SOCKET_DATA/sentitreebank/test_text.txt

-LRB- A -RRB- rare , beautiful film .
-LRB- Drumline -RRB- is entertaining for what it does , and admirable for what it doesn't do .
-LRB- Schweiger is -RRB- talented and terribly charismatic , qualities essential to both movie stars and social anarchists .
-LRB- Wendigo is -RRB- why we go to the cinema : to be fed through the eye , the heart , the mind .
... Blade II is more enjoyable than the original .
... Hudlin is stuck trying to light a fire with soggy leaves .
... In this incarnation its fizz is infectious .
... a big , baggy , sprawling carnival of a movie , stretching out before us with little rhyme or reason .
... a cute and sometimes side-splittingly funny blend of Legally Blonde and Drop Dead Gorgeous , starring Piper Perabo in what could be her breakthrough role .
... a haunting vision , with images that seem more like disturbing hallucinations .
... a poignant and powerful narrative that reveals that reading writing and arithmetic are not the only subjects to learn in life .
... a polished and relatively sincere piece of escapism .
... a roller-coaster ride of a movie
... a weak , manipulative , pencil-thin story that is miraculously able to entertain anyway .
... always remains movingly genuine .
... ambition is in short supply in the cinema , and Egoyan tackles his themes and explores his characters ' crises with seriousness and compassion .
... an inviting piece of film .
... an unimaginative , nasty , glibly cynical piece of work .
... as the story congeals you feel the pieces of the Star Wars saga falling into place in a way that makes your spine tingle with revelation and excitement .
... both hokey and super-cool , and definitely not in a hurry , so sit back , relax and have a few laughs while the little ones get a fuzzy treat . '
... breathes surprising new life into the familiar by amalgamating genres and adding true human complexity to its not-so-stock characters . '
... fifty minutes of tedious adolescent melodramatics followed by thirty-five minutes of inflated nonsense .
... has virtually no script at all ...
... if you're in a mind set for goofy comedy , the troopers will entertain with their gross outs , bawdy comedy and head games .
... just a big mess of a movie , full of images and events , but no tension or surprise .
... mesmerizing , an eye-opening tour of modern Beijing culture in a journey of rebellion , retreat into oblivion and return .
... one of the most ingenious and entertaining thrillers I've seen in quite a long time .
... perhaps the heaviest , most joyless movie ever made about giant dragons taking over the world .
... surprisingly inert for a movie in which the main character travels back and forth between epochs .
... the film falls back on the same old formula of teen sex , outrageous pranks and scenes designed to push the envelope of bad taste for laughs .
... the last time I saw a theater full of people constantly checking their watches was during my SATs .
... the sum of the parts equals largely a confused mediocrity .
... there are enough moments of heartbreaking honesty to keep one glued to the screen .
... this movie has a glossy coat of action movie excess while remaining heartless at its core .
... too dull to enjoy .
... too gory to be a comedy and too silly to be an effective horror film .
... too slow , too boring , and occasionally annoying .
... watching this film nearly provoked me to take my own life .
... with the candy-like taste of it fading faster than 25-cent bubble gum , I realized this is a throwaway movie that won't stand the test of time .
4 friends , 2 couples , 2000 miles , and all the Pabst Blue Ribbon beer they can drink - it's the ultimate redneck road-trip .
A 93-minute condensation of a 26-episode TV series , with all of the pitfalls of such you'd expect .
A Generation X artifact , capturing a brief era of insanity in the sports arena that surely can not last .
A TV episode inflated past its natural length .
A beautiful and haunting examination of the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of the mundane horrors of the world .
A benign but forgettable sci-fi diversion .
A bit of an unwieldy mess .
A blessed gift to film geeks and historians .
A bold and subversive film that cuts across the grain of what is popular and powerful in this high-tech age , speaking its truths with spellbinding imagery and the entrancing music of Philip Glass .
A boring , formulaic mix of serial killers and stalk 'n' slash .
A boring , wincingly cute and nauseatingly politically correct cartoon guaranteed to drive anyone much over age 4 screaming from the theater .
A bowel-curdling , heart-stopping recipe for terror .
A bravura exercise in emptiness .
A breezy , diverting , conventional , well-acted tale of two men locked in an ongoing game of cat-and-cat .
A broadly played , lowbrow comedy in which the cast delivers mildly amusing performances and no farm animals were injured by any of the gags .
A byzantine melodrama that stimulates the higher brain functions as well as the libido .
A candid and often fascinating documentary about a Pentecostal church in Dallas that assembles an elaborate haunted house each year to scare teenagers into attending services .
A captivating cross-cultural comedy of manners .
A carefully structured scream of consciousness that is tortured and unsettling -- but unquestionably alive .
A chaotic panorama that's too busy flying a lot of metaphoric flags .
A charming , quirky and leisurely paced Scottish comedy -- except with an outrageous central gimmick that could have been a reject from Monty Python's Meaning of Life .
A charming romantic comedy that is by far the lightest Dogme film and among the most enjoyable .
A charming yet poignant tale of the irrevocable ties that bind .
A classy item by a legend who may have nothing left to prove but still has the chops and drive to show how its done .
A clever blend of fact and fiction .
A clutchy , indulgent and pretentious travelogue and diatribe against ... well , just stuff .
A cockamamie tone poem pitched precipitously between swoony lyricism and violent catastrophe ... the most aggressively nerve-wracking and screamingly neurotic romantic comedy in cinema history .
A comic gem with some serious sparkles .
A compelling , moving film that respects its audience and its source material .
A compendium of Solondz's own worst instincts in under 90 minutes .
A comprehensive and provocative film -- one that pushes the boundaries of biography , and challenges its audience .
A cop story that understands the medium amazingly well .
A cumbersome and cliche-ridden movie greased with every emotional device known to man .
A deceivingly simple film , one that grows in power in retrospect .
A deliciously mordant , bitter black comedy .
A depressing confirmation of everything those of us who don't object to the description `` unelected '' have suspected all along : George W. Bush is an incurious , uncharismatic , overgrown frat boy with a mean streak a mile wide .
A deviant topical comedy which is funny from start to finish .
A didactic and dull documentary glorifying software anarchy .
A distant , even sterile , yet compulsively watchable look at the sordid life of Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane .
A dreadful live-action movie .
A dream cast of solid female talent who build a seamless ensemble .
A dreary , incoherent , self-indulgent mess of a movie in which a bunch of pompous windbags drone on inanely for two hours ... a cacophony of pretentious , meaningless prattle .
A dreary rip-off of Goodfellas that serves as a muddled and offensive cautionary tale for Hispanic Americans .
A droll , well-acted , character-driven comedy with unexpected deposits of feeling .
A fairly by-the-books blend of action and romance with sprinklings of intentional and unintentional comedy .
A fascinating and fun film .
A fast-moving and remarkable film that appears destined to become a landmark in Japanese animation .
A feel-good picture in the best sense of the term .
A film made with as little wit , interest , and professionalism as artistically possible for a slummy Hollywood caper flick .
A film of precious increments artfully camouflaged as everyday activities .
A film so tedious that it is impossible to care whether that boast is true or not .
A film that is a portrait of grace in an imperfect world .
A film that takes you inside the rhythms of its subject : You experience it as you watch .
A frantic search for laughs , with a hit-to-miss ratio that doesn't exactly favour the audience .
A free-for-all of half-baked thoughts , clumsily used visual tricks and self-indulgent actor moments .
A frisky and fresh romantic comedy exporing sexual politics and the challenges of friendships between women .
A frustrating combination of strained humor and heavy-handed sentimentality .
A gentle , compassionate drama about grief and healing .
