1. It's got explosions and horse-riding and fighting and monsters aplenty, but it evaporates almost as you're watching it.
2. All the cliches of cowboy films and alien films are there. But I wasn't expecting them not to be. It's a fun western, and throwing in some alien goo makes it all the more fun.
3. I have no real argument against the film's execution of its concept other than that it is brutally boring.
4. Part of the fun in Cowboys & Aliens is spotting all the movie clichés which can be enjoyed for what they are because the film has no relation to any reality other than that of the cinema.
5. After a mindless conclusion, I realized that two hours had been wasted on this convoluted mess. This botched opportunity to revive the old-fashioned Western puts this movie at the bottom of the barrel right alongside Will Smith's "Wild Wild West."
6. Another assembly-line Hollywood blockbuster, a Western for people who have never seen Westerns, and a science-fiction movie for people who don't like science fiction.
7. ... A dour affair that fails to capture the spirit of either genre.
8. A mercilessly boring, wasted opportunity that forgets to have a sense of humor, charisma, or aliens.
9. Rather refreshingly what-you-see-is-exactly-what-you-get: a western with aliens grafted on, or a sci-fi invasion film with cowboys grafted on--nothing more, nothing less.
10. Jon Favreau's "Cowboys & Aliens" is a film that starts off with promise, but quickly loses its way as it tries to merge two different genres.
Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford are as dependably appealing as ever, but they're let down by director Jon Favreau's inability to smooth Cowboys & Aliens' jarring tonal shifts.

1. Clearly something has gone MIA in moving from the small pictures into a cohesive big one.
2. Engaging war drama that subtly mixes in several different genres to intriguing effect, though it occasionally relies too heavily on cliches.
3. The film is slow and rather too long (and a bit preachy), but always intense, and its intentions are certainly clear.
4. As long as soldiers have gone into battle they have struggled with the rightness of their actions and their purpose in the field -- no matter how firm their resolve at the outset.
5. The soldiers feel stuck and so do we.
6. Cedar overcomes the generic characters and formulaic "which innocent will die next in an ironic twist" plotting by his attention to detail.
7. It doesn't come like a full-length, filmed history lesson at all. In fact, it's a pretty fascinating, sometimes disturbing tale about the emotional and physical toll of combat.
8. Powerful portrait of an officer and his soldiers facing up to what it means to serve in an army of a fallible, democratic country that spins an explosive pyrrhic victory
9. In the end [it] isn't about victory or defeat... It's about surviving another day, doing one's job, and getting back to family.
10. [A] blistering antiwar film.
Beaufort is a deeply observant and meditative war film, masterfully rendered by director Joseph Cedar.

1. Borrowing its premise from Capra, Reitman could have been titled his comedy, "Mr. Dave Goes to Washington," with Kevin Kline playing a Cooper-Stewart role, an ordinary man who becomes extraordinary due to a combo of circumstances and personality.
2. An overall mood of sweetness may help one to forgive the archaic and childish aspects of the would-be analysis, which splits everyone between angels and devils.
3. Solid "imposter" film with Kline tailor-made as a presidential look-alike getting the chance to play the White House.
4. A buoyant comedy in the Capra tradition.
5. Darned near the Second Coming of Capra in Reitman's account of common decency under siege by political treacheries.
6. A naive political nightmare masquerading as a likable feel-good flick. But it's okay, I can deal.
7. Arrant nonsense mixed with goo.
8. Thoroughly winning political comedy
9. In spite of this sogginess, and despite a self-congratulatory, do-gooder streak that the film discovers within Dave, this comedy remains bright and buoyant much of the way through.
10. This film is a delightful social fable which celebrates the Good Samaritan idealism of an ordinary citizen who actually makes a difference in Washington
Ivan Reitman's refreshingly earnest political comedy benefits from an understated, charming script and a breezy performance by Kevin Kline.

1. Some of the wittiest dialogue to trip an adolescent tongue since Clueless.
2. It brings on jokes, it brings on cheerleading routines, it brings on the love story and does the best that it can do with the material.
3. Funnier, more entertaining and less exploitative than you might expect.
4. The film is infectious, like one of its many original titles, Cheer Fever. It grows on you.
5. The tart, taut script by first-time screenwriter Jessica Bendinger is stuffed with such deliciously mean dialogue.
6. Showcases a trio of talented young actresses, captures the exuberant athleticism of competitive cheerleading and positively exudes good-hearted charisma.
7. Crackling good script, sharply directed.
8. Maintains a certain freshness due to the high-spirited cheerleading choreography, the novelty of presenting cheerleading as a coed competition sport and the appeal of its cast.
9. Bring It On is no more than a trifle. But it moves along entertainingly right through to the end credit sequence, and its heart is in just the right place.
10. What's good are the routines, which are thrilling.

Despite the formulaic, fluffy storyline, this movie is surprisingly fun to watch, mostly due to its high energy and how it humorously spoofs cheerleading instead of taking itself too seriously.