Absent the actual music, Notorious would be a lot worse.

Director Steve Carr ("Daddy Day Care") tries nothing new in the world of aesthetics. Should be no surprise considering that any film put out by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions doesn't really need to take any kind of cinematic risk.

A chick flick in the purest sense--it's not about men or falling in love--and is quite funny.

Coupled with decent acting but average cinematography and editing, Not Easily Broken hums more fittingly to the tune of a LifeTime television event.

This is the sort of film that fails on every single aspect it aims for.

A little sentimentality can fuel a lot of action, yet Zwick buries his film in cloying guilt, in the end sinking Defiance with the holocaust film's bait.

An interesting idea, thoughtfully acted and visually intriguing. However, it is nearly undone by a lead character that fails to represent the general idea that the film is allegedly about.

I couldn't escape the fact that Revolutionary Road seems like a really, really good episode of "Mad Men." There's smoking, drinking, cheating and like the excellent TV show, the lure of a bigger better deal always rules the day. But the film differs in many ways once you get beyond surface appearances.

Benjamin Button is pretty much just "Gump" with better cinematography.

Too bad Guy Pearce who plays Kendall, the obvious villain, couldn't do the same thing. His awful performance here will almost make you forget he was "Memento" and "L.A. Confidential."

Not many actors could do justice to the vanilla story presented by Grogan and screenwriters Scott Frank and Don Roos, but Wilson and Aniston – two of the blandest, most uninteresting actors working today – are just the actors to pull it off.

Valkyrie just misses out on being a great film (it’s no Black Book), but it easily merits mention as a good one.

The tragic, violent true-life tale that concerns Waltz with Bashir is rendered even more powerful in animated form than it would likely have in life-action.

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.

If the slightly generic Yes Man is symbolic of the new, happier Jim Carrey, then it is a small price to pay for his piece of mind.

The Class is a one-trick show: once you spot its approach, the narrative falls into a routine. To the "nsiders," the film is as familiar as an an aerial virtual reality ride would be to an airplane pilot. (This is hardly a surprise, since Bégaudeau was himself once an insider, though now safe in a film critic's chair.)

Seven Pounds is the very definition of a 'noble failure.'

It is a rock-solid entertainment, made by adults, starring adults, and intended for adults.

The Wrestler could have been a groundbreaking drama, one that upturns the sensational genre roots from which it stems. With Rourke in such form, it could have been character-driven to the core – if only Aronofsky trusted his character enough to resist screenwriter Siegel's contrived plot thrusts.

When done well, they are scintillating cinematic brain teasers, and Timecrimes is one of the best time travel films to come along in, er, quite some time.

A 'so-so' movie. It's not particularly good, but it's competent and more or less successful in its goals.

The type of film I would call eternally frustrating. Boasting a solid cast and an amazing look, the film is a mishmash of film noir, mystery and bluesy big band song and dance numbers that on a surface level play brilliantly.

Exhausting yet invigorating, it's a drama one witnesses more than just views.

Gran Torino is not a masterpiece. It’s a fun character drama that features a knowing but winning final performance by Clint Eastwood and just enough commentary to make it worth discussing.

Provides mostly entertaining spectacle.

It is worth seeking out for a brutally honest, achingly realistic, and emotionally compelling look at the other side of petty crime – the slow, painful path to legitimacy.

The shallowest "serious" film to be reeling this year.

Unless you're an antsy movie-goer or have a cold heart, by the end of Wendy and Lucy, you'll be engrossed, hoping for the best possible outcome.

Fails to add anything of substance to the history that it portrays.

While Hunger is a very brutal film, it also taps into human emotions and, in the end, asks what would we be willing to die for or, better, what could we truly not live without?

Although it's possible to enjoy the first act and third act carnage without paying attention to the plot mechanics, the storyline itself continuously reminds us of the fallacy of Castle’s quest.

