Scott Bowles

Here has a great soundtrack and some fine performances, particularly from King, who is a wonder. And credit Braff with some great imagery, deep thinking and moments of eloquent dialogue, however schmaltzy.

A picture that isn't as terrible as its title suggests now as deep as its story aspires to be.

The problem is the movie's comedians, who are, to the last, unfunny.

Palo Alto marks one of those rare films that is so accurate in its portrayal of characters that the movie suffers for it.

Stunningly shot and stupidly written.

There's a fun retro camp to Hercules, with nods to classics such as Ben-Hur and Spartacus, as Hercules finds himself rowing slave ships and crossing desert expanses.

Alas, this all-star ensemble comedy that trumpets (too loudly) that it's a "Hangover" on hemorrhoid cream musters enough laughs to be passable, if not memorable. And that's thanks to Morgan Freeman's showmanship.

Action fans -- particularly devotees of brainless '80s shoot-em-ups -- may find enough to like here, particularly the preposterous mayhem of the third act.

Machete Kills dulls more than anything. It's not that Robert Rodriguez's sequel lacks any of the camp or exploitative violence of the 2010 original. The mayhem has just become boring.

It plays more like a "21 Jump Street," full of pretty people and a thumping soundtrack but offering little in the way of something to say.

It's mostly smoke and mirrors. After Freeman's snooze became a YouTube fixture, the actor jokingly dismissed the nap, saying he was using "Google eyelids" to check his Facebook account. You may find yourself attempting the same feat, because Now has little up its sleeve.

Like a lot of meds, it loses its effectiveness over time, and you'll build a resistance to Effects eventually, particularly when it dissolves into a standard crime flick.

Geared for teens who perhaps found the Twilight series too profound, Warm Bodies is an unabashed homage to that wildly successful franchise. One of its stars, Teresa Palmer, is even done up to be a carbon copy of Kristen Stewart, the anchor of the vampire series.

Despite the hype, this horror story can't shake its run-of-the-mill storytelling.

Has a near-impossible mission: its title.

Alas, if you're someone who enjoys movies as, say, a two-hour escape, you may find this documentary on the death of film at digital's hands a bit too inside baseball.

Does its share of teasing, but amounts to nothing serious.

An hour into Earth and we're waiting for the film to end, not just the planet.

What undercuts sharper than Poseidon's trident is a script that sees its characters as cardboard, not flesh and blood. For a film meant to be spectacle over substance, it's not a fatal blow. But it is a mortal wound.

Tower Heist feigns being an "Ocean's 11" for schmucks, but plays like a retread of "48 Hours."

Part horror film, part space thriller and all gore-fest, the movie ends up being a lot like its protagonist: a mess of a monster that stretches itself too thin to scare much.

Glee the TV show has become a cult phenom with three essential ingredients: whip-smart kids, adult-sized issues, all blended to sugary pop tunes. About a third of those components made it into Glee: The 3D Concert Movie.

Smurfs is utterly kid-friendly.

Hangover II marks one of the most derivative sequels of the year: The opening and closing scenes are taken almost shot-for-shot from the original. Just substitute Asians for Americans, gross-outs for guffaws.

You've never seen a movie like Sucker Punch. And depending on your entertainment preferences, you may not want to.

You have to give director Jonathan Liebesman some points for sparing no shell casings or standing buildings to hustle us through the film's languorous two hours.

Four is so cobbled with bits of other sci-fi and comic-book movies, there's little to distinguish it.

Never works as a gum-snapper concert movie and does provide a glimpse into instant stardom in the Twitter generation.