question: Despite strong performances from Bruce Willis and Mos Def, 16 Blocks is a shopworn entry in the buddy-action genre.

numbered reviews: 1. Idiotic, for sure, but what saves 16 Blocks is Richard Donner's slick direction and the occasional flash of humor you get in most Bruce Willis flicks, whether it's in the script or not. He can scarcely say a line without smirking.
2. Contrived to an excruciating degree and mawkishly emotional, 16 Blocks is a manufactured and predictable action-thriller that conveniently forgets all logic.
3. The two characters have the luxury of real, reflective time to fill, something so rare in an age of zip-bang-crash-zap action-pic editing as to be classified as 'old-fashioned.'
4. It's nice to see director Richard Donner back in action, but his style yearns for a tight, effective screenplay -- something that is not provided here.
5. It's a popcorn picture that is a perfect pick for a cold or rainy March day.
6. Basically an outdoor version of Assault on Precinct 13, but though it's...just a popcorn movie, it's an expertly crafted, enjoyable accompaniment to the kernels.
7. takes its premise and runs it straight into the ground with an insouciant gusto
8. The weary Willis and the whiner Def outnumbered and outgunned in a maze of concrete and heavy traffic by desperate cops gone very bad.
9. A strong action movie with a vicious punch and well defined, interesting characters .
10. An action thriller exactly like every other.


question: Reese Witherspoon is charming enough, but the road to Alabama is well-traveled.

numbered reviews: 1. Melanie eventually slugs the Yankee. Too bad the former Murphy Brown doesn't pop Reese back.
2. Never rises above the level of TV sitcom mediocrity.
3. Using her blond, blue-eyed pout to full advantage, Witherspoon is just as likable as a Southern belle as she was as a California sorority girl in Legally Blonde.
4. A horrifyingly predictable romantic comedy that, unlike Legally Blonde, can't coast even partially on the formidable charm of suddenly-a-star Reese Witherspoon.
5. Reese Witherspoon stars in a startlingly well-written and enjoyable romantic comedy full of laughs and finely crafted characters.
6. The battle of the country spouse versus the city spouse - either way, Reese is the winner. Cute movie.
7. Director Andy Tennant works straight out of the romantic-comedy playbook, right down to the big kiss in the fake rainstorm.
8. If one defines a 'movie star' as an actress/actor whose presence can carry, even elevate, a mediocre movie, Reese Witherspoon is definitely a movie star. Despite the predictable plot and cliche stereotypes, her irresistable charisma makes it frothy and am
9. Every time you look, Sweet Home Alabama is taking another bummer of a wrong turn.
10. About the best that can be said about Sweet Home Alabama is that it will make a good airplane movie -- it's bland, mostly inoffensive, and predictable enough that you can nap through large sections and not get lost.


question: Boasting beautiful animation, a charming voice cast, laugh-a-minute gags, and a surprisingly thoughtful story, The Lego Movie is colorful fun for all ages.

numbered reviews: 1. Though not everything about The Lego Movie is awesome, you'll leave the cinema wearing a real smile.
2. Funny, inventive and bound to boost sales of the interlocking plastic bricklets even further.
3. If it sounds like a glorified toy commercial, well, there's no denying it is. But it's an advert packed with invention, humour and charm - the kind you'd skip through TV programmes to watch.
4. This film contains the best Batman theme song...ever.
5. It's about as magical and wondrous a movie as I've seen with more laughs per minute than any movie in recent memory. The LEGO Movie is an absolute delight.
6. Adults who go to The Lego Movie out of a weary sense of parental duty are in for a very pleasant surprise.
7. The Lego Movie's desire to inveigh against social conformity turns into a plea for collectivism. It's a message that will inevitably send the blood pressures of FOX News pundits through the roof.
8. A film every bit as imaginative, colourful and cleverly constructed as their plastic inspiration.
9. A work of unbridled imagination, apt to delight sociologists, stoners and six-year-olds alike.
10. It's playtime on film, done with wit, warmth, and respect for the business of imagination.


question: Informative and enraging in equal measure, The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz uses its subject's tragic tale to deliver an impassioned call to action.

numbered reviews:
1. Knappenberger's documentary is smart and focused, homing in on a recurring theme of independence.
2. Aaron Swartz's life story is a tragedy, but not for the reasons the makers of The Internet's Own Boy would have you believe.
3. The bits and bytes come fast, and not always with context. Still, the loss of a man whose gifts were on the cutting edge is felt deeply.
4. Tragic, maybe overly burnished portrait of online activist Aaron Swartz nevertheless turns his federal prosecution into a crisp indictment of government hypocrisy and intimidation.
5. See the movie, flaws and all, simply to see where you stand in this digital river that runs through all our lives, connecting and isolating us in ways we're barely able to comprehend.
6. It's a call to action in the form of an adoring profile, which is effective (and affecting) strategy, but narrow, propagandistic filmmaking.
7. Will upset you. As it should.
8. A system that tries to scare harmless do-gooders into submission does America no credit. In this case, it succeeded all too horribly well.
9. May his death not be in vain.
10. The Internet's Own Boy builds a strong case against the American government, whose insatiable ability to continually undermine its basic democratic principles caused the sad demise of one of the internet's great heroes.