'Sorcerer' for fun, 'Inception' for huh?

Disney might have a new franchise on its hands with Nicolas Cage out front in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice."  (Walt Disney Pictures)

Before you line up at the movie box office this weekend, just know that you need to make some choices between the mass appeal fun of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and the technically superb cinematic over-indulgence of "Inception."

Leonardo DiCaprio and Marion Cotillard as husband and wife in "Inception."  (Warner Bros. Pictures)

But that's not all.  With "The Kids Are All Right" you'll also need to consider an extremely unconventional family dynamic with two moms, two children from different mothers and the long-absent sperm donor of both kids who suddenly shows up at the front door.

For mainstream fun, I recommend "The Sorcerer's Apprentice."  It overflows with light-hearted action, highly effective special effects and a plot the folks at Disney conjured up from Walt Disney's "Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment of "Fantasia," circa 1937.

Nicolas Cage plays the thousand-year-old apprentice of Merlin himself and appears to be having a blast in a fast-paced yarn set mostly in modern-day Manhattan.

Click here to read my entire "Sorcerer's Apprentice" review.

Christopher Nolan, director of "The Dark Knight" and the memory-scrambler "Memento," dives into the technically wondrous concept of a dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream with "Inception," which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page of "Juno," Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

You'll have to concentrate pretty hard to stay with the dream-state logic of this one.  Frankly, I got a little bored with it all.

Click here to read my entire "Inception" review. 

Also, Annette Bening and Julianne Moore put on an acting clinic in "The Kids Are All Right," a very untypical romantic-comedy about family.  Mark Ruffalo excels as well, but his screen time is somewhat limited.

Click here A for my entire review of "The Kids Are All Right."

Enjoy the movies.  And, as always, I'd love to hear what you think about what you see.  Feel free to comment at the bottom of the reviews.