The Last Airbender (2010, Movie)

Confusing! Drab! Sluggish! Where's the twist?

Since "Airbender" involves the human manipulation of the forces of air, earth, water and fire, there is hardly an event that can be rendered plausibly in live action. The story takes place in the future, after Man has devastated the planet and survives in the form of beings with magical powers allowing them to influence earth, water and fire. All three actors are pretty bad. They are bland, stiff, awkward and unconvincing.

Restrepo (2010, Documentary)

This is hard, hard duty. A 15-month tour. Our admiration for these men grows. Their jobs seem beyond conceiving. I cannot imagine a civilian thinking he could perform them.


Despite its remarkably intimate footage of war and loss, Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington's documentary suffers from the same problem as the ongoing U.S. drama in Afghanistan: a lack of narrative coherence. However, just how close the filmmakers were to the action, and the risks they took with the project, filter into virtually every scene. 

Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010, Documentary)

An exhilarating hall-of-mirrors look at what happens when global art fame turns anonymous, artists become objects, fans turn into artists, and the whole what's-sincere-and-what's-a-sham spectacle is more fun than art was ever supposed to be.


For the more you think about this unusual film, the more fascinating it becomes culturally and sociologically, dealing with notions of mania and obsession, art and commerce, hype and quality.

Iron Man 2 (2010, Movie)

Iron Man 2 is a lot of fun: it's shiny, likable and never boring. But it's also wildly uneven and unnecessarily convoluted, leaving me unsatisfied and hungry for something more substantial.


It seems chiefly intended as a placeholder for its next dozen or so sequels.

Asian American Expo 2011, Fair Plex in Pomona