"How to Train Your Dragon" is Pure Magic

James Cameron can suck it, "How to Train Your Dragon" is the best use of 3D we've ever seen.

eautiful, well-imagined and unexpectedly touching, Dreamworks Animation has a new crown jewel to trump their previous best effort, "Shrek."

The film is set on the island of Berk, where daily combat with dragons is the way of life, until a young boy meets and befriends the enemy, hoping to turn his community from dragon-slayers into dragon lovers. Featuring some of the funniest rising comedic talent Hollywood has on tap, Jay Baruchel leads the charge as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, a Viking without the blood lust or battle prowess that made his father, Stoick the Vast, the chieftain of their tribe. Stoick, voiced by Gerard Butler in a disarmingly compelling turn that's an amalgam of King Leonidas and Asterix from the French comics, sends his son to dragon training in an effort to turn the thoughtful young boy into a man, not realizing the friendship his child is developing with the most fearsome of all dragons, a Night Fury, who Hiccup dubs "Toothless."

Utterly engrossing, heart-warming and filled with wonder, the non-verbal communication between Hiccup and Toothless will have every child (and many adults) whining "I want a Night Fury too!" while the flying scenes send you soaring and wheeling, taking the audience on a ride felt in the pit of your stomach. Proving the power of both 3D and animation, the world directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois have created in completely immersive thanks to outstanding execution. Fantastic voice talent, great storytelling and stunning visuals would be enough to make "How to Train Your Dragon" a must see, but it goes beyond the expected, becoming a euphoric and transportive viewing experience that can best be described in one word: Magical.

"How to Train Your Dragon" opens March 26.

"She's Out of My League" is an RBI for Jay Baruchel

Batter up! Another loveable schlub is looking for love with a hot blonde dream girl.

"She's Out of My League" isn't up to any new tricks. Long before anyone got "Knocked Up," Patrick Dempsey built an entire career based on films where he went after a girl seemingly far beyond his reach, but they fell in love anyway. Remember "Can't Buy Me Love"? Anthony Michael Hall's Geek bagged the hottest girl in school in "Sixteen Candles," and Nicholas Cage totally scored his "Valley Girl."

Now, Jay Baruchel has his moment in the sun as Kirk, a lovable loser working as a TSA officer, the millennium's equivalent of the postal worker, at the Pittsburgh airport when he meets and falls for a "hard 10," Molly (Alice Eve). Anyone with a Netflix account knows what happens next, but the pleasant surprise of "She's Out of My League" is that despite well traveled terrain, it's still a super fun ride.

From ewww to awww, "She's Out of My League" swings for the fences and succeeds. Sharply written and hilariously acted by the entire ensemble, the film deftly moves from the uproariously raunchy to sweetly sentimental without losing the audience. Thanks to standout performances by T.J. Miller, a blend of Napoleon Dynamite and Ryan Reynolds circa "Van Wilder," as Kirk's best bud Stainer, Nate Torrence as Devon, the married romantic who sees life through the prism of a Disney musical, and Krysten Ritter as Patty, Molly's belligerent best friend, as well as Baruchel's affable charm, the film is winningly sweet with moments of genuine hilarity.

Despite certain musical interludes that blast out at the audience feeling like someone left the TV on full blast during a car commercial and Eve's slightly flat performance as the vision of perfection, director Jim Field Smith and screenwriting team Sean Anders and John Morris have crafted a confection of disarmingly enjoyable vulgar fun with a soft side.
If Judd Apatow has taught us anything, it's that nice guys get all the booty. "She's Out of My League" makes you understand why.