James Berardinelli

There are moments of pure poetry in the movie but the production as a whole seems overlong and repetitive and takes a detour or two that distract from the aching beauty of the central story.

Disconnect is by turns frustrating and fascinating.

Unfortunately, the generic bio-pic structure of 42 prevents it from ever becoming something great.

The movie is never boring or uninteresting, but I viewed it from a detached perspective, unable to become involved because I didn't really care about any of the three main characters.

This isn't just a horror movie with gore - it's a gore movie, period. Blood is its raison d'etre. It's not scary. It's not shocking. It just wallows in viscera. Ho-hum. Pass the ketchup.

To work, The Host would have required a visionary interpretation rather than the mundane telling that Niccol opts for.

The characters are interesting and capture our sympathy and, although there are things to criticize about the final forty-five minutes, it brings the saga to a conclusion. There's a lot to like about The Place Beyond the Pines even if it isn't the feel-good movie of the spring.

Everything in G.I. Joe: Retaliation is perfunctory - technically proficient but soulless. It's not exciting. It's boring.

Although the film's real-world credibility is shaky, it works on its own terms.

My evaluation is to wait-list Admission and catch it when it reaches the less demanding platform of home video.

The equation of "drugs+booze+sex=happy ending" applies. Then along comes Harmony Korine with Spring Breakers and subverts an entire genre.

Labeling The Call as "relentlessly dumb" would be an overestimation of its intelligence. This is as brain-dead as a movie can be and it assumes the audience will have the I.Q. of a rutabaga.

The material isn't sufficiently funny to allow me to forgive the film's feeble storyline and two-dimensional inhabitants.

Stoker is deliciously demented, and that's a good thing. This twisted coming-of-age tale takes us into "Carrie" territory without the supernatural element.

It's familiar enough to be comfortable but not so familiar that it feels worn and repetitive.

The tone and pacing of Dead Man Down have a distinctly European flavor, which may explain why American viewers, used to having background and exposition pared down and cleanly delivered, may feel adrift at the outset.

Jack the Giant Slayer is an enjoyable fantasy/adventure whose magic is partially undermined by marginal 3-D.

Much of what's contained in Phantom is at best speculative and at worst completely made-up. But, regardless of the accuracy, it makes for compelling viewing. Phantom is one of the best films of a lousy early 2013 release roster.

Someone please get director Ric Roman Waugh a tripod! Snitch might be a passable action-thriller but it's hard to say because every time an action scene comes along, the image shakes so badly it's impossible to keep anything in view or focus.

We have entered generic action movie territory and the idiosyncrasies that made the series special at the outset have been leeched out, papered over, or turned into obligatory inserts.

The weaknesses of Beautiful Creatures ultimately outweigh the strengths but the conviction of the central relationship is good enough to keep things from becoming laughably bad, even if it all comes apart toward the end.

Reading a Sparks novel allows one's imagination to enter the equation. Watching one of his stories adapted on screen has exactly the opposite effect: it neuters the imagination. This is soap opera, pure and simple.

This feels a lot like some of the recent, unwatchable Adam Sandler offerings: boorish, unfunny comedy colliding with saccharine, quasi-dramatic filler.

There's something delightfully old-fashioned about Steven Soderbergh's Side Effects. It's the kind of thriller that Alfred Hitchcock might make if he was still alive and active today.

Bullet to the Head is bloody and violent but not nearly as much fun as it should be.

It wants to be funny, charming, scary, and dramatic. It ends up being a little of each but not successful as any one.

The action scenes are crisply directed, brutal, and invigorating.

Coscarelli's screenplay introduces an abundance of intriguing concepts but never goes very far with any of them. The characters are paper thin and the special effects are laughably bad.

Narrative weakness and bad horror tropes get in the way and Mama's ending disappoints.

Whether the core flaw lies in the script or is the result of overly aggressive editing, the final result is offers only sporadic glimpses of the compelling thriller Broken City fails to evolve into.

The film, directed by South Korean Jee-woon Kim, hits all the necessary action beats and effectively blends in the humor.

There's little in the basic narrative to grasp and hold the viewer's attention, but the way the lines are delivered and the charisma of the performers lend charm and substance to the overall viewing experience.

Gangster Squad provides a welcome burst of heat and color, even if those qualities are more illusory than real and subject to a fast fade.

Unfortunately, much of what's good about Promised Land is easily forgotten as a result of the preachy, impossible-to-swallow final 15 minutes in which the protagonist is subjected to character assassination, the screenplay turns into a sermon, and narrative intelligence is discarded in favor of a message.

This may sound depressing and, in a sense it is, but these things are part of life and Haneke conveys them with a simplicity that is heartbreaking.

