question: Saint Ralph is an amiable tear-jerker that walks a fine line between being inspirational and being hokum.

numbered reviews: 1. Saint Ralph sticks, for the most part, to the road less traveled, delivering a droll feel-good movie that has a little something to say about modern-day miracles.
2. As predictably uplifting movies go, Saint Ralph isn't completely charmless.
3. Writer-director Michael McGowan must be exhausted after all the tugging he does on our heartstrings in this sentimental drama.
4. Your interest is bound to fade long before Ralph does.
5. Writer-director Michael McGowan proves there's a reason people keep making underdog sports movies.
6. It succeeds in flashes, but the movie's mixture of humor and inspirational fluff never quite meshes.
7. You can't argue with the message. But its well-worn homilies might give you reason to question the messenger.
8. The lack of condescension, the decent jokes and an absolutely terrific performance by Butcher make Saint Ralph an honest-to-God crowd-pleaser.
9. What began as a too familiar coming-of-age story set in an all-boys Catholic school steadily morphs into something arguably as familiar but more satisfying -- a triumphant sports tale.
10. It's hard to dislike schmaltz as mild as Saint Ralph, but let's try: The film is as bland as a communion wafer, sentimental as a Christmas homily, and predictable as the liturgy.


question: Raw, terrifying, and painfully difficult to watch, The Act of Killing offers a haunting testament to the edifying, confrontational power of documentary cinema.

numbered reviews: 1. It will leave you breathless.
2. I have watched hundreds of hours of war crimes, genocides and miscarriages of justice carried out by unremarkable men with dimly lit souls. "The Act of Killing" bids to outdo them all.
3. A cynically exploitative film made in the name of human rights, which it has about as much to do with as the Punked show on MTV.
4. It's a gut-wrenching and emotionally exhausting look at impunity that resonates far beyond its obscure central conflict.
5. The magnitude of this achievement, this depiction of a diseased and corrupt society that is in so many ways similar to our own, cannot be understated.
6. Presenting a terrifying view of a hidden holocaust and a moral apocalypse in which the most basic humanities have become twisted beyond recognition, The Act of Killing is a towering achievement in filmmaking, documentary or otherwise.
7. Whatever you call it, The Act of Killing is a must-see.
8. If director Joshua Oppenheimer occasionally loses his way in his own narrative, where this picture demands attention is in its chilling portrait of indoctrination and evil.
9. [It] may be one of the most horrifying films you'll ever see, and one of the most edifying.
10. It's a mind-bending film, devastating and disorienting, that disturbs us in ways we're not used to being disturbed ...


question: Sentimental and light, but still thoroughly charming, A League of Their Own is buoyed by solid performances from a wonderful cast.

numbered reviews: 1. One of the best baseball movies of all times; just remember, there's no crying in baseball!
2. "There's no crying in baseball!"
3. entertaining but a bit sweet
4. An engagingly old fashioned and family-friendly comedy.
5. A League of Their Own still stands out because there are elements in it that everyone can enjoy, whether they like or loathe sports.
6. Layered comedy-drama is worthwhile viewing
7. the film combines humor, historical trivia, and the thrill of baseball to create a fully entertaining, fictional tale
8. The idea of Penny Marshall's sentimental comedy--an all-American Girls Professional Baseball League in WWII--is so good that you wonder why no one has thought about it before; in the lead, Geena Davis is charming, and so is Tom Hanks.
9. Enjoyable enough as a baseball comedy, even though Marshall overplays the drama.
10. Scriptwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel neglect the ensemble, emphasising a sense of historical occasion over character development.


question: It's far from comfortable viewing, but 12 Years a Slave's unflinchingly brutal look at American slavery is also brilliant -- and quite possibly essential -- cinema.

numbered reviews:
1. The film of the decade.
2. 12 Years a Slave is easily the greatest feature film ever made about American slavery.
3. But the much talked-about 12 Years a Slave is more than a beautifully shot art piece. It's history made violently real.
4. Other movies and books have gone here, but few so far and with such overwhelming clarity of purpose.
5. Ejiofor brings imposing physicality and intimidating intellect to the role, and thus Northup poses a threat to his enemies -- even if they can't articulate it as such.
6. An important work, but one that's more potent on an intellectual level than an emotional one.
7. The film offers a formidable indictment of the cruelty of which human beings are capable.
8. McQueen imbues his film with undeniable artistry and intellectual rigor, but startlingly little passion. You will be angered, horrified and moved by what you witness, but you will not be challenged.
9. With this powerful, almost classical drama, British director Steve McQueen has made the seminal film about slavery that Hollywood feared to tackle.
10. The production of "12 Years a Slave" is by far the most ambitious work for director McQueen who makes a strong statement against the still-ongoing issue of slavery.