A gentle blend of present day testimonials , surviving footage of Burstein and his family performing , historical archives , and telling stills .
A gimmick in search of a movie : how to get Carvey into as many silly costumes and deliver as many silly voices as possible , plot mechanics be damned .
A graceful , contemplative film that gradually and artfully draws us into a world where the personal and the political get fatally intertwined .
A graceless , witless attempt at mating Some Like It Hot with the WWII espionage thriller .
A great comedy filmmaker knows great comedy needn't always make us laugh .
A great ending doesn't make up for a weak movie , and Crazy as Hell doesn't even have a great ending .
A great idea becomes a not-great movie .
A grim , flat and boring werewolf movie that refuses to develop an energy level .
A harmless and mildly amusing family comedy .
A hideous , confusing spectacle , one that may well put the nail in the coffin of any future Rice adaptations .
A highly intriguing thriller , coupled with some ingenious plot devices and some lavishly built settings . .
A hip ride into hyper-time , Clockstoppers is a lively and enjoyable adventure for all ages at any time .
A historical epic with the courage of its convictions about both scope and detail .
A hysterical yet humorless disquisition on the thin line between sucking face and literally sucking face .
A journey through memory , a celebration of living , and a sobering rumination on fatality , classism , and ignorance .
A lighthearted , feel-good film that embraces the time-honored truth that the most powerful thing in life is love .
A little too pat for its own good .
A long slog for anyone but the most committed Pokemon fan .
A long-winded , predictable scenario .
A long-winded and stagy session of romantic contrivances that never really gels like the shrewd feminist fairy tale it could have been .
A lousy movie that's not merely unwatchable , but also unlistenable .
A love for films shines through each frame and the era is recreated with obvious affection , scored to perfection with some tasty boogaloo beats .
A loving little film of considerable appeal .
A map of the inner rhythms of love and jealousy and sacrifice drawn with a master's steady stroke .
A marvellous journey from childhood idealism to adolescent self-absorption .
A masterful film from a master filmmaker , unique in its deceptive grimness , compelling in its fatalist worldview .
A masterpiece four years in the making .
A mawkish , implausible platonic romance that makes Chaplin's City Lights seem dispassionate by comparison .
A miniscule little bleep on the film radar , but one that many more people should check out
A minor picture with a major identity crisis -- it's sort of true and it's sort of bogus and it's ho-hum all the way through .
A mix of velocity and idiocy , this ruinous remake lacks the brawn -- and the brains -- of the 1970s original .
A mixed bag of a comedy that can't really be described as out of this world .
A model of what films like this should be like .
A modest and messy metaphysical thriller offering more questions than answers .
A modest pleasure that accomplishes its goals with ease and confidence .
A monster combat thriller as impersonal in its relentlessness as the videogame series that inspired it .
A moody horror\/thriller elevated by deft staging and the director's well-known narrative gamesmanship .
A mostly intelligent , engrossing and psychologically resonant suspenser .
A mostly tired retread of several other mob tales .
A movie far more cynical and lazy than anything a fictitious Charlie Kaufman might object to .
A movie for 11-year-old boys with sports dreams of their own and the preteen girls who worship Lil ' Bow Wow .
A movie that , rather than skip along the Seine , more or less slogs its way through soggy Paris , tongue uncomfortably in cheek .
A movie that tries to fuse the two ` woods ' but winds up a Bolly-Holly masala mess .
A movie that will touch the hearts of both children and adults , as well as bring audiences to the edge of their seats .
A one-trick pony whose few T&A bits still can't save itself from being unoriginal , unfunny and unrecommendable .
A painfully leaden film destined for pre-dawn cable television slots .
A perverse little truffle , dainty psychological terror on the outside with a creamy filling of familial jealousy and unrepentant domestic psychopathy .
A picture that extols the virtues of comradeship and community in a spunky , spirited fashion .
A pleasant enough comedy that should have found a summer place .
A pleasant enough movie , held together by skilled ensemble actors .
A pleasant ramble through the sort of idoosyncratic terrain that Errol Morris has often dealt with ... it does possess a loose , lackadaisical charm .
A pleasant romantic comedy .
A pleasurably jacked-up piece of action moviemaking .
A potent allegorical love story .
A predictable and stereotypical little B-movie .
A pro-fat farce that overcomes much of its excessive moral baggage thanks to two appealing lead performances .
A provocative movie about loss , anger , greed , jealousy , sickness and love .
A psychological thriller with a smart script and an obsessive-compulsive's attention to detail .
A psychologically rich and suspenseful moral thriller with a stellar performance by Al Pacino .
A quietly reflective and melancholy New Zealand film about an eventful summer in a 13-year-old girl's life .
A real clunker .
A real movie , about real people , that gives us a rare glimpse into a culture most of us don't know .
A real story about real people living their lives concerned about the future of an elderly , mentally handicapped family member .
A recent favourite at Sundance , this white-trash satire will inspire the affection of even those unlucky people who never owned a cassette of Def Leppard's Pyromania .
A recipe for cinematic disaster ... part Quentin Tarantino , part Guy Ritchie , and part 1960s spy spoof , it's all bad .
A refreshing Korean film about five female high school friends who face an uphill battle when they try to take their relationships into deeper waters .
A refreshingly authentic coming-of-age tale .
A refreshingly honest and ultimately touching tale of the sort of people usually ignored in contemporary American film .
A remarkable 179-minute meditation on the nature of revolution .
A resonant tale of racism , revenge and retribution .
A richly imagined and admirably mature work from a gifted director who definitely has something on his mind .
A romantic comedy , yes , but one with characters who think and talk about their goals , and are working on hard decisions .
A romantic comedy that operates by the rules of its own self-contained universe .
A sad , superior human comedy played out on the back roads of life .
A savvy exploration of paranoia and insecurity in America's culture of fear .
A sensitive and expertly acted crowd-pleaser that isn't above a little broad comedy and a few unabashedly sentimental tears .
A sensual performance from Abbass buoys the flimsy story , but her inner journey is largely unexplored and we're left wondering about this exotic-looking woman whose emotional depths are only hinted at .
A sermonizing and lifeless paean to teenage dullards .
A shambles of a movie -- visually unattractive , unbearably loud and utterly silly ... its hilarity is completely unintentional .
A silly , self-indulgent film about a silly , self-indulgent filmmaker .
A simmering psychological drama in which the bursts of sudden violence are all the more startling for the slow buildup that has preceded them .
A simple , sometimes maddeningly slow film that has just enough charm and good acting to make it interesting , but is ultimately pulled under by the pacing and lack of creativity within .
A slick , skillful little horror film .
A slick , well-oiled machine , exquisitely polished and upholstered .
A smart , sweet and playful romantic comedy .
A soggy , cliche-bound epic-horror yarn that ends up being even dumber than its title .
A soggy , shapeless mess ... just a dumb excuse for a waterlogged equivalent of a haunted-house movie .
A solidly seaworthy chiller .
A somewhat crudely constructed but gripping , questing look at a person so racked with self-loathing , he becomes an enemy to his own race .
A sophomoric exploration of ` life problems ' most people solved long ago -- or at least got tired of hearing people kvetch about .
A sour , nasty offering .
A splendid entertainment , young in spirit but accomplished in all aspects with the fullness of spirit and sense of ease that comes only with experience .
A sports movie with action that's exciting on the field and a story you care about off it .
A spunky , original take on a theme that will resonate with singles of many ages .
A startling and fresh examination of how the bike still remains an ambiguous icon in Chinese society .
A strong first quarter , slightly less so second quarter , and average second half .
A stunning piece of visual poetry that will , hopefully , be remembered as one of the most important stories to be told in Australia's film history .
