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Kenneth Turan Kenneth Turan is the film critic for the Los Angeles Times and NPR's Morning Edition, as well as the director of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes.
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Kenneth Turan

In 'Tangled,' A Fairy-Tale Princess Unleashed

Rapunzel, voiced by Mandy Moore, and Flynn, a wanted man voiced by Zachary Levi, encounter many an adventure as they journey through the kingdom. Rapunzel wants to reach a festival, but doesn't realize she might also find true love. Disney Enterprises Inc. hide caption

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Disney Enterprises Inc.

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In 'Tangled,' A Fairy-Tale Princess Unleashed

Disney's 50th animated film, Tangled, follows a feisty Princess Rapunzel as she escapes from Mother Gothel's tower and travels with a vain thief named Flynn to reach the palace festival -- accompanied by a wise chameleon, a disgruntled horse and her 70 feet of magical hair.

In 'Tangled,' A Fairy-Tale Princess Unleashed

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Harry Potter's 'Deathly Hallows' Unsurprising

It's the beginning of the end for Harry Potter. The seventh movie in the series opens at Midnight Friday. Critic Kenneth Turan says Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, is solid but unsurprising.

Harry Potter's 'Deathly Hallows' Unsurprising

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'Morning Glory': Same Old Story, No New Twists

A hard-charging TV producer (Rachel McAdams) hires a journalism legend (Harrison Ford) to help revive a failing morning show. Macall Polay/Paramount Pictures hide caption

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Macall Polay/Paramount Pictures

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'Morning Glory': Same Old Story, No New Twists

A never-say-die producer (Rachel McAdams) wrangles feuding co-anchors (Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford) as she fights to save a fourth-place morning TV show from cancellation. Critic Kenneth Turan says the premise isn't bad -- but the end product is a different matter.

'Morning Glory': Same Old Story, No New Twists

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In The Rush To War, Even A Spy Is 'Fair Game'

Grueling Trial: Naomi Watts forcefully portrays Valerie Plame, a woman whose career was ruined and private life thrown into turmoil when her identity as a CIA agent was revealed to the public. Ken Regan/Summit Entertainment hide caption

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Ken Regan/Summit Entertainment

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In The Rush To War, Even A Spy Is 'Fair Game'

In a new movie, director Doug Liman dramatizes the private turmoil the furor caused in the lives of Valerie Plame and her husband.

In The Rush To War, Even A Spy Is 'Fair Game'

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'Red': Armed, Dangerous, Downright Smug About It

Cool And Collected: Helen Mirren and John Malkovich star as retired CIA agents who join up with their old team when they become targets of the agency. Frank Masi/Summit Entertainment hide caption

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Frank Masi/Summit Entertainment

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'Red': Armed, Dangerous, Downright Smug About It

Heavy on the violence and not funny enough to make up for it, Red is an action comedy that tries a little too hard. Though it has a stellar cast (Helen Mirren is a joy to watch), the film ends up feeling a little too full of itself.

'Red': Armed, Dangerous, Downright Smug About It

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'Secretariat': A Horse, So Of Course It's A Winner

Bold And Beautiful: In Secretariat, the champion racehorse and his jockey, played by Otto Thorwarth, battle it out in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont to become the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years. John Bramley/Disney Enterprises hide caption

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'Secretariat': A Horse, So Of Course It's A Winner

The story of the 1973 Triple Crown winner -- and of his determined owner, Penny Chenery, who rose to success despite the obstacles of the male-dominated racing industry -- stars Diane Lane in a restrained performance that keeps the script's sentimentalism in check.

'Secretariat': A Horse, So Of Course It's A Winner

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How True Is 'Social Network?' Does It Matter?

The new movie The Social Network is about the founding of Facebook. How close is it to the truth? Who can say? It is a film, after all, not a legal document. Reviewer Kenneth Turan says what really matters is that Social Network be convincing in movie terms -- and it very much is that.

How True Is 'Social Network?' Does It Matter?

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'Wall Street' Sequel Needs More Evil

Greed may be good, as Gordon Gekko insisted once upon a time, but evil pays the bills. Sadly, there isn't enough evil to make the sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps a good enough movie.

