Stardust

There are some graphic novels and comic books that translate well to the big screen, and there are some that fail miserably. Stardust doesn't really do either. If you're in the mood for whimsical adventure that gets overly cheesy while following witches, pirates and magical objects, this may be your movie. Sure, that all sounds great, but it doesn't translate quite as well. The high moments, like Robert De Niro's happy pirate, or Sienna Miller's too-briefly-shown frumpiness, are often lost in the long, drawn-out cross-country adventure treks and epic battle scenes. They reminded me of Lancelot running repeatedly up and over the hill in Monty Python's Holy Grail, except Stardust was taking itself seriously. Danes tries too hard to capture the otherworldly essence of a star and she's outshone by the rest of the cast.

IMDB: Stardust

• OVERALL: 84
  
• VISUAL: 88
  
• STORY: 81
  
• ACTING: 83
  
• BETTER THAN: The Ice Pirates
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: The Neverending Story
  
• WAS MISSING: Mr. Brady telling a tale about tall tales you should tell.
  
• SEE IT FOR: The "Gandalf" narration and Ricky Gervais describing his art of the deal.
  

Baxter

There is nothing more heartwarming than the tale of a boy and his dog. Well, except for a tale of an angry French boy and his mentally and morally tortured dog. He's rather cute though, the pup, and he thinks in the greatest French accent. Seriously. It's almost like the time my dog went through years of pain of seizures, then died of epilepsy... oh wait, that's right... this actually isn't that heartwarming of a movie. It's disturbing, really, though I know some of you are into that kind of thing. It has some brilliant moments of animal dependency and pets' needs and expectations, but that does not outweigh the brutality of man, so this movie is not for the casual audience.

• OVERALL: 79
  
• VISUAL: 80
  
• STORY: 93
  
• ACTING: 64
  
• BETTER THAN: The Cat from Outer Space
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: Babe
• WAS MISSING: Belly rubs
  
• SEE IT FOR: One of the cutest, ugliest dogs on film, running so fast with his lil' legs to keep up