On balance, one could argue that Seven Psychopaths warrants a better rating than a mediocre **1/2, but the aftertaste is so bitter that it diminishes the sweetness that started off the meal.

Even though the ending is inescapable (and therefore predictable), that does little to diminish its effectiveness.

Recognizing that many of the movie's elements are lifted from actual events elevates the importance of what the movie has to say.

Taken 2 is more of the same, except a little bigger, a little dumber, and a little less invigorating.

V/H/S comes across as a production that wants to be more than it is but, as they say, The Emperor has no clothes.

This is a more personal movie for Burton than one might initially suspect. The very fact that he elected to re-tell this story after 28 years is an indication of how much it means to him. And I wouldn't be surprised to learn that, as a kid, he had a dog named Sparky.

There are some splendidly over-the-top performances - chiefly those of Nicole Kidman and John Cusack, both cast against type - but the biggest narrative hole lies at the center. The lead character, played by Zac Efron, is dull, uninteresting, and poorly conceived.

It's juvenile from start to finish, which is fine if you're young, but not so great if your sole purpose in a theater is to accompany someone who's young.

Pitch Perfect looks, sounds, and feels like pretty much every other movie that features a singing or dancing competition.

Looper is a tremendous motion picture experience. Not merely a "very good" one, but a great one.

This is a character we have seen a million times before and Eastwood brings little that's new or original to the part. The movie as a whole can be labeled with the same criticism.

Liberal Arts is a parfait - a light, enjoyable concoction that goes down easily but doesn't linger. The movie is great "in the moment" but may be difficult to recall with any specificity after time has elapsed.

The problem with End of Watch, a gripping police drama, is director David Ayer's stylistic decision to shoot nearly the entire movie tripod-less. Or, to put it another way, there's a whole lotta shakin' going on.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower tweaks the formula just enough to remain fresh and offer something a little new. It's sad, funny, warm, and nostalgic - kind of like high school, really.

If there's a serious disappointment, it's the villain. Ma-Ma, despite being played with over-the-top zest by Lena Headey, isn't a very impressive foil for the mighty Judge Dredd, even when she calls for "back-up."

Arbitrage is actually a fairly straightforward thriller in the John Grisham vein. It doesn't demand that the viewer know the difference between a hedge fund and a hedgehog. Arbitrage also reminds us that thrillers do not have to be action-packed to generate tension.

Yet, for all of The Master's laudable elements, it falls short of greatness for one simple reason: the storytelling is unspectacular.

The French have an entirely different idea of what constitutes a "comedy" from the Americans. Little White Lies is classified as a "comedy" in its country of origin. I suppose that's meant in a Shakespearean sense, because there's not a lot of humor in Canet's screenplay, which is primarily dramatic and includes scenes of outright tragedy.

A preposterous thriller where the only thing more disappointing than the ending is the 93 minutes it takes to get there.

The film is worth seeing for the humor and for its high level of energy, but it falls short of being the "complete package." It's probably a better pick for home viewing than a trip to a theater.

The performances, excepting perhaps Olivia Wilde's odd turn, are solid, and the central story never loses our attention, but there's a lingering aftertaste of vague dissatisfaction.

I don't often use the words "godawful" and "abomination" to describe a movie, preferring to reserve such terminology for extreme instances when I feel duped and mortally offended. Case in point: Bachelorette.

The strength of the cast assembled by Australian-born director John Hillcoat is eye-opening.

This one delivers.

Where About Cherry fails is in its depiction of interpersonal relationships. Nearly all of them are flat and uninspired.

A slow, meandering misfire of a movie.

The only time Sparkle evidences energy is during the song performances, of which there are too few. The half-baked melodrama provides an unappealing and overlong buffer between them that fails to justify the nearly two-hour running time.

On the whole, The Expendables 2 is more satisfying than "The Expendables."