Bill Goodykoontz

Affleck is the center of the film. His Doug is, in some respects, rather like Affleck - the director of the elaborate heists, as well as a performer in them.

It relies on a singularly brilliant performance by Colin Firth to make it one of the year's more satisfying films.

It is a question that has vexed lovers of fine cinema for years: What if you made a teen sex comedy with grown-ups? And now, thanks to Hot Tub Time Machine, we have our answer: It would be pretty cool.

A by-the-numbers romantic comedy as predictable as it is cloying.

A genuine triumph, a great movie with astounding performances so natural, so genuine, that you forget it's a movie.

The Losers does a perfectly serviceable job of achieving its low ambitions.

Both the film and television project were directed by Martin Campbell. He creates a nice level of tension throughout, and there are a couple of legitimate shocks (including one jaw-dropper).

Scott's epic - and it's hard to think of anything this big, this elaborate and, no doubt, this expensive as anything but - is very much an origination story, a prequel, if you will.

An intriguing look at the effects on one man's life; whether they're worth the cost is something Steinbauer leaves up to us.

Barber uses various stylistic devices - hand-held cameras, cellphone cameras, etc. - that make a somewhat slow story seem to move at a brisker pace.

It's a competently made movie - in Jackson's hands it could hardly be anything but - yet rarely a moving one.

If you are a stickler for movies that follow the laws of, say, physics, nature and common sense, The A-Team might not be for you. If, on the other hand, you get a kick out of exchanges like this - "Are they trying to shoot down that other drone?" "No. They're trying to fly that tank" - then you're in for a treat.

Most of all, though, it's a welcome, offbeat look at a couple of originals, something that's in woefully short supply.

The Last Exorcism is a good movie that could have been - SHOULD have been - a great one.

A documentary so enthusiastic, good-natured and sweet about such an abject disaster that it almost makes "Troll 2" worthwhile. Almost.

There are no surprises here, just a by-the-numbers comedy that's better, and funnier, than it has a right to be, thanks to the efforts of the actors in it.

A funny, heartfelt look at families, relationships and the lies that prop them up as much as tear them down.

It is affecting, surprising, heartbreaking.

It's a tired genre, one that would be greatly improved if, ironically, far younger actors showed the energy and command these two old hands do.

It does give Cera a chance to play at being a bad boy. But it's just that - playing at it.

It's not a great movie so much as it is great moviemaking. It's basically a potboiler genre film, a B-movie with big talent attached.

A mean-spirited little movie, investing its limited charms in all the wrong characters.

It's Douglas' movie - and you've got a fine movie.

For the most part the jokes here are tired. William H. Macy is a welcome presence in the small role of Phil's offbeat-but- intense boss.

Jonah Hex somehow manages to waste the talents of Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett, Aidan Quinn and Jeffrey Dean Morgan in a story that combines vengeance, the occult and an Old West war on terror (really).

Percy Jackson isn't a great movie, but it's a good one, trotting out kernels of Greek mythology like so many Disney Channel references. For the most part, it works.

Please Give is an almost perfectly rendered slice of life, buoyant with wonderful performances.

A fanboy's dream come true, a smart take on a smart comic that actually looks the part, with performances that make it worth watching for the rest of us, too.

There is a predictability to the story, but that's OK. The acting is superb, Holbrook in particular, making That Evening Sun an understated pleasure.

Focus. Tooth Fairy isn't as bad as you may have feared. It's not all that good, either, but at least it's possible to sit through it and hold down your popcorn.

Its over-the-top violence is cartoonish at times, menacing at others - which is a good thing. And truly, if one must wander a barren, post-apocalyptic landscape with somebody, who better to wander with than Denzel Washington?

The story is the problem here, devolving into a ridiculous situation that produces far more groans than chills or thrills.

You see this cast, you expect to see a lot of violent action. And in that regard, The Expendables delivers, and then some. In this case, then, the old saying applies: Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.

The American is a very . . . patient movie, the inverse of an action thriller to an almost comic degree. With Clooney it's an interesting project. Without him, it would simply be boring.

Red isn't a great movie, but it's great fun, and if that sounds like damning with faint praise, you take things too seriously.

Trouble is, it all adds up to . . . not much.

Polanski builds suspense slowly, exquisitely. It's not a matter of shocking the audience, although there are surprises, but of creating an ever-growing sense of dread.

Although there are moments of humor in the film, many of them supplied by the delightful Jones, there are also long stretches of, um . . . "blah" might be the best word for it.

The visuals are stunning, perhaps the most fully realized of any film.

It's not as if every funny movie has to offer something in the way of social commentary or greater insight. Sometimes funny is just funny. Sometimes, as is too often the case here, it's not.

The animation is first-rate, and the settings and background are appropriately exotic. The fights are a lot more exciting than you would think. And if the story is somewhat predictable (and the final blow somewhat difficult to fathom), one could find lesser heroes to root for than Po, although none more unlikely.

A harmless little mess of a movie whose cast you've mostly heard of, including Tim Allen, who also directed.

Bigger, louder and dumber than its predecessor, Iron Man 2 is still a lot of fun.

There Will Be Blood is a masterpiece; Daniel Day-Lewis' performance as a ruthless oilman is without flaw.

Nothing seems real here, with everything too broadly drawn.

A quiet character study filled with damaged, insular people who live life in small increments, only occasionally exploding in emotion.

