The TV Addict 

I AM LEGEND: Will Smith proves his natural screen presence isn’t a fluke by doing here what few actors can do: carry a large part of a film all by himself (and a canine companion). It doesn’t hurt that he’s aided by a stunning representation of Manhattan as a post-apocalyptic wasteland, overrun by fauna, wild life, and abandoned vehicles. The film starts out a haunting, carefully paced study of how the last man on earth – survivor of a deadly virus – finds the means to go on with day to day life, but unfortunately something goes wrong. Around the halfway mark a significant event occurs that catalyzes an exponential plummet in quality and squanders the potential of the film. In short, it becomes a bad Will Smith action movie, crippled by poor special effects (think Gollum on a lesser budget), overblown spectacle, weak story and characters, and an ending that’s just the cherry on top of a series of culminating disappointments.

BREAKFAST WITH SCOT: A sort of Canadian gay version of the recently DVD released MARTIAN CHILD (with John Cusack), though the film is charming, it sometimes ventures into moderately offensive territory in its representation of Scot, and at other times sub-plots get a little muddled and unfocused in the middle segment of the film. It mostly pulls through in the end though, largely because of the always great Tom Cavanagh and because it never loses the thread of its theme: what matters most is being true to who you really are, and never being ashamed of it.

ENCHANTED: Disney goes the metatextual route in this infectiously delightful all-ages Disney fairy tale that ever so gently pokes fun at the narrative conventions of many of its classic cinematic staples, while simultaneously justifying the need for them. At times the film gets a little too in-your-face meta and too obviously subversive of genre conventions (mostly the climactic ending), and occasionally becomes the very film it is parodying, but in a way that’s the film’s point: in our cynical times romantic fairy tales still have their place, if for no other reason then to act as a safety blanket, reminding us that happy endings are a possibility, no matter how remote. But the story is only a minor part of the film’s charm. The bulk of it comes from the amazing Amy Adams, who gives a horribly overlooked Oscar worthy performance here. It’s insanely difficult to play a character like this without a trace of irony, but she pulls it off, infusing Giselle with great humor and a beautiful innocence and joy for life that charms not only the characters around her, but the audience as well. If you didn’t know and love Amy Adams already, you will now. Also if this ballroom sequence doesn’t make you swoon even just a little bit, then you might just be missing a romance gland.