Movies opening this week

Blades of Glory (Will Ferrell, Jon Heder, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Jenna Fischer, dir. Josh Gordon & Will Speck)
My review in Las Vegas Weekly
I really do like Will Ferrell and think he's usually funny, but I also think it's a dangerous situation for him to put himself in already, just repeating the same performance over and over again. I mean, it obviously works for Adam Sandler, but Ferrell has always struck me as someone with more talent and higher standards, and his dramatic work in Stranger Than Fiction, as well as his more childlike comedic role in Elf, showed that he has genuine range. I hope he continues to show that. Wide release

The Lookout (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Matthew Goode, Jeff Daniels, Isla Fisher, dir. Scott Frank)
My review in Las Vegas Weekly
I think I had heard just enough positive buzz on this movie for my interest to be piqued, without raising expectations unreasonably high. And I don't want to oversell it, either, but it's a very good movie that's both an entertaining genre piece and a really well-thought-out character drama. It's got good acting and stellar writing, and yet it's not pretentious or overly ambitious, so it sort of sneaks up on you with how well-constructed it is. With Blades of Glory sure to hog all the box office attention this week, I hope this movie at least manages to sneak up on a few people. Wide release

Meet the Robinsons (Voices of Daniel Hansen, Jordan Fry, Wesley Singerman, Stephen Anderson, dir. Stephen Anderson)
Although the super hi-tech Disney Digital 3-D glasses sort of hurt my eyes (thanks to nerd-cred vision problems), I thought the 3-D in this movie was quite well-integrated and not at all gimmicky, with very few obvious "OMG that thing is coming out of the screen at me!" moments. Instead, it just gave the film an extra visual depth that wasn't distracting at all. Narratively, this is a rather forgettable but still fun kids' movie, with a zippy retro-futurist visual style and a barrage of occasionally amusing jokes. It's pretty superficial, but as kids' movies go, it gets the job done. Wide release