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Mike Hale, New York Times

1. The Flowers of War 2011 Zhang Yimou revisits the Nanjing massacre of 1937 by making something resembling a backstage musical, with breaks for the occasional ghastly murder or rape. full review
2. Girlfriend 2011 Doesn't miss many cliches of small-town, working-class, going-nowhere life. full review
3. Hobo With a Shotgun 2011 Will leave most viewers bored and uneasy, especially in scenes like the burning alive of a busful of young children. full review
4. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never 2011 At 105 minutes it's exhausting, even though it has been expertly cut together. full review
5. Megan Is Missing 2011 full review
6. Scream 4 2011 Like its predecessors, "Scream 4" replaces the values of storytelling and suspense with the value of being in on the joke. Unfortunately, in the 11 years since "Scream 3," the joke has gotten pretty old. full review
7. Spork 2011 As uplifting stories of tolerance and self-discovery go, "Spork" has a messy appeal, but it's no "Hairspray." full review
8. True Legend 2011 The fights in "True Legend" become pretty routine. And beyond some lovely mountain scenery and a tiny cameo by a radiant Michelle Yeoh, there isn't much else to look at. full review
9. American Grindhouse 2010 In its academic approach, American Grindhouse is like sex ed: the lecture gets tedious, but it's worth sitting through for the pictures. full review
10. Bhutto 2010 While the film gives us a strong sense of Bhutto's personality and strength,...it can only suggest the daily family and political machinations that were her reality, and leaves no clear sense of the truth of the corruption charges that dogged her. full review
11. Ip Man 2010 The fanboys and girls won't notice such failings amid the displays of wing chun kung fu--the extras and body doubles do some truly impressive acrobatics--and those with a taste for big historical tearjerkers will be happy as well. full review
12. Knucklehead 2010 World Wrestling Entertainment continues its effort to meld violent sport with gooey, throwback family comedy in the claptrap road movie Knucklehead. full review
13. Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen 2010 It's generally fun to watch Mr. Yen move and not much fun to watch him act, and "Legend of the Fist" is no exception. full review
14. Mugabe and the White African 2010 Many viewers will leave "Mugabe and the White African" thinking that they have seen few, if any, documentaries as wrenching, sad and infuriating, and those feelings will be justified. full review
15. Ong Bak 3 2010 The unrelentingly brutal Ong Bak 2 was a drag after the screwball charm and breathtaking stunts of Ong Bak, and the third installment continues the trend. full review
16. Punching the Clown 2010 [If it] isn't entirely successful, it's partly because the music -- late-night satire swathed in gentle folkie chords -- and Mr. Phillips's modest but knowing manner don't quite match up with the "Star Is Born" cliches of the plot. full review
17. Today's Special 2010 Hits all the sentimental cliches of the genre as if they were stops on the No. 7 train. full review
18. Kings of Pastry 2009 You'll be surprised by how devastating the collapse of a chocolate tower can be. full review
19. The Missing Person 2009 full review
20. The Nature of Existence 2009 His film is no more profound than its forerunners, but it's quicker, funnier and less pretentious.
21. Valhalla Rising 2009 Mr. Refn, who can pull off stylish brutality (in the Pusher films and Bronson), shows no knack for the kind of visionary, hallucinatory image making that would render Valhalla Rising memorable. full review
22. White on Rice 2009 Bland and only occasionally funny. full review
23. Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema 2008 It's easy to overlook the formulas and just enjoy the ride. full review
24. My Last Five Girlfriends 2008 It's hard to get a date when you won't stop talking about yourself even though you don't have much to say.