A mixture of magical realism, Southern gothic, coming-of-age movie, star turn for first-timers, disaster story and out-and-out strangeness. It's unlike any film you've seen.

It's all well done and cute and forgettable.

The Do-Deca-Pentathlon is an odd little movie about an odd family who reacts to situations in odd ways.

As cultural criticism, this commentary on life in the age of TMZ and the "Real Housewives" is hardly insightful, but it is executed to dizzying, Fellini-esque perfection, a miniature masterpiece amidst more modest amusements.

This is, in fact, one of the more violent movies in recent memory. But Stone doesn't let anyone off easy. Violence has an effect here, has meaning, has relevance to the story. And that's a good thing; otherwise, it would be hard to stomach.

It presents Perry as a likable, hard-working artist, someone you root for, even if she's not on your iPod.

Watching Garfield swinging through New York or toying with criminals after he captures them is reason enough to welcome another telling of the tale.

How much of this is actually funny is a question of taste, but even a confirmed Perry hater might get caught laughing once or twice.

An absurd amount of grisly fun, which is a good thing, since, looked at in any great detail, it probably doesn't hold up all that well.

It's a soapy, predictable ride where everyone learns about the importance of family. And though it's just a Christmas tree away from being a holiday special, the stellar cast wrings just enough genuine emotion out of a stale premise to make it mostly sweet.

Skeptical at first, perhaps a little embarrassed, but before you know it, you're having a blast.

The one-note joke plays out longer and better than you might expect, at least for a while. But not forever.

Lola Versus isn't a bad movie. It's just not a particularly noteworthy one. It's too self-consciously ... everything.

The problem with movies based on a single joke is that a single joke is rarely funny enough to sustain the running time of a feature-length film. And with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, the whole joke is in the title.

Scafaria gives her characters and the situation an absurdist tone that makes the whole concept a little more palatable.

You won't find a lot of jaw-dropping elements in Brave. But what you will find is really well-done.

It is, at times, a charming reprieve from the usually dour cinematic explorations of Middle Eastern conflicts. But big-hearted and well-intentioned as the film is, it's frequently undone by its own silliness.

This is the rare movie with no one to root against, a film filled with good guys and weird guys (and gals), all of whom you hope find what they're looking for, even if you know that's not possible.

This is one of those movies you feel stupider just for having sat through. I think I'm already worse at math.

Shankman gets enormously entertaining performances from Tom Cruise and Alec Baldwin, so much so that it's a problem: The movie's not about them.

The cast is intriguing, with Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci and Kristin Scott Thomas as the targets of Pattinson's ambitious amour. But they're not given a whole lot to do -- at least not much that's interesting.

As the filmmakers trace the troubles of his later life -- psychological, financial, marital -- they flesh out a portrait of a reluctant guru whose human imperfections make him all the more inspiring.

Madagascar 3 has a problem: It rarely slows down enough to let us really enjoy it.

There isn't a false note among the performances. It's the first movie for Hayward and Gilman; whatever awkwardness they display is appropriate. Willis may never have been better. Norton is fantastic. Murray and McDormand are also ... well, you get the idea.

A strong cast can't save Virginia.

Prometheus is a good movie, sometimes very good. It's just not a great movie.

There are plenty of reasons not to like The Intouchables, but Omar Sy's terrific performance blows right past them.

The result is a pious mess of a movie that falls short both as history and as storytelling.