'Wall Street' Sequel Needs More Evil

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'Never Let Me Go': A Tale Of A Challenging Friendship

Uncomfortably Three: Friends bound by a set future must also resolve a love triangle. Alex Bailey/Fox Searchlight Pictures hide caption

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Alex Bailey/Fox Searchlight Pictures

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'Never Let Me Go': A Tale Of A Challenging Friendship

Packed with young acting talent, 'Never Let Me Go' is believable and moving. Three friends leave boarding school to face a disturbing fate and navigate a complicated relationship. The mood created by novelist Kazuo Ishiguro is well captured in beautiful but melancholy scenes. (Recommended)

'Never Let Me Go': A Tale Of A Challenging Friendship

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Joaquin Phoenix, 'Still Here' (But Not All There?)

Caught In The Act? Joaquin Phoenix may have been crazy as a bedbug during the filming of I'm Still Here, said to be a documentary of a dark year in his life. On the other hand, the two-time Oscar nominee may have been crazy like a fox. Magnolia Pictures hide caption

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Magnolia Pictures

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Joaquin Phoenix, 'Still Here' (But Not All There?)

Despite the dominance of reality shows on television, it's become harder and harder to tell what's actually real and what's been augmented, massaged or just plain made up. Casey Affleck's new film, said to be a documentary about an actor in full flame-out, is only going to add fuel to that fire.

Joaquin Phoenix, 'Still Here' (But Not All There?)

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'The American': A Domestic Bond, Drawn In Miniature

Love Story: Jack (George Clooney) is an American assassin whose job typically requires him to be a loner on the go. He falls for Clara (Violante Placido) while on an Italian retreat. Giles Keyte/Focus Features hide caption

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Giles Keyte/Focus Features

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'The American': A Domestic Bond, Drawn In Miniature

George Clooney's latest outing showcases a more internal performance -- as an assassin whose personal life threatens to further complicate an already hard-to-manage career. Kenneth Turan says Anton Corbijn's drama is impeccably composed and beautifully shot -- if a little lacking on the emotional urgency front.

'The American': A Domestic Bond, Drawn In Miniature

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'Film Unfinished' Reveals Nazi Horrors, Manipulation

A Film Unfinished is a provocative and disturbing film about an hour of incomplete Nazi footage shot in the infamous Warsaw ghetto in 1942. That footage was discovered without sound or credits in a concrete vault hidden in a forest. It was clearly the rough first draft of a Nazi propaganda film, but as the years went on clips from that footage were considered trustworthy enough to find their way into various Holocaust documentaries. In 1998, another reel was discovered that reveals how manipulated and stage key parts of the original film were.

'Film Unfinished' Reveals Nazi Horrors, Manipulation

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'The Expendables:' Over-The-Hill Bad Boys?

It's just not summer without a bunch of big action movies -- and having a big Sylvester Stallone action flick is a bonus. That's what arrives in theaters this weekend. The Expendables star a mini-pantheon of aging action heroes led by Stallone.

'The Expendables:' Over-The-Hill Bad Boys?

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'Wildest Dream' Retraces Mallory's Everest Climb

British mountaineer George Mallory wanted to be the first man to conquer Mount Everest, but his 1924 expedition instead ended in his tragic death. Mallory's body was found 75 years later. The movie The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest,retraces Mallory's expedition.

'Wildest Dream' Retraces Mallory's Everest Climb

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A 'Dinner' Invitation You Can Safely Decline

Spot The Schmuck: Paul Rudd (right) stars as Tim, an ambitious executive tasked with finding a weirdo to bring to his boss's dinner -- for the high-flying hedge-fund types to mock. Steve Carell plays the oddball in question, a bizarre IRS agent who moonlights as a taxidermist. Merie Weismiller Wallace/Paramount hide caption

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Merie Weismiller Wallace/Paramount

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A 'Dinner' Invitation You Can Safely Decline

On paper, Dinner for Schmucks seems to have it all: a star-studded cast that includes reliable funnymen like Steve Carell and Paul Rudd, a veteran comedy director (Jay Roach) at the helm, and a premise lifted from a great French farce. But in reality, Schmucks is much less than the sum of its parts.

A 'Dinner' Invitation You Can Safely Decline

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