Some of the funniest scenes belong to Ice Cube's "angry black captain" who goes on profane rants that would make Samuel L. Jackson proud.

It's a funny movie, although rarely is the humor of the loud, obnoxious kind we have come to associate with Ferrell. It's not unlike "Blazing Saddles."

The result is an entertaining diversion but it lacks the magnificence one desires in the opening chapter of a would-be franchise.

The bad news is that Silent House is 88 minutes long, and the final half hour represents a descent into an anticlimax that ends with a scene as dumb as it is disappointing.

It's not a stretch to say the movie works in large part because of the charm and sparkle of the three leads: Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, and Kristin Scott Thomas.

Project X's first-person verisimilitude is the movie's primary strength and most damning weakness.

The result is solidly entertaining - not quite as good as "Horton Hears a Who" or "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" - but unquestionably better than "The Cat in the Hat."

Okay, Wanderlust has its moments. It's sporadically funny - funny enough to deliver a good laugh or two. The problem is, it doesn't do more than that, and the comedy is inconsistent.

The best I can say is that I was never bored, although I was never overwhelmed, either. There are enough small things to keep it interesting even when many of the big things fail.

For acting to be this bad in movie not directed by Michael Bay or George Lucas, it has to be intentional.

This Means War is not funny enough to succeed as a comedy. It's not emotionally deft enough to succeed as a romance. And it's not exciting enough to succeed as an action film. It's a high-energy, fast-paced explosion of moments that can be edited together to make a compelling trailer.

The cast is comprised of unfamiliar faces, which enhances the pseudo-reality of the milieu. The principals - Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, and Michael B. Jordan - are professional actors with credits (many on television) to their names. But they are not "known" stars and that allows them to be accepted with ease into these roles.

The only reason any male could have for seeing The Vow is the hope of getting laid afterwards. The only reason any female could have for seeing The Vow is if she views the plots of Harlequin romance novels as the height of modern storytelling.

The pacing is uneven, the frenetic action is rarely suspenseful, the dialogue is neither witty nor intelligent, and the anticlimactic endgame drags out to an improbable conclusion.

Perfect Sense offers an epic tale seen through the prism of a tiny, intimate story. It's the inverse of "Contagion," which sacrificed character to scope.

The production company is Hammer Films, a venerable name in British horror. Responsible for some of the best monster movies of the '50s and '60s, when Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee were a favorite team, Hammer has endured over the years. Now, as then, the Hammer name is an assurance that terror, not soulless special effects, lies at the heart of the production. The Woman in Black bears this out.

The Help's most apparent flaw is a tendency to paint with broad strokes. With only a few exceptions, it avoids shades of gray.

Rarely are the characters as well developed and believable as they are here.

There's an almost poetic quality to the way things develop, with characters becoming increasingly introspective.

It is a mystery and a courtroom drama. Above all, however, it is a tale of love and sacrifice.

On balance, Man on a Ledge is fun, but I left the theater feeling disappointed and cheated, as if the filmmakers set me up for something great they ultimately couldn't deliver.

Sadly, the result is a disappointment. Sure, the aerial battles are technically adept and occasionally exhilarating, but it's almost painful to sit through some of the "drama" that occurs on the ground.

This is one of the director's mainstream efforts, although his penchant for the offbeat and oddly artistic has not been completely reined in. But there's plenty of unsparing, bone-crunching violence to dismiss the idea that Soderbergh is making an art film in disguise.

Coriolanus deserves to be seen, however, especially among those who enjoy Shakespeare without considering themselves purists. It's violent, bloody, fast-paced, and powerfully acted. And, if the language represents a barrier of sorts, it's worth remembering that some of the greatest phrases in history derive from Shakespeare's texts.

Contraband is the kind of thriller that offers just enough in the way of effective elements to assemble a two-minute trailer. When it comes to a 110-minute feature, however, the sketchiness of the plotting and the director's lack of sure-handedness sink the project.

Ultimately, however, A Dangerous Method is less about the formative years of psychotherapy and two of its progenitors than it is about a rule-breaking extramarital affair.

The most disappointing aspect of The Iron Lady is that some of the most memorable hallmarks of Thatcher's time in power are glossed over.

The movie's point, which is impossible to miss, is that it's hard being black & gay in America and, while there's undoubtedly truth in that sentiment, it doesn't necessarily make for a compelling motion picture circa 2011.