|
2/4
|
59%
|
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013) |
"
It's another brightly rendered effort, but, as the title indicates, a lot of the real creativity seems to have been used up the first time around."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Sep 26, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
78%
|
Metallica Through the Never (2013) |
"
An old-school music video stretched to feature length."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Sep 26, 2013
|
|
1/4
|
34%
|
Adore (2013) |
"
Cast actresses with the skills that Naomi Watts and Robin Wright bring, give their obliviously icky story some arthouse visual lyricism, and you've got "Adore.""
—
Boston Globe
Posted Sep 12, 2013
|
|
1/4
|
3%
|
Getaway (2013) |
"
It's hard to remember another action entry that expends so much energy on frenetic blacktop choreography and attention-deficit editing with so little to show for it."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Aug 29, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
46%
|
Closed Circuit (2013) |
"
You hear that we're getting a British political thriller titled "Closed Circuit" and you instantly start to imagine the creepy possibilities."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Aug 27, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
38%
|
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013) |
"
The mythology-rooted "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" franchise is fairly engaging stuff, unabashed "Harry Potter" knockoff or no."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Aug 6, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
69%
|
The Wolverine (2013) |
"
"The Wolverine" dispatches its hero to Japan to grapple with a sinister criminal element and his own virtual immortality. For the uninitiated, the scene shift is surprising - and an effective way of dramatizing and accentuating the hero's dual nature."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Jul 25, 2013
|
|
1.5/4
|
14%
|
R.I.P.D. (2013) |
"
Too bad director Robert Schwentke ("RED") and the writing team handling the 3-D screen adaptation don't hold up their end, failing to do much with a premise that felt like it could rate with, say, "Men in Black.""
—
Boston Globe
Posted Jul 21, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
42%
|
Red 2 (2013) |
"
"RED 2" is a sequel that has some snappy interplay, typically courtesy of Malkovich, but mostly feels like a cast working to manufacture what came naturally the first time."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Jul 18, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
65%
|
Turbo (2013) |
"
DreamWorks' 3-D confection ... featuring Ryan Reynolds as a garden-trolling slowpoke who dreams of Indianapolis 500 glory. "
—
Boston Globe
Posted Jul 17, 2013
|
|
|
75%
|
Despicable Me 2 (2013) |
"
The scope of the 'toon espionage-adventure goings-on is surprisingly limited. But the filmmakers so clearly love working on these characters, their creative joy is infectious."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Jul 2, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
89%
|
Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay (2013) |
"
Fittingly, there's a lot to try to keep track of in "Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay.""
—
Boston Globe
Posted May 30, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
64%
|
Epic (2013) |
"
[It] is certainly very pretty to look at, and has a general agreeability about it. But the movie would need to engage us far more powerfully for that hyperbolic title to fit."
—
Boston Globe
Posted May 24, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
69%
|
Fast & Furious 6 (2013) |
"
For their own part, Vin Diesel and the "F&F" handlers seem eager to assert how they've molded a series of installments into, yep, a saga, complete with expansive, twisty continuity."
—
Boston Globe
Posted May 24, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
48%
|
Black Rock (2013) |
"
Unexpectedly sturdy in some ways, shaky in others."
—
Boston Globe
Posted May 16, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
88%
|
In the House (2013) |
"
[A] slyly warped student-and-teacher yarn."
—
Boston Globe
Posted May 2, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
89%
|
The Angels' Share (2013) |
"
Charming enough to satisfy even the trenchant-commentary crowd."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Apr 25, 2013
|
|
1/4
|
7%
|
The Big Wedding (2013) |
"
An ensemble comedy with a tonal cluelessness as surprising as the name cast that signed on for it anyway."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Apr 25, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
47%
|
The Lords of Salem (2013) |
"
A portrait of vengeful occult torment that pushes hard to redefine the meaning of "witch trials.""