A sweet-natured reconsideration of one of San Francisco's most vital , if least widely recognized , creative fountainheads .
A tale of horror and revenge that is nearly perfect in its relentless descent to the depths of one man's tortured soul .
A taut , intelligent psychological drama .
A teasing drama whose relentless good-deed\/bad-deed reversals are just interesting enough to make a sinner like me pray for an even more interesting , less symmetrical , less obviously cross-shaped creation .
A tender and touching drama , based on the true story of a troubled African-American's quest to come to terms with his origins , reveals the yearning we all have in our hearts for acceptance within the family circle .
A thinly veiled excuse for Wilson to play his self-deprecating act against Murphy's well-honed prima donna shtick .
A thoughtful , moving piece that faces difficult issues with honesty and beauty .
A thoughtful , provocative , insistently humanizing film .
A thoughtful look at a painful incident that made headlines in 1995 .
A tough go , but Leigh's depth and rigor , and his skill at inspiring accomplished portrayals that are all the more impressive for their lack of showiness , offsets to a notable degree the film's often-mined and despairing milieu .
A trashy , exploitative , thoroughly unpleasant experience .
A triumph , relentless and beautiful in its downbeat darkness .
A triumph of art direction over narrative , but what art direction !
A truly moving experience , and a perfect example of how art -- when done right -- can help heal , clarify , and comfort .
A turgid little history lesson , humourless and dull .
A very average science fiction film .
A very bad sign .
A very funny look at how another culture handles the process of courting and marriage .
A very funny movie .
A very stylish but ultimately extremely silly tale ... a slick piece of nonsense but nothing more .
A very witty take on change , risk and romance , and the film uses humour to make its points about acceptance and growth .
A vivid cinematic portrait .
A waste of good performances .
A well acted and well intentioned snoozer .
A well-made and often lovely depiction of the mysteries of friendship .
A well-made thriller with a certain level of intelligence and non-reactionary morality .
A whole lot foul , freaky and funny .
A wildly funny prison caper .
A wonderful character-based comedy .
A woozy , roisterous , exhausting mess , and the off-beat casting of its two leads turns out to be as ill-starred as you might expect .
A work of astonishing delicacy and force .
A work of intricate elegance , literary lyricism and profound common sense .
A work of the utmost subtlety and perception , it marks the outstanding feature debut of writer-director Eric Byler , who understands the power of the implicit and the virtues of simplicity and economy .
A worthwhile way to spend two hours .
A worthy entry into a very difficult genre .
A worthy tribute to a great humanitarian and her vibrant ` co-stars . '
A yarn that respects the Marvel version without becoming ensnared by it .
Abandons all pretense of creating historical context and waltzes off into a hectic soap about the ups and downs of the heavy breathing between the two artists .
About as cutting-edge as Pet Rock : The Movie .
About as satisfying and predictable as the fare at your local drive through .
About nowhere kids who appropriated turfs as they found them and become self-made celebrity athletes -- a low-down version of the American dream .
Absorbing and disturbing -- perhaps more disturbing than originally intended -- but a little clarity would have gone a long way .
Accuracy and realism are terrific , but if your film becomes boring , and your dialogue isn't smart , then you need to use more poetic license .
Achieves a sort of filmic epiphany that revels in the true potential of the medium .
Adam Sandler is to Gary Cooper what a gnat is to a racehorse .
Afraid to pitch into farce , yet only half-hearted in its spy mechanics , All the Queen's Men is finally just one long drag .
After making several adaptations of other writers ' work , Armenian-Canadian director Atom Egoyan broached an original treatment of a deeply personal subject .
After seeing SWEPT AWAY , I feel sorry for Madonna .
After that , it just gets stupid and maudlin .
Alas , it's neither .
All I can say is fuhgeddaboutit .
All but the most persnickety preteens should enjoy this nonthreatening but thrilling adventure .
All ends well , sort of , but the frenzied comic moments never click .
All in all , there's only one thing to root for : expulsion for everyone .
All the characters are stereotypes , and their interaction is numbingly predictable .
All the necessary exposition prevents the picture from rising above your generic sand 'n' sandal adventure .
All the performances are top notch and , once you get through the accents , All or Nothing becomes an emotional , though still positive , wrench of a sit .
All the well-meaningness in the world can't erase the fact that The Believer feels like a 12-Step Program for the Jewish Nazi .
All these developments and challenges facing Santa weigh down the plot so heavily that they drain all the film of its energy and needlessly strain credibility .
All this turns out to be neither funny nor provocative - only dull .
Almost every scene in this film is a gem that could stand alone , a perfectly realized observation of mood , behavior and intent .
Almost everything else is wan .
Although Life or Something Like It is very much in the mold of feel-good movies , the cast and director Stephen Herek's polished direction pour delightfully piquant wine from aged bottles .
Although based on a real-life person , John , in the movie , is a rather dull person to be stuck with for two hours .
Although it's a bit smug and repetitive , this documentary engages your brain in a way few current films do .
Although it bangs a very cliched drum at times , this crowd-pleaser's fresh dialogue , energetic music , and good-natured spunk are often infectious .
Although trying to balance self-referential humor and a normal ol' slasher plot seemed like a decent endeavor , the result doesn't fully satisfy either the die-hard Jason fans or those who can take a good joke .
Although very much like the first movie based on J.K. Rowling's phenomenal fantasy best sellers , this second go-round possesses a quite pleasing , headlong thrust and a likably delinquent attitude .
An Afterschool Special without the courage of its convictions .
An absorbing , slice-of-depression life that touches nerves and rings true .
An absorbing trip into the minds and motivations of people under stress as well as a keen , unsentimental look at variations on the theme of motherhood .
An amazing and incendiary movie that dives straight into the rough waters of contradiction .
An amusing , breezily apolitical documentary about life on the campaign trail .
An atonal estrogen opera that demonizes feminism while gifting the most sympathetic male of the piece with a nice vomit bath at his wedding .
An awkward and indigestible movie .
An earnest , heartrending look at the divide between religious fundamentalists and their gay relatives .
An eccentric little comic\/thriller deeply in love with its own quirky personality .
An elegant , exquisitely modulated psychological thriller .
An enchanting film that presents an audacious tour of the past and takes within its warm embrace the bounties of cultural artifacts inside St. Petersburg's Hermitage Museum .
An enchanting spectacular for Potter fans anxious to ride the Hogwarts Express toward a new year of magic and mischief .
An endearingly offbeat romantic comedy with a great meet-cute gimmick .
An endlessly fascinating , landmark movie that is as bold as anything the cinema has seen in years .
An engaging overview of Johnson's eccentric career .
An enjoyable film for the family , amusing and cute for both adults and kids .
An enjoyably half-wit remake of the venerable Italian comedy Big Deal on Madonna Street .
An enthralling , playful film that constantly frustrates our desire to know the ` truth ' about this man , while deconstructing the very format of the biography in a manner that Derrida would doubtless give his blessing to .
An epic of grandeur and scale that's been decades gone from the popcorn pushing sound stages of Hollywood .
An excellent romp that boasts both a heart and a mind .
An exciting and involving rock music doc , a smart and satisfying look inside that tumultuous world .
An experience so engrossing it is like being buried in a new environment .
An idealistic love story that brings out the latent 15-year-old romantic in everyone .
An imaginative comedy\/thriller .
An impossible romance , but we root for the patronized Iranian lad .
An impressive debut for first-time writer-director Mark Romanek , especially considering his background is in music video .
An impressive if flawed effort that indicates real talent .
An incredibly clever and superbly paced caper filled with scams within scams within scams .
