Taking Flight

Movie Review: Red Eye and Valiant

The worst part about migraines in the inability to withstand the daylight. What makes things worse is that my apartment has many windows without curtains (yes, I must remedy this). So instead of suffering at home, I decided I would kill 2 birds with one stone and see some movies. At least it is dark in the theatres, right?

First up, Wes Craven's newest thriller. Now the past few movies from Mr. Craven have not even interested me enough to spend the cash and actually leave my house. This one was different. I really enjoyed it. It was the right balance of terror and was in no way over the top. Nothing seemed predictable, and having such strong characters was refreshing.

Look - it isn't going to win any Oscars, and it certainly isn't a scare-fest like Mr. Craven's previous fare, but it is worth the time and money to get to the theatre to enjoy a good movie. Plus, it was quite nice to see that there is life after reality TV and it took the form of Colby Donaldson playing a secret service agent and doing it wuite well, I might add.

Afterwards, I walked down the hall to see the pigeon-flick called Valiant. Honestly, this was more a mission to determine if this was Maggie-friendly or not, plus it was the only movie that was starting after Red Eye (without having to wait 90 minutes).

Ewan McGregor is cute as a little pigeon who wants to be a war hero. This movie was okay for a G-rated animated flick, but better off as a rental for the kids. It had a couple of funny moments, but nothing like the Pixar films of the past...this is why I can't wait for Cars next year. I basically spent the entire movie trying to place voices instead of really following the plot, but it is all about carrier pigeons during World War II. It was cute, but it also made me happy that kids movies are usually barely 90 minutes long.

This will be a busy week for flicks, so look for more reviews to come.