SOCIAL NETWORK, THE - A

Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake
You wouldn’t think that the development of Facebook would act as a solid foundation for a film like The Social Network, but this is a thrilling, intense, timely and – most importantly – highly enjoyable drama. Thanks to its incredible screenplay and direction, the story pops from the screen.

YOU AGAIN - C-

Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver
You Again has an appropriate title because, watching it, one can’t help thinking about everything here that has been seen before again and again, with a focus on unlikely coincidences and forced pratfalls (yes, there is a food fight). You Again comes straight down the plastic assembly line.

IT'S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY - B-

Kier Gilchrist, Emma Roberts, Zach Galifianakis
It’s Kind of a Funny Story is kind of a funny movie, with some gentle laughs courtesy of a wisely dialed down Galifianakis and an odd tone that replaces the anger of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest with the spirit of The Breakfast Club. Perhaps a little too light overall, but still soothing.

CATS & DOGS: THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE - D+

James Marsden, Nick Nolte, Christina Applegate
The fur flies and the groaners come often in this sequel-that-no-one-asked-for to 2001’s Cats & Dogs. With its tired satire, endless parade of pet puns, mediocre effects and doggy doo of a script, Kitty Galore left me wishing for – I can’t believe I’m writing this - the exhausting G-Force.

LET ME IN - B+

Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Grace Moretz, Richard Jenkins
It’s almost shocking just how faithful writer-director Matt Reeves is with this American adaptation of the 2007 Swedish thriller Let the Right One In. Even more impressive is the fact that he has a better handle on the story’s characters and themes than the original cult favorite. Spooky and haunting.

WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS - C+

Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Carey Mulligan
For this timely follow-up to Wall Street, Oliver Stone doesn’t try to simplify the financial dealings that lead to the recent economic collapse. He does, however, tend to simplify his characters and message, resulting in surprisingly disorienting story with regard to chronology and drama.

CYRUS - B

John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei
What happens if you infuse a broad mainstream comedy premise – grown man tries to thwart his mom’s new romance – with an indie sensibility? Turns out you get a very likeable and low key affair that doesn’t go for cheap laughs but rather subtle quirkiness and edge. Minor but charming.

TOWN, THE - B+

Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Hall
You never would have guessed from his earlier career choices, but Ben Affleck has shown a real flair behind the camera for flawed characters and rich atmosphere. The Town, like Affleck's Gone Baby Gone (2007), is a crackling crime drama that lives and breathes the grime of Boston.

NOWHERE BOY - B

Aaron Johnson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Anne-Marie Duff
Even if you know nothing about John Lennon, there’s a lot to admire with this biopic about Lennon’s teenage life (long before the Beatles). In focusing on his tumultous family life, we come to appreciate how rock-and-roll helped Lennon establish an identity that had long been missing.

DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS - B-

Steve Carrell, Paul Rudd, Bruce Greenwood
Any comic edge to the 1998 French comedy Le Diner de Cons has been scrubbed away from this overly pat but still fitfully amusing American adaptation. Most of the laughs come from over-the-top supporting characters, thanks mostly to inconsistency with Carrell’s idiot persona.

YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER - C+

Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins
Woody Allen’s first visit to London – 2005’s Match Point – seemed to present a new awakening for the writer-director. At this point, though, he’s back to old tricks. This light comedy isn’t awful, but it hardly memorable either. It just floats in front of your eyes before disappearing.

GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST, THE

Noomi Rapace, Michael Nygvist, Lena Endre
The Swedish language Dragon Tattoo trilogy may have started with sizzle but it fizzles out in this abstract and surprisingly dull third entry. Unfortunately, nothing really happens here other than an overly long rehash of everything we learned in the first two films.

FASTER - D

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Carla Gugino
After spending the last few years turning himself into a teddy bear with family films, Johnson tries to prove he’s still a man’s man with this revenge film. But its hard to say which is more aggravating – the rote action or the absolutely ridiculous hitman on Johnson’s tail. Beware.

LOTTERY TICKET - C+

Bow Wow, Brandon T. Jackson, Naturi Naughton
Whenever it isn’t wallowing in tired African American caricatures, there’s actually a genuine charm to Lottery Ticket and its leading man, Bow Wow. But just when the comedy settles into a nice groove, out comes another lame-duck stereotype to ruin the flow.

BURLESQUE - C-

Christina Aguilera, Cher, Stanley Tucci
Burlesque wisely makes good use of Aguilera’s pipes in its big musical numbers and it is admittedly nice to see Cher again, but otherwise this is a dazzling mess. The film runs out of story about an hour in and Aguilera’s cliched small-town girl character never meshes with her stage persona.

RED - C+

Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren
This throwaway action film has a nice collection of old pros strapping on guns for a last hurrah but the screenplay is too haphazard. There’s too much shifting of the audience’s loyalty with regard to characters and a mid-way death that is treated with too much blithe nonchalance.

A-TEAM, THE - C+

Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel
This adaptation of the ‘80s TV series may boast some monster action pieces, but it also shows far too much effort for what is supposed to be a slickly ridiculous extravaganza. Not helping matters is a woefully miscast Biel and a mumbling Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the old Mr. T role.

NEVER LET ME GO - C+

Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley
There’s a disturbing underbelly beneath the lush visuals of Never Let Me Go – I won’t spoil the secrets here – but it is surprising just how minimally the film gets beneath the skin. Most of this is due to the overall passivity of the characters, especially with regard to each other.

BURIED - B

Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds plays a truck driver in Iraq who wakes up to find he’s trapped in a wooden coffin underground. Buried is as much a stunt as a film but director Rodrigo Cortes skillfully builds the claustrophic tension, only occasionally stepping on a nail of obvious political commentary.

ANIMAL KINGDOM - B

Ben Mendelsohn, Guy Pearce, Jacki Weaver
This debut feature from writer-director David Michod occasionally falls short of its ambitions, but it is still a potent and engrossing look at the downfall of a family of bank robbers. As the mother hen, Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver is a diabolical combination of sunshine and thirst for blood.

HOWL - C+

James Franco, Jon Hamm, David Strathairn
In this style-heavy drama, James Franco gives a passionate reading of Allen Ginsberg’s 1956 poem Howl – a piece that spoke to the soul of the Beat Generation. But by awkwardly mixing Ginsberg’s story with a trial about whether or not the piece is obsene, it all feels oddly minimal.