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| 1. |
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05/15/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...casts a genuinely noir spell, and gives Samuel L. Jackson the chance to show how interesting an actor he can be when not straitjacketed into rote action roles." |
| 2. |
|
05/09/12 |
Very Good |
 "Nothing much happens in this happy tribute to the gentle art of being human... It's an exuberant yet tender journey, never descending into saccharine cuteness or manufactured melodrama." |
| 3. |
|
04/25/12 |
Poor |
 "Fertile ground for perversity, murder and madness, if only director James McTeigue and company had been able to see further than a low-rent mash-up of 'Seven' and 'Saw.' " |
| 4. |
|
04/20/12 |
Weak |
 "...never really steams up the screen with any psychosexual hijinks, and it falls way short of successfully mining vampirism as fertile metaphor for Sapphic love..." |
| 5. |
|
04/10/12 |
Moderate |
 "...may be largely a dramatic dud, but there are a couple compelling reasons to watch it.... Michelle Yeoh and David Thewlis possess a peculiar, believable chemistry." |
| 6. |
|
03/27/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "Good for lowdown fun... invites us in to celebrate its idiosyncratic bunch of sweet-natured goons. Handicapped they may be, but not one could be said to lack game." |
| 7. |
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03/20/12 |
Moderate |
 "...a glossy entertainment sufficiently bland and sanitized that it will offend no one.... nothing lasts long enough to touch -- or wound -- us deeply.... risk rarely makes itself felt..." |
| 8. |
|
03/15/12 |
Moderate |
 "...verging-on-sitcom silliness... The kind of arch indie comedy that likes looking at itself... wears thin, all surface and not that much heart." |
| 9. |
|
03/06/12 |
Very Good |
 "...surpasses its source thanks to Elizabeth Olsen's powerful performance and Igor Martinovic's strikingly imaginative camerawork." |
| 10. |
|
03/02/12 |
Moderate |
 "John Bunting and his acolytes are too repulsive to identify with, and director Justin Kurzel isn't assured enough to lasso us with a strong narrative through-line." |
| 11. |
|
02/15/12 |
Moderate |
 "The third film by the Wisconsin-born Sprecher sisters -- director Jill and co-writer Karen... plays as mild, less-than-lethal noir.... Camerawork, courtesy of Dick Pope, is outstanding..." |
| 12. |
|
02/15/12 |
Poor |
 "...a droopy love triangle seriously short on sexual chemistry, not to mention the kind of playful self-awareness that can spice up even the blandest romantic comedy." |
| 13. |
|
02/09/12 |
Weak |
 "...swaddled in sanitized Saran wrap... most of 'The Vow' consists of McAdams staring at Tatum and vice versa. This is not a productive trope." |
| 14. |
|
02/02/12 |
Weak |
 "...a slog through a dismal slough, jolted every ten minutes or so by jack-in-the-box scares... ultimately little more than a herky-jerky perpetual-motion scare machine." |
| 15. |
|
01/27/12 |
Weak |
 "...fails, due to a convoluted plot that's also stunningly improbable." |
| 16. |
|
01/16/12 |
Excellent |
 "...brings one of Shakespeare's lesser-known tragic heroes to ferocious life... played in modern dress but voiced in the bard's eloquently corrosive language." |
| 17. |
|
12/19/11 |
Moderate |
 "Tonally jarring and structurally disjointed, it's a punishingly long and bumpy ride.... Even top-notch actors Mullan, Watson and Thewlis can't transcend their 'types'..." |
| 18. |
|
12/15/11 |
Poor |
 "Eighty-seven minutes, the duration of this auditory assault, would be sufficient to slaughter every brain cell and induce blithering idiocy." |
| 19. |
|
12/08/11 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...deftly marries hard reality and authentically poignant moments.... aided and abetted by Jonah Hill's far-from-skin-deep performance." |
| 20. |
|
12/06/11 |
Poor |
 "...screams downer from the get-go.... a music video masquerading as movie, all whacked-out sound and fury, signifying nothing." |
