More He Said/She Saids - Tangled, Eat Pray Love, A Serious Man

My colleague Hannah Poturalski was quite industrious over the weekend, turning in no less than three reviews of movies I'd already posted. 


First, she saw Tangled and pretty much agrees with me that it's very good but falls short of great. She writes: 

Rapunzel is the original 1812 fairy tale from Germany. I remember reading the book as a child and I really enjoyed the Disney version. Of course, Disney just isn’t the same as it used to be, nothing can top The Little Mermaid, Cinderella andThe Lion King. I really liked the imagery; animation now compared to the 1980s and 90s is definitely much crisper now. It might be that I’m 22 now, but the songs in this film weren’t as classic and memorable as ones like “A Whole New World” and “Just Around the River Bend.” 

Read her full take here. 


Mine is here.


She also watched Eat Pray Love and was kinder to it than I was. She says: 

A point Robinette and I disagree on is the quality of Roberts’ performance. I think Roberts was perfect to play the part of Gilbert, and played it in a very compelling way. One moment of the film that really sticks out to me was when Gilbert hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for her friends in Rome and said she was thankful for being able to see happiness around her, but didn’t say she was happy herself. Like she almost didn’t deserve to be happy, which she overcomes by the film’s end.

Her full review is here.


Mine there.




Hannah also wrote about The Kids are All Right. I only wrote a capsule review of that film, saying: 


Outstanding performances from all five principals (Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson) combine with a canny, observant script to make this the indie film of the year. Attention, Academy: This is an EXCELLENT occasion to get Julianne Moore her Oscar. GRADE: A


Hannah quite liked it, too, as she details here.

Finally, she saw the Coen brothers' A Serious Man, and perhaps fittingly, that's our first serious disagreement. Though she appreciated my take on the film, she saw it quite differently:

Yes, yes I know it’s from Ethan and Joel Coen and therefore it must be amazing, right? No. The film had some great moments but overall it was plain useless because there was very little character interaction or development.

Well .... suffice it to say, it's too bad she didn't see the movie I saw - one of the best films of last year. 


I'll be back later with more reviews of my own, including short takes on The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and 127 Hours.