Coffy (1973)

Action/Adventure Rated R

Coffy is at once a notable moment in female-empowerment cinema and a pervasive exercise in the objectification of women. It’s as if Gloria Steinem wrote a screenplay that was then handed off to Hugh Hefner to direct. After appearing in a couple of women-in-prison pictures, Pam Grier broke out as Coffy, a nurse with a

Skyfall (2012)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

"Mendes distills the Bond ethos in a single sequence: it’s sex and death as irresistible surface and sheen."

The Bourne Legacy (2012)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

"Without being remotely realistic … has a crunch that nonetheless feels authentic."

Looper (2012)

Action/Adventure Rated R

"Nothing quite excites and disturbs us as the prospect of time travel. Looper exploits that tension for all its worth."

Amazing Spider-Man, The (2012)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

"Director Marc Webb seems to have made The Amazing Spider-Man because … he was hired."

Dark Knight Rises, The (2012)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

"…a far more conventional narrative arc, not to mention an alarming amount of franchise care."

Alien (1979)

Action/Adventure Rated R

“…a distinctly deliberate exercise in terror.”

Prometheus (2012)

Action/Adventure Rated R

“Our genre pictures are being burdened by a love of lore.

Cloud Atlas (2012)

Action/Adventure Rated R

"Even its detractors – and this is a movie that’s easy to take potshots at – will have to admit that Cloud Atlas is more fluid than it has any right to be."

Marvel’s The Avengers (2012)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

“Joss Whedon is a small-screen storyteller. And I mean that as a compliment.