question: This sequel to the live-action 101 Dalmatians is simply more of the same. Critics say it also drags in parts, potentially boring children, and that it's too violent for a G-rated movie.

numbered reviews: 1. A typical sequel from hell.
2. Although spotty at times, this canine caper remains a crowd pleaser for the most accepting viewers.
3. Once again Close proves herself a trooper as the outrageous De Vil. She's a hoot.
4. As lightweight as they come, but it sure delivers what the core audience wants.
5. A slightly better, and certainly more tolerable, effort than the original version (not the animated one).
6. The production is very slick with a great soundtrack and a wonderful cast.
7. If your kid wants to see this movie, let 'em go see it... it certainly won't hurt.
8. Sometimes the simplest scenes of the dogs wagging their tails are so cute that you can't help but break into a big smile.
9. Costuming by Academy Award winner Anthony Powell is a major asset for the film.
10. This film is nothing but dessert. But what a fun and festive dessert it is.


question: Taking full advantage of Julia Roberts's considerable talent and appeal, Erin Brockovich overcomes a few character and plot issues to deliver a smart, thoughtful, and funny legal drama.

numbered reviews: 1. Get out and see this thing. Now.
2. There is never a dull moment.
3. The unshakable authenticity [Soderbergh] brings to the background goes a long way toward grounding the script's more egregiously crowd-pleasing moments.
4. Roberts shines.
5. It's a victory for Julia Roberts, co-star Albert Finney and director Steven Soderbergh. It's also a victory for the audience.
6. A completly involving movie that will grab you from the first frame of film to the closing credits.
7. What Soderbergh can do as well as anyone is bring restraint, intelligence and subtlety to mainstream material, and what a difference that makes.
8. Soderbergh demands a lot from his star here, and she delivers, perhaps more than even he expected.
9. Even [Roberts'] detractors have to hand it her; this time out she's sublime.
10. For better or worse, this is Roberts' film. Thank heavens it's for the better.


question: American Gangster is a gritty and entertaining throwback to classic gangster films, with its lead performers firing on all cylinders.

numbered reviews: 1. When American Gangster was announced, with actors Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott, it seemed like a can't miss project. It missed.
2. American Gangster is as impersonal and clinical as a police report. It lacks fire, passion and the operatic bravura you would expect from the clash of these ... acting titans.
3. It all seemed like the usual big-budgeted and star-packed middlebrow liberal Hollywood gangster film veering between being serious and nonsensical.
4. Do we need yet another film about drug dealers? No, especially not one that takes 157 minutes to get where it's going.
5. Finally, after 12 years, a filmmaker was finally able to recapture the magic of Virtuosity.
6. Long but never boring, it's an expertly crafted slice of mainstream entertainment telling two concurrent stories.
7. Directed with dazzling energy by Ridley Scott.
8. It likely won't receive all the Oscar hoopla that many are expecting, [but] American Gangster is one of the first films of the year to actually deserve the recognition.
9. Between its formidable acting duo and story in need of retelling, there's plenty here to intrigue.
10. Normally, Scott loves his flash-bang setpieces, but he proves equally adept at low-key verisimilitude and long-form storytelling, the kind that sprawls out over years of incidents that only gradually add up to a powerful whole.


question: Led by a searing performance from Elisabeth Moss, Queen of Earth is a demanding -- and ultimately rewarding -- addition to writer-director Alex Ross Perry's impressive filmography.

numbered reviews:
1. Hell is other people - especially the ones who know you best - in Alex Ross Perry's acidly funny and unnerving portrait of a psychological breakdown.
2. this dual character study, featuring a balls out performance from Moss and an eerie one from Waterston feels like so many other movies, everything from "3 Women"...to "Rosemary's Baby" and "Repulsion," yet defies coming into its own focus.
3. Almost subliminally upsetting, "Queen of Earth" touches viewers' primal fears by continually messing with worries embedded in our subconscious.
4. ...the result is an earth-shattering performance in a film that solidifies Perry's place among the most exciting filmmakers working in American cinema today.
5. Ms. Waterston, a Modigliani in motion and often in black, easily holds your attention, but it is Ms. Moss, with her intimate expressivity, who annihilates you from first tear to last crushing laugh.
6. Not all of Queen Of Earth gels perfectly, but when it does, it can be breathtaking.
7. It's a midnight movie that turns out to be a Rainer Werner Fassbinder chamber drama.
8. ...both a self-conscious homage and a frustrating dither.
9. Those new to the helmer's grainy, consuming, self-absorbed worldview are welcomed with a chilling portrait of disintegration, cementing Perry's reputation for unflinching, raw nerve work.
10. Perry's movie may not be easy to watch, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't.