Now available on DVD

The Princess and the Frog

The Princess and the Frog
Dirs. Ron Clements and John Musker. 2009. G. 97mins. Voices of Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Keith David, Michael-Leon Wooley, Jennifer Cody.
If you’ve got kids, you probably can’t avoid getting this Disney musical about a New Orleans girl who has to save a prince from a froggie enchantment. Fortunately, it’s a good old-fashioned Disney musical; it’s not as good as the stuff from the early 1990s, but it’s solid and fun.

Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
Dir. Lee Daniels. 2009. R. 109mins. Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey.
Daniels doesn’t shy away from showing the hard truths in this drama about an overweight, illiterate teenager who suffers abuse and rape at the hands of her family until one teacher tries to reach out to her. That sounds like fodder for sentimental uplift, but that’s not what Daniels delivers at all.

Sherlock Holmes
Dir. Guy Ritchie. 2009. PG-13. 128mins. Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams.
Holmes buffs got very tense about the prospect of the man who brought us Snatch and RockNRolla, but this very loose new take on the great detective’s myth is actually pretty entertaining and gets certain parts of the Holmes legend right.

Up in the Air
Dir. Jason Reitman. 2009. R. 109mins. George Clooney, Anna Kendrick, Vera Farmiga, Jason Bateman, Amy Morton.
Clooney’s slightly glib charm is perfect for this movie about a guy who seems content not to make any personal connections in life. Only Clooney could make that kind of character appealing.

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