Coscarelli's screenplay introduces an abundance of intriguing concepts but never goes very far with any of them. The characters are paper thin and the special effects are laughably bad.

Narrative weakness and bad horror tropes get in the way and Mama's ending disappoints.

Whether the core flaw lies in the script or is the result of overly aggressive editing, the final result is offers only sporadic glimpses of the compelling thriller Broken City fails to evolve into.

The film, directed by South Korean Jee-woon Kim, hits all the necessary action beats and effectively blends in the humor.

There's little in the basic narrative to grasp and hold the viewer's attention, but the way the lines are delivered and the charisma of the performers lend charm and substance to the overall viewing experience.

Gangster Squad provides a welcome burst of heat and color, even if those qualities are more illusory than real and subject to a fast fade.

Unfortunately, much of what's good about Promised Land is easily forgotten as a result of the preachy, impossible-to-swallow final 15 minutes in which the protagonist is subjected to character assassination, the screenplay turns into a sermon, and narrative intelligence is discarded in favor of a message.

This may sound depressing and, in a sense it is, but these things are part of life and Haneke conveys them with a simplicity that is heartbreaking.

Jack Reacher has the distinction of being little more than it initially appears to be: a clumsily condensed mystery/thriller novel made into a movie that offers little more than every other clumsily condensed mystery/thriller novel made into a movie.

Despite the occasional brutality of the material, Django Unchained includes some of the best laugh aloud scenes of any 2012 motion picture, regardless of the genre.

Les Miserables understandably cuts some of the stage production's numbers, but all of the major anthems are intact and wonderfully presented.

Although This is 40 is too long and at times over-the-top, its essence is grounded in everyday moments and emotions that will have viewers nodding with understanding and recognition.

Guilt Trip is cinematic comfort food for road trip fans who aren't given indigestion by Streisand.

A compelling contemporary thriller with the added benefit of also being an engrossing character study.

The film's adult leads, Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor, give powerful, natural performances.

It isn't as delirious a journey as we experienced a decade ago, but it's still filled with wonder, monsters, and thrills.

A sloppy, poorly focused comedy.

Instead of focusing on FDR as a president, this movie gives up half its length to tawdry soap opera.

On autopilot from beginning to end, Lay the Favorite feels like sitcom blown up to big-screen proportions. The laughs aren't raucous or numerous, the character development is sketchy at best, and the insider's perspective on bookies and gambling is superficial.

Even some who generally enjoy gangster films may be turned off by this one, with its focus on dialogue over action and its harsh style.

Deadfall suffers most obviously from a sense of not being adequately developed.

The best segments of the film occur early, as the setting is established with a dose of "Friday Night Lights" normalcy followed by an invasion that recalls "Independence Day."

Life of Pi is a curious juxtaposition of the mundane and the majestic; a film that strives for something grander than what it perhaps achieves.

Anthony Hopkins is probably a shoe-in for an Oscar nomination.

Rise of the Guardians is enjoyable as a stand-alone adventure - not groundbreaking animation but a solidly entertaining 90 minutes for older children and adults.

Lincoln paints a powerful and compelling portrait of the man who has become an icon. We don't need to see more of his life to understand how rare a figure he was - this window is more than sufficient.

I'm not a religious man but, Hallelujah! I may not be done with Meyer but at least I'll never again have to cope with the angst, self-absorption, and vampire mythology mutilation that characterized these five movies.

The best thing that can be said about Wright's immersion into the world of Tolstoy is that it's interesting - a quality not always true of Anna Karenina adaptations. The movie also doesn't feel rushed, successfully capturing more of the novel's secondary stories into its fabric.