Jack Reacher has the distinction of being little more than it initially appears to be: a clumsily condensed mystery/thriller novel made into a movie that offers little more than every other clumsily condensed mystery/thriller novel made into a movie.

Despite the occasional brutality of the material, Django Unchained includes some of the best laugh aloud scenes of any 2012 motion picture, regardless of the genre.

Les Miserables understandably cuts some of the stage production's numbers, but all of the major anthems are intact and wonderfully presented.

Although This is 40 is too long and at times over-the-top, its essence is grounded in everyday moments and emotions that will have viewers nodding with understanding and recognition.

Guilt Trip is cinematic comfort food for road trip fans who aren't given indigestion by Streisand.

A compelling contemporary thriller with the added benefit of also being an engrossing character study.

The film's adult leads, Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor, give powerful, natural performances.

It isn't as delirious a journey as we experienced a decade ago, but it's still filled with wonder, monsters, and thrills.

A sloppy, poorly focused comedy.

Instead of focusing on FDR as a president, this movie gives up half its length to tawdry soap opera.

On autopilot from beginning to end, Lay the Favorite feels like sitcom blown up to big-screen proportions. The laughs aren't raucous or numerous, the character development is sketchy at best, and the insider's perspective on bookies and gambling is superficial.

Even some who generally enjoy gangster films may be turned off by this one, with its focus on dialogue over action and its harsh style.

Deadfall suffers most obviously from a sense of not being adequately developed.

The best segments of the film occur early, as the setting is established with a dose of "Friday Night Lights" normalcy followed by an invasion that recalls "Independence Day."

Life of Pi is a curious juxtaposition of the mundane and the majestic; a film that strives for something grander than what it perhaps achieves.

Anthony Hopkins is probably a shoe-in for an Oscar nomination.

Rise of the Guardians is enjoyable as a stand-alone adventure - not groundbreaking animation but a solidly entertaining 90 minutes for older children and adults.

Lincoln paints a powerful and compelling portrait of the man who has become an icon. We don't need to see more of his life to understand how rare a figure he was - this window is more than sufficient.

I'm not a religious man but, Hallelujah! I may not be done with Meyer but at least I'll never again have to cope with the angst, self-absorption, and vampire mythology mutilation that characterized these five movies.

The best thing that can be said about Wright's immersion into the world of Tolstoy is that it's interesting - a quality not always true of Anna Karenina adaptations. The movie also doesn't feel rushed, successfully capturing more of the novel's secondary stories into its fabric.

Ultimately, this is an engaging, uplifting, and life-affirming motion picture that reminds viewers that it is possible to do interesting things with a romantic comedy while still sticking to some of the conventions.

Yes, A Late Quartet is disappointing. But it's also pretty bad.

Skyfall can take its place alongside "From Russia with Love," "Goldfinger," and "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" as the best Bond can offer.

It may not be frivolously engaging but it is compelling.

Although the majority of the movie focuses on the interaction between Mark and Cheryl, there is a third character in the mix. Catholic priest Father Brendan, played by William H. Macy, belongs to a liberal wing of the Church found only in movies.

There's something very old fashioned about the core ingredients of Wreck-It Ralph; these blend well with the "hip" elements. Still, I can't help but wonder whether this is all just one big product placement for something aimed at the home video market. It seems like a game designer's wet dream.

Taken as little more than six disconnected shorts featuring the same group of players in different roles, Cloud Atlas works. It's entertaining and the manner in which it has been edited reduces one's tendency to lose patience with the less engaging stories.

The reason to see Chasing Mavericks is the same reason why people flock to shore locations when a hurricane approaches: the waves. This is less effective as a bio-pic of Jay Moriarty than it is as a big screen National Geographic Special.

They could have called this Paranormal Inactivity.

There's nothing in Alex Cross that argues another installment is warranted, but much will depend on whether Tyler Perry's audience crosses over and continues to follow him in this new, very different role.

Here Comes the Boom is stale and vanilla. We know we're in trouble early when the first joke fails.

On balance, one could argue that Seven Psychopaths warrants a better rating than a mediocre **1/2, but the aftertaste is so bitter that it diminishes the sweetness that started off the meal.

Even though the ending is inescapable (and therefore predictable), that does little to diminish its effectiveness.

Recognizing that many of the movie's elements are lifted from actual events elevates the importance of what the movie has to say.

Taken 2 is more of the same, except a little bigger, a little dumber, and a little less invigorating.

V/H/S comes across as a production that wants to be more than it is but, as they say, The Emperor has no clothes.

This is a more personal movie for Burton than one might initially suspect. The very fact that he elected to re-tell this story after 28 years is an indication of how much it means to him. And I wouldn't be surprised to learn that, as a kid, he had a dog named Sparky.

