EASY A - B

Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes
Despite a few tired elements (namely, Amanda Bynes), there is a lot in this breezy teen comedy that is really easy to like, starting with a sparkling lead performance from Emma Stone and the delightful comedy team of Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as her goofy parents.

GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, THE - B-

Noomi Rapace, Michael Nygvist, Lena Endre
This Swedish-language adaptation of book two in Stieg Larsson’s best-selling trilogy once again finds most of its tension springing from Noomi Rapace’s chilling and often silent lead performance. But so much of it consists of familiar thriller elements that it is hard to get fully invested.

KILLER INSIDE ME, THE - C+

Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba
There’s no denying that Michael Winterbottom’s The Killer Inside Me, the story of a small-town sheriff with sociopathic tendencies, worms its way under your skin. But despite a haunting performance by Casey Affleck, the film ultimately leaves one feeling cold and distanced.

FREAKONOMICS - B-

Documentary
Six acclaimed documentary filmmakers take turns at adapting various case studies from the bestselling economics book of the same name. Some segments work and some don’t. Authors Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt also show up but are disappointingly smug.

WELCOME TO THE RILEYS - C

James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart, Melissa Leo
Stewart has proven she can be an arresting actress in non-Twilight roles, but she seems completely out of her element in this piece of indie hogwash about a businessman (Gandolfini) who tries to help a teenage stripper. And poor Melissa Leo’s scenes all seem unintentionally comical.

CASE 39 - D

Renee Zellweger, Ian McShane, Bradley Cooper
Case 39 was filmed in 2006 and rotted on the shelf until seeing the light of day in 2010. Frankly, it should have stayed there. This is a mind-bogglingly bad demon-seed thriller in which characters act with no sense and Zellweger seems completely confused as to how she ended up here.

DISNEY'S A CHRISTMAS CAROL - B-

Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Bob Hoskins
The motion-capture animation that director Robert Zemeckis used for The Polar Express has been greatly improved with this latest adaptation of Charles Dickens’ holiday classic. But despite some impressive camera work, this Carol is ultimately too antic and loud to truly warm the heart.

ME AND ORSON WELLES - B-

Zac Efron, Claire Danes, Christian McKay
Christian McKay is an egotistical hoot in this tribute to the creative process, the theatre and the genius of Orson Welles. But while the film is generally amiable, the focus on Zac Efron’s naïve young actor – instead of the blustery Welles – means that too much of the film lacks spark.

SALT - B-

Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Angelina Jolie makes a decent Jason Bourne-substitute in this fast-moving actioner, but despite all of the stunt-work up director Phillip Noyce’s sleeves, Salt doesn’t really solidify. There’s a sudden tonal shift to Jolie’s character midway through the film that seems to come out of nowhere.

AMERICAN, THE - C

George Clooney, Violante Placido, Thekla Reuten
If you’ve ever wanted to see Clooney stripped bare of his charisma, then sign up for The American. This “serious” character study / thriller starts promisingly, but quickly turns morose and aimless, with no driving force to the narrative and far too many scenes that just limply sit there.

OTHER GUYS, THE - B

Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Keaton
Though some elements of The Other Guys simply don’t work (here’s looking at you, Eva Mendes), this spoof of action films is undeniably funny. Ferrell and Wahlberg make for an inspired comic team and Michael Keaton just about walks away with the film as their chief.

CRAZIES, THE - B-

Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson
A virus makes everyone in a small town go insane in this remake of a 1973 George A. Romero thriller. Director Brick Eisner’s restraint is often admirable, though he stumbles with some of the more obvious horror scenes and the film never really gets a handle on how the “crazies” tick.

SHREK FOREVER AFTER - C+

Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz
Shrek Forever After has been billed as the final chapter in the Shrek series and, frankly, it’s about time. While the first two entries were delightful and witty, Shrek and his buddies are just treading water now. There are few surprises here, with only the occasional laugh.

SECRETARIAT - B-

Diane Lane, John Malkovich, Dylan Walsh
Sometimes a true story can be so incredible that, even given a rather predictable screen treatment, it can still inspire. Such is the case with Secretariat, a look at the famous racehorse that is too long and too familiar but still leaves the viewer in awe over its central figure.

MOTHER AND CHILD - C+

Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, Kerry Washington
Given its subject matter – women dealing with struggles related to children – Mother and Child is undeniably affecting. It is also, unfortunately, rather scattershot in tone, pacing and structure, as director Rodrigo Garcia struggles to balance his three primary stories.

WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY - B

Documentary
Disney offers a peak behind the curtain with this look their animated resurgence from 1984 to 1994. The details are engaging and remind you of just how amazing this period was, though a few more insights into the artistic minds (instead of the executives) would have been appreciated.

TAKERS - C-

Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Idris Elba
Action dramas don’t get much more paint-by-numbers than this heist film riddled with dialogue, characters and “twists” stolen from countless other films (including star Dillon’s recent Armoured). It’s like a computer-generated hodgepodge of every action movie from the last decade.

STEP UP 3 - B-

Adam G. Sevani, Alyson Stoner, Sharni Vinson
The folks behind the Step Up franchise have done it again, once more serving up a dish of poor acting and an absolutely ridiculous story (where nothing is more important than dance), but spicing it up with enough dazzling footwork to make the flaws somewhat forgivable.

EXPENDABLES, THE - C+

Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li
The Expendables is an interesting beast. On the one hand, it delivers exactly what it promises: A bunch of bare-bones action and a massive body count. But Stallone, acting as writer-director, lets his story get the better of him – there is a lot of fat here that could have been trimmed.

NANNY MCPHEE RETURNS - B-

Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rhys Ifans
Emma Thompson returns as the snaggle-toothed Mary Poppins in this good-natured sequel to 2006’s Nanny McPhee. Though there is a bit too much poo-related humour and a few moments that could have used more spirited magic, the screenplay is sprightly and the cast is amusing.

MACHETE - B-

Danny Trejo, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba
Robert Rodriguez turns down the grindhouse aesthetic of 2007’s Planet Terror for this Mexican exploitation extravaganza that does a decent job of balancing between winking cliché and fast-paced action. The final third is overly chaotic, but Danny Trejo is admirably stolid as Machete.