The movie plays like a missed opportunity, with its by-the-numbers scares and a story that feels disjointed, hurried in some places, slow in others.

It's also perfectly content to be an insanely violent, funny take on an established genre. And in that respect, Kick-Ass lives up to its name.

There's far too much going on in Valentine's Day, and far too little of it is worth the trouble.

Brutal, sadistic yet well-made statement about how violence is portrayed in media and our reaction to it.

It's powerful stuff.

An unruly mix of science, morality, family dysfunction, horror and finger-down-the-throat gross-out ridiculousness.

How you feel about Knight and Day will depend largely on your feelings about Cruise. If you can't divorce his performance from his off-screen antics, well, that's a problem, here and elsewhere. If you're willing to watch what's on-screen and leave it at that, there's fun to be had.

A clever, funny movie that will entertain kids and adults.

Inkheart is entertaining enough, if not always easy to follow. And if it does nothing else, at least it may inspire kids to read, if for no other reason than to help make sense of it all.

A documentary that delves into what happens when the ghost stories you told as kids, the stuff of urban legends, seem to come true.

It's outstanding work (Carell). It's also a really funny movie.

Engagement with the enemy isn't a possibility here. It's a certainty. The unit will face fire daily, sometimes as often as four or five times. The stress is incredible, the courage displayed even more so.

A by-the-numbers, good-vs.-evil tale.

There's plenty of gross-out humor and lots of sex jokes, some of them absurd, some really funny. But what elevates She's Out of My League - it doesn't turn a 5 into a 10, but it helps - is heart, of which its characters have a surprising plenty.

A mix of solid action and an underused cast, with star Hugh Jackman left shouldering the burden of bad lines and forced emotion, it leaves you longing for more editing and a tighter story.

As an encore for Brand's Aldous, it's a welcome return. And for Hill, it's a chance to really shine.

This is unhinged genius, an amazing piece of acting. Brutal, yes, but magnetic all the same.

Baruchel is outstanding, giving Hiccup just the right amount of confidence buried several layers beneath the shame he feels in not continuing the family business. Butler's a head-banger from way back, so he's convincing. And Ferrera gets the grrl-power vibe just right.

A technically fascinating film that's best when it's angry, less good when romance rears its head.

Secretariat was such a commanding presence, the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years, a Time magazine coverboy, the focus of the public's imagination during his pursuit, that any excuse to relive that excitement is worthwhile, and Secretariat gives us one.

Gilchrist, Emma Roberts and, especially, Zach Galifianakis, give affecting performances, but they are ultimately let down by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's screenplay.

It's an uneven proposition, veering wildly from genuinely funny scenes directly into ridiculousness and back again. But every time Shawn Levy's movie makes that journey, it's harder to get back on solid footing.

An enjoyable movie, in many ways a beautiful movie to look at. One only wishes he'd been a little more ambitious.

In theory, we go to movies for enjoyment. Director Rodrigo Cortés inverts that notion with Buried, a terrific, claustrophobic, fist-clenching film in which he tortures his audience in exquisite fashion.

The audience should be given game controllers upon entering the theater. It wouldn't mean the film would make any more sense, but at least you'd feel like you had some say in the matter.

There's no hard-and-fast rule that says you have to like the main character in a movie. It's more a custom, really - a custom that Ben Stiller stretches nearly to the breaking point in Greenberg.

Quantum is hugely entertaining.

Dumb, lazy, obvious and largely pointless.

Director McG proves perfectly adept at blowing things up in interesting ways, but there's not so much acting here as there is yelling at different volumes.

Terribly Happy must surely be the greatest Danish Western ever made.

His (Borte) film would have been much better had it stuck to its guns as social commentary and not lapsed into a predictable, and predictably lame, love story.

The naturalistic style Michod employs adds to the sense of dread.

Watching the film, emotions range from sadness, of course, to frustration to outright anger.

To pretend that the film doesn't make a political statement is silly. Of course it does. It wouldn't be effective at all if it didn't.

A compulsively watchable look at Rivers.

Never miss a chance to see Helen Mirren. You certainly could do worse as far as movie advice goes. Mirren may not be the only reason to see The Last Station, about the final year of Leo Tolstoy's long, eventful life, but she's the best reason.

Neeson's performance is so eerie, in a buttoned-down sort of way.

Toy Story 3 is very much a worthy entry in the series, a movie well worth making (and seeing). It continues the legacy. It just doesn't expand upon it.

Sex and the City 2 isn't a feature film as much as it is consumer porn. The audience is not asked to relate to the characters, or at least what we remember of them, as much as to their shoes, their bags, their apartments, their couture, their stuff.

While the special effects are impressive enough, M. Night Shyamalan's film doesn't make a lick of sense.

Call it what you want, but the best word to describe it is: unnecessary.

Charm, alas, is the one thing lost in all the banging and clanging of the remake.

Suffice it to say that it's something that would make Austin Powers blush, baby, but it's not supposed to be funny.

Although Jonah Hill has been sweetly, profanely funny in such films as "Superbad" and "Get Him to the Greek," in Cyrus he's a revelation.

It's a measure of how good a film Nowhere Boy is that it would be compelling even if it were the story of the formative years of a boy named Joe Brown.

What's breathtaking here is the scope of greed, corruption, arrogance and above all cynicism on display, not just regarding the system of government but the people it ostensibly serves.