Scott Bowles

As he did in "Stranger Than Fiction," Ferrell displays surprising range when he ratchets down the volume.

Menacing and meditative, Hallows is arguably the best installment of the planned eight-film franchise, though audiences who haven't kept up with previous chapters will be hopelessly lost.

Fright is way too quick on its feet to be slowed by clichés. David Tennant seizes McDowall's role as Peter Vincent, now a Criss Angel-style clown vampire slayer. Christopher Mintz-Plasse was born to play a high school nerd.

Jack Goes Boating won't knock you over, but it lulls you with its slow-warming heart.

If you rely on films to keep your kids entertained and distracted for an hour and a half, Meatballs is a masterwork, a visual stunner that manages to break from animation's current 3-D rut.

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

Sarandon is worth leaving home for, even if Jeff won't.

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.

Survivor is a pummeling, frenzied ride, one of fall's most charged action films. The gunfights and rocket-propelled grenades are palpable, and Berg manages to make the chaos followable.

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

Sarah's Key is, for the most part, an exercise in reserve. We never see Hitler, never enter battle. Paquet-Brenner (Pretty Things, Walled In), rightly tells his Holocaust story as it now lives: through survivors and descendants.

There are plenty of strong performances, and LaBeouf does a nice job of becoming the tough-skinned pragmatist. Mulligan is as earnest as ever, and Susan Sarandon and, particularly, Frank Langella make strong cameos.

The side story about Muslim extremists is a little ham-handed for a film that otherwise exercises such restraint.

While Challenge makes for a pretty dull glimpse into the inner workings of the sea, it provides a fascinating look at the inner workings of Cameron, whose obsessive and demanding personality translated to movies that included "Titanic" and "Avatar."

The latest undead-soldier story carries on the franchise tradition of graphic violence and bad acting.

Where Paul takes off is in its embrace and knowledge of sci-fi icons.

One of those movies that makes for a fantastic trailer. Much beyond that can feel like repeat viewing.

This just in: Morning Glory can't decide whether to skewer the morning news or wallow in its pap.

It's over-the-top stuff, to be sure. But Bosses never crosses that line into the macabre.

Just earnest enough to blend its religious theme with a beer-chugging hero for a surprisingly contemporary look at faith.

What it became was bad. A movie that hopes to blend "Lethal Weapon" with "Gladiator" winds up not being a fraction of either.

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

Rude, wrong and laugh-till-you-snort funny, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa not only stands as the best installment (by bounds) of Johnny Knoxville's hidden-camera franchise; it's one of the sharpest comedies of the year.

Maintains the franchise's knack for getting kids right.

Draft's reverence for the gridiron, its heroes and the cities that worship them (particularly Cleveland) will make the movie a first-round pick of diehards.

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

There isn't much in the way of plot to get in the way of Sandler's world: There's poo, ripped pants and hot girls falling for fat guys.

The film is surprisingly deft and entertains at both the adult and juvenile levels. If something in Guardians catches your eye, trust your gizzard.