|
| 1. |
|
11/05/11 |
Very Good |
 "...a perfectly calibrated Christmas cheer machine designed to prove the awesomeness of friends, family, and drugs." |
| 2. |
|
11/12/11 |
Moderate |
 "...veers between the genuinely striking and the strikingly generic." |
| 3. |
|
11/23/11 |
Good |
 "It may not entirely work as a movie, but it shines as a piece of touching pop nostalgia.... don't be surprised if the grown-ups find themselves inspired to sing along..." |
| 4. |
|
11/30/11 |
Very Good |
 "...keeps threatening to spin out of control; don't look for easy resolutions or clear narrative lines... Harrelson is a force of nature here, and watching him takes your breath away." |
| 5. |
|
12/05/11 |
Fair |
 "...the stilted acting, the antiseptic settings, the painstaking compositions... struggles to say something relevant -- which is sad, because it clearly wants to say so much." |
| 6. |
|
12/05/11 |
Good |
 "Perhaps, after all the idiosyncratic soul he's brought to his gangster movies over the years, Kitano has finally decided to give the audience the purest form... it's a purge." |
| 7. |
|
12/09/11 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...this is one confused movie. But it's not an altogether unsuccessful one." |
| 8. |
|
01/16/12 |
Very Good |
 "...that rare Hollywood genre film that earns its intensity rather than forcing it upon you.... an atmospheric, effectively nasty, quietly tense little action flick..." |
| 9. |
|
01/19/12 |
Weak |
 "...feels so devoid of life or edge, eager to please and fearful of offense.... It's history as a boy's adventure, which makes it doubly strange that Lucas would mess this up." |
| 10. |
|
01/20/12 |
Moderate |
 "The series has opted to go in a more 'Resident Evil direction': less heavy-handed mythology, more heads exploding." |
| 11. |
|
01/30/12 |
Poor |
 "...it feels slipshod and disjointed, almost as if scenes have been placed out of order." |
| 12. |
|
02/03/12 |
Very Good |
 "...maintains a kind of austere, provincial integrity. In the end, it's just a movie about the joys and dangers of finally having some power over our fate." |
| 13. |
|
02/06/12 |
Fair |
 "...the film bulldozes any genuine nuance or insight or even emotion in exchange for ready-made plot points and by-the-numbers catharsis." |
| 14. |
|
02/13/12 |
Fair |
 "...something feels a little off, conceptually... the imbalance of emotional temperatures at the film's heart feels fatal for something so dependent on chemistry." |
| 15. |
|
02/13/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...sometimes fun, though never enough to mask the movie's breathtaking lack of imagination.... the movie does have its moments." |
| 16. |
|
02/20/12 |
Moderate |
 "No movie that casts Ciarán Hinds as The Devil can be all bad... wants to wow us with its unrestrained, hyper-stylized, WTF-ness... way too disposable for its own good." |
| 17. |
|
02/20/12 |
Fair |
 "...a vaguely comic pseudo-thriller... decidedly naturalistic.... tries to play everything straight... It wants to fool us, but it doesn't want to give us anything in return." |
| 18. |
|
02/26/12 |
Fair |
 "...a step back from Perry's earlier boisterous and wildly melodramatic work, but he doesn't exactly replace it with anything.... you actually miss the crazy side of Perry." |
| 19. |
|
02/26/12 |
Moderate |
 "As a no-holds-barred recruiting video, 'Act of Valor' kicks all sorts of ass. As an actual movie, however, it barely coheres." |
| 20. |
|
02/27/12 |
Poor |
 "...it's always tough to spend most of a movie wondering whether the characters are morons and/or lunatics... played mostly straight, it comes off as ludicrous and lame." |
