Rote, dull and point-blank obvious.

Almodovar makes some missteps in his icky mélange of melodrama and mischief, but the end result is playfully devious.

This one could have flown over the cuckoo's nest, or smacked into a glass pane, but instead lands in the middle of the road where quirky and popular meet.

In terms of scares, this old-fashioned Thing is better than most new things.

Oddly, Craig Brewer has softened the tone for his remake. But nearly everything else remains intact, and -- surprisingly -- that's just enough to win us over.

Philippe Le Guay's carefully-tailored crowd-pleaser does have its pleasures, even if originality is not among them.

This drama, as traditional as its subject was epochal, is earnest and studious to a fault. Rarely has a film about upheaval felt more like a textbook.

There's as much social history of L.A.'s racial divide as there is appreciation for the band's big, genre-crossing sound. It all comes together for a rollicking chronicle of verve and nerve.

Director Mateo Gill's autumnal movie has elements of other late-era Westerns in its blood, but it isn't easily pigeonholed. There are shootouts and standoffs, as well as great scenes like one between the grizzled, perfectly cast Shepard and Rea discussing the cost of criminality and the changing morals of old men.

In either a stunningly brave or misguided act of meta-absurdity, Real Steel, which is about a boy, his dad and the robot that changes their lives, actually feels as if it were made inside the mind of a kid obsessed with robots.

He's (Clooney) got the makings of a great movie here: one that represents our politically surreal times with keen insight and appropriate cynicism. It's only when he veers off the path, suddenly worried he'll lose our attention, that he falters.

It should surprise no one that visually quirky, graphic-novelish, pulp-noir action flicks rarely come through the sausage machine intact.

Broomfield's point that Palin followers threaten her enemies, though, is worthy of a different documentary - perhaps one about American fanaticism.

This heartbreaking and essential look into the lives of those who put so much into educating other people's children ought to be seen by anyone concerned about the fate of the public school system, and the nation as a whole.

This comedy is empty.

Margaret - titled after a poem - reflects its adolescent subject with striking accuracy. It can be frustrating and self-important, clumsy and naive. But it's also passionate, curious and filled with insight, so unafraid in its ambitions that even the flaws are interesting. Every bold vision requires respect; a few deserve celebration. This is one of them, imperfections and all.

Nichols approaches his subject with thoughtful empathy, and while his themes are enormous - he's addressing no less than the state of our nation - he wisely underplays even the most important moments.

Dream House is the full magilla, with imaginary images, sanity questions, peek-a-boo startles and the usual are-they-real-or-not? characters.

50/50 pulls no punches in its depiction of living day-to-day with illness. There's pain and fear, no question. But this dramatic comedy is also warm, honest and, most especially, funny.

A ridiculously cheesy confection filled with unthrilling thrills, bored-looking adults and a comically overstuffed backstory.

The result is far too high-and-mighty to truly be moving.

Parents should know that the ending makes the last moments of this family-friendly documentary as tough as "Bambi." But the lessons about friendship are gigantic, indeed.

Transporting as it is, this doc leaves a bad taste in your mouth, if just for the ill will it drudges up.

Warm memories of one school under a groove and a moving ending that no screenwriter could improve upon.

Kurt Cobain, TicketMaster and the tragic concert in Roskilde, Denmark, are addressed through plentiful backstage footage. If only it was about something other than rockers almost irked they got famous.

Most of the family films churned out today are so junky it's almost a shock to find one in which the animals never spout sassy one-liners, or show off their hilarious hip-hop moves.

When Robert De Niro, Clive Owen and Jason Statham unite for an action thriller, we should be able to expect something special. Or at least memorable. Instead, Killer Elite gives us ordinary.

This extraordinary hybrid of a movie lives and breathes the game, yet its achievement is bigger than that. There's a touch of old-fashioned romanticism here, but more crucially there's strategy going on inside Bennett Miller's movie that turns it into something cool and special.

Rois has moments of desperate urgency and depth, but Twyker's love of parallels is finally done in by artsy shots of the threesome au naturel against stark white backdrops.

This overly twee, morbidly cute romance initially digs up the ageless "Harold and Maude" as a touchstone before it slips the coils of watchability.

Though Lorenz Knauer's film is as thoughtful as his subject - with a break for interviews with Pierce Brosnan and Goodall's fellow UN Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie - the study of chimps is given short shrift.

If you could also use some time off, try his gentle new comedy.

While Lurie could have gone lighter on the symbolism, he ratchets up the tension with deft intelligence. He's not just making a thriller but a horror film, and we feel his own fear in every scene.

