More like a Philip K. Dick adaptation than any Philip K. Dick adaptation, Looper is a smart and assured sci-fi thriller that disdains 3D and overkill effects in favor of character and story. It's like Inception's mellower kid brother: Not as manic, easier to hold a conversation with, but with some of the same charm.

The Dark Knight flops. This movie is overlong, overly focused on militaristic violence, is a tangled mess of themes and ideas, has the pacing of an epileptic turtle, and worse sin of all: not nearly enough Batman (or Catwoman). And way too much Bane.

Visually enthralling, intellectually fascinating, but also tiring, emotionally uninvolving and ultimately unsatisfying.