|
| 1. |
|
10/31/08 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...feels very much like a modest work of community theater. Indeed, everyone speaks in stage whispers and projects to the back of the theater, even from people's bedsides." |
| 2. |
|
01/09/09 |
Weak |
 "...a chick flick that makes its chick characters - and by extension its chick audience - look like hateful, backward toddlers, and there is something wrong with that." |
| 3. |
|
01/09/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...a tub of soapy clichés... all its lessons have been hammered into a screenplay full of coincidences only a daytime television devotee could love." |
| 4. |
|
01/10/09 |
Poor |
 "What begins as a disposable teen spookfest (Girl, don't go in there) ends in a nutty, barely Semitic bloodbath (Dude, don't go there)." |
| 5. |
|
01/16/09 |
Poor |
 "...particularly inept... hypoglycemia, hot sauce, Bobby Cannavale as a SWAT commander, and a climax at the Rainforest Café are put to execrable comic ends." |
| 6. |
|
01/16/09 |
Very Good |
 "Americans may be overwhelmed by the dizzy mix of music, dancing, and kung fu... they should have no trouble appreciating the talent of this extraordinary entertainer." |
| 7. |
|
01/16/09 |
Moderate |
 "It's decent family kibble made by people who genuinely appear to like animals. Stick around for the footage of the cast and crew with their own dogs..." |
| 8. |
|
01/16/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...an enjoyably ridiculous entertainment about a pursy young man with mysterious sex appeal who turns the rap world on its ear." |
| 9. |
|
01/17/09 |
Weak |
 "Lussier stages his movie not so much around nail-biting moments as novel ways to fling entrails at his viewers... there must be worse ways to spend 100 minutes." |
| 10. |
|
01/23/09 |
Moderate |
 "...illustrates an obvious problem with making a movie about the joys of reading when the movie made is labored and sludgy looking: Why bother seeing it..." |
| 11. |
|
01/23/09 |
Moderate |
 "The showdowns and stunt work are watchable. But proficiency is beside the point... You need a spark of madness or glee. Something unforeseen or shameless..." |
| 12. |
|
01/26/09 |
Poor |
 "Patrick Tatopoulos was responsible for the creature effects in the two earlier installments, but he's not great at staging fights or directing actors." |
| 13. |
|
01/30/09 |
Poor |
 "...an indecent, cynical fantasy... if I'm going to watch anybody track down and demolish her violators, I'd rather have a terminator with a little spunk." |
| 14. |
|
01/30/09 |
Poor |
 "...brutally inane... a mess of styles and stolen ideas, including a plot twist that would make M. Night Shyamalan roll his eyes and dialogue straight from a CW scene generator." |
| 15. |
|
01/30/09 |
Moderate |
 "The naughtiness turns nasty, the nastiness turns fatal... It just affords whoever on the film's crew is in charge of splattering blood a chance to frequently do his or her job." |
| 16. |
|
01/30/09 |
Moderate |
 "You've seen it before, and you've seen it done better. Still, it's a sweet-hearted bit of anemia, pleasant and obvious, and there are a few honest laughs to it..." |
| 17. |
|
02/06/09 |
Weak |
 "...this flaccid bid for franchisehood suffers from woeful judgment... Not much of it makes sense. The rest isn't terribly interesting." |
| 18. |
|
02/06/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...pleasurable if empty-headed... good comfort food for most of its running time, thanks to a cast of attractive, unchallenging pros and Ken Kwapis's smooth direction." |
| 19. |
|
02/06/09 |
Poor |
 "Playing Clouseau's exasperated boss, Cleese rams his head into a wall minutes into the action. That's a powerful image, insofar as his headache was mine." |
| 20. |
|
02/06/09 |
Very Good |
 "Do not take a 5-year-old to 'Coraline' unless your health plan covers therapy.... Like its heroine and like its audience, it has a soul." |