There are some splendidly over-the-top performances - chiefly those of Nicole Kidman and John Cusack, both cast against type - but the biggest narrative hole lies at the center. The lead character, played by Zac Efron, is dull, uninteresting, and poorly conceived.

It's juvenile from start to finish, which is fine if you're young, but not so great if your sole purpose in a theater is to accompany someone who's young.

Pitch Perfect looks, sounds, and feels like pretty much every other movie that features a singing or dancing competition.

Looper is a tremendous motion picture experience. Not merely a "very good" one, but a great one.

This is a character we have seen a million times before and Eastwood brings little that's new or original to the part. The movie as a whole can be labeled with the same criticism.

Liberal Arts is a parfait - a light, enjoyable concoction that goes down easily but doesn't linger. The movie is great "in the moment" but may be difficult to recall with any specificity after time has elapsed.

The problem with End of Watch, a gripping police drama, is director David Ayer's stylistic decision to shoot nearly the entire movie tripod-less. Or, to put it another way, there's a whole lotta shakin' going on.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower tweaks the formula just enough to remain fresh and offer something a little new. It's sad, funny, warm, and nostalgic - kind of like high school, really.

If there's a serious disappointment, it's the villain. Ma-Ma, despite being played with over-the-top zest by Lena Headey, isn't a very impressive foil for the mighty Judge Dredd, even when she calls for "back-up."

Arbitrage is actually a fairly straightforward thriller in the John Grisham vein. It doesn't demand that the viewer know the difference between a hedge fund and a hedgehog. Arbitrage also reminds us that thrillers do not have to be action-packed to generate tension.

Yet, for all of The Master's laudable elements, it falls short of greatness for one simple reason: the storytelling is unspectacular.

The French have an entirely different idea of what constitutes a "comedy" from the Americans. Little White Lies is classified as a "comedy" in its country of origin. I suppose that's meant in a Shakespearean sense, because there's not a lot of humor in Canet's screenplay, which is primarily dramatic and includes scenes of outright tragedy.

A preposterous thriller where the only thing more disappointing than the ending is the 93 minutes it takes to get there.

The film is worth seeing for the humor and for its high level of energy, but it falls short of being the "complete package." It's probably a better pick for home viewing than a trip to a theater.

The performances, excepting perhaps Olivia Wilde's odd turn, are solid, and the central story never loses our attention, but there's a lingering aftertaste of vague dissatisfaction.

I don't often use the words "godawful" and "abomination" to describe a movie, preferring to reserve such terminology for extreme instances when I feel duped and mortally offended. Case in point: Bachelorette.

The strength of the cast assembled by Australian-born director John Hillcoat is eye-opening.

This one delivers.

Where About Cherry fails is in its depiction of interpersonal relationships. Nearly all of them are flat and uninspired.

A slow, meandering misfire of a movie.

The only time Sparkle evidences energy is during the song performances, of which there are too few. The half-baked melodrama provides an unappealing and overlong buffer between them that fails to justify the nearly two-hour running time.

On the whole, The Expendables 2 is more satisfying than "The Expendables."

Sometimes, even a little gratuitous nudity can't save a movie. This is one of those occasions. Cosmopolis easily trumps "To Rome with Love" as the biggest disappointment of 2012 from an established director.

The truth can indeed be stranger than fiction and, in this case, were the story to have originated in the imagination of the screenwriter, it could rightfully be criticized as artificial and contrived. But, disturbing and unlikely as it may be, this stuff actually happened, and pretty much as Craig Zobel relates it.

Despite flouting Hollywood clichés, it nevertheless manages to be both romantic and funny even though it starts with the separation of the main couple.

To really work, The Bourne Legacy either needed to turn the title character into a 007-type who can change his face or bring back Damon in some capacity, even if just for a cameo. Neither happens and that works to the movie's detriment.

A gleeful and unapologetic descent into delicious decadence, Killer Joe is proud of what it is and never tries to be something it isn't.

Tonally, Hope Springs is closer to Alexander Payne than Meyers although Frankel does his best to keep things from turning too dark.

2 Days in New York splits its time between being a quirky comedy and a quasi-serious drama. Comparisons with Woody Allen may be inevitable, in part because of the setting, although none of the characters in this film are neurotic enough to match vintage Allen.

You may find sperm jokes hilarious, but it's doubtful you'll find them hilarious in The Babymakers, which has serious composition problems.

The biggest flaw of the 1990 Total Recall was how disappointingly banal the endgame was. Wiseman adds some special effects and Michael Bay-style pyrotechnics, but the result is similar. It's doubly deflating because one of the great advantages of remaking a movie is being given the opportunity to correct problems - something not attempted here.

