Movie Reviews

Nick Wall/Alliance Films

Review in a Hurry: Daniel Radcliffe is sent to a remote village to sort out the affairs of a recently deceased eccentric who lived in a spooky old mansion. There, he sees a whole lotta dead people, but not the helpful kind that haunt Hogwarts.

This supernatural thriller has plenty scares and creepy atmosphere, but the plot could have used more surprises.

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Darren Michaels/Universal Pictures

Review in a Hurry: This whale of a tale—an inspirational rescue-adventure about three gray whales trapped in the Arctic Circle—would be hard to swallow if it weren't based on actual events from 1988. Whale fans will blubber, but uneven Miracle flounders in its hunt for narrative focus.

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Twentieth Century Fox

Review in a Hurry: High school outcast Andrew is a videophile who records everything, even the intense bullying he endures between classes. But all that changes when he and two other students discover something underground that gives them...superpowers!

The best "found footage" flick in years, Chronicle makes great use of the you-are-there POV with stunning in-camera FX. Fanboys, this is a must-see.

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Open Road Films

Review in a Hurry: After their plane crashes in a frozen Alaskan wilderness, Liam Neeson and seven other men must work together to bear the cold and...a pack of angry wolves! A better than average survivalist flick, The Grey succeeds with taught direction, strong pacing and the fact that Neeson is one man you do not want to mess with. Seriously, he will take you out with his bare hands.

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Sony Pictures

Review in a Hurry: After leaving the third film to the just-as-sexy Rhona Mitra, Kate Beckinsale is back in skintight black for the fourth installment. Death Dealer Selene (Beckinsale) wakes up in a future where humans have discovered the existence of vampires and Lycans. Led by Stephen Rea, they have waged a war to eradicate both.

The budget is bigger and the 3-D is pretty much a given nowadays, but Awakening keeps it simple and most importantly knows Beckinsale never needs a wardrobe change. Fans will be pleased, although if you've never seen an Underworld film there's probably no reason to start now.

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Twentieth Century Fox

Review in a Hurry: George Lucas' dream project for over two decades hits the big screen with spectacular dogfights, a strong cast and an ample supply of well intentioned but clunky dialogue. The characters are fictional, but they're based on the real life Tuskegee Airmen, the first all-African-American aerial combat unit to serve in World War II.

Less gritty than Saving Private Ryan, more squeaky-clean than Captain America, Tails zips like a speedier, higher flyin' Top Gun.

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Warner Bros. Entertainment

Review in a Hurry: Tom Hanks mugs irritatingly as a dorky dad for a few minutes, then dies in the World Trade Center on 9-11. His kid, who may or may not have Asperger's (in a cop-out kind of way, we're told that tests were inconclusive), spends the whole rest of the movie trying to cope. In part this is achieved by searching for the origin of a mysterious key, but mostly it involves talking, talking, talking...which rapidly becomes tiresome.

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Warner Bros.

Review in a Hurry: Dolly Parton, Queen Latifah and Keke Palmer face off for the ultimate churchy showdown. The fairly predictable story about a choir that dreams of winning the National Joyful Noise Competition impresses with song and dance numbers that soar. And we're saying it: No matter how obvious things are, any film that delivers a Latifah-Parton food fight...well, we really can't hate. Get ready for Glee-inspired mashups refashioned for the Faithful. Just wait until you hear the Usher's hit "Yeah!" written as "I'm in the church with my homies!"

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Patti Perret/Universal Studios

Review in a Hurry: Former smuggler Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) is pulled into one last job to keep his screwed-up brother-in-law Andy (and by extension, the rest of the family) out of danger. An unusual sort of heist movie in which the heist itself keeps changing, Contraband makes for a fun flick at first, until a nasty—and tonally inconsistent—misogynistic streak kills the joy.

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Paramount Pictures

Review in a Hurry: The devil is back for the umpteenth time to wreak havoc on shaky cams everywhere...It must be January at the multiplex. Aren't we tired of all these demon possession flicks yet? Well, sure and truthfully, most of it is tired, but this found footage flick has something new up it's heavily crucifixed sleeve, but to give that away would spoil the one genuinely scary part. For most of the running time this demon pic amps up the blurry shots and loud booming screams to signify well, not much.

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