THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG

“Hollywood films like THE HOBBIT and THE AVENGERS and so many more are re-appropriating the standards and structure of old-school serials, always building toward the next chapter, but they stretch on for three times as long. It’s exhausting.” – Jake Mulligan, EDGE

“A significant improvement in every way, save that its triumphs make its predecessor’s shortcomings all the more apparent.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist

“We’ll just have to wait for next year’s conclusion,THERE AND BACK AGAIN, to see whether it was worth the detours.” – Kristofer Jenson, DIG Boston

“There’s a dispiriting lack of energy in this second adventure; there’s no spring in Jackson’s step.” – Monica Castillo, Movie Mezzanine

“I didn’t hate it. It’s not converting me to a fan of elves and dwarves and orcs and hobbits, but considering its running time and that there’s one more film to go, consider it high praise from a vocal non-fan that I wasn’t bored. I can only imagine what true believers will make of it.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“This a case of just-too-muchery, more for the sake of more, which is neither strictly a negative thing nor the best way to approach bringing every nook and cranny of Tolkien’s world to life.” – Andrew Crump, Go-See-Talk

“A bajillion times better than the previous installment, THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED PIECE OF SHIT.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

SAVING MR. BANKS

“Your enjoyment of the film will depend on how you take your grandfatherly figures and traumatic childhood flashbacks, and how long you want to spend in the Disney vault.” – Monica Castillo, DIG Boston

“The great irony, though, is that there is some serious revisionism and whitewashing going on to make one of the characters more agreeable… it’s just not Walt Disney.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist

“The moments are there. The story has a chance. But in the world of Disney entertainment, this is far from an E-ticket ride.” – Norm Schrager, Meet In The Lobby

“If you can enjoy this as a fictional gloss on the real story, it is quite entertaining. If you walk away thinking that Disney finally won over Travers who loved what he did with her work, you’ll have jumped into one of Bert’s chalk pictures and left the real world behind.” – Dan Kimmel, North Shore Movies

TYLER PERRY’S A MADEA CHRISTMAS

“Lee Daniels tried to sell out but he just somehow couldn’t. Meanwhile Tyler Perry is on the nearest street corner with a “FOR SALE” sign around his neck in a skirt shorter than anything Madea ever wore.  This movie is gross.” – Sean Burns, Technology Tell