It is disappointing (and a little boring). The chief problem relates to structure. The film unspools more like a puzzle than a cohesive narrative.

The Watch is a studio turd marinated in eau de skunk that stinks worse than week-old fish.

Parts of Ruby Sparks are glowing and gentle. Others are harsh. Still others are wrenching. The transitions are expertly handled, never seeming jarring or inappropriate. If the movie feels like two shorter pieces grafted at the middle, that's an intentional decision. The filmmakers give us something approaching a traditional romantic comedy before deconstructing it.

The Dark Knight Rises ultimately justifies its length (in fact, a good argument could be made for a longer cut) and the last 45 minutes is nothing short of spectacular. From the point where the narrative takes a leap of faith, it never lets up.

It is as comfortable and predictable as any Saturday morning cartoon, although with higher production values and a spiffier look.

It's either a failed experiment or a movie that was rushed through production so Allen could fulfill his one project-per-year commitment.

From an acting standpoint, Blake Lively makes a compelling case that she doesn't have what it takes to play this sort of a role; she lacks the chops to carry the elements of the movie in which she is expected to dominate.

For me, this is as deflating a movie as I have seen all year. Not the worst, to be sure, but a project so utterly unnecessary that it made me want to gnash my teeth in frustration.

Ted is essentially a one-joke movie. Okay, it's a very funny joke, but it's still only one joke.

Magic Mike takes itself seriously - not so seriously that there isn't room for a little humor, but this is not an excursion into cheesiness and gratuitous nudity.

The problem with Beasts of the Southern Wild is that, like "The Tree of Life," it seeks to integrate its small, very personal story into a much larger, more ambitious tapestry.

The film's emotional truth and honesty allows us to forgive a great many flaws.

The end result is something that feels like it was put together from a jumble of Disney clichés tacked onto the skeleton of "Beauty and the Beast."

One expects a movie called Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter to be rich in wit and black humor, but writer Seth Grahame-Smith and director Timur Bekmambetov opt to play things reasonably straight.

Not mainstream fare, but neither is it as willfully obtuse as "Melancholia."

As a means of non-participatory time travel and non-intellectual stimulation, it's successful. Toe-tapping and eye-rolling are equally forgivable. Rock on.

For the most part, Safety Not Guaranteed is a pleasant viewing experience, but there is a flaw. While Darius is bonding with Kenneth, Jeff is reconnecting with his past. This subplot goes nowhere.

Prometheus is the antithesis of the "big, dumb summer movie." Its visuals and special effects can stand toe-to-toe with any of the season's spectacles, but are audiences ready for something with an intelligent, thought-provoking screenplay where the action is secondary? Prometheus is flawed, but stupidity cannot be numbered among its missteps.

For many adults, sitting through this will be an exercise in tedium. It offers about as much as an oversized, overlong Saturday morning cartoon and if that's where expectations are set, it probably won't disappoint. Talk about setting the bar low, though.

Gerwig transforms the ordinary screenplay into something that is by turns charming, touching, and funny.

Moonrise Kingdom is lovingly crafted with an attention to detail that is breathtaking while, at the same time, it displays genuine affection for its young protagonists.

Attempts to inject a little humor via the antics of the dwarves don't work, especially since one of the little people is killed early in the proceedings. No one's going to be singing "Hi ho! Hi ho! It's off to work we go!" after that happens.

At least the set design and costumes are excellent. The movie feels overstuffed and undercooked but it always looks nice.

Chernobyl Diaries is afflicted with a fatal flaw that damages many horror films: after a better-than-average setup and a promising first half, everything falls apart.

Those who don't understand what it means for an actor to "sleepwalk" through a performance need only watch Men in Black III; there's no shortage of examples.

Enjoy this movie for what it is - the kind of motion picture that can cause Champaign-like giddiness - and don't obsess over how true-to-life this work of fiction is.

Hysteria's "hook" is that it chronicles the development of one of the 20th century's most popular home appliances: the vibrator. However, although the details surrounding the deplorable state of women's medicine during the Victorian era are intriguing, the central story - a romantic comedy between a progressive woman and a forward-thinking doctor - is flaccid.

Battleship has the IQ of a rutabaga and doesn't require much more intelligence than that to watch. Despite spending copious amounts of time with back story and so-called character development, it's really all about the explosions.

One of the cleverest moments in Sacha Baron Cohen's The Dictator comes during the first five seconds: a memorial dedication to Kim Jong Il. It's all downhill from there.

One of the most positive comments that can be made about Hick is that it advances Chloe Grace Moretz's claim to be one of the best young actresses emerging into today's spotlight.

