(B-) Thriller about a mute fx girl starts quite tense, but it becomes to unfocused and jokey by the end. Too bad, it started out very strong.

(B) Payne directed drama/comedy could use more of one or the other, and is a tad too slow much of the time. Also, the middle-class satire is rather shallow and frivolous. On the other hand, Nicholson is great, and I must admit that the somewhat predictable final scene nevertheless made me cry. (A rarity, I assure you.)

(C) Visually-striking but somewhat dull Western from Howard. Jones sleep walks through his role. It passes the time w/o making any impact whatsoever.

(B) Another entertaining and funny, but not altogether remarkable film from Payne. I find Giamatti annoying, but I suspect I'm supposed to, so it's an effective performance.

(B-) Comedy is more constrained and thoughtful than you might anticipate, though it's never more than modestly amusing. I really like Reilly, but SW Scott bugs the hell out of me, so I guess it's a draw.

(B+) Old-fashioned adventurer combines humor and action effectively, and both Caine and Connery are excellent. The ending is also quite effectively tragic.

(C-) Standard-issue modern ghost pic has an interestingly different backstory, but is largely generic and hackneyed otherwise. Yustman is a friggin' fox, though.

(C+) Though it may superficially appear otherwise, this follows the Asian-horror blueprint to a t, despite the absence of a girl ghost. It has a little great gore and some decent scares, but it's too long and diffuse overall, and Sutherland is distractingly like his Bauer in 24.

(C) Most modern ghost movies are too over the top, but this very 19th century ghost story is so low-key and slow as to be practically catatonic, not to mention predictable. It looks decent enough, however, though Beckinsale has a tragically short and unattractive haircut. What a waste.

(D-) Direct to DVD dreck is everybit as terrible as you'd expect. Too bad, Hickox previously made Children of the Corn 3, a veritable classic of the direct to DVD dreck genre.

(A-) Ruthless pic about a nice middle-class couple terrorized by hoodlums is one of the best horrors in recent memory. It reminds of Them and Wolf Creek, with great atmosphere and intensity. Merciless film isn't fun, but afficianados should admire it. It's also very socially reactionary, which I like.

(B) 70s gang-oriented action movie is severely unrelenting and quite entertaining. The gangs tend to be quite homosexual looking, though perhaps this was the style of the time.

(C for Xmas Story and A Real Friend) The two I watched were technically competent and just shy of boring. I may rent the others later, but I'm not optimistic.

(C-) Contra expectations, this Dee Snider-written vanity project/horror pic is merely quite bad, as opposed to totally horrible. It's no good, but it's also a short, fairly painless watch, and Snider is occasionally amusing in the lead, as he generally overdoes it.

(B-) This is mostly just a shadow of the delightful original, but it's surprisingly well-made, andd Walken is still a lot of fun, even if it lacks the mock-epic goofiness of the first film.

(B) Not really my thing, but the novel wasn't bad and I must expand my horizons now and then. It's immaculately made and acted, though they never fully sell the romance. They just want us to love Knightley/McAvoy automatically. The ending is still a weak, pseudo-intellectual ploy, just as it was in the novel.

(B+) Brit gangster pic is made to look like a Ritchie knockoff, but it's much more serious than all that. It has an effectively elaborate plot, slick visuals, and a strong center in Craig.

(C+) Direct-to-DVD serial killer pic is quite nice looking and competently acted, apart from the hot but unconvincing Dushku. The story adds a few new wrinkles to the formula by having the detective be schizophrenic, but the script is ultimately mediocre.