An incredibly low-rent Danish film , it brings a group of people together in a sweet and charming way , if a little convenient
An inspiring and heart-affecting film about the desperate attempts of Vietnamese refugees living in U.S. relocation camps to keep their hopes alive in 1975 .
An instant candidate for worst movie of the year .
An intelligent , earnest , intimate film that drops the ball only when it pauses for blunt exposition to make sure you're getting its metaphysical point .
An intelligent , moving and invigorating film .
An intelligent fiction about learning through cultural clash .
An intermittently pleasing but mostly routine effort .
An intimate , good-humored ethnic comedy like numerous others but cuts deeper than expected .
An intriguing and entertaining introduction to Johnson .
An involving true story of a Chinese actor who takes up drugs and winds up in an institution -- acted mostly by the actual people involved .
An irresistible combination of a rousing good story set on a truly grand scale .
An offbeat , sometimes gross and surprisingly appealing animated film about the true meaning of the holidays .
An often-deadly boring , strange reading of a classic whose witty dialogue is treated with a baffling casual approach
An original gem about an obsession with time .
An overblown clunker full of bad jokes , howling cliches and by-the-numbers action sequences .
An overstuffed compendium of teen-Catholic-movie dogma .
An ultra-low-budget indie debut that smacks more of good intentions than talent .
An unabashedly schmaltzy and thoroughly enjoyable true story .
An unbelievably fun film just a leading man away from perfection .
An uneven but intriguing drama that is part homage and part remake of the Italian masterpiece .
An uneven film dealing with too many problems to be taken seriously .
An ungainly , comedy-deficient , B-movie rush job ...
An unsatisfying hybrid of Blair Witch and typical stalk-and-slash fare , where the most conservative protagonist is always the last one living .
An utterly compelling ` who wrote it ' in which the reputation of the most famous author who ever lived comes into question .
Ana is a vivid , vibrant individual and the movie's focus upon her makes it successful and accessible .
Anchored by a terrific performance by Abbass , Satin Rouge shows that the idea of women's self-actualization knows few continental divides .
And forget about any attempt at a plot !
And if The Hours wins ` Best Picture ' I just might .
And in this regard , On Guard delivers .
And in truth , cruel as it may sound , he makes Arnold Schwarzenegger look like Spencer Tracy .
Andy Garcia enjoys one of his richest roles in years and Mick Jagger gives his best movie performance since , well , Performance .
Another big , dumb action movie in the vein of XXX , The Transporter is riddled with plot holes big enough for its titular hero to drive his sleek black BMW through .
Another rent installment for the Ian Fleming estate .
Any film featuring young children threatened by a terrorist bomb can no longer pass as mere entertainment .
Any movie this boring should be required to have ushers in the theater that hand you a cup of coffee every few minutes .
Any one episode of The Sopranos would send this ill-conceived folly to sleep with the fishes .
Apallingly absurd ... the chemistry or lack thereof between Newton and Wahlberg could turn an Imax theater into a 9 '' black and white portable TV .
Apparently kissing leads to suicide attempts and tragic deaths .
Arguably the year's silliest and most incoherent movie .
Arnold's jump from little screen to big will leave frowns on more than a few faces .
As Hugh Grant says repeatedly throughout the movie , ` Lovely !
As Tweedy talks about canning his stockbroker and repairing his pool , you yearn for a few airborne TV sets or nude groupies on the nod to liven things up .
As Weber and Weissman demonstrate with such insight and celebratory verve , the Cockettes weren't as much about gender , sexual preference or political agitprop as they were simply a triumph of the indomitable human will to rebel , connect and create .
As a belated nod to some neglected all-stars , Standing in the Shadows of Motown is cultural history of the best kind : informative , revealing and richly entertaining .
As a revenge thriller , the movie is serviceable , but it doesn't really deliver the delicious guilty pleasure of the better film versions .
As a singular character study , it's perfect .
As a witness to several Greek-American weddings -- but , happily , a victim of none -- I can testify to the comparative accuracy of Ms. Vardalos ' memories and insights .
As adapted by Kevin Molony from Simon Leys ' novel `` The Death of Napoleon '' and directed by Alan Taylor , Napoleon's journey is interesting but his Parisian rebirth is stillborn
As an actor , The Rock is aptly named .
As an entertainment , the movie keeps you diverted and best of all , it lightens your wallet without leaving a sting .
As are its star , its attitude and its obliviousness .
As blunt as it is in depicting child abuse , El Bola is a movie steeped in an ambiguity that lends its conflicts a symbolic resonance .
As conceived by Mr. Schaeffer , Christopher and Grace are little more than collections of quirky traits lifted from a screenwriter's outline and thrown at actors charged with the impossible task of making them jell .
As elegantly crafted as it often is , Anderson's movie is essentially a one-trick pony that , hampered by an undeveloped script , ultimately pulls up lame .
As expected , Sayles ' smart wordplay and clever plot contrivances are as sharp as ever , though they may be overshadowed by some strong performances .
As green-guts monster movies go , it's a beaut .
As if to prove a female director can make a movie with no soft edges , Kathryn Bigelow offers no sugar-coating or interludes of lightness .
As it abruptly crosscuts among the five friends , it fails to lend the characters ' individual stories enough dramatic resonance to make us care about them .
As lo-fi as the special effects are , the folks who cobbled Nemesis together indulge the force of humanity over hardware in a way that George Lucas has long forgotten .
As shaky as the plot is , Kaufman's script is still memorable for some great one-liners .
As teen movies go , `` Orange County '' is a refreshing change
As the story moves inexorably through its seven day timeframe , the picture becomes increasingly mesmerizing .
As with too many studio pics , plot mechanics get in the way of what should be the lighter-than-air adventure .
As written by Michael Berg and Michael J. Wilson from a story by Wilson , this relentless , all-wise-guys-all-the-time approach tries way too hard and gets tiring in no time at all .
As your relatives swap one mundane story after another , you begin to wonder if they are ever going to depart .
Aside from being the funniest movie of the year , Simone , Andrew Niccol's brilliant anti-Hollywood satire , has a wickedly eccentric enchantment to it .
Aspires for the piquant but only really achieves a sort of ridiculous sourness .
At about 95 minutes , Treasure Planet maintains a brisk pace as it races through the familiar story .
At first , the sight of a blind man directing a film is hilarious , but as the film goes on , the joke wears thin .
At heart the movie is a deftly wrought suspense yarn whose richer shadings work as coloring rather than substance .
At its best , The Good Girl is a refreshingly adult take on adultery ...
At its best early on as it plays the culture clashes between the brothers .
At nearly three hours , the whole of Safe Conduct is less than the sum of its parts .
At the bottom rung of the series ' entries .
At times , however , Dogtown and Z-Boys lapses into an insider's lingo and mindset that the uninitiated may find hard to follow , or care about .
At times funny and at other times candidly revealing , it's an intriguing look at two performers who put themselves out there because they love what they do .
Attal mixes comedy with a serious exploration of ego and jealousy within a seemingly serene marriage .
Audiences can be expected to suspend their disbelief only so far -- and that does not include the 5 o'clock shadow on the tall wooden kid as he skips off to school .
Audiences conditioned to getting weepy over saucer-eyed , downy-cheeked moppets and their empathetic caretakers will probably feel emotionally cheated by the film's tart , sugar-free wit .
Audiences will find no mention of political prisoners or persecutions that might paint the Castro regime in less than saintly tones .
Automatically pegs itself for the straight-to-video sci-fi rental shelf .
Awkward but sincere and , ultimately , it wins you over .
Bad Company leaves a bad taste , not only because of its bad-luck timing , but also the staleness of its script .
Bad beyond belief and ridiculous beyond description .
