Frankly, we're getting a little worried about Halle Berry. Ever since she took home the Oscar for Monster's Ball, she hasn't been able to steer clear of mediocre movies. The latest example: Perfect Stranger, a twisty whodunit that is unlikely to redeem her in the eyes of the scribes. Berry stars as an investigative reporter looking into the murder of a friend; signs seem to point to a powerful, sketchy ad exec (played by Bruce Willis), so she goes undercover as a temp in his firm. There's nothing wrong with sexy potboilers, but the critics say Perfect Stranger is way too convoluted and filled with lame red herrings to work.

Another month, another swords-and-decapitations-filled epic. Pathfinder stars Karl Urban as Ghost, an orphaned Viking boy raised by Native Americans, destined to fight off his ancestors when they come back to pillage pre-Columbus America. Despite a few rousing action sequences, critics are finding lots to take issue with in Pathfinder including a non-existent plot, silly dialogue, a sophomoric obsession with gory violence, and even the cinematography, which bathes everything in a washed-out blue.

If you're a fan of Adult Swim's Aqua Teen Hunger Force, critics say you'll probably dig its big screen adaptation, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters. If you're not initiated into the world of those wacky anthropomorphic fast food items Meatwad, Frylock, and Master Shake, however, you're likely to be left cold. Absurdist antics are the order of the day as our heroes seek out a piece of antiquated gym equipment called the Insanoflex. Long story short, critics say if you're up for wacky non-sequiturs and are untroubled by such pesky cinematic conventions as narrative, ATHFCMFFT is as tasty as a Happy Meal.

When it comes to literary scandal, James Frey and Stephen Glass ain't got nothing on Clifford Irving, whose phony "autobiography" of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes was a sensation -- until Hughes emerged to dispute it. Irving appeared as himself in Orson Welles' endlessly inventive final film F for Fake, and now Lasse Hallstr?m has made The Hoax, a fictional account of the affair that critics say features Richard Gere's best performance in years. The pundits say Hallstr?m's direction is deft enough to make the film work as a comedy, a thriller, and an empathetic character study to boot.