Author:   Justin Souther

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Lottery Ticket

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: A kid from the projects wins the lottery, but must survive the weekend in order to cash it in. The Lowdown: A pleasant enough comedy with its heart in the right place, which nevertheless falls apart from simply being too predictable.

The Switch

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: A neurotic gets drunk and secretly switches the sperm donated to his best friend for her artificial insemination with his own. The Lowdown: The film begins a bit on the cynical side, but quickly -- and unfortunately -- takes a turn for the schmaltzy and pat.

Testing the waters

Posted on by Justin Souther

“Me and my friends dropped out of film school after our second year and moved back to Asheville,” Joe Chang tells Xpress, describing the Papercookie Picture Company he helped co-found. Less production company and more artistic collective, Papercookie was and is Chang's answer to the rigidness of the film-school experience. “We kind of got tired […]

Step Up 3D

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: A dance crew must win a competition in order to save the communal living space they call their own. The Lowdown: The perfect mix of absurdly corny and unironically dumb -- combined with some impressive 3D -- make this a pretty entertaining bit of cinematic junk.

Dinner for Schmucks

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: A ladder-climbing businessman must find an idiot to bring to his boss' dinner, where each guest brings some buffoon, with a prize going to the dumbest one. The Lowdown: An occasionally funny farce that works due to a good-natured heart at its center.

Predators

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: A group of soldiers and killers find themselves suddenly transported to a distant planet, where they're hunted by savage aliens. The Lowdown: An above-average popcorn actioner that's brought down by predictability and a penchant for an old-hat approach to jump-starting a tired franchise.

The Last Airbender

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: In a mystical realm, a young superpowered boy is the only hope of stopping an evil nation's plot to rule the world. The Lowdown: Generally amateurish and consistently dull, the movie is far from good, but -- even considering the Shyamalan pedigree -- isn't quite as awful as its reputation.

Grown Ups

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: Five childhood friends reunite in their hometown after the death of their former basketball coach. The Lowdown: The exact kind of awful you'd expect from a movie starring Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider and David Spade.

Toy Story 3

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: Pixar's group of rag-tag animated toys returns, and this time they must escape from an oppressive daycare center before their owner runs off to college. The Lowdown: Above-average family entertainment -- and exactly what you expect from a Toy Story film -- but a bit underwhelming after Pixar's latest output.

The Karate Kid

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: A Detroit youth who has moved to China with his mother trains for a kung-fu tournament in order to stand up to a gang of bullies. The Lowdown: A paint-by-numbers tale of uplifting inspiration that's surprisingly engaging and with a nice serious-minded role for Jackie Chan.

The A-Team

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: A group of unorthodox, discharged soldiers seek revenge against the people who framed them and put them in prison. The Lowdown: An occasionally fun, often goofy actioner (though it has enough sense to revel in its goofiness) that simply loses steam the longer it's on screen.

Killers

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: A husband and wife are pushed into the throes of danger after their idyllic marriage is threatened by the man's former life as a contract killer. The Lowdown: A flat-out dumb, cliché-riddled excuse for an action comedy that's miscast and pointless.

Get Him to the Greek

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: An inept intern must get an uncontrollable, drug-addled rock star from London to L.A. in three days. The Lowdown: An occasionally funny comedy that gets too bogged down in wayward plotting and a predilection towards tacked-on weightiness.