The film does contain a couple of interesting thrills here and there. However, this film would have been better off thrown straight to DVD.

To put it in the best light possible, I recommend thinking of Four Christmases not so much as a really short movie but as a very special holiday episode of a sitcom.

A fine character study and a solid look at a specific political movement and a certain time and place.

Q: When is a vampire not a vampire? A: When it goes out in daylight, sees itself in a mirror, doesn’t drink human blood, and still manages to suck.

This is a weird little movie, and it's an interesting trip accompanying Dick Ritchie on his transformation.

With measured visual flash, Luhrmann highlights the delightful presence of his two stars and realizes an unlikely feelgood film, in spite of its grave matters.

Quantum of Solace may be explosive with images of fiery infernos, but it's convoluted and confusing, the plot playing second fiddle to its set pieces.

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.

We Are Wizards is a nifty look at a few small but significant slices of Potter mania that evokes interest rather than provoking disdain, not always an easy feat.

Absolutely perfect family entertainment for anyone over the age of ten. It is a celebration of not just the usual triumph of the human spirit, but a celebration of the human experience.

If "Models'" comedy is a bore, the characters' redemption is sheer agony – not to mention the shameless pop-cultural referencing that repeats like a bad taco.

Let’s not lose sight of what's really been accomplished here. Alex and Marty – just like Batman and Robin, Fred and Barney, and Snagglepuss – are welcome additions to the gay animation pantheon.

Only time will tell whether REPO! can live up to its cult potential, but the potential is most definitely there.

The film's overall result is a document of towering, devastating emotional impact.

The movie's front-loaded with puerile, junior high humor (and, admittedly, several laugh out loud moments), which is fine, but all this still followed by an increasingly awkward and clichéd third act.

My Name Is Bruce can be read as a man coming to terms with the career that he has been dealt, or it can be read as simply a trashy B-movie directed by the man who knows best.

There’s something fundamentally unconvincing and contrived about the story. Forget the fact that O’Connor hauls out every cliché in the bad cop handbook and the dialogue is more boilerplate than hard-boiled. The premise itself is just plain preposterous.

Right out of the gate, we realize that bringing the series to the big screen makes the flaws that much more obvious. The voices are too thin, the music and lyrics too simplistic, and the production values are – frankly – too "televisual."

This is easily the smallest-scale of the sequels, and it has the feeling of a massively shrunken budget.

Changeling is an almost universally impressive all-around effort, and is the best "dirty underbelly of Los Angeles" movie since "L.A. Confidential."

The best fairy tales always have so much darkness in them. That's why they resonate so deeply. This is a magnificent film.

It is a sprawling, ambitious and very long look at so many things, it's almost a miracle he was able to wrap it up in just two hours. And yet, for a film that is principally about death, the conclusion is surprisingly life-affirming, especially coming from Kaufman.

A visually exhilarating trip through the darker regions of the subconscious.

W. is the kind of film that demands discussion and only then can we start to decipher what Stone's intentions are towards our President.

Simple, it is as by-the-books formulaic as can be, and there's not a surprise around that the corner that isn't obvious immediately.

Should have billed itself as a fairy tale, as that’s the only possible way to swallow what Prince-Bythewood and Kidd are feeding us.

The movie's original moments drown in its overall derivation.

If FrontRunners doesn't teach you something about politics, at least it will entertain you.

Depressingly inert.

Worth seeing for its solid first two acts, some terrific acting by some favorite character actors, and a several solid spook-show scares.

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.

Excellent directing coupled with a smart script and solid acting make Choose Connor a movie worth your time.

In the vast wasteland of romantic comedies, this lovely film defies the tired genre.

If you're a fan of the early Ritchie comedy-crime thrillers, then this is not only right up your alley, it's a long lost relative returning home.

Packs a full plate of gasps and giggles.

Isn't nearly as offensive to the senses as I originally thought it would be when first presented with the trailer.

The able cast can't swim through the muck.