Barely goes beyond comic book status .
Barney has created a tour de force that is weird , wacky and wonderful .
Bartleby is a one-joke movie , and a bad joke at that .
Based on a David Leavitt story , the film shares that writer's usual blend of observant cleverness , too-facile coincidence and slightly noxious preciousness .
Bears is bad .
Before long , the film starts playing like General Hospital crossed with a Saturday Night Live spoof of Dog Day Afternoon .
Began life as a computer game , then morphed into a movie -- a bad one , of course .
Begins as a promising meditation on one of America's most durable obsessions but winds up as a slender cinematic stunt .
Behind the snow games and lovable Siberian huskies -LRB- plus one sheep dog -RRB- , the picture hosts a parka-wrapped dose of heart .
Being author Wells ' great-grandson , you'd think filmmaker Simon Wells would have more reverence for the material .
Benefits from a strong performance from Zhao , but it's Dong Jie's face you remember at the end .
Better at putting you to sleep than a sound machine .
Between bedroom scenes , viewers may find themselves wishing they could roll over and take a nap .
Beyond a handful of mildly amusing lines ... there just isn't much to laugh at .
Big Fat Liar is just futile silliness looking to tap into the kiddie sensibilities .
Biggie and Tupac is so single-mindedly daring , it puts far more polished documentaries to shame .
Binoche and Magimel are perfect in these roles .
Birot is a competent enough filmmaker , but her story has nothing fresh or very exciting about it .
Blessed with immense physical prowess he may well be , but Ahola is simply not an actor .
Boring we didn't .
Borrows from so many literary and cinematic sources that this future world feels absolutely deja vu .
Both deeply weird and charmingly dear .
Bow's best moments are when he's getting busy on the basketball court because that's when he really scores .
Branagh , in his most forceful non-Shakespeare screen performance , grounds even the softest moments in the angry revolt of his wit .
Brilliant ! '
Britney has been delivered to the big screen safe and sound , the way we like our 20-year-old superstar girls to travel on the fame freeway .
Bubba Ho-Tep is a wonderful film with a bravura lead performance by Bruce Campbell that doesn't deserve to leave the building until everyone is aware of it .
Bullock's complete lack of focus and ability quickly derails the film
Bullock does a good job here of working against her natural likability .
But I wasn't .
But an unwillingness to explore beyond the surfaces of her characters prevents Nettelbeck's film from coming together .
But as a movie , it's a humorless , disjointed mess .
But based on CQ , I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for his next project .
But buying into sham truths and routine `` indie '' filmmaking , Freundlich has made just another safe movie .
But even a hero can stumble sometimes .
But fans should have fun meeting a brand-new Pokemon called Celebi .
But hard-to-believe plot twists force the movie off track in its final half hour .
But he loses his focus when he concentrates on any single person .
But he somehow pulls it off .
But here's the real damn : It isn't funny , either .
But if it is indeed a duty of art to reflect life , than Leigh has created a masterful piece of artistry right here .
But in its child-centered , claustrophobic context , it can be just as frightening and disturbing -- even punishing .
But it's emotionally engrossing , too , thanks to strong , credible performances from the whole cast .
But it offers plenty to ponder and chew on as its unusual relationship slowly unfolds .
But it pays a price for its intricate intellectual gamesmanship .
But like Bruce Springsteen's gone-to-pot Asbury Park , New Jersey , this sad-sack waste of a movie is a City of ruins .
But like most rabbits , it seems to lack substance .
But some unexpected zigs and zags help .
But that's just the problem with it - the director hasn't added enough of his own ingredients .
But the characters tend to be cliches whose lives are never fully explored .
But this costly dud is a far cry from either the book or the beloved film .
But this time there's some mold on the gold .
But watching Huppert , a great actress tearing into a landmark role , is riveting .
But what saves lives on the freeway does not necessarily make for persuasive viewing .
But what spectacular sizzle it is !
By presenting an impossible romance in an impossible world , Pumpkin dares us to say why either is impossible -- which forces us to confront what's possible and what we might do to make it so .
By the end , I was looking for something hard with which to bludgeon myself unconscious .
By the end of No Such Thing the audience , like Beatrice , has a watchful affection for the monster .
Call me a wimp , but I cried , not once , but three times in this animated sweet film .
Calling this movie brainless would be paying it a compliment : it's more like entertainment for trolls .
Cantet perfectly captures the hotel lobbies , two-lane highways , and roadside cafes that permeate Vincent's days
Cedar takes a very open-minded approach to this sensitive material , showing impressive control , both visually and in the writing .
Celebrated at Sundance , this slight comedy of manners has winning performances and a glossy , glib charm that's hard to beat .
Chaotic , self-indulgent and remarkably ugly to look at , it's ... like a series of pretentiously awful student films strung together into one feature-length horror .
Characters wander into predictably treacherous situations even though they should know better .
Chicago is , in many ways , an admirable achievement .
Chicago is sophisticated , brash , sardonic , completely joyful in its execution .
Children may not understand everything that happens -- I'm not sure even Miyazaki himself does -- but they will almost certainly be fascinated , and undoubtedly delighted .
Cho's fans are sure to be entertained ; it's only fair in the interest of full disclosure to say that -- on the basis of this film alone -- I'm not one of them .
Cho's fearless in picking apart human foibles , not afraid to lay her life bare in front of an audience .
Choppy editing and too many repetitive scenes spoil what could have been an important documentary about stand-up comedy .
Christians sensitive to a reductionist view of their Lord as a luv-spreading Dr. Feelgood or omnipotent slacker will feel vastly more affronted than secularists , who might even praise God for delivering such an instant camp classic .
City by the Sea is the cinematic equivalent of defensive driving : It's careful , conscientious and makes no major mistakes .
Claude Miller airs out a tight plot with an easy pace and a focus on character drama over crime-film complications .
Clever , brutal and strangely soulful movie .
Cliches are as thick as the cigarette smoke .
Collateral Damage is , despite its alleged provocation post-9 \/ 11 , an antique , in the end .
Compelling as it is exotic , Fast Runner has a plot that rivals Shakespeare for intrigue , treachery and murder .
Compelling revenge thriller , though somewhat weakened by a miscast leading lady .
Consider the title's clunk-on-the-head that suggests the overtime someone put in to come up with an irritatingly unimaginative retread concept .
Considering the harsh locations and demanding stunts , this must have been a difficult shoot , but the movie proves rough going for the audience as well .
Consists of a plot and jokes done too often by people far more talented than Ali G
Could The Country Bears really be as bad as its trailers ?
Could the whole plan here have been to produce something that makes Fatal Attraction look like a classic by comparison ?
Credibility levels are low and character development a non-starter .
Credibility sinks into a mire of sentiment .
Credit must be given to Harland Williams , Michael Rosenbaum and Barry Watson , who inject far more good-natured spirit and talent into this project than it deserves
Creepy but ultimately unsatisfying thriller .
Culkin , who's in virtually every scene , shines as a young man who uses sarcastic lies like a shield .
Culkin exudes none of the charm or charisma that might keep a more general audience even vaguely interested in his bratty character .
Cute , funny , heartwarming digitally animated feature film with plenty of slapstick humor for the kids , lots of in-jokes for the adults and heart enough for everyone .
Daring , mesmerizing and exceedingly hard to forget .
Dark , resonant , inventively detailed and packed with fleet turns of plot and a feast of visual amazement .
Dark and disturbing , but also surprisingly funny .
Daughter from Danang is a film that should be seen by all , especially those who aren't aware of , or have forgotten about the unmentioned victims of war .
Davis has filled out his cast with appealing fresh faces .
