question: Though the material is predictable and formulaic, Reese Witherspoon's funny, nuanced performance makes this movie better than it would have been otherwise.

numbered reviews: 1. Elle endears herself to us simply because she is so confidently self-assured.
2. "Legally Blonde" is one of those rare modern comedies that does not rely on gross-out humor or slapstick for its laughs.
3. If whatever movie you go to the multiplex hoping to see is sold out, Legally Blonde is, like, a totally legit option.
4. Your parents warned you not to judge a book by its cover for a reason. Dismissing Legally Blonde would mean missing one of the funniest comedies of the year.
5. Filled with lots of big laughs.
6. Had the responsibility, the obligation, to be clever enough to deserve Reese Witherspoon, and it fails.
7. Witherspoon's ability to be goofy, smart and loveable all at the same time takes what might have been a tired and silly comedy and transforms it into a satisfying laugh-fest.
8. A sunny, hip confection.
9. Most of Legally Blonde is mere sitcom-style farce.
10. It's a formula that's well done here with plenty of laughs.


question: A gloriously rude and gleefully offensive black comedy, Bad Santa isn't for everyone, but grinches will find it uproariously funny.

numbered reviews: 1. Bad Santa" is easily the funniest film this year...
2. And into this season of sugarplums and stockings, glad tidings and goodwill toward men, comes Bad Santa. And the first words out of the mouth of Santa Claus? 'Hey, can I get another drink down here?'
3. I like the idea of a fallible Kris Kringle - kind of like that song "What if God Was One of Us" only about Santa instead of God.
4. I laughed at loud at a lot of the stuff.
5. Billy Bob Thornton's work in this Claus-and-robbers comedy is so very naughty that it's very, very nice.
6. Bad Santa makes Fargo look like The Grinch, but with a killer soundtrack. See for yourself. But be warned.
7. ... un veritable regal pour les cyniques et ceux qui en ont plein le dos du sentimentalisme crasse...
8. A big, bawdy comedy that wears its considerable chip on its shoulder with a certain unmitigated glee, Bad Santa may be one-note... but it's also deeply, deeply funny.
9. Christmas cynics rejoice! Here's a big bad comedy just for you.
10. Is film in such bad shape that Terry Zwigoff's form of miserable sexual dysfunction is now considered "high dark comedy?"


question: Doesn't reach the heights of Zhang Yimou's best, but this is still a heartwarming tale of love and forgiveness from the acclaimed Chinese director.

numbered reviews: 1. What remains most vividly after Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles, however, is not its story but its world--the immersion in that world of a foreigner, not a polo-shirted Yank but a stiff-necked Japanese. And it is all overseen by a Chinese director.
2. Fathers and sons can't understand each other in Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, a simple theme in a movie that is simply breathtaking.
3. Its relentless sentimentality soon turns disingenuous.
4. A meticulously crafted film in which nothing is ever forced or overstated. There's a grace and subtlety that pervades the film and quietly impresses.
5. The themes are universal (if a touch corny), the rugged Chinese scenery is stupendous, and the performances are touching.
6. It's the kind of story that shows more than it tells, a story that's forged in the spaces that exist in between characters and spaces.
7. The movie's message is a little too Hallmark Hall of Fame, but Zhang's observant eye neatly captures the idiosyncrasies of Chinese life and the heartbreak in Gouichi's journey.
8. Ken Takakura's memorable performance, occasional light comedy and striking Chinese scenery don't keep Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles and its big message from being ponderous and affected.
9. It's a masterful little film, and, thanks to Zhang's seasoned hands, it's subtly heartfelt but never manipulative.
10. It sounds like a slight plot, and it is, but it is rich in detail that makes up for the simplicity of the story.


question: Despite a talented cast and some reliably pleasant interplay between Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn, Couples Retreat leaves viewers stranded in an arid, mirthless comedy.

numbered reviews:
1. The only thing that will keep your attention for the duration is the stunning Tahitian scenery that acts the films setting. On reflection this is probably what swayed most of the cast to sign up to this inane guff of a film in the first place.
2. A loo book written by Pol Pot would have more laughs than this chillingly unfunny, cynically prefabricated non-comedy.
3. It is this vanity, this overweening self-regard, that makes Couples Retreat such a chore to sit through.
4. Rather like an unsuitable partner, Couples Retreat starts out fun before gradually getting annoying and then becoming downright aggravating. While it's not the worst film ever, there are times when it feels as irritating as sunburn.
5. Expectations of farce are stymied by long stretches of mid-life navel gazing.
6. Three of the four principal guys in this comedy are well over 15 stone - making them clinically obese by their body mass indexes. They need to lose weight not lessons in "couples skills building."
7. A rom-com short on romance and even shorter on laughs.
8. Bora Bora was a beautiful location to film at and added that much needed taste of paradise to a rather bitter sweet subject of a troubled marriage.
9. Universal's latest is merely adequate, and will likely be best enjoyed by the happily indulgent and mildly inebriated.
10. Entertainment on a par with sitting through your neighbours' holiday slideshow.