape fight to keep their way of life in the midst of a country and a world looking at them like they are in a fishbowl.

It would be rare if you were not affected by the tale of these trapped whales and the extraordinary efforts that people of all walks of life undertake to come to their aid. The peril of the whales is something that we as a people can relate to - their fear, their devotion to family, their relentless spirit. As with most of the characters in the film, you will be moved.

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WORTH: Matinee or DVD

Scream 4 (Scre4m)

A Reboot To Die For?

Director: Wes Craven

Writer: Kevin Williamson

Stars: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Hayden Panettiere, Alison Brie, Kristen Bell, Anna Paquin, Rory Culkin, Erik Knudsen

RANT: Trying desperately to catch up on the fields that are out or have been released last week, I have come up with a daring plan. I will see two movies in a row. Not only that, I am going to see one movie in one theater, then drive 20 miles to watch the other. Sounds crazy, but before you start shaking your head at my seeming incompetence, I can tell you that I am going to see the second movie with a friend who have to drive 20 miles as well. Tally-ho!

SYNOPSIS: Sydney Prescott returns to Woodsboro after a ten year absence, for a tour to promote her book about surviving and overcoming her past. Upon her arrival, Ghostface returns to torment her and kill those around her.

Wes Craven returns to the franchise he created, bringing back to Woodsboro the characters Sydney Prescott, Gale Weathers and now sheriff, Dewey Riley. Also in the cast are the next generation of Woodsboro residents, including Sydney's cousin, Rebecca and her group of friends. Rebooting the reconstruction of the deconstruction of the horror/slasher film genre that the Scream franchise was built on, director Craven and writer Williamson take the original Scream plot concept, kill it, then bring it back to life.

The new generation of Woodsboro horror cinephiles are savvy of the ways of the genre. No longer are they content with the played-out, tired devices that have come in previous films. Craven pays homage to horror classics and pokes fun at the Scream movies via the movie-within-a-movie Stab movies based on the Gale Weathers book, "The Woodboro Murders", where the 2.0 teens read deep into the mythos that is any horror film franchise - much deeper than I ever delved into any blood-soaked film's lunacy.

In the opening sequences two girl discuss the merits of the Saw series, spouting that Saw IV was nothing more than torture porn with no character development. Since I actually loved the entire Saw line, I found myself smiling at the thought of counterpointing against the girls position onscreen. Which just goes to show that any horror film fan will take a stand for or against any genre flick as passionate as any politician's platform topics.

Most of the critics have been taking about how the series has held up, how the fourth entry will compare to the earlier trilogy, and how Courteney and David's relationship has weathered throughout the entire run. I took a look at Scream 4 as a standalone film. Ten years have past, and a new generation of movie goers will be introduced to the series (or reboot, if you prefer). They will, of course, run out to Blockbuster or to Netflix to see the originals afterward, but it Scream 4 cannot stand on its own, the thoughts of a fifth and sixth entry could be shelved.

In my opinion, Scream 4 is worthwhile. The killings are brutal and clever. Seeing Neve Campbell's Sydney as a grown up survivor of past tragic events faintly echoes to Ripley in Aliens, not wanting to face the truth of the situation, but finding the strength to endure. The Dewey (Arquette) and Gale (Cox) sub plot is entertaining but ultimately unnecessary. The new breed of horror stab bait, including Culkin, Panettiere, Knudsen and Roberts, show just how smart and stoic modern audiences have become concerning the Rules of the Game. When Sydney's publicist is cornered in her car in the hospital parking garage, she does show enough sense to look around and under her car, plus look in the back seat when she does get in and lock the doors.

Rolled up against the first three Scream films, Scream 4 may or may not satisfy the die hard fans. But I did enjoy how Craven and Williamson turned the horror conventions on their ear again, pleasantly surprised at the film's outcome. And for many movie-goers, that's all that is really needed.

