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Daron Aldridge: Agreed, Josh. When they announced this one's wide release got bumped into the new year in the face of a critical drubbing, it seemed that Paramount showed little faith in the (reported) $100 million film. The advertising I saw also played the grieving father looking for his daughter's killer angle exclusively and completely ignored all the talk of how beautifully shot and imagined the girl's afterlife was. They shunned the supernatural element, which probably explains why my 12-year-old niece and her friends actually chose to see it on Saturday night. For those looking for the crime story (as advertised), this really was the only option out there. With that price tag, there is no way to paint this one a success, though.

George Rose: I have a hard time discussing this movie. Two months ago, a little movie called Precious came out. Everyone sang its praises and put it atop many Best Picture of the Year lists. I said it was too soon to declare a winner. I said anything is fair game in November and we have to wait until all the highly anticipated movies are released. I said... wait for The Lovely Bones. Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy is the closest I've ever come to having an orgasm during a non-pornographic movie. It is a masterpiece. It is everything cimema should be and more. So yes, when critics started throwing around words like "Best Picture" for Precious, I thought it was extremely unfair to Jackson. This was two months ago, people. Do you know how much can change in two months? In that time, waves of negative reviews started coming in for Lovely Bones. I tried to fight off the criticism. I tried to defend Jackson. But then, the unspeakable happened. I realized that I am no better than the people who blindly worship James Cameron. The Lovely Bones isn't the best movie of the year, no matter how much I wanted it to be and waited for its success, just like how Avatar isn't the best movie of the year, regardless of how much money it makes around the world. Now that it's January and all the candidates are available for viewing, its much easier to declare a winner. The best movie of the year is... Up in the Air! It's so good, I've already seen it three times. So who won the Best Picture Golden Globe this past weekend? Avatar, of course. Aparently in Hollywood, money talks more than reviews. If that's the case, then Lovely Bones is best defined by its solid wide-release debut, not the lackluster reviews. I suppose that's the only silver lining that can be found out of this release. You let me down, Peter. You let me down.

Jason Lee: Lemonade was made from lemons. I was ready to move this file into the "flop" pile after yet another supposed Oscar-contender with a great cast and talented director got middling-to-best reviews. Congrats to Paramount for turning this film around in the eyes of the public.

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