Brave: Another winner from Pixar. (They pretty much all are, I know. I even liked "Cars" when I finally saw it -- on TV, not in a theater. "Cars 2" I haven't seen, and haven't heard many good things about, so...) A first for Pixar: a female protagonist, Merida, teenage daughter of a Scottish king who wants to find her own destiny instead of settling for being betrothed to a son of another Scottish clan leaders, causing a great bit of consternation between Merida and her mother. Merida encounters a witch who offers her a spell that will help in the matter. When I read that, I expected one plot twist and, instead, got another one entirely, and one that, in hindsight, was more predictable. But that's my fault. My grade: A-minus.
Total Recall: Colin Farrell is lust-worthy, as always. The rest is pretty mindless, and almost completely different from the original, which I totally recall (heh) as being fun, though I haven't seen it in ages. This could have used a lot more of that fun. My grade: C-minus.
The Campaign: Will Ferrell is a congressman, and not a very good one, who expects to once again run unopposed in his North Carolina district, until he suddenly gets an opponent (Zach Galifianakas). The biggest thing the movie has going for it is it made me laugh a lot. It has some things to say about our current political state of affairs, but the events are so broad as to be totally unrealistic. Then again, considering some of what's going on in this country right now, it seems like a documentary by comparison. My grade: B.