Dark Shadows is a mess, and it's unclear whether its bizarre recipe of comedy, campy horror, and gothic melodrama will satisfy anyone, regardless of their familiarity with the source material.

Writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait has an ax to grind and, once he's done grinding it, he uses it to split some skulls. God Bless America is many things - audacious, bitingly satirical, unafraid of venturing into uncomfortable territory - but it is never subtle.

A little youth is injected via "Slumdog Millionaire's" Dev Patel and Tena Desae, but they are supporting players. Still, as one might expect from a group of actors in this age range, the performances are impeccable. Experience does count.

The Avengers kicks ass.

What's missing is honesty. It has been supplanted by artifice.

At a time when many mystery thrillers fall apart in the final fifteen minutes, Headhunters maintains its integrity.

The problem is one of tone. The Five Year Engagement, despite its serious thesis, tries desperately to be funny. Some of the comedic material provokes laughter and some doesn't, but nearly all of it feels wrong.

The violence has the straightforward, unflinching characteristic evident in "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction," although Yakin's dialogue falls considerably short of Tarantino's, both in terms of substance and offbeat humor.

The Raven is period piece fun - at least until it realizes there has to be a conclusion. That's where a certain amount of inevitable disappointment sets in. The curse of the two-hour murder mystery is that the ending never seems to justify the build-up.

Suffused with satire, wit, and the dry, tongue-in-cheek flavor of comedy one rarely finds in American productions, this stop-motion animated excursion pokes fun at pirate conventions while representing icons Queen Victoria and Charles Darwin as a bitch and a twit, respectively.

The Lucky One delivers what's expected from it: a heartfelt romantic melodrama with attractive actors in the lead roles; gauzy, moody photography; a saccharine score; and all the heat that a PG-13 production can muster.

The Hunter works best as a travelogue and a thought-piece about the ugly, shadowy side of resurrecting dead species.

Lockout is painful. Not painful in the way Uwe Boll or "Sex and the City" movies are painful. But painful enough that I kept waiting for Nicolas Cage to show up. Or Katherine Heigl. Or, god forbid, both.

The devilishly clever script tries a lot of things. Not all of them work, but it's hard not to admire Whedon and Goddard for the attempts. This is definitely not your standard kids-get-slaughtered-by-zombies motion picture.

When it comes to The Raid: Redemption, there are no pretentions. Pure and simple, this is about violence. As we used to say, "kickin' ass and takin' names."

This is a joyless experience made all the sadder because most viewers still remember the naughty delights delivered by "American Pie."

For those with a burning curiosity to know how "The Lord of the Rings" as directed by Michael Bay might look, Wrath of the Titans provides an idea. This is epic fantasy for teenage boys as only Hollywood can do it: with plenty of grotesque monsters and big explosions replacing characters and narrative.

The inevitable twist ties things neatly together before leading to a confusing, borderline-indecipherable ending that fails to satisfy on a number of levels.

The result is mixed: the affable, family-friendly motion picture is lively enough to engage young viewers but will prove something of a challenge for anyone who has gone through puberty.

The purpose of Bully is to educate and promote discussion. If the problem is not solved, there will be more Columbines and additional stories like Tyler and Ty's.

The Hunger Games represents the best first book adaptation of any of the three series. It surpasses Christopher Columbus' "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone" by a whisker and Catherine Hardwicke's "Twilight" by considerably more than that.

Ultimately, as things develop, this becomes less about revenge than it does about escaping a set-up. A successful production of this sort needs to constantly elevate the stakes as it builds suspense. Seeking Justice fails and that failure makes it a dubious movie-going choice best suited to the low expectations of a video release.

It feels incomplete and the ending is entirely too convenient.

Some of the funniest scenes belong to Ice Cube's "angry black captain" who goes on profane rants that would make Samuel L. Jackson proud.

It's a funny movie, although rarely is the humor of the loud, obnoxious kind we have come to associate with Ferrell. It's not unlike "Blazing Saddles."

The result is an entertaining diversion but it lacks the magnificence one desires in the opening chapter of a would-be franchise.

The bad news is that Silent House is 88 minutes long, and the final half hour represents a descent into an anticlimax that ends with a scene as dumb as it is disappointing.

It's not a stretch to say the movie works in large part because of the charm and sparkle of the three leads: Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, and Kristin Scott Thomas.

Project X's first-person verisimilitude is the movie's primary strength and most damning weakness.

The result is solidly entertaining - not quite as good as "Horton Hears a Who" or "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" - but unquestionably better than "The Cat in the Hat."

Okay, Wanderlust has its moments. It's sporadically funny - funny enough to deliver a good laugh or two. The problem is, it doesn't do more than that, and the comedy is inconsistent.