WORTH: Matinee or DVD

You Again

Bringing Baggage to a Wedding

[Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Odette Yustman, Sigourney Weaver, Victor Garber]

image from Masslive.com

RANT: As other extra-curricular events have taken precedence over the last few weeks, I have fallen behind in my moviegoing. In a bankrupting attempt to catch up, I have being actually going to movies on Friday nights. Each theater has a different atmosphere on Friday nights than it does for a Saturday matinee, such as how audience members talk out at the silver screen, but every trip is an adventure.

SYNOPSIS: When Marni finds out that her older brother is going to marry the girl who bullied and terrorized her during high school, Marni sets out to expose her for the liar she is.

Andy Fickman, known for Disney's "Race To Witch Mountain", directs Christen Bell in a story written by Moe Jelline. Touting some serious star female star power with Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Kristin Chenoweth and rising viral Twitter and Facebook icon, Betty White. Victor Garber, Jimmy Wolk and Kyle Bornheimer balance the acting scales with some notoriety of their own.

Marni was a bookwormy, pimply, bang-hair cut teenager in high school, tortured by super popular, super pretty chearleader captain J.J. The opening sequence shows Marni giving an awkward VHS confessional for the 2052 high school time capsule, being lifted up by J.J. and her cool crew to be deposited on the school steps and locked outside, being mooed at because of the initials of her name, and becoming a Youtube phenomenon when J.J. smacks Marni’s head around while in the school mascot Gator costume, causing her to stumble onto the basketball court to ruin the last jumpshot of their team to lose the game.

And even though her big brother, Will, always looks out for Marni, she nevertheless suffers through to graduation and afterward uses that angst to change her look and succeed as a public relations executive. But as soon as she flies home to meet her brother’s fiancee, she finds out that her brother is marrying Joanna – aka J.J., returning to that insecure high schooler. J.J. is now a sweet, affectionate, giving RN nurse, dedicating herself to the brother. Marni’s family love and dote on J.J. – even the dog runs past Marni to be scratched by her. Marni then makes it her mission to expose J.J. for the lying, shallow girl that she must still be. And when J.J.’s aunt Ramona comes to town, Marni’s turn-the-other-cheek mom, Gail, finds that she also has some BFF issues to resolve as well.

“You Again” sets up interesting ways to actually return Marni to the same physicality as she had as a teenager. An ant hill, a jogging trail, and denture gel all play their part. And as the family goes to a rehearsal for wedding party dance lessons, the cattiness and competitiveness between soon-to-be sisters and Marni’s mother and J.J’s aunt offers up a few laughs.

Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver are excellent as always. At times, they do not seemed to have aged a day. Odette Yustman is picture perfect as the high school beautiful bully, but does not pull off the sincerity of her new-found nature as well as I would have liked. Victor Garber is wonderfully stoic and oblivious as Marni’s father. Jimmy Wolk is a good mix of affection and anger to both his fiancee and sister. J.J.’s ex-boyfriend Tim, played by Kyle Bornheimer, offers up some awkward and funny moments as well. And Grandma Bunny, played by Hollywood’s go to grandma Betty White, is almost as enduring as she was in “The Proposal”.

“You Again” delves into the baggage that we all carry through our lives. There is not a person, guy or girl, that doesn’t have a regret or grudge that has festered over the years stemming from an episode or series of events from our impressionable past. The fact that just seeing the person of our contempt can erase years of self esteem and self worth is a truly human experience just shows that we are sometimes not as well off as the rest of the animal kingdom.

“You Again” has some laughs and some tender moments, although the story is a little far-fetched in spots. And while the movie made me think of the baggage that all Man carries (and all Woman), it also made me think that I should have spent my money on “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” instead.

Worth: Matinee

I am also trying out a new rating system shown below based on reader reaction to my somewhat complex monetary rating scale. I will give both ratings and see what kind of reaction I muster. A movie can receive up to 5 popcorn buckets. Why popcorn buckets? Because I am a slave to the thousand + calorie delight! Enjoy!