Dawdles and drags when it should pop ; it doesn't even have the virtue of enough mindless violence to break up the tedium of all its generational bonding .
Day is not a great Bond movie , but it is a good Bond movie , which still makes it much better than your typical Bond knock-offs .
Dazzling and sugar-sweet , a blast of shallow magnificence that only sex , scandal , and a chorus line of dangerous damsels can deliver .
De Niro and McDormand give solid performances , but their screen time is sabotaged by the story's inability to create interest .
De Niro looks bored , Murphy recycles Murphy , and you mentally add Showtime to the pile of Hollywood dreck that represents nothing more than the art of the deal .
De Niro may enjoy the same free ride from critics afforded to Clint Eastwood in the lazy Bloodwork .
De Oliveira creates an emotionally rich , poetically plump and visually fulsome , but never showy , film whose bittersweet themes are reinforced and brilliantly personified by Michel Piccoli .
Demands too much of most viewers .
Demme's loose approach kills the suspense .
Denis and co-writer Michele Petin's impeccable screenplay penetrates with a rawness that that is both unflinching and tantalizing .
Denzel Washington's efforts are sunk by all the sanctimony .
Desperately unfunny when it tries to makes us laugh and desperately unsuspenseful when it tries to make us jump out of our seats .
Despite a blue-chip cast and a provocative title , writer-director Peter Mattei's first feature microwaves dull leftover romantic motifs basted in faux-contemporary gravy .
Despite a powerful portrayal by Binoche , it's a period romance that suffers from an overly deliberate pace and uneven narrative momentum .
Despite a story predictable enough to make The Sound of Music play like a nail-biting thriller , its heart is so much in the right place it is difficult to get really peeved at it .
Despite its flaws , Secretary stays in your head and makes you question your own firmly held positions .
Despite some gulps the film is a fuzzy huggy .
Despite the authenticity of the trappings , the film is overblown in its plotting , hackneyed in its dialogue and anachronistic in its style .
Despite the premise of a good story ... it wastes all its star power on cliched or meaningless roles .
Despite what anyone believes about the goal of its makers , the show ... represents a spectacular piece of theater , and there's no denying the talent of the creative forces behind it .
Dialogue-heavy and too cerebral for its own good -- or , at any rate , too cerebral for its racy subject matter .
Diane Lane shines in Unfaithful .
Digital-video documentary about stand-up comedians is a great glimpse into a very different world .
Director Benoit Jacquot , making his first opera-to-film translation with Tosca , conveys the heaving passion of Puccini's famous love-jealousy - murder-suicide fandango with great cinematic innovation .
Director Brian Levant , who never strays far from his sitcom roots , skates blithely from one implausible situation to another , pausing only to tie up loose ends with more bows than you'll find on a French poodle .
Director Dirk Shafer and co-writer Greg Hinton ride the dubious divide where gay porn reaches for serious drama .
Director Ferzan Ozpetek creates an interesting dynamic with the members of this group , who live in the same apartment building .
Director Kapur is a filmmaker with a real flair for epic landscapes and adventure , and this is a better film than his earlier English-language movie , the overpraised Elizabeth .
Director Nalin Pan doesn't do much to weigh any arguments one way or the other .
Director Rob Marshall went out gunning to make a great one .
Disney's live-action division has a history of releasing cinematic flotsam , but this is one occasion when they have unearthed a rare gem .
Disturbing and brilliant documentary .
Disturbingly superficial in its approach to the material .
Divertingly ridiculous , headbangingly noisy .
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood may not be exactly divine , but it's definitely -- defiantly -- ya ya , what with all of those terrific songs and spirited performances .
Don't expect any surprises in this checklist of teamwork cliches ...
Don't let your festive spirit go this far .
Don't plan on the perfect ending , but Sweet Home Alabama hits the mark with critics who escaped from a small town life .
Don't waste your money .
Do not , under any circumstances , consider taking a child younger than middle school age to this wallow in crude humor .
Do we really need a 77-minute film to tell us exactly why a romantic relationship between a 15-year-old boy and a 40-year-old woman doesn't work ?
Doesn't amount to much of anything .
Does what a fine documentary does best : It extends a warm invitation into an unfamiliar world , then illuminates it fully and allows the larger implications of the journey to sink in unobtrusively .
Dolgin and Franco fashion a fascinating portrait of a Vietnamese-born youngster who eagerly and easily assimilated as an all-American girl with a brand new name in southern Tennessee .
Doug Liman , the director of Bourne , directs the traffic well , gets a nice wintry look from his locations , absorbs us with the movie's spycraft and uses Damon's ability to be focused and sincere .
Drags along in a dazed and enervated , drenched-in-the - past numbness .
Dreary , highly annoying ... ` Some Body ' will appeal to No One .
Droll caper-comedy remake of `` Big Deal on Madonna Street '' that's a sly , amusing , laugh-filled little gem in which the ultimate `` Bellini '' begins to look like a `` real Kaputschnik . ''
Dull , if not devoid of wit , this shaggy dog longs to frisk through the back alleys of history , but scarcely manages more than a modest , snoozy charm .
Earnest but earthbound ... a slow , soggy , soporific , visually dank crime melodrama\/character study that would be more at home on the small screen but for its stellar cast .
Earnest falls short of its Ideal predecessor largely due to Parker's ill-advised meddling with the timeless source material .
Earns its laughs from stock redneck ` types ' and from the many , many moments when we recognize even without the Elizabethan prose , the play behind the thing .
Eastwood is an icon of moviemaking , one of the best actors , directors and producers around , responsible for some excellent work .
Ecks this one off your must-see list .
Edited and shot with a syncopated style mimicking the work of his subjects , Pray turns the idea of the documentary on its head , making it rousing , invigorating fun lacking any MTV puffery .
Effectively feeds our senses with the chilling sights and sounds from within the camp to create a completely numbing experience .
Egoyan's movie is too complicated to sustain involvement , and , if you'll excuse a little critical heresy , too intellectually ambitious .
Eight Crazy Nights is a showcase for Sandler's many talents .
Elling , portrayed with quiet fastidiousness by Per Christian Ellefsen , is a truly singular character , one whose frailties are only slightly magnified versions of the ones that vex nearly everyone .
Elling really is about a couple of crazy guys , and it's therapeutic to laugh along with them .
Emerges as something rare , an issue movie that's so honest and keenly observed that it doesn't feel like one .
Energetic and boldly provocative .
Engagingly captures the maddening and magnetic ebb and flow of friendship .
Enormously likable , partly because it is aware of its own grasp of the absurd .
Enough similarities to Gymkata and Howie Long's Firestorm that my fingernails instinctively crawled towards my long-suffering eyeballs .
Enough trivializes an important crisis , reduces it to an almost comic embarrassment .
Escapism in its purest form .
Ethan Hawke has always fancied himself the bastard child of the Beatnik generation and it's all over his Chelsea Walls .
Even as lame horror flicks go , this is lame .
Even by dumb action-movie standards , Ballistic : Ecks vs. Sever is a dumb action movie .
Even die-hard fans of Japanese animation ... will find this one a challenge .
Even if Britney Spears is really cute , her movie is really bad .
Even if you can't pronounce `` gyro '' correctly , you'll appreciate much of Vardalos ' humor , which transcends ethnic boundaries .
Even legends like Alfred Hitchcock and John Huston occasionally directed trifles ... so it's no surprise to see a world-class filmmaker like Zhang Yimou behind the camera for a yarn that's ultimately rather inconsequential .
Even the imaginative gore can't hide the musty scent of Todd Farmer's screenplay , which is a simple retread of the 1979 Alien , with a plucky heroine battling a monster loose in a spaceship .
Even the unwatchable Soapdish is more original .