From the wry narration to the girlish mannerisms, Parker really does turn this film into "Sex and the Kiddies."

For all the movement in Drive, the quiet, deathly still moments are the ones that count.

This god-awful, unfunny, stinkingly putrid sketch-comic movie has exactly one snicker-worthy moment, involving Kevin Nealon and a stolen grape. But watching the rest of it will make you whine.

Lengthy clips of leaders including Angela Davis and Stokely Carmichael bring us back to emotional moments in this country's history.

To see these children of waitresses, salon workers and fathers on disability burdened because they stepped up is humanizing and heartbreaking.

These World Wrestling Entertainment-produced movies are a world unto themselves: Cliché-ridden B-flicks anchored by monstrously huge grapplers giving acting their all.

Jackie Chan's cameo as a monastery cook is a tiny joy. To see Chan use his once-great physical skill on a hunk of bread dough is to see a giant work in miniature.

Most of the actresses are appealing, but ultimately not even the gifted Mara can keep the film from feeling like a gauzy portrait of privilege.

While Shepard and Tuck earn a few laughs spoofing the celebrity/enabler relationship, the high points come from the game cameos: Ashton Kutcher, Jon Favreau, and Bradley Cooper are drolly entertaining as A-listers who make it perfectly clear that they're doing their buddy a big favor by appearing in his movie.

Has moments of power that push through a fake-out script.

There's a sense of dread in Contagion, but it never spreads to us. When Day 1 is finally shown, it makes you want to eat better, which isn't the same as saying this is a great movie.

Has no thrills, no chills, no scares and contains a villain, or several of them, actually, that will turn you to stone -- from boredom.

More cold fish than cold-blooded, director Alain Correau keeps his movie buttoned up and predictable.

Based on a true story, co-writer/director Claude Miller ("A Secret") gets points for using a bit of narrative sketchiness to good effect.

Without a satisfying resolution, the movie ultimately sheds very little light on its own subject.

To maximize your entertainment budget, look no further.

What the movie lacks in depth it makes up for in surreal humor, and - just as he should - Gainsbourg look-alike Elmosnino seduces us effortlessly.

There's a climactic putt, of course, but by then you wish Duvall would get one more "Tender Mercies" under his belt so you can forget about this tin cup of a family flick.

This incredibly moving, touchingly honest and transcendent chronicle of how a handful of people coped after Sept. 11 is not only one of the best distillations of that day, but a monument to humanity lost and gained.

The jokes are hit-and-miss, but the cast is uniformly game, with Labine stealing the show.

The one crime a B-movie should never commit is boring its audience. By even these low standards, Shark Night 3D is dead in the water.

Despite some early whispers of awards potential, The Debt is nothing more than a gritty thriller with a highbrow pedigree.

Zoe Saldana makes being an action hero look so easy in Colombiana, you have to wonder why more actresses don't try it.

This would be tricky territory for the most experienced director, but I can't remember the last time I saw organized religion handled in such an even-handed, thoughtful manner.

Though he has a true appreciation for detail, Joffe has the scar-faced Pinkie so scurvy that Rose ought to run the minute she sees him.

As clichés trot through their sessions - it's like "In Treatment" as bedroom farce - we check out. Huppert, though, is as fearless as ever.

Keshavarz's vision is clear and heartfelt, and everyone has an urgency in their eyes.

Despite a pleasantly laid-back demeanor, you wish it would just get focused.

If you flinch at "boo," you'll find plenty to jump at here. Just don't expect striking originality, or even genuinely memorable eeriness. Still, every time "Dark" starts to feel like a generic thriller, it's saved by the distinctive stamp of co-screenwriter/producer Guillermo del Toro.

There have been so many movies about aspiring superheroes in recent years, they practically constitute their own genre. Though hardly ground-breaking, this whimsical Australian entry is just endearing enough to stand out from the pack.

Marie Féret struggles to hold the film's center throughout, but there's more than enough to distract us, from transcendent music to sumptuous costumes and sets.

Writer/director Mona Achache adapts Muriel Barbery's novel, "The Elegance of the Hedgehog," loosely but skillfully, creating an intimate portrait that resounds with empathy. Comedy and tragedy are given equal respect, and even the quietest souls are valued.

It's a mess from start to finish, but there's still fun to be had in Rob Minkoff's caper comedy.

This thought-provoking but overlong doc wins points for being all-inclusive.

