Movie Reviews

The Woman In Black
As a stepping-out film for Daniel Radcliffe The Woman in Black isnt very effective, but as a whole its an effective and creepy ghost story. It may not elicit screams from everyone that goes to see it, but it is guaranteed to send chills down the spine of even the bravest viewer.

Big Miracle
It's not like Big Miracle is aiming for anything much bigger than childish insights, and the movie's meager laughs probably would only appeal to kids, even though the plot takes you through a labyrinth of bureaucratic interests and the entire concept of a "media blitz." It's ultimately too naive for the tricky grown-up issues it tackles, but not smart or sweet enough to get away with it.

Chronicle
With CGI effects that range from passable to glaring, and a found footage gimmick that eventual hurts more than it helps, Chronicle isn't a low-budget genre masterwork like Attack the Block, but it's also a whole lot better than many of the more traditional superhero movies we've seen. Lean and goal-oriented, with more than a few fresh ideas as well as an innate understanding of the hero's journey storytelling

Man On A Ledge
The fact that Pablo F. Fenjves script went through so many hands without the logical fallacies being pointed out and fixed is nothing short of astonishing. Im sure Man on a Ledge sounded interesting when it was first pitched, but the result is garbage.

One For The Money
As the subject of nearly twenty best-selling Janet Evanovich novels, Stephanie Plum obviously has many positive qualities that make her extremely readable, but this adaptation of One For The Money doesnt take any time to show us those redeeming characteristics. The first time we meet her, the car she cant afford is being repossessed

The Grey
The Grey has already been labeled "the Liam Neeson wolf-punching movie" when it's trying to be much more than that, a meditation on manhood and survival even against horrifyingly long odds. The wolves are there, and Neeson is indeed fighting against them, but Carnahan is clearly more interested in bringing out the film's spiritual and emotional side

Underworld: Awakening
With some added depth, perhaps an extra twenty minutes to explore the other side and better 3D, Underworld: Awakening could have been head and shoulders better than the other entries in the series. Instead, its just marginally better

Red Tails
Wearing its heart and ideals on its sleeve, Red Tails is hard not to root for, but impossible to love all the same. It's bursting with promising young talent on the screen, but behind the camera Hemingway and Lucas are incapable of eking out a story from what ought to be fascinating and revelatory history. The 332nd Fighter Group has long deserved its moment in the spotlight, but they also deserve a movie better than this one.

Miss Bala
Its not hard to appreciate what director Gerardo Naranjo is trying to do. The Mexican drug cartels are appalling organizations that are responsible for countless deaths every year and unending mayhem. Miss Bala succeeds in showing off the horrors of that world, but does it in a way that makes audiences feel like they are stuck behind a glass wall. Its not a bad film by any means, but it does hold itself back from being a great one.

Haywire
Haywire isn't quite the straightforward fun that the Ocean's movies were, and Soderbergh's commitment to gray, sometimes chilly realism may frustrate viewers who want to be constantly thrilled. But as a new spin on what seemed like an exhausted genre, and an introduction for many of us to the force of nature that is Carano

Contraband
Stretching out nearly two hours, Contraband squanders its tiny bit of goodwill with a hotdogging, "gritty" attitude that's never reflected in the actual story. With Wahlberg in dull leading man mode and even the usually reliable Foster failing to cut loose, Contraband is not nearly as fun as it could have been, but not dramatic or realistic enough to get by as an honest thriller either

Joyful Noise
It's been 10 years since Parton appeared in any film, all the while Latifah was appearing in a series of modest hits and getting an Oscar nomination, but they're an oddly apt pairing in Joyful Noise, a corny and broad comedy that still wrings some genuine delight out of its superstar leads and their younger co-stars

The Devil Inside
The impetus behind using shaky camerawork and spliced first person interviews is to create something unpredictable that feels very much in the moment. The Devil Inside accomplishes that goal, but in doing so, also leaves the audience unable to grasp larger meanings and unable to anticipate where the action might be headed.

Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close
Condensed by screenwriter Eric Roth and directed by Stephen Daldry, the movie eschews the novel's emotional complexity and instead chooses to wallow almost entirely in grief, plunging us into Oskar's (Thomas Horn) memories of his father (Tom Hanks, in flashbacks) and painful feelings of loss and never taking us back out

The Darkest Hour
Filmmaking isnt just about concept, its about execution. Glossing over all of the attention-grabbing elements, presenting flat characters and zero drama, the Russian-set science-fiction film is little more than a terrible mix of incompetence and missed opportunity.