M. E. Russell

After the initial charm wears off, the whole thing gets check-your-text-messages dull.

The actors are mostly charming; Bettany in particular is broody and cool.

Startling and amazing -- a cinematic hammer to the skull.

It's a relentless finale to the "Bourne" movie trilogy that raises the stakes, pumps up the action and develops old characters while introducing new villains

It's almost like you're watching a 100-minute trailer for a much better six-hour miniseries.

Your 12-and-unders will dig it, and it might even serve as a sort of movie-Bookmobile and get them to read a little history, or at least a little Wikipedia. But otherwise it's utterly dispensable.

Mike Terry's uncompromising fight for his principles makes for a fascinating, beautifully acted study in philosophical tension.

Unfortunately, the dialogue undermines the movie's promise.

The film sort of loses its touch when it gets "dramatic" toward the end -- it's the type of flick where the sky gets overcast when everyone is sad -- but it's hard to argue with the movie's general good spirits.

Why did they think anyone would want to watch a Fat Albert adaptation that can't answer a simple question: "Who is this movie for?"

Grint's role is larger and more "mature" than we've seen from him. During his adventures, Ben is seduced by a Scottish lit-festival flack (Michelle Duncan). But in some ways, his work is more limited here than it is in the "Potter" films. I have no idea why so many people consider Ben worth fighting for, or over.

I wish Zenovich wasn't forced to skate surfaces when it comes to Polanski's perspective -- his interviews are vague and archival -- but she skillfully works around him to craft a maddening look at one of Hollywood's most infamous trials.

Unsurprisingly, the formulaic "Breakfast Club" casting yields a formulaic narrative.

If you approach First Snow as a straight thriller, it's not terribly satisfying.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, is . . . well . . . not terrible. In fact, "Rise of the Silver Surfer" is roughly 300 percent less cringe-inducing than its predecessor.

The leads are just too good to commit fully to something this baldly formulaic. It's sad.

A basketball documentary where the climactic game looks like a Hong Kong wire-fu epic.

Jaa's performance as Tien is mostly wordless and humorless.

Weaver is hilarious and horrifying.

Make no mistake: This isn't a relentless button-pushing joke machine like the best Apatow schlumpy-man comedies. I guess I'd describe it as "agreeably ribald."

The only scenes that felt "actorly" come when the pair drunkenly crash an ex-girlfriend's wedding party. Otherwise, The Messenger has a verisimilitude rare in films tackling this subject matter.

It's all mildly uplifting in the way of an unchallenging sermon.

It is provocative, smartly made and truly independent.

The new footage adds almost nothing and feels like a lame, double-dipping cash-grab.

The King feels like a morality play without any morals.

After the terrifying grotesques that were the live-action "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "The Cat in the Hat," it was easy to dread a feature-length Horton Hears a Who!. But -- surprise -- the computer-animated "Horton" is largely funny and faithful to the spirit of the Dr. Seuss book.

Structurally, this is as by-the-numbers as rom-coms get, right down to the wacky best friends, played by Judy Greer and Dan Fogler. For a while, it's low-key enough to be tolerable.

I'm all for hearty theological debate. But this is intellectual suicide. Even worse, it's boring intellectual suicide.