Harlin even makes poor Kilmer go running about. Just like that image, "5 Days" is embarrassingly clumsy.

Cooper, Torre and Dane DeHaan, as a soldier smitten with a local girl, stand out among a strong cast. With its big ideas on an intimate scale, this is Sayles' best in a decade.

Before going off in conventional directions, "Circus" is terrifically weird, funny and garish. Bozo and Clarabelle it ain't.

With the most growling and grunting of any movie this summer - and that includes those apes perched atop the box office - Conan the Barbarian seems at times to have actually been made by barbarians.

Now CDL aficionados have One Day, though it is a tedious addition to this subspecies of rom-com, despite Anne Hathaway's efforts to make us fall for her regardless of the setting.

You'll need a taste for nostalgia to really appreciate Fright Night, which knowingly blends Eighties cheese with Nineties snark - a combination that works better than it sounds.

His years of success aren't as gripping as Kapadia, and Senna's legend, would have us believe. He had no demons besides fame, and no hurdles besides a recklessness that went with the territory.

A lot of gleeful audience members are interviewed in Glee: The 3-D Concert Experience, though the source of their happiness could be a lot of things.

Quale has brought this anemic franchise back to life, with an unexpected infusion of humor and energy.

A darkly comic underachiever that manages to charm almost in spite of itself, Ruben Fleischer's 30 Minutes or Less is probably best watched as it was made: without much evident effort. In other words, wait until it hits DVD, order a pizza and Netflix it.

Emma Stone, for example, is no one's idea of an ugly duckling. And though she offers a sincere effort, she never quite settles into the role of Skeeter.

Those who go looking for tragic relevance in Scott Rosenbaum's debut indie won't find much to grasp onto.

Though it remains a little too enigmatic, Marek Najbrt's Holocaust drama is atmospheric enough to keep us edgy on its heroine's behalf.

The title's accurate; there are lots of minor but magical moments, like witnessing the accidental invention of tie-dye.

Without pushing too heavily, Green makes the parallels between Enrique and Michael's situations genuine.

The result is a dull, high-minded soap opera.

Director Larysa Kondracki's fictionalized account of a true story is underserved by a melodramatic script; the result is like a film of a "60 Minutes" segment. Still, Weisz is strong and smart. And David Strathairn shows up in is-he-good-or-evil? mode.

Like its antiheroes, this slacker tragedy has moments of calm and originality that are sadly obliterated by a tendency toward the extreme. Still, in a kind of reverse apocalypse, the movie's toughest stretch is its first two-thirds, a navel-gazing, semi-romantic nothing-a-thon that falls away in time for the movie to emerge from the ashes.

This summer's best popcorn flick.

There are dull spots, as with any other day, yet "Life" aims to be, and occasionally is, like a YouTube-y "Our Town," giving a sense of what it is to be alive on planet Earth.

This is crucial work, evidenced by a line on a wall of R.I.P. graffiti that reads simply, "I am next." This film of common folks fighting the seemingly inevitable is just as moving.

The twists and turns involve a high-level assassination, corrupt cops, squint-inducing violence and plenty of fearlessness.

The cast is splendid, the script quick-witted and the action satisfying.

Sometimes these characters say things worth hearing. But too often, and in contrast to her first feature, "Me and You and Everyone We Know," July's calculated delivery doesn't reveal the profundity required to elevate it beyond a self-conscious deadpan.

McDonagh indulges in too many '90s affectations, from blaring chapter titles to philosophizing gangsters. But he captures his misty setting's insular atmosphere beautifully.

Dominic Cooper gives a riveting dual performance in The Devil's Double, but the movie is a relentless one-note drama that loses its momentum halfway through.

Azaria channels his inner Charles Nelson Reilly, which helps, as does an evil emoting cat. Kids under 7 will likely giggle at some too-harsh pratfalls, not care about a grown man's fear of procreation, not get all the tiny innuendos and possibly miss how the movie is a fairly successful tourism ad for New York.

It's hard to ignore the fact that very little in the movie feels true - no one clicks as a couple, and there are carefully contrived coincidences around every corner.

The sole treasure of Cowboys & Aliens is that director Jon Favreau ("Iron Man") has fashioned an actual rawhide ride from a graphic novel (that took six writers to wrangle to the screen).

The real problem is that this eager-to-please debut never quite achieves its own, more modest ambitions.

Alas, this learned woman of letters - her expertise became the work of Dostoyevsky, whose major novels Geier nicknames "the five elephants" - is ill served by a trudging approach and dry-as-dust, procedural style.