It's disheartening when nearly all of the "fresh" reviews seem to be along the lines of "Well, at least it didn't suck as much as Batman and Robin!"

I'm partial to this dry little sneer, from the Arizona Star (also grabbed from RT):

Most of the characters are bland, but not Johnny. He's extreme. Whenever he comes onscreen, punk music blares, he does a Mountain Dew commercial stunt and starts making out with one or two chicks.

"I've never been good with rules," he says.

That Johnny.

Johnny's what's getting my ass into the theatre. If it gets there, that is.

That description makes me want to smack Johnny.

Is he the fire guy? 'Cause that might affect what I decide to wear when I smack him.

Note to Avi Arad: If you want Harry Knowles to help spread good word-of-mouth about your film, publicly calling him "Fat Harry" is probably not the best way to win him over.

I just went to AICN and saw the new Harry animation thing they always have in the top left corner.

Heh. Apparantly Harry wasn't happy about the "Fat Harry" think.

From the Chicago Tribune's review of The March of the Penguins:

Part of the film's cachet is in those "how'd they get that" moments. (Stay for the credits to see the birds interact curiously with Jacquet and his cameras.) But mostly it's an incredible tale of ritual and perseverance, both for the emperor penguin and the untouched land, sparkling white and aqua, pristine and brutal.

Oh yes, there is also a major cute factor here, even with Freeman's reverent voice, the harrowing music and the brutal statistics (many newborns, sometimes up to 80 percent of them, just don't make it). I mean, baby penguins. With feathers so dense they look like fur and eyes too naive to deny, you'll want one. Bad. Believe me, deep in your bones lives a need you never knew existed: You must cuddle with a baby penguin. At once.

I was just looking at the arthouse near me to see if they'll be showing it, and not only does it start there tomorrow, but they've put it on two screens (the only movie currently on more than one screen at this theater). Penguins sell, baby!

I just watched The Deep End, and yeah, go Tilda Swinton, and yeah, go moral ambiguity, and yeah, beautifully shot, but it still left me disappointed. I was expecting a bit more punch, but instead the plot kind of...fizzled out.

So, Fantastic Four? Really not so good. It had its moments, but took sooooo looooong getting to them. Batman can take a while going through the how-he-got-there part. These guys? Went to space. And came back. There was no need for that to take an hour.

So, Fantastic Four? Really not so good.

Did you go see this with your ex?

::suspicious look::

I did. We're friends now! And he got the tickets for free.