Question: 1. The most courageous thing about it, from today's standards, is that it closes without an obligatory happy ending, and an audience that has watched for 187 minutes doesn't get a tidy, mindless conclusion.
2. It is a spotty, uneven drama.
3. the liberal message is delivered with a heavy hand, but the film also boasts some stirring action and intelligent dialogue.
4. An absolute classic by one of the great American directors.
5. Kubrick's gladiator film is the pinnacle of sword-and-sandal epics.
6. Meant to be seen on the big screen.
7. It's especially strong, and more typical of Kubrick, in the first half -- before satire gives way to sentiment.
8. Rousing in patches, but kitschy in so many others - a mixed bag.
9. Director Stanley Kubrick was obviously just collecting a paycheck for this one, though he stages some intricate battle scenes. Too bad he obviously couldn't have cared less about the lame love story and political machinations behind the scenes.
10. Many scenes ring passionate and rousing, while others are campy and silly, and somehow they all work together.
Consensus: Featuring terrific performances and epic action, Kubrick's restored swords-and-sandals epic is a true classic.
Q: 1. Richly entertaining and technically innovative, but it's also a movie with an outspoken point of view about the direction in which American culture ought to be headed.
2. Ross' often-exhilarating first feature, playful and earnest, simple and yet dauntingly, effortlessly complex, returns the high to "high concept."
3. This wonderful film speaks volumes about prejudice, the freedom of ideas, and the joys of diversity.
4. The movie's simplistic storyline does not match its stunning visual accomplishments.
5. Much of the interest here is in watching how the black-and-white scenes (filmed on color stock) begin to flower.
6. One of the few recent Hollywood films out there that has used new digital technology to truly engage the viewer, and make possible a thoughtful story.
7. An innovative and ethically provocative film about free spirits and those who would keep them down.
8. Endearing it definitely is, so much so that it's easy to overlook the simplicity, and the sly confidence trick that gets played on us.
9. For a movie that makes such a big deal about color, Pleasantville is awfully black and white.
10. Overcomes its moralising and occasional pomposity with magical photographic effects.
Based on these individual reviews, what is the critic consensus?

A: Consensus: Filled with lighthearted humor, timely social commentary, and dazzling visuals, Pleasantville is an artful blend of subversive satire and well-executed Hollywood formula.
1. I'm torn - half of me thinks this is worth seeing and the other half says wait to rent it or see it on cable.
2. Overcoming the handicap of an overt, writerly device, Allen crafts a warm comedy and a painful tragedy right before our eyes.
3. A movie that too often is dull and duller, an exercise posing as a full-blown drama. Or is it posing as a comedy?
4. It is a stunt, but at least it is a serious one.
5. Half works, and the half that doesn't work isn't so bad that it's not worth sitting through to see a Woody Allen comedy starring Will Ferrell.
6. It's pleasant and challenging enough, in fits and starts, and certainly not the embarrassment of his last few movies.
7. Entertaining but uneven.
8. So much more depth has gone into seductively photographed interiors (residents complain of being poor while living in terrific Manhattan lofts) that Melinda starts to seem like an accessory, to be packed and hauled away.
9. None of the characters have their own voice. They all sound like Woody Allen.
10. But recently he's been off his game again. I don't know why.
Consensus: Woody Allen's uneven Melinda and Melinda fails to find neither comedy nor pathos in what seems like a rehash of his previous themes.
Q: 1. Until the Sports Illustrated subscription runs out at the Walt Disney Studios offices, I expect audiences will continue to be privy to cookie-cutter yarns centered around notable achievements in the sports world.
2. An inspirational true story that oozes with so much inspiration, its overwhelming optimism becomes annoying and embarrassing.
3. Excitement mounts with every hoof beat in 'Secretariat,' a real crowd pleaser.
4. Like most Disney features, it is an inspirational event that will touch everyone.
5. A throwback to an era where Disney churned these things out by the dozen, you?ll cheer, you?ll laugh, and wish you?d brought a hanky. There is, however, no photo finish.
6. A weak mediocrity that inspires no strong feelings one way or the other.
7. The horse racing in the film is wonderful. It was shown from the horse's perspective...but I'm not sure the Oscar buzz is appropriate here.
8. It's not about a horse, it's jockey, or it's trainer. It's about a horse owner. Instead of honoring the greatest race horse ever, they try to find an underdog story with Diane Lane's help.
9. Strictly a movie for those who bet chalk.
10. Secretariat rides to the Winner's Circle.
Based on these individual reviews, what is the critic consensus?

A: Consensus: Rousing, heartwarming, and squarely traditional, Secretariat offers exactly what you'd expect from an inspirational Disney drama -- no more, and no less.
1. Killer Instinct is generally fast-paced but the need to cram about 15 years of Mesrine's life into less than two hours results in uneven patches.
2. Despite the graphic violence, Cassell creates a memorable character, perhaps as memorable as the real man he portrays. Elena Anaya stands out as his mistreated wife.
3. Richet's film is an engaging one, even if it often plays like a re-enacted, high-episodic documentary.
4. ...a stylish gangster flick with lots of action and a super cool, larger-than-life anti-hero at the center...
5. An exhilarating old-school crime pic.
6. Quite engrossing, very much like a cross between Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can and a French 'Godfather'
7. The events may be accurate, but Mesrine is so episodic that it's slightly maddening to watch.
8. Mesrine: Killer Instinct is a true-life French gangster film so in awe of its subject that it can't fit the entire story into one film.
9. Cassel is handsome yet ratlike, charming yet brutal.
10. It's director Jean-Francois Richet's aim to demystify, and deromanticize Mesrine, perhaps the criminal life in general, and he succeeds.
Consensus: It's undeniably uneven, but Vincent Cassel's electrifying performance makes Mesrine: Killer Instinct a gangster biopic worth seeking out.
1. While audiences will gasp at the audacity of using real animals instead of drawings, the tale behind the technical achievement is stale and outmoded.
2. Stunning animal photography.
3. Its dramatic success seems to derive largely from putting the inhabitants of separate worlds into a context where both belong.
4. Animal-loving kids will think it's lovely, but it's only a mildly diverting time-waster for the rest of us.
5. A stunning, visually spectacular fable - and those wondrous little tiger cubs are irresistible.
6. Charms when the quadripeds stalk the action but creaks when the bipeds open their mouths.
7. The actors play it straight, clearly aware that the tigers are the stars.
8. Annaud and his deft production team create believable dramatic characters without compromising the dignity of the animals they've borrowed as stars.
9. A strong tiger-centered story drives this endearing drama which takes cute and runs with it, climbs up trees with it, sucks your thumbs with it.
10. Astonishingly dreadful.

Answer: Consensus: A charming family-friendly movie with stunning cinematography.