The best I can say is that I was never bored, although I was never overwhelmed, either. There are enough small things to keep it interesting even when many of the big things fail.

For acting to be this bad in movie not directed by Michael Bay or George Lucas, it has to be intentional.

This Means War is not funny enough to succeed as a comedy. It's not emotionally deft enough to succeed as a romance. And it's not exciting enough to succeed as an action film. It's a high-energy, fast-paced explosion of moments that can be edited together to make a compelling trailer.

The cast is comprised of unfamiliar faces, which enhances the pseudo-reality of the milieu. The principals - Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, and Michael B. Jordan - are professional actors with credits (many on television) to their names. But they are not "known" stars and that allows them to be accepted with ease into these roles.

The only reason any male could have for seeing The Vow is the hope of getting laid afterwards. The only reason any female could have for seeing The Vow is if she views the plots of Harlequin romance novels as the height of modern storytelling.

The pacing is uneven, the frenetic action is rarely suspenseful, the dialogue is neither witty nor intelligent, and the anticlimactic endgame drags out to an improbable conclusion.

Perfect Sense offers an epic tale seen through the prism of a tiny, intimate story. It's the inverse of "Contagion," which sacrificed character to scope.

The production company is Hammer Films, a venerable name in British horror. Responsible for some of the best monster movies of the '50s and '60s, when Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee were a favorite team, Hammer has endured over the years. Now, as then, the Hammer name is an assurance that terror, not soulless special effects, lies at the heart of the production. The Woman in Black bears this out.

The Help's most apparent flaw is a tendency to paint with broad strokes. With only a few exceptions, it avoids shades of gray.

Rarely are the characters as well developed and believable as they are here.

There's an almost poetic quality to the way things develop, with characters becoming increasingly introspective.

It is a mystery and a courtroom drama. Above all, however, it is a tale of love and sacrifice.

On balance, Man on a Ledge is fun, but I left the theater feeling disappointed and cheated, as if the filmmakers set me up for something great they ultimately couldn't deliver.

Sadly, the result is a disappointment. Sure, the aerial battles are technically adept and occasionally exhilarating, but it's almost painful to sit through some of the "drama" that occurs on the ground.

This is one of the director's mainstream efforts, although his penchant for the offbeat and oddly artistic has not been completely reined in. But there's plenty of unsparing, bone-crunching violence to dismiss the idea that Soderbergh is making an art film in disguise.

Coriolanus deserves to be seen, however, especially among those who enjoy Shakespeare without considering themselves purists. It's violent, bloody, fast-paced, and powerfully acted. And, if the language represents a barrier of sorts, it's worth remembering that some of the greatest phrases in history derive from Shakespeare's texts.

Contraband is the kind of thriller that offers just enough in the way of effective elements to assemble a two-minute trailer. When it comes to a 110-minute feature, however, the sketchiness of the plotting and the director's lack of sure-handedness sink the project.

Ultimately, however, A Dangerous Method is less about the formative years of psychotherapy and two of its progenitors than it is about a rule-breaking extramarital affair.

The most disappointing aspect of The Iron Lady is that some of the most memorable hallmarks of Thatcher's time in power are glossed over.

The movie's point, which is impossible to miss, is that it's hard being black & gay in America and, while there's undoubtedly truth in that sentiment, it doesn't necessarily make for a compelling motion picture circa 2011.

If you take away Albert Nobbs' twist, all that's left is a project that would have been at home on Masterpiece Theater during its heyday.

Hazanavicius isn't just making a "silent movie," he is attempting to enter a time warp and craft something that would fool all but the most studious and scholarly into believing it could have been a lost film from a bygone era. If his tongue is sometimes a little in his cheek, that's all part of the fun.

War Horse's primary attraction is not the story of how it makes us feel but its impressive re-creation of the Great War's battlefields and some stunningly beautiful camerawork by cinematographer Janusz Kaminski.

Director Stephen Daldry has fashioned an emotionally powerful cinematic testimony about that horrific late summer day.

Heartfelt but safe. The missing element is the edgy irrelevance that elevated Crowe's best directorial efforts - "Say Anything," "Jerry Maguire," and "Almost Famous" - above their generic counterparts.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo can stand on its own as Fincher's valentine to goth girl power, detective stories, and the grotesqueness of the human heart.

That's what we get with The Adventures of Tintin - an unplayable video game that's fast-paced and amusing but never coming close to the best director Steven Spielberg has offered when in his "pure entertainment" mode.

Ghost Protocol is big and brassy, doing many of the things its predecessors did but, in the words of Nigel Tufnel, turning them up to "11."

