Question: Q: 1. Watching "Deck the Halls" is like getting a lump of coal in your stocking. Except receiving a lump of coal takes only seconds, while this awful movie goes on for an hour and a half.
2. A few laughs are sprinkled in this equivalent of a lame sitcom holiday episode, but the broad comedy and treacly ending are unlikely to put anyone in the Christmas spirit.
3. In essence a title and release date in search of a movie, Deck the Halls is a lifeless, workmanlike comedy conceived to provide holiday shoppers an inoffensive respite from the mall.
4. How come the talk-radio blowhards never bring movies like this up when they're inveighing against the War on Christmas?
5. Got any kids who've been naughty this year? Here's their present.
6. 'My stupidity astounds me!' chortles Danny DeVito in Deck the Halls, a line that pretty much sums up this tale of warring neighbours with very different ideas about celebrating Christmas.
7. Not that we expect much from a Holiday movie about neighbours competing over Christmas lights (how familiar is that?), but John Whitesell's film is so lacking in any plausible plot that I squirmed in my seat throughout the entire duration of the screening
8. This one follows the depressing pattern of Surviving Christmas and Christmas With the Kranks: enforced holiday cheer gives way to bilious hatred, then hollow forgiveness.
9. Deck the screenwriter, deck the director--then go and deck your own halls.
10. seems to have only been greenlit because producers know that families need PG-rated dreck to occupy the kiddies while mom is out shopping for Christmas presents.
Based on these individual reviews, what is the critic consensus?

A: Consensus: Relying on flat humor and a preposterous plot, Deck the Halls is an unnecessarily mean-spirited holiday movie that does little to put viewers in a holiday mood.
1. As strange and intriguing as [Svankmajer's] previous work, the movie is also his most accessible.
2. Wickedly funny, deeply disturbing.
3. For those who can embrace and enjoy the preposterous while forgiving the ludicrous, Little Otik may make an entertaining bedtime story.
4. It's pure nightmare fuel and a blast to watch.
5. An acquired taste that fans will likely enjoy.
6. Its dark whimsy doesn't hold up for the duration of Svankmajer's film version, which, at more than two hours, seriously wears out its welcome.
7. If you've never seen one of director Jan Svankmajer's animated films before, you're in for a weird treat.
8. 127 minutes is a lot of time for a simple movie with one satirical point to make and one animated character to show.
9. Subversively funny, it's a welcome alternative to the big-budget movies flooding into theaters at this time of year.
10. A handmade dream, cobbled together from dirt, wood and more imagination than most of us can muster in our most fevered states.
Consensus: Though rather overlong, Little Otik is a whimsical, bizarre treat.
Q: 1. At heart, this is no more or less than self-consciously old-fashioned entertainment.
2. A simple, no-frills story.
3. Anna and the King satisfies in grand style.
4. Surprisingly engaging.
5. Pictorially splendid, it's largely large, epic and expansive. It's long, pack a lunch.
6. But by writing in so many conspiracy and battle scenes, it almost ceases to be a character-driven romantic comedy.
7. Disappointing.
8. Wonderfully shot in all of its majestical glory, exquisite cinematography, lush locations with plenty of exotic flair and original costumes.
9. Andy Tennant's period drama may only sport a so-so plot, but it shimmers with rich scenery and colorful costumes and has the most charming tour guide imaginable, Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun-Fat.
10. This is precisely the kind of "cast of thousands" extravaganza Hollywood rarely produces anymore and the movie's seductive visuals, charismatic performances and glorious scenery make for two and a half hours of immensely pleasurable viewing.
Based on these individual reviews, what is the critic consensus?

A: Consensus: Beautiful cinematography can't prevent Anna and the King from being boring and overly lengthy.
1. I can't recommend the film although it does have its moments.
2. Dreadful unwatchable movie version of the campy Batman television series popular in the 1960s.
3. While the film is far from perfect, it's meant to be that way.
4. Holy Cornball Camp, Batman! This movie's a hoot!
5. Campy fun
6. ...can we at least all agree that 'Da na na na na na na na...BAT MAN!' is one of the greatest superhero themes ever?
7. It exists.
8. I'd choose Adam West's Batmobile over Michael Keaton's any day.
9. It's goofy, cornball charm sure wears a lot better than the last two "serious" Batman flicks.
10. For camp value only
Consensus: Batman: The Movie elevates camp to an art form -- and has a blast doing it, every gloriously tongue-in-cheek inch of the way.
Q: 1. Dear Frankie is a sticky ball of sap, and you shouldn't let its accent or film-festival appearances convince you otherwise.
2. It's the lack of sentiment at the right time that proves to be the film's undoing.
3. It may have you reaching for your Kleenex at the end, but at least Dear Frankie triggers audience sniffles the old-fashioned way: it earns them.
4. A rarity: a heartstring-puller that's never manipulative, a tearjerker that's never sentimental or maudlin, and a drama that soars whenever it should be in free fall.
5. A bittersweet bonbon of a drama, full of the old fashioned literary touches that a well-written letter still can deliver in the age of e-mail.
6. Mortimer creates a complex and sympathetic portrait of a mother struggling to give her son anything she can, while McElhone portrays the son as a wise, perceptive lad who can handle more challenges than his mother is willing to allow.
7. Dear Frankie will win you over in spite of your reservations.
8. As the story takes some surprising turns, it works like a slow infection: Patient audience members may find themselves awakening to the story in much the same way the characters awaken to their own capacities for tenderness.
9. The pain that's evoked in this small, warm film -- the deep and unspoken yearning of child -- is as universal as it is heartbreaking.
10. A small movie with a big soul and no easy formula for the happiness of its big-hearted characters.
Based on these individual reviews, what is the critic consensus?

A:
Answer: Consensus: Dear Frankie is a small, good-hearted film with fine performances.