as Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic who called the villain the highlight of the film: "Cross is hilarious in everything he does, but he's surprisingly effective in a kids comedy. His villainy is so broad that it's never really scary, and he's so funny that you never tire of seeing him on-screen." However, one reviewer, Tim Robey, admitted to being annoyed by Cross in the film. Premiere called Richardson "sufficiently adorable and winsome, though the film's purity makes it difficult to imagine any sort of romantic entanglement." Wrote Roger Ebert, "Jason Lee and David Cross manfully play roles that require them, as actors, to relate with empty space that would later be filled with CGI." The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, "the values and the CGI are good." Some critics praised the chipmunk protagonists; with Vice writing they were "integrated pretty well into the live-action elements." The A.V. Club wrote, "the manic Chipmunks wear out their welcome pretty quickly." The Globe and Mail also commented on the shot composition: "you've got regulation-height dancers and musicians backing a singing group the size of kids' mittens." "As rendered here by the average-looking CGI effects, the characters are underwhelming in their appeal, lacking the charm of their previous animated incarnations," summarized The Hollywood Reporter. Some reviewers, including Ebert, also panned the lack of distinction between the chipmunks. However, Variety thought there was a "persuasive interaction of human and digital co-stars." Accolades Fox submitted Alvin and the Chipmunks to the Academy Awards for a Best Animated Feature before the film had a theatrical run required for the award; it wasn't nominated. Upon the announcement of the submitted films, Brad Brevet of ComingSoon.net questioned the submission of a live-action/animated film like Alvin: "I mean, why wouldn’t Transformers then be considered animated?" While the Movieguide Awards named Alvin and the Chipmunks the third best family film of 2007, PopMatters called it the second worst film of the year. It was also named one of 2007's worst pictures by science fiction writer John Varley. In 2011, Entertainment Weekly ranked Alvin and the Chipmunks the third worst live-action/animation hybrid film of all-time. In terms of lists regarding the worst talking animal films of all time, both Complex and Screen Rant named it eleventh worst. In 2013, it was ranked by GamesRadar the 48th worst Christmas movie ever. In 2016, Box Office Prophets ranked it the fifth worst live-action film