A Game of Shadows is a stronger, better realized movie that builds upon the strengths of the original and jettisons some of the weaknesses.

Carnage suffers from a common problem that afflicts many stage-to-screen adaptations: too much artifice and contrivance.

The Sitter is sort of an "Adventures in Babysitting" with a potty mouth.

A meditation on the pain suffered by a mother when her child turns out to be a monster, We Need to Talk about Kevin is the perfect tonic for holiday cheer.

For most of the movie, Cody and Reitman jape at her until, in the last 20 minutes or so, they attempt to turn her into an object of sympathy. It doesn't work and, on balance, neither does Young Adult.

Tomas Alfredson's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy may be the best possible movie version of the story, but it illustrates that the big screen is not the ideal medium for a tale of this complexity.

It is fair to argue that, at least in the case of Rampart, Woody Harrelson is better than the material in which he appears.

It's neither glamorous nor erotic and director Steve McQueen has taken an unflinching and non-judgmental view of sexual addiction in Shame.

With Hugo, Martin Scorsese has accomplished what few in Hollywood are willing to try: make a movie for adults that arrives without sex, violence, or profanity and earns a PG-rating.

When it comes to Christmas movies, although most are quickly forgotten, a select few go on to become touchstones, beloved and re-watched by families year after year after year. Arthur Christmas may have what it takes to join the latter category.

The Muppets is a rare family film likely to appeal more to parents than to their offspring.

The unpretentious, easy-to-digest style and short running length (a shade over 90 minutes), when coupled with strong acting (especially on Williams' part), make My Week with Marilyn a pleasant end-of-the-year diversion.

Here's hoping Breaking Dawn Part Two gives us more of what Part One provided in the final 30 minutes than what it forced viewers to endure to get there.

The two most moving scenes require extraordinary performances from supporting players...Forster is as deserving of a supporting actor nomination as anyone I have seen this year.

For a documentarian of Herzog's stature, Into the Abyss ranks as a disappointment.

The film is as faithful to Greek mythology as Thor is to tales of the Norse Gods, but it ultimately doesn't matter. Tarsem's goal is to give viewers an experience a little different from the norm and, to that end, he succeeds. The "wow!" factor is in full evidence.

DiCaprio wears the persona of Hoover with ease, again reminding audiences that the young man who made so many girls swoon with Titanic has grown into an actor of great range and capability.

Melancholia represents von Trier at his best and worst. Visually and thematically, Melancholia is a rich motion picture, full of nuances. Unfortunately, in his pursuit of an artistic vision, von Trier has thrown logic, physics, and coherence out the window.

If there's a complaint to be made, it's that the humor could be less scattershot.

Although Like Crazy contains some emotionally on-target scenes, the movie as a whole feels glum and artificial. The characters, especially the male lead, are so low key that they're frustrating to watch.

The caper is a dud - so stupid and implausible from beginning to end that it's impossible to take it seriously for even the briefest of moments.

Sleeping Beauty is one of those self-consciously artsy motion picture that promises more than it delivers.

Anonymous is well-paced and never threatens to bore or become too scholarly.

The problem with In Time, to the extent that it is a problem, is that an intriguing premise turns into window dressing for a somewhat routine "Bonnie & Clyde"-meets-"Robin Hood" action thriller with car chases, heists, and gunplay.

There are times when the story behind the making of a film is more interesting than the finished product. This is one of those occasions.

Martha Marcy May Marlene offers a challenging, emotionally riveting experience, even if the conclusion dangles at the edge of an unresolvable cliffhanger.

The scares (if you want to call them that) are still there - one "boo!" moment after another, strung together like a breadcrumb trail through a labyrinth. So if that's all you want from a Halloween release like Paranormal Activity 3, you are the perfect audience member.

The movie with which it has the closest relationship may be "Glengarry Glen Ross." The same sense of desperation, the same need to make the sale, permeates Margin Call. Both films are to some degree about the dehumanizing impact of money and both are driven more by characters than plot points.

Trespass is a home invasion movie, but not a clever, taut one; it's sloppy and obvious, with curves so un-serpentine they might as well be straightaways.

It's a solid, entertaining monster movie that, at its best, recalls not only its three decades-old namesake but Alien as well.

When the characters in Footloose are dancing and the music is blaring, the film comes alive. It has energy and personality. Would that the same could be said about the dramatic scenes, which are hamstrung by a combination of mediocre acting and atrocious dialogue.

By the time the two hour running length has expired, it's safe to say that Real Steel comes across as a legitimate crowd-pleaser.

This is a deeply cynical movie and, in that cynicism, it finds truth.

70 minutes into the 90-minute process, I was engaged. Then it all collapsed.

