cows

• Barnyard directed by Steve Oedekerk (2006)

  [3/10]

  "Imagine that Gary Larson had made a feature length version of his sentient cows from the 'Far Side' comics, then you might have an idea of what director Steve Oedekerk attempted with Barnyard."

• Fablehaven by Brandon Mull (2006)

  [6/10]

  "Mull has written a fairly decent modern-day fantasy story that possibly could have had a fairly good chance at hitting the bestseller lists if Mull had worked with a national publishing house."

• Mudge Boy, The directed by Michael Burke (2003)

  [6/10]

  "Writer and director Michael Burke does an excellent job at creating a portrait of Duncan Mudge, but he doesn't really take the story to a satisfying conclusion."

• Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (1985)

  [10/10]

  "Sara, Plain and Tall has a compact efficiency that creates a deceptive simplicity. As Nathaniel Hawthorne has said, 'Easy reading is damned hard writing,' and clearly MacLachlan worked hard to perfect her text."

• Witness directed by Peter Weir (1985)

  [7/10]

  "Witness creates good suspense and shows the contrasting culture of the Amish without making any judgements. The script lays on the religious symbolism quite thick: John (an apostle of Christ), Book (a synonym for the Bible), and John knows carpentry (Christ was the son of a carpenter). With this setup, you must expect that John Book will function as some sort of savior figure, but that savior figure also has romantic inclinations."

  Average score: 6.40