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.