—
Boston Globe
Posted Apr 18, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
93%
|
Jurassic Park (1993) |
"
I'm a fan of this movie. It is thrilling, and the 3-D treatment is a nice enhancement."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Apr 4, 2013
|
|
|
28%
|
G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013) |
"
Good luck recalling any other would-be set pieces a couple of days after you've seen Retaliation."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Mar 28, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
69%
|
The Croods (2013) |
"
Had the movie figured out a way to stay the less-cliched course, it might have helped the DreamWorks oeuvre take steps toward Pixar's emotional resonance."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Mar 21, 2013
|
|
|
47%
|
Olympus Has Fallen (2013) |
"
Pop jingoism isn't easy to stir once you've established a vibe that's so deflating."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Mar 21, 2013
|
|
1.5/4
|
28%
|
21 And Over (2013) |
"
Among the ingredients "21" is missing: the infectiously random silliness of a Zach Galifianakis, the smug hunkiness of a Bradley Cooper, and any sort of Vegas-y gloss whatsoever."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Mar 1, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
25%
|
Phantom (2013) |
"
The plot is dragged down by a script filled with awkward exposition and blunt audience cues."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Feb 28, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
52%
|
Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) |
"
If you thought the tale ended when Jack clambered back down from the skies, then you haven't given it as much thought as Singer."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Feb 28, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
55%
|
Snitch (2013) |
"
Nobody is going to confuse a Dwayne Johnson movie with "Les Misérables." But "Snitch" gets a decent amount of drama (and action, of course) out of the argument that there's paying for a crime, and then there's overpaying."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Feb 21, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
27%
|
Escape From Planet Earth (2013) |
"
Colorful as the 3-D aliens-among-us comedy is to look at, though, Corddry is handed a role that's beige as can be, and so are his castmates."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Feb 19, 2013
|
|
1.5/4
|
13%
|
Safe Haven (2013) |
"
A movie that passably ambles along in generic-melodrama mode before finally insulting audience intelligence one time too many."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Feb 13, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
46%
|
Bullet to the Head (2013) |
"
It's just director Walter Hill tweaking his formula from the "48 Hrs." franchise."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Jan 31, 2013
|
|
1/4
|
41%
|
Parker (2013) |
"
Parker's vengeance isn't thrilling, there's a pointlessly developed non-love triangle, even the glam settings look cheap, and the tough-guy exchanges are inexplicably flat."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Jan 28, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
15%
|
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) |
"
Wirkola tears through "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" with such giddy abandon, it ends up being splattery fanboy fun. Preposterous, clearly, but fun."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Jan 26, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
60%
|
The Last Stand (2013) |
"
Not the most iconic choice for Schwarzenegger to announce that he's back, but not one that's completely prefab, either."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Jan 19, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
66%
|
Mama (2013) |
"
The frustration ... is how much the movie leans on made-ya-jump scares and contrived plot devices when its quieter chills and already fraught setups are so potent."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Jan 17, 2013
|
|
1/4
|
10%
|
A Haunted House (2013) |
"
You might chuckle at Wayans huddled in the tub, frantically trying to scrub himself clean of something slightly more earthly-freaky than evil spirits. But watching him get it on with stuffed animals? Ick."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Jan 13, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
56%
|
Fairhaven (2013) |
"
O'Brien and his castmates seem to play loose with his script a bit more than they should in an effort to give the material a lived-in feeling."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Jan 10, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
12%
|
Red Dawn (2012) |
"
An even odder war story than the bluntly provocative, Reagan-era original. "
—
Boston Globe
Posted Nov 21, 2012
|
|
2.5/4
|
74%
|
Rise of the Guardians (2012) |
"
The movie's bid for distinctiveness works in lots of little ways ..."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Nov 21, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
26%
|
War of the Buttons (2012) |
"
The two threads aren't really woven together into the sort of tight, overarching theme that the film seems built to convey."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Oct 25, 2012
|
|
1.5/4
|
25%
|
Fun Size (2012) |
"
Just like a Halloween miniatures assortment, something for everyone - or no one, as the case may be."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Oct 25, 2012
|
|
2.5/4
|
44%
|
Hotel Transylvania (2012) |
"
Every generation of trick-or-treaters deserves its monster mash."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Sep 27, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
78%
|
Dredd (2012) |
"
In a generic way, the environment works. But it drains the material of what should be most unique about it, and leaves Urban twisting despite a tightly coiled performance."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Sep 20, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
65%
|
The Expendables 2 (2012) |
"
"The Expendables 2" is lazily satisfied with repeating the first movie's formula, shortcomings and grisly strengths alike, just as the first movie was content to slavishly, ploddingly cover the hits of the '80s."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Aug 23, 2012
|
|
1/4
|
8%
|
The Babymakers (2012) |
"
Ah, infertility comedies - always such a good time. You remember the way you yukked it up at "Maybe Baby" and "A Smile Like Yours," don't you? Oh, wait, you don't? Exactly."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Aug 2, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
51%
|
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012) |
"
The sort of mischief that felt cutely wise-alecky up to this point often just doesn't work here."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Aug 2, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
37%
|
Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) |
"
Dinklage works hard, and his gold-toothed monkey mariner is amusingly designed, but it's not nearly enough to shake the sense that we're watching elaborate filler."
—
Boston Globe
Posted Jul 12, 2012
|
|
2.5/4
|
79%
|
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012) |
"
Cascading, colorful 3-D performance sequences are sufficiently dazzling that you'll forgive the bajillionth soundtrack sampling of "Firework.""
—
Boston Globe
Posted Jun 7, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
68%
|
God Bless America (2012) |
"
It's about a terminally ill man who decides that if he is going to die, he is going to grab a gun and take a whole bunch of obnoxious people with him."
—
Boston Globe
Posted May 17, 2012
|
|
1.5/4
|
34%
|
Battleship (2012) |
"
Hey, if you're Hasbro and Universal, and you've agreed to make a movie based on nothing more than brand recognition of a game, you've got to fill two hours with something."
—
Boston Globe
Posted May 17, 2012
|