Even those of a single digit age will be able to recognize that this story is too goofy ... even for Disney .
Even when foreign directors ... borrow stuff from Hollywood , they invariably shake up the formula and make it more interesting .
Even with all those rough edges safely sanded down , the American Insomnia is still pretty darned good .
Eventually , it wins you over .
Every bit as bogus as most Disney live action family movies are -- no real plot , no real conflict , no real point .
Everyone connected to this movie seems to be part of an insider clique , which tends to breed formulaic films rather than fresh ones .
Everything that has to do with Yvan and Charlotte , and everything that has to do with Yvan's rambunctious , Jewish sister and her non-Jew husband , feels funny and true .
Everything you loved about it in 1982 is still there , for everybody who wants to be a kid again , or show it to their own kids .
Everytime you think Undercover Brother has run out of steam , it finds a new way to surprise and amuse .
Everywhere the camera looks there is something worth seeing .
Evokes a little of the fear that parents have for the possible futures of their children -- and the sometimes bad choices mothers and fathers make in the interests of doing them good .
Excellent acting and direction .
Expect to be reminded of other , better films , especially Seven , which director William Malone slavishly copies .
Extreme Oops - oops , ops , no matter how you spell it , it's still a mistake to go see it .
Extremely boring .
Extremely confusing .
Extremely dumb .
Fails to bring as much to the table .
Fairly successful at faking some pretty cool stunts but a complete failure at trying to create some pretty cool characters .
Falters when it takes itself too seriously and when it depends too heavily on its otherwise talented cast to clown in situations that aren't funny .
Fans of Behan's work and of Irish movies in general will be rewarded by Borstal Boy .
Fans of Nijinsky will savor every minute of Cox's work .
Fans of the animated wildlife adventure show will be in warthog heaven ; others need not necessarily apply .
Far from perfect , but its heart is in the right place ... innocent and well-meaning .
Farrell ... thankfully manages to outshine the role and successfully plays the foil to Willis's world-weary colonel .
Feel bad for King , who's honestly trying , and Schwartzman , who's shot himself in the foot .
Feels less like it's about teenagers , than it was written by teenagers .
Feels like one of those contrived , only-in - Hollywood productions where name actors deliver big performances created for the sole purpose of generating Oscar talk .
Feels like six different movies fighting each other for attention .
Few films this year have been as resolute in their emotional nakedness .
Filmmakers have to dig deep to sink this low .
Finally , a genre movie that delivers -- in a couple of genres , no less .
Finds a way to tell a simple story , perhaps the simplest story of all , in a way that seems compelling and even original .
Fine acting but there is no sense of connecting the dots , just dots .
First good , then bothersome .
Fisher has bared his soul and confronted his own shortcomings here in a way ... that feels very human and very true to life .
Flaccid drama and exasperatingly slow journey .
Flashy , pretentious and as impenetrable as Morvern's thick , working-class Scottish accent .
Flat , but with a revelatory performance by Michelle Williams .
Flaunts its quirky excesses like a New Year's Eve drunk sporting a paper party hat .
Flavorful and romantic , you could call this How Martha Got Her Groove Back -- assuming , that is , she ever had one to begin with .
Flotsam in the sea of moviemaking , not big enough for us to worry about it causing significant harm and not smelly enough to bother despising .
Flounders due to the general sense that no two people working on the production had exactly the same thing in mind .
For Benigni it wasn't Shakespeare whom he wanted to define his career with but Pinocchio .
For Caine Lovers only .
For a film about two mismatched buddies , Crystal and De Niro share little screen time and even less chemistry .
For a good chunk of its running time , Trapped is an effective and claustrophobic thriller .
For a shoot - 'em - up , Ballistic is oddly lifeless .
For all its alleged youthful fire , XXX is no less subservient to Bond's tired formula of guns , girls and gadgets while brandishing a new action hero .
For all its failed connections , Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is nurturing , in a gauzy , dithering way .
For all its highfalutin title and corkscrew narrative , the movie turns out to be not much more than a shaggy human tale .
For all its surface frenzy , High Crimes should be charged with loitering -- so much on view , so little to offer .
For anyone who grew up on Disney's 1950 Treasure Island , or remembers the 1934 Victor Fleming classic , this one feels like an impostor .
For anyone who remembers the '60s or is interested in one man's response to stroke , Ram Dass : Fierce Grace is worth seeking out .
For its seriousness , high literary aspirations and stunning acting , the film can only be applauded .
For me , this opera isn't a favorite , so it's a long time before the fat lady sings .
For the first time in several years , Mr. Allen has surpassed himself with the magic he's spun with the Hollywood empress of Ms. Leoni's Ellie .
For the first two-thirds of this sparklingly inventive and artful , always fast and furious tale , kids will go happily along for the ride .
For the most part , I Spy was an amusing lark that will probably rank as one of Murphy's better performances in one of his lesser-praised movies .
Ford deserves to be remembered at Oscar time for crafting this wonderful portrait of a conflicted soldier .
Formula 51 is so trite that even Yu's high-energy action stylings can't break through the stupor .
Fortunately for all involved , this movie is likely to disappear as quickly as an ice cube thrown into a pot of boiling water .
Foster nails the role , giving a tight , focused performance illuminated by shards of feeling .
Francophiles will snicker knowingly and you'll want to slap them .
Frenetic but not really funny .
Frida's artistic brilliance is undeniable -- it's among the most breathtakingly designed films I've ever seen .
Friday After Next has the same problem that Next Friday did -- it's called Where's Chris Tucker When You Need Him ?
From spiritual rebirth to bruising defeat , Vincent's odyssey resonates in a profound way , comparable to the classic films of Jean Renoir .
From the big giant titles of the opening credits to Elmer Bernstein's perfectly melodic score , Haynes gets just about everything right .
Frustratingly , Dridi tells us nothing about El Gallo other than what emerges through his music .
Full Frontal is the antidote for Soderbergh fans who think he's gone too commercial since his two Oscar nominated films in 2000
Full of profound , real-life moments that anyone can relate to , it deserves a wide audience .
Fuller would surely have called this gutsy and at times exhilarating movie a great yarn .
Funny and , at times , poignant , the film from director George Hickenlooper all takes place in Pasadena , `` a city where people still read . ''
Gangs of New York is an unapologetic mess , whose only saving grace is that it ends by blowing just about everything up .
Gee , a second assassin shot Kennedy ?
Genuinely touching because it's realistic about all kinds of love .
George , hire a real director and good writers for the next installment , please .
George Clooney proves he's quite a talented director and Sam Rockwell shows us he's a world-class actor with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind .
Gets under the skin of a man who has just lost his wife .
Given that both movies expect us to root for convicted violent felons over those assigned to protect us from same , we need every bit of sympathy the cons can muster ; this time , there isn't much .
Glib , satirical documentary that fudges facts , makes facile points and engages in the cinematic equivalent of tabloid journalism .
Gloriously goofy -LRB- and gory -RRB- midnight movie stuff .
Go see it and enjoy .
God help the poor woman if Attal is this insecure in real life : his fictional Yvan's neuroses are aggravating enough to exhaust the patience of even the most understanding spouse .
Godawful boring slug of a movie .
Gollum's ` performance ' is incredible !
Good actress .
Good for a few unintentional laughs , `` Extreme Ops '' was obviously made for the `` XXX '' crowd , people who enjoy mindless action without the benefit of decent acting , writing , and direction .
Good movie .
Good ol' urban legend stuff .
Gosling provides an amazing performance that dwarfs everything else in the film .
Goyer's screenplay and direction are thankfully understated , and he has drawn excellent performances from his cast .
