Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole

Image by CityTalk via FlickrLegend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole is a coming of age story of young owlet 'Soren' where lore becomes reality. In this tale he's not only set to save his siblings from a tyrants grasp but also the fate of the free world by seeking out the legendary Guardian Owls.

This is an enchanting tale sure to entertain regardless of age. It's Lion King meets Lord of the rings with amazing charm and gorgeous CGI execution.

The social network movie

The social network is the unauthorised portrayal of the social networking phenomenon that's become as common place as sliced bread.

The tone is somber with staunch, sometimes mistaken as naivete, and unforgiving delivery from Jesse Eisenberg as progenitor and co-founder of facebook. It's hard to say how much of the movie is factual, as the creator had no contact whatsoever with Zuckerberg. And whether Zuckerberg's silence indicates the story is closer to reality or if he's beyond litigiousness, or just the rigors of it, is anybody's guess. The plot is based on the book "Accidental Billionaires," which is criticized by many as being overly dramatized, sexualised and imbellished.

The cold calculative business and legal processes, not to mention the science behind it all, has been somewhat muted given the limited time frame of the medium, but nonetheless detracts little from this riveting telling of this present day lore. The story is of genius, classes, drive, connections, alliances and misgivings. This should definitely be on everyone's movie list this fall - purely as entertainment.

Buried

A movie that I wanted to avoid since I'd always seemed to have a tiny bit of claustrophobia when it came to the issue of being buried alive. This one however did not evoke any such reaction.

The realization that the protagonist was Ryan Reynolds might have had something to do with it. Seriousness just seems to vaporize when 'Van Wilder' comes on the screen. His portrayal wasn't lacking; it just wasn't enough to catalyze an atmosphere of dread nor the helplessness and inevitability of the situation. "Or maybe that's just me being cold because I'm dead inside."

The plot was very straight forward, but did offer some inventiveness regardless of how limited an environment the story was set in. Believability was somewhat tenuous, though, as it seemed improbable how much oxygen could be contained in such a space. And in one scene, the birds-eye type camera pan completely invalidates any sense of being closed in.

This wasn't my cup of tea, but might appeal to some by the gasps and other tracheal voicing from the rest of the audience.