The Acceptables **½

16. GENOVA
►…enchanting performances, attractive photography, and a lovely, credible feeling of childhood slipping away for two motherless girls.◄

17. DRAG ME TO HELL
► Sam Raimi's film exerts a pull missing from most 21st Century horror films.◄

18. PAUL BLART MALL COP
►…short, sharp, fairly sweet comedy they just don’t make ‘em like anymore.◄

19. DORIAN GRAY
►Stylised version of Oscar Wilde's novel "The Picture Of Dorian Gray"… [Ben] Barnes isn't experienced enough to do Gray's darkly intriguing character justice.◄

20. THE YOUNG VICTORIA
►…but the narrative is fragmentary and never gives you the feeling that you’ve learned anything of Victoria’s reign◄

21. THE PROPOSAL
► PC? No; Original? Not for a second; Fun? You Bet!◄

22. CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC
►Bright direction from P.J. Hogan, and a better-than-usual cast for this sort of fluff.◄

23. KATALIN VARGA
►...[set in Transylvania, but] banish any thoughts of stakes, crosses, and garlic, and instead 'enjoy' a melodramatic tale of [Hilda] Peter seeking revenge on the men who raped her.◄

24. THE INTERNATIONAL
►[Daniel] Craig seems to think he's playing 007 (globetrotting from Berlin to Milan to New York to Istanbul), but he hasn't been given the dialogue to allow him to even smile.◄

25. THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE
►…mawkish at times, but it doesn't overdo the emotion.◄

26. CADILLAC RECORDS
►More a standard biography of Chess records … than an exciting film in its own right◄

27. LOS ABRAZOS ROTOS / BROKEN EMBRACES
►[Pénélope] Cruz and the typically flamboyant photography are moreorless all that can be savoured.◄

28. MOON
►… goes down well if you want to immerse yourself in a slow-moving 'thought' piece.◄

29. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
►writer-director Orin Peli realises that we're here to see (and hear) the hauntings, not the leading couple's discussions.◄