Lazy critics are out in force with their clumsy puns based on The Raven. Any guesses which references we'll hope to see nevermore? ---

Last week marked the first installment of The Hack Stamp, our spotlight on forced references to the subject or title of the movie that mark a sloppy critic. The new John Cusack period thriller The Raven was too tempting a target for these critical slackers, as evidenced by the following actual quotes.

David Germain, Associated Press: “Quoth the raven, ‘Go see something else.’”

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: “Quoth the raven: ‘Eh.’”

Frank Swietek, OneGuysOpinion.com: “Quoth this critic: It’s a bore.”

Leslie Felperin, Variety: “A squawking, silly picture that never takes flight.”

Elliott Noble, Sky Movies: “... while it won't get you in a huge flap, The Raven will give you enough caws to stay awake upon a midnight dreary ...”

Rick Bentley, McClatchy News Service: “… it feels like something that should be seen nevermore.”

Joe Lozito, BigPictureBigSound.com: “It would have benefited from a director who could have said nevermore.” (To give Mr. Lozito some credit, he does come up with a nice Cusack tie-in reference by referring to the film as Slay Anything …)

And how about the self-aware hackery of Bob Tremblay, MetroWest Daily News: “Nothing to crow about, but it’s not a turkey, either. … Enough bird puns for you? OK, nevermore.”

Any that we missed? Help us find more Hack Stamps.