The King's Speech

After an all-time great summer of terrific movies, "The King's Speech" closes out the movie year that is 2010 in compelling fashion. Colin Firth is incredible as a man with a speech impediment who unexpectedly finds himself on the throne of Britain in the face of World War II. With the help of his speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush in an underrated performance) he must find a way to overcome his stammering in order to rally the country and become a strong leader. This is an entertaining and insightful film that absolutely deserves all the praise it has received. "The King's Speech" is a great film.

Bryce ***1/2
Chase ***1/2
Landon ****
Logan ****

BANGERANG SCORE: ***1/2

Unstoppable

Denzel Washington and Chris Pine star in Tony Scott's latest movie based on a real life incident of a runaway freight train and two men attempting to stop it.  It seems to hit the technical chords just right.  It's shot with some great cinematography and cool special effects.  Needless to say, the film looks very impressive and is very entertaining.  Unfortunately, the same could not be said about our lead characters.  Washington and Pine are extremely talented actors, but the script focuses too much on the train and not enough on these characters that need to be developed for the audience to care about the situation.  The stakes would've been much higher and would've made the viewing experience much more engaging.  As it is though, it's entertaining movie with a cool premise that ultimately could have been more.

Bryce **1/2
Chase ***
Landon **1/2
Logan ***

BANGERANG SCORE: **1/2

Tron Legacy

For anyone who has seen the previews for this long-awaited sequel, know this little nugget of truth going into this film - the trailers are about as good as the actual movie. That's good in a way. The teasers sport incredible visual effects and a pulse-pounding score that ooze creativity and intrigue. Unfortunately, the actual movie does those amazing aesthetics a disservice with flat characters and even flatter dialogue. The fact that the final score of the finished product is as high as it is really speaks to how cool the bells and whistles actually are. "Tron Legacy" is worth catching on TV late at night, but is worth little more.

Bryce **

BANGERANG SCORE: **

The Social Network

Wow. Who would've thought that a movie about something as trivial as Facebook could be so totally engrossing and unforgettable? Yet here we are. Director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin have delivered a compelling entrepreneurial story that digs deep into the mind of Facebook's founder and the controversy surrounding the site's climb to global dominance. It has great performances all around and some of the smartest, snappiest dialogue you'll ever find. The story and characters grab you from the very first scene and completely own your attention until the credits roll. That is a very difficult feat for any film to accomplish but "The Social Network" accomplishes it effortlessly. It unfortunately has a few unnecessarily graphic scenes of partying and promiscuity, but if you can get past that, it's awesome. This is the best film of the year so far and an instant classic.

Bryce ****
Chase ****
Landon ****
Logan ****

BANGERANG SCORE: ****

Tangled

Don't let the visuals fool you, "Tangled" has much more in common with the classic Disney hand-drawn musicals than it does with modern computer animated fare. Like "The Princess and the Frog," before it, Disney continues its animated renaissance with this funny and heart-felt princess tale. The musical elements of the film weren't totally stellar (with the notable exception of "I See the Light"), but were good enough to maintain the atmosphere and keep the story moving. The animation was often incredible while the comedy and drama were nearly spot-on. This a worthy addition to the Disney library.

Bryce ***
Chase ***
Landon ***
Logan ***

BANGERANG SCORE: ***

Secretariat

"Secretariat" offers everything that an old-fashion, feel-good sports movie should and not an inch more. It starts with some well-crafted racing scenes, throws in some solid performances, strikes a few emotional chords, delves into a couple of cliches, ties it all together with a rousing score, and calls it a day. If that's all you're looking for, you'll enjoy it. But if you're expecting something more substantial (a la "Seabiscuit"), you're going to be disappointed.

Bryce **1/2

Chase **1/2

Landon **1/2

Logan **1/2

BANGERANG SCORE: **1/2

Despicable Me

It doesn't make sense. "Despicable Me" is one of the most critically and publicly acclaimed animated movies of the year. How is this possible? Especially in a year where it is placed in direct contrast with the likes of "Toy Story 3" and "How to Train Your Dragon"! There hasn't been an animated movie that's fallen this flat in quite some time. The thing is filled to the brim with cheap sight gags and juvenile bathroom humor. It tries to tie it all together by pulling at your heart strings towards the end but it's too little, too late.  In the end, there's very limited enjoyment. If any of the aforementioned qualities sound appealing to you, by all means see it.  But your money is better spent elsewhere.

Bryce *1/2
Chase **
Landon **
Logan *1/2

BANGERANG SCORE: *1/2