2008 / Jon Poll > While there’s no doubt that Anton Yelchin is a youngster to watch, not much can be said of the manner in which Gustin Nash’s screenplay takes the interesting and turns it into a play by the numbers coming-of-age story that fails to find what it started out looking for. Charlie Bartlett does get some refreshment from Hollywood’s current darling Robert Downey, Jr., in a rather pitying role of an alcoholic principal-cum-father. If there’s one way to sum up why the film doesn’t work in the end, it’s that everything happens too easily, with disregard to reality, and that, for a film that’s trying to find the uniqueness within a cultural subtext, is a small tragedy.

2008 / Louis Leterrier > The most impressive thing about The Incredible Hulk isn’t the fact that it’s actually good, but that Marvel was able to eat the mistake that Ang Lee made and reboot the series in five short years. Not only does it show that the movie-going audiences have surprisingly short-term memories, but also that a storied franchise need not be bogged down by a misfire. That being said, Zak Penn’s script is more on par with his first X-Men 2 effort than Elektra, and Leterrier has targeted a good blend of action and drama while respecting Hulk’s fanbase. Now it’ll be interesting to see if Hulk returns as a good guy or bad guy in the upcoming Avengers movie.

2008 / Steven Spielberg > Some of the scenes make no sense, the writing is mediocre and often laughable and the ending messes with the whole mystique of the Indiana Jones series. But those minor, silly things aside, the damn thing is still a lot of fun to watch. It’s kind of hard to consider it in the same vein as the originals (especially when Raiders of the Lost Ark can legitimately stand up as a classic), but it was never meant to be taken seriously. Not with Shia LeBeouf and a 65 year-old Harrison Ford. But there were still moments of old Indy greatness, hidden here and there, and that’s pretty much all we could ask.

2008 / Michel Gondry > The bar’s up pretty high after Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep, but this is what it is on purpose: lighthearted, sentimental and while a bit ill-paced, generally enjoyable. Though Jack Black is on the edge of annoying, the rest of the cast holds the film together in a very communal way. The movie recreations are reason enough to see this as they serve up the genius of Gondry in small, snack portions instead of a whole meal at once.

2008 / M. Night Shyamalan > Obvious, insulting and intensely disappointing in that we may have the technical skills of such a crafty director wasted by his delusions of grandeur. Everything Shyamalan has done since The Sixth Sense has been filled with a sense of greatness that simply isn’t there. I excused both Unbreakable (because on a small scale, it made sense to me) and Signs (because I gave it the benefit of the doubt), but the last three have gone further into the ground in insulting the viewer’s intelligence. The Happening is ridiculous in its message, the way that a kindergarten student would tell an adult to not waste electricity. The script and acting? Just leave this one alone.

2007 / Jake Kasdan > A deliriously fun parody, Walk Hard doesn’t ever actually stop to analyze what it’s doing. The way Kasdan organized the project, it really ends up being a seamless, over-the-top yet surprisingly believable (if you were to actually try to believe) story of a rock ‘n’ roll superstar. John C. Reilly is completely in his element and Tim Meadows is, well, funny again. However, the extended cut is arguably too extended and ill-paced for the film to be enjoyable by the time the credits roll. The theatrical cut is clean, efficient and paced just right.

2007 / The Brothers Strause > There are only a couple of reasons to see this: First, the more obvious of the two, is the fact that you finally get to see some alien on predator action. Unfortuantely it’s just one predator vs. tons of aliens. Why? Well, how else would they get to set up the next sequel? Second, and less obvious, is the finale. I can’t say I’m shocked by much anymore in film, but I have to say that I give The Brothers Strause immense amount of credit for holding onto their bollocks and giving the audience what they want. For once.

2008 / Roger Donaldson > The Bank Job is a very enjoyable heist flick that is intensely charged while it lasts, but fails to carve a niche into the history of the genre. Stylish, well-paced, the whole product is very refined, though I imagine it’s not surprising since this is not, by any means, the first Jason Statham vehicle to take take on such a premise (see The Italian Job and Snatch).

2008 / David Ayer > Street Kings kills its suspense level and pacing before we’re ready to commit, which is a bit tragic because the overall show is pretty respectable. The typical viewer ought to figure out the ending 20 minutes into the film, which is tricky because it makes us lose motivation to continue watching. However, Ayer and writer James Ellroy of L.A. Confidential fame do pull out a couple of tricks near the end that make it worth the wait. The morality tale in the film is not as well-thought out as Gone Baby Gone, but the social questions brought forth are given a new spin even if they’ve existed for ages.

2008 / Brian Hecker > Bart Got a Room is a lighthearted, silly but fairly portrayed life of a teenager preparing for the high school prom. It’s an obvious comedy, but its underpinnings are exaggerations based on life experiences, which tends to give it the credibility it needs to stay afloat. Steven Kaplan shows promise as the protagonist, but William H. Macy steals the show as the divorced father whose curly afro and need for womanly love take a backseat to the love for his son.