1. A gemlike movie that's intimate and moody but never sentimental.
2. The first movie to fully exploit Murray's value in a leading role (Groundhog Day came close), and to get Murray to hit a poignant note in the bargain.
3. The best movie about cosmic jet lag not directed by Wim Wenders.
4. It's a sharp, funny, tender and surprising film that pivots on Murray.
5. Sofia has almost surpassed her dad.
6. Never rushed, never pushed, Coppola's steady hand is felt in almost every frame, gently coaxing her subjects and story to a deeper, invigorating resolution.
7. This is a quiet, contemplative comedy whose comedic moments seem secondary in importance to its deeper, more beautiful ones.
8. Tender and amazing.
9. The old adage says that poetry is what's lost in translation, but the poetry is all that survives in Sofia Coppola's wispy art film.
10. It's a true triumph of observation, evocation, allusion and delicate craft.
Consensus: Effectively balancing humor and subtle pathos, Sofia Coppola crafts a moving, melancholy story that serves as a showcase for both Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson.
Q: 1. An indisputably great actor is inching toward the black hole of self-parody.
2. It is an affecting teen melodrama haunted by twisted treehouse memories.
3. Apparently left by director Michael Caton-Jones to his own devices, De Niro's familiar, tight-lipped intensity is entertaining and watchable. But in this Boy's Life Magazine context, it hovers close to cartoonlike.
4. By the movie's final blow-out, the tension has become almost unbearable though it's less from curiosity about what will happen to the characters than a feeling that you just can't abide watching such abuse a minute longer.
5. This Boy's Life is a pencil sketch that pretends to be a full-blown oil painting.
6. The movie is very involving.
7. Ultimately, This Boy's Life is effective because we get to know the characters, understand their circumstances, and empathize with their dreams.
8. Well acted, but bleak and slow-moving.
9. It's a rites-of-passage drama with the kind of period small-town setting that the director is making his own.
10. A young DiCaprio steals the show in this tale of learning how to be a man, with a sly De Niro also giving a good performance, but with a plot that drags on too long.
Based on these individual reviews, what is the critic consensus?

A: Consensus: A harrowing, moving drama about a young boy, his single mother, and his abusive stepfather, This Boy's Life benefits from its terrific cast, and features a breakout performance from a young Leonardo DiCaprio.
1. Horror movies don't get much better than this.
2. crackling!
3. The original has been built up to classic scale, but Carpenter's remake is actually far scarier and equally thoughtful.
4. Because this material has been done before, and better, especially in the original The Thing and Alien, there's no need to see this version.
5. The Thing may be a tad too careful and schematic to stand shoulder with Carpenter's very best films.
6. Great entertainment. Just try not to take it too seriously.
7. If it's the most vividly guesome monster ever to stalk the screen that audiences crave, then The Thing is the thing. On all other levels, however, John Carpenter's remake of Howard Hawks' 1951 sci-fi classic comes as a letdown.
8. John Carpenter equaled the unrelenting suspense of Halloween with this nerve-racking remake. Carpenter's The Thing is one of the all-time great horror films.
9. Russell's sub-Eastwood heroics hardly compensate for the absence of all characterisation, while Bill Lancaster's script boasts the most illogical climax any monster movie ever had.
10. Underlining every frame of The Thing is an anticipating dread: the characters -- and the viewer -- sense the potential menace of an enemy they cannot see.
Consensus: Grimmer and more terrifying than the 1950s take, John Carpenter's The Thing is a tense sci-fi thriller rife with compelling tension and some remarkable make-up effects.
Q: 1. Lots of fun, laughs and action!
2. The contortional physical shtick familiar from Lawrence's sitcom, laden with a dollop of Three Stooges violence, should keep the boys happy.
3. Blue Streak is a decent action flick packed with laughs.
4. Lawrence puts his comic timing to perfection.
5. Lawrence seems trapped in his jug-eared, slightly clownish nervousness, like a sidekick suddenly shoved into the spotlight.
6. It's an inconsequential movie that you'll enjoy while watching but forget completely by the time you get to the parking lot.
7. The film may be routine, but Lawrence is anything but.
8. A formula picture that never rises above the generic but entertains nevertheless.
9. A tepid, often annoying comedy.
10. Since the characters are pretty simple, and the plot wafer-thin, there's not a lot for Martin to do but fall back on wild histrionics and facial explosions.
Based on these individual reviews, what is the critic consensus?

A: Consensus: Martin Lawrence lends his comedic touch, but the movie isn't much more than standard action-comedy fare.
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.

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