COWBOYS & ALIENS

A full six writers are credited with the script and screen story for director Jon Favreau’s sci-fi/Western hybrid Cowboys & Aliens, which, based on the evidence, averages out to them contributing roughly half a fresh idea apiece. And I’m including the inspiration to call its saloon-keeper, rather than its doctor, "Doc."

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS

Modern romantic comedies are in such generally dismal shape that I feel ungrateful for wishing that Friends with Benefits were better than it actually is. But while it’s impossible to fully dislike any movie that finds a nitwit shrieking “John Mayer is our generation’s Sheryl Crow!” or features a couple making a solemn vow on the Bible app of the woman’s iPad, I left director Will Gluck’s latest thinking that the film had just missed its mark. And that, after two frequently hysterical features in a row (2009’s Fired Up!, Gluck’s directorial debut, and last year’s Easy A), its helmer had just missed his trifecta. Damn it.

THE TREE OF LIFE

Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life is total bliss, and I mean that in the term’s general and theological definitions.

HARRY POTTER & THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2

As the end credits began rolling at my screening of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the (need I say it?) final installment in the film series adapted from J.K. Rowling’s beloved novels, I’ll admit that I anticipated more applause than I actually heard. Then again, it’s awfully hard to clap while simultaneously wiping tears from your cheeks.

HORRIBLE BOSSES

It’s kind of a shame that the Farrelly brothers’ Three Stooges movie is currently in the process of filming. Is it too late for the directors to re-cast it with Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day in the leads?