The role is ill-suited for Kinnear's talents. Abraham's pacing is glacial, the cinematography is flat, the score by Jill Savitt is suited better to a supermarket and then there's the fact that the climax can be seen coming a mile away. Maybe the biggest, though, is its failure to play fair with the audience.

As successful as this family drama is, Demme proves himself to be quite a multitasker. With the skill of an ethnographer and the passion of a sentimentalist, he celebrates the traditions of marriage in a handful of tender set pieces.

What they produced is something that is true not just to this place or to these people's lives, or to the lives of poor people or black people, but to the experience of being human.

In the end, the film isn't a complete waste of your time, and it is a neat little walk down a Patriot Act assisted cyber-terrorist "what if..." scenario, but don't expect anything brilliant.

So think of it this way: Miracle at St. Anna is a Spike Lee joint that possesses a European texture in the vein of Guillermo Del Toro and Jean Pierre-Jeunet. Imaginative, thought-provoking, and intense.

The film feels flat. I don't know how to express my criticism much more than to say that things unfold before you, but you never really engage in the world beyond just watching it.

Just the type of small film that, if given a chance to be seen by audiences, could become somewhat of a hit for grownups ala "Sideways" or "The Squid and the Whale."

This is what "Nightmare" fans have been waiting fifteen years for.

A pretty provocative film, that is until it implodes into standard formulaic Hollywood crap.

The romantic subplot dovetails wonderfully with Harris' tribute to the genre's golden age. The moral quest of taming the West always thrived if a lady could be won in tandem.

Overall, director Deborah Kempmeir mistakes ominous and depressing for deep and meaningful, a misfire that undermines the effect it tries to achieve.

A roller coaster of emotions that will have you laughing one moment and gasping in shock the next.

I'd like to recognize Russell Gewirtz for a screenplay that boasts humor, an impressive plot twist, and for setting up plenty of room for De Niro and Pacino to get their grooves back in order.

Like Ed Wood with a decent budget and a vision impaired by mind-expanding drugs, Christmas on Mars is about just that.

Racism, teen sex, and war are all hot button issues. When you are a young person these things can seem new and confusing. In Alan Ball’s genius Towelhead, all of those above mentioned subjects go hand-in-hand in a truly wonderful cinematic experience.

I didn't hate this film. I didn't find it to be a waste of time or brain waves. Given the reasons I saw the film, I suppose I'm 50% disappointed.

This Scottish film often pushes for realism, though its stylish tones fall back on whimsy.

This simple film can be quite a great diversion from our every day grind. The camera style, characters, and visual look are all quite impressive, while maintaining an easy accessibility for the audience's eyes. It is only too bad that the film feels so sluggish.

Wants to be three different films at one time but sadly never asks much from Diesel other than to grunt, stomp around, and reprise the role that made him a star.

While it is a glossy crowd pleaser, it still has a few typically off the wall, classic Miike touches.

A sweetly engaging effort that manages a fair amount of charm and innocence in spite of the rather seedy surroundings.

While it's too smart to be shelved on the porn rack, "YPF" (a neutered acronym for Young People F**king, its original title) shoots Judd Apatow-styled raunch into previously uncharted stratospheres of frank sexual humor.

A clichéd and painfully formulaic little film.

The film is creepy, I'll give it that, but it also has that smalltown, dramatic bend.

The movie is quiet and minimal in its dialogue, and it has flashes of humor and thoughtfulness. However, it's also unbearably slow and hard to empathize with Mikey when we don't really know what his problem is.

Not terribly original or funny.

The whole thing feels like a continuation of Lucas' experiments to see how much sh-- his dwindling supporters will take before finally saying "enough" and moving on to adult pursuits.

Let's not kid ourselves: There's something about Javi.

If you can wait until near the end, you're in for some fun. But after an hour-plus, it's a pretty long wait.

To top everything off, Tom Cruise may just have resurrected his career with the role of Les Grossman.