Stina Chyn

Two-and-a-half hours of family bickering, bantering, and pummeling can be draining for the viewer, particularly when many of the characters are easy to dislike.

The camerawork is a smidge too shaky and the lighting/color design too dark for me to relish the Predator-on-Alien butt-kicking.

When The Namesake ends, one feels as though one has lived with the characters instead of just watching them.

A little bit of screwball comedy and a lot of film noir, add a dash of suspense-drama, and half a dozen card tricks too, then you have the recipe for making The Brothers Bloom.

One of the oddest and surely the longest cinematic experiences you may ever encounter.

The acting is unquestionably strong, the songs are integrated appropriately (functioning as both audio bridges and dramatic enhancements), and yet something is missing in how the individual pieces of the film--the story, the themes, and the violence--fit together.

Oddly engaging and has me wishing I could spend a week observing Jeannie, Lauren, and Merrill...you know, without a camera as a mediator.

In addition to a very engaging script, Forrest Whitaker and James McAvoy amazingly express the tension and the camaraderie shared by Amin and Garrigan.

Isn't a bad film per se--it’s just an empty film.

For most of the film's 104 minutes, the characters have experiences that range from serious to zany. Although I can't formulate a better resolution to the narrative conflicts, I Love You, Man ends on a note that is too cute and conventional to accept.

The Bank Job secures the viewer’s attention pretty quickly and does not relinquish that hold for a second.

Splendid.

Even if you already knew the facts, you won’' be able to help but reflect in awe at how much progress in the fight against discrimination has been made on a societal level.

In terms of "narrative," the film keeps excellent pace, maintains your attention, and educates you on psychological ramifications of memory.

Funny and well-acted, but it’s just shy of being compelling enough to be remembered.

For Carmen, Tibby, Lena, and Bridget, their sisterhood shines even brighter the second time around.

Impressively stays away from the cheese and the sap that ordinarily accompany holiday pictures.

House definitely put a smile on an insider's face, but outsiders can enjoy the ATL too. The only prerequisite here is the ability to laugh.

Beneath its morbid exterior, Sunshine Cleaning projects a tender portrait of how people help out others and seek a better life for themselves.

A brilliant exploration into the implications of Freud’s theories on one family.

Neither hater nor admirer, I still get wrapped up in his (Owen) mannerisms and emerald stare.

Hathaway's exuberance and dramatic range are fitting for this portrayal of the celebrated literary figure.

What prevents Hostel from fully harnessing the suspense factor in its rising action, climax, and conflict resolution is the insufficient impetus to pity or to feel too badly for Paxton and Josh.

Alyssa Milano is a delight, but her ten to thirteen minutes of screen-time mark her as more of a distraction than substantiation.

As easy as it is to pass down mantras of fear and hate from parent to child or society to community (and individual), so is the imprinting of courage and compassion through conversation, emulation, books, plays, films, and the like. The Tale of Despereaux, aims to share such a message.

Overall, I found myself not hating the film. There's just one thing that troubles me about the way Nancy Drew is depicted. She is determined, a perfectionist, uber-organized, and efficient. Those qualities can be associated to geekdom, but they’re also symptoms of someone with a propensity for disordered eating or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Hmmm.

McGowan’s film isn’t just about following this boy’s private quest to accomplish the impossible. It is also about how he affects the other characters in the film.

As a guilty pleasure, it’s spectacularly entertaining