The action sequences are energetic and suspenseful but they don't always mesh well with the dramatic material.

There is a wealth of authenticity in the feel of the movie, as if Levine and/or his writer have endured some of this stuff.

Perhaps the only way to approach Abduction that will not result in a 105-minute boredom-induced coma is to think of it as a comedy, preferably with a drinking game attached. There are laughs to be had, although none of them are intentional.

Moneyball comes to life when elaborating on Beane's unique system of player selection, and the on-field baseball action is at times electrifying, but it trends toward the generic when tailing him away from the stadium.

Despite having a perfect cast for a title like Killer Elite, Gary McKendry's feature debut comes across as little more than a generic Jason Statham movie with two high-profile guest stars.

An emotionally rewarding experience: strong performances from leads Henry Hooper and Mia Wasikowska and a tender love story conveyed with genuine feeling.

Although the moral ambiguity of Straw Dogs has been softened in the remake, the message and the forceful way in which it is delivered remain the same.

The unfortunate ending, which wallows in artifice, is superficial and saccharine, and unworthy of the material that precedes it.

From the beginning, it's clear this is not a standard-order action film. It takes its characters as seriously as its chases, shootouts, and fights.

Contagion is the best movie made to date about an epidemic/pandemic.

There is a perverse enjoyment to be had from something this cheesy, although not enough of one that I can recommend sitting through it. Still, as bad as Creature is, it can be fun, although the level of enjoyment is probably in direct proportion to the viewer's level of intoxication.

O'Connor gives the film a dark, moody look, which is the best choice for so many roiling emotions. This is not a traditional stand-up-and-cheer fight movie; the undercurrents are too strong and deep.

The acting is superb across-the-board, with the three younger performers deserving accolades.

The movie is deliciously creepy even if it does exhibit some issues that keep it from being a top-notch example of "things that go bump in the night" horror.

It's tame and rather bland, and the laughter it generates is half-hearted. Director Jesse Peretz commits the unpardonable sin of wasting the considerable comedic talent of Paul Rudd.

The 2011 version of Conan the Barbarian looks cheap and feels rushed. The few good elements are dwarfed by a generic, nonsensical plot and shoddy storytelling.

Aside from some cosmetic changes, little of what this Fright Night offers elevates it above the classification of "unnecessary."

Tone is critical to a movie of this nature, and Fleischer gets it right.

The central problem with Rise of the Planet of the Apes is that it feels more like a piece of something larger than a complete motion picture.

Distilled to its basics, it's little more than a sit-com that has been tarted up with scenes of projectile poop, odd sexual fetishes, and knife wielding babies. It all seems a little tired and, more importantly, not as funny as it should be.

Kevin Bacon and Marisa Tomei make the most of their limited screen time, injecting straight comedy into a movie that occasionally comes close to losing its sense of humor.

Director Jon Favreau keeps the tone light but, aside from the occasional low-key gag or one-liner, the humor is never allowed to upstage the more serious elements.

Captain America falls into the prevalent pitfalls of origin stories. So much time and effort is expended explaining how the protagonist gains his super-powers (and exploring his initial usage of them) that there's not enough opportunity to develop a compelling storyline beyond his "baptism."

The interaction between the three teenagers is well executed and plausible, despite the almost complete lack of a back story for any of them.

Unchallenging but easy to like. There's not enough here to capture the interest of those indifferent to romantic comedies, but fans - even of the casual variety - will find this to be a pleasant mid-summer diversion.

The humor - and there's enough of it that Tabloid could be categorized as a comedy - is unforced, arising as it does out of these truth-is-stranger-than-fiction circumstances.

Overall, Part 2 tells a more compelling and emotionally fulfilling tale than the one related in Part 1, although that could be a result of this movie having a conclusion - something its predecessor notably lacked.

For something like Horrible Bosses to sparkle, the actors have to shine... and shine they do.

The "special effects" employed to have the animals' mouths form words might have been state-of-the-art 20 years ago, but they're outdated today, and the gorilla looks like a guy in the monkey suit that was abandoned after the 1976 version of "King Kong." I guess CGI was too sophisticated for the technical crew.

Larry Crowne should not be mistaken for a masterpiece. It is summer entertainment: genial, undemanding, lightweight.

LaBeouf, who appeared to hit a low in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," has sunk to greater levels of incompetence here.

Although it would be unfair to label Cars 2 as unwatchable, it is surprisingly tedious in parts and not as satisfying as one might expect.

The product is akin to a mediocre '80s sex comedy (with minimal nudity) and "daring" is a descriptor only the most naïve and puritanical would employ.

The result makes the movie seem assembled from bits and pieces of other superhero yarns rather than existing on a plane of its own.