The Invention of Lying

Gervais finds the screenwriting pot-of-gold with this brilliant high-concept premise and then tosses it in the crapper, with alarmingly unclever story. Toes line of controversy but avoids leaping into it and disappoints with a disappointingly (and literally) Deus Ex Machina conclusion. All-star comedic supporting cast cannot support this film enough.

Ponyo

Miyazaki’s Little Mermaid lacks universality of plot that makes his other films great. Targeting young audience doesn’t justify senselessness of plot and dialogue. Worse still, Miyazaki experiments with new animation to unimpressive result and American redub is his worst yet. And how pray-tell did Aslan’s wizard mate with Galadriel’s ocean?