|
| 1. |
|
01/09/09 |
Weak |
 "How bad can a movie be, with Goldilocks Hudson and Cinderella Hathaway?... Hudson's sunshine can't warm it and Hathaway's rose redolence can't mask its stink." |
| 2. |
|
01/16/09 |
Weak |
 "A sprawling slapstick martial-arts spoof and romantic melodrama... entertainingly goofy for about 30 minutes. And then, for the next two hours-plus, it's agony." |
| 3. |
|
01/16/09 |
Moderate |
 "...forgettable, frequently funny and weirdly satisfying in a Jersey Loser Gets Respect kind of way.... distinguished by the nimble humor and nimbler moves of James..." |
| 4. |
|
01/16/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...an engaging enough story, crisply told... [but] it falls short as either an in-depth character study or the genuine tragedy it could have been..." |
| 5. |
|
01/16/09 |
Moderate |
 "...my 12-year-old, who loved loved loved Duncan's novel in fourth grade, asked, 'Did they just buy the title and throw away the book?' " |
| 6. |
|
01/23/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "An enjoyably goofy hybrid of extraterrestrial sci-fi and Iron Age action... boasts a super-serious Jim Caviezel in the title role.... The special effects are passable..." |
| 7. |
|
01/30/09 |
Very Good |
 "A fleet, no-nonsense rescue thriller... It's not every movie where the cop-in-charge carries a gun in one hand and a baguette in the other. Vive la France." |
| 8. |
|
01/30/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...a spooky, if narcotic, psychological thriller... doesn't startle and shock so much as it lulls you into a series of unsettling, hallucinogenic set pieces." |
| 9. |
|
01/30/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...so choppy that it would seem to have been edited with a pickax. Maybe somewhere on his editing floor are the scenes that flesh out the relationship..." |
| 10. |
|
02/06/09 |
Very Good |
 "A nifty action piece... has a cool, sinewy style, energy to burn and Dakota Fanning as a knowing 13-year-old who can see into the future." |
| 11. |
|
02/06/09 |
Moderate |
 "Although comic mayhem follows Martin's Clouseau everywhere, none of it is particularly funny." |
| 12. |
|
02/06/09 |
Moderate |
 "...even with jokes about Jedi mind tricks and a heated debate over the relationship between Luke and Leia (did they or didn't they?), the laughs are few and far between." |
| 13. |
|
02/06/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...two-thirds thrilling, one-third exasperating.... It's 'Dead Calm meets Very Bad Things,' with English accents." |
| 14. |
|
02/06/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...boasts a bounty of Jennifers and Ginnifers (Aniston, Connelly, Goodwin), Scarlett and her Johanssons and a very droll turn by Drew Barrymore..." |
| 15. |
|
02/06/09 |
Good |
 "The animation nominees are more diverse, and involving, than their live-action counterparts." |
| 16. |
|
02/06/09 |
Outstanding |
 "Boys and girls, be careful what you wish for, 'cause you just might get it. Repeat. You just might get it. You just might. Get it?" |
| 17. |
|
02/13/09 |
Moderate |
 "As Jason sequels go, this is one of the best, though that's not saying much... a lean, mean, highly efficient and rapidly moving scare-fest that packs plenty of gory whoop." |
| 18. |
|
02/13/09 |
Moderate |
 "...has its moments... Fisher has the slapstick gene that Lucille Ball and Steve Martin and Leslie Nielsen possess..." |
| 19. |
|
02/13/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...seems to forever be stopping in its own tracks. Tykwer takes coffee breaks to explain the convoluted and dicey plot... Riveting. Well, thumb-tacking, at least." |
| 20. |
|
02/27/09 |
Very Good |
 "...even though you don't buy Leonard, or the affections shown to him by these women, you're compelled to watch, and compelled by the movie's melancholy soul." |