Grant gets to display his cadness to perfection , but also to show acting range that may surprise some who thought light-hearted comedy was his forte .
Greene delivers a typically solid performance in a role that is a bit of a departure from the noble characters he has played in the past , and he is matched by Schweig , who carries the film on his broad , handsome shoulders .
Greengrass has delivered an undoubted stylistic tour-de-force , and has managed elements such as sound and cinematography with skill
Guaranteed to move anyone who ever shook , rattled , or rolled .
Guided more by intellect than heart , his story flattens instead of sharpens .
Guillen rarely gets beneath the surface of things .
Had anyone here done anything remotely intelligent , we all could have stopped watching long ago .
Half of it is composed of snappy patter and pseudo-sophisticated cultural observations , while the remainder ... would be more at home on a daytime television serial .
Hands down the year's most thought-provoking film .
Haneke challenges us to confront the reality of sexual aberration .
Happily for Mr. Chin -- though unhappily for his subjects -- the invisible hand of the marketplace wrote a script that no human screenwriter could have hoped to match .
Harsh , effective documentary on life in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories .
Has a shambling charm ... a cheerfully inconsequential diversion .
Has it ever been possible to say that Williams has truly inhabited a character ?
Has little on its mind aside from scoring points with drag gags .
Has the feel of an unedited personal journal .
Having never been a huge fan of Dickens ' 800-page novel , it surprised me how much pleasure I had watching McGrath's version .
Hawke draws out the best from his large cast in beautifully articulated portrayals that are subtle and so expressive they can sustain the poetic flights in Burdette's dialogue .
Hayek is stunning as Frida and ... a star-making project .
He'd create a movie better than this .
He's Super Spy !
He has not learnt that storytelling is what the movies are about .
He just wants them to be part of the action , the wallpaper of his chosen reality .
He simply presents his point of view that Ayurveda works .
Helmer DeVito ... attempts to do too many things in this story about ethics , payola , vice , murder , kids ' TV and revenge .
Her delivery and timing are flawless .
Her film is unrelentingly claustrophobic and unpleasant .
Here's a British flick gleefully unconcerned with plausibility , yet just as determined to entertain you .
Here's a self-congratulatory 3D IMAX rah-rah .
Here , Adrian Lyne comes as close to profundity as he is likely to get .
Herzog is obviously looking for a moral to his fable , but the notion that a strong , unified showing among Germany and Eastern European Jews might have changed 20th-Century history is undermined by Ahola's inadequate performance .
Hey , who else needs a shower ?
High Crimes miscasts nearly every leading character .
Highlights are the terrific performances by Christopher Plummer , as the prime villain , and Nathan Lane as Vincent Crummles , the eccentric theater company manager .
Hilarious , acidic Brit comedy .
Hilarious , touching and wonderfully dyspeptic .
His characters are engaging , intimate and the dialogue is realistic and greatly moving .
Home Alone goes Hollywood , a funny premise until the kids start pulling off stunts not even Steven Spielberg would know how to do .
How did it ever get made ?
How on earth , or anywhere else , did director Ron Underwood manage to blow $ 100 million on this ?
However , it lacks grandeur and that epic quality often associated with Stevenson's tale as well as with earlier Disney efforts .
Hu and Liu offer natural , matter-of-fact performances that glint with sorrow , longing and love .
Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock are two such likeable actors .
Human Nature talks the talk , but it fails to walk the silly walk that distinguishes the merely quirky from the surreal .
Huppert gives Erika a persona that is so intriguing that you find yourself staring hypnotically at her , trying to understand her and wondering if she'll crack .
I'd give real money to see the perpetrators of Chicago torn apart by dingoes .
I'm not suggesting that you actually see it , unless you're the kind of person who has seen every Wim Wenders film of the '70s .
I Spy is an embarrassment , a monotonous , disjointed jumble of borrowed plot points and situations .
I admired it , particularly that unexpected downer of an ending .
I admired this work a lot .
I can only imagine one thing worse than Kevin Spacey trying on an Irish accent , and that's sultry Linda Fiorentino doing the same thing .
I complain all the time about seeing the same ideas repeated in films over and over again , but The Bourne Identity proves that a fresh take is always possible .
I cry for I Spy -- or I would if this latest and laziest imaginable of all vintage-TV spinoffs were capable of engendering an emotional response of any kind .
I didn't believe for a moment in these villains or their plot .
I didn't laugh at the ongoing efforts of Cube , and his skinny buddy Mike Epps , to make like Laurel and Hardy 'n the hood .
I don't have an I Am Sam clue .
I don't know precisely what to make of Steven Soderbergh's Full Frontal , though that didn't stop me from enjoying much of it .
I don't think I've been as entranced and appalled by an Asian film since Shinya Tsukamoto's Iron Man .
I doubt anyone will remember the picture by the time Christmas really rolls around , but maybe it'll be on video by then .
I found it slow , drab , and bordering on melodramatic .
I hate this movie
I hated every minute of it .
I just didn't care as much for the story .
I kept thinking over and over again , ' I should be enjoying this . '
I kept wishing I was watching a documentary about the wartime Navajos and what they accomplished instead of all this specious Hollywood hoo-ha .
I like Frank the Pug , though .
I like the new footage and still love the old stuff .
I love the way that it took chances and really asks you to take these great leaps of faith and pays off .
I loved it !
I loved looking at this movie .
I regret to report that these ops are just not extreme enough .
I saw Knockaround Guys yesterday , and already the details have faded like photographs from the Spanish-American War ... It's so unmemorable that it turned my ballpoint notes to invisible ink .
I tried to read the time on my watch .
I was perplexed to watch it unfold with an astonishing lack of passion or uniqueness .
I watched the brainless insanity of No Such Thing with mounting disbelief .
I weep for the future when a good portion of the respected critical community in this country consider Blue Crush to be an intelligent film about young women .
I whole-heartedly recommend that everyone see this movie -- for its historical significance alone .
I wish I could say `` Thank God It's Friday '' , but the truth of the matter is I was glad when it was over .
I would have preferred a transfer down the hall to Mr. Holland's class for the music , or to Robin Williams's lecture so I could listen to a teacher with humor , passion , and verve .
IHOPs don't pile on this much syrup .
Ice Cube holds the film together with an engaging and warm performance ...
If High Crimes were any more generic it would have a universal product code instead of a title .
If Kaufman kept Cameron Diaz a prisoner in a cage with her ape , in his latest , he'd have them mate .
If Melville is creatively a great whale , this film is canned tuna .
If Myers decides to make another Austin Powers movie , maybe he should just stick with Austin and Dr Evil .
If Shayamalan wanted to tell a story about a man who loses his faith , why didn't he just do it , instead of using bad sci-fi as window dressing ?
If it's possible for a sequel to outshine the original , then SL2 does just that .
If it seems like a minor miracle that its septuagenarian star is young enough to be the nonagenarian filmmaker's son , more incredible still are the clear-eyed boldness and quiet irony with which actor and director take on life's urgent questions .
If it tried to do anything more , it would fail and perhaps explode , but at this level of manic whimsy , it is just about right .
If no one singles out any of these performances as award-worthy , it's only because we would expect nothing less from this bunch .
If nothing else , this movie introduces a promising , unusual kind of psychological horror .
If somebody was bored and ... decided to make a dull , pretentious version of Jesus ' Son , they'd come up with something like Bart Freundlich's World Traveler .
If this dud had been made in the '70s , it would have been called The Hills Have Antlers and played for about three weeks in drive-ins .
If this is an example of the type of project that Robert Redford's lab is willing to lend its imprimatur to , then perhaps it's time to rethink independent films .
If this is satire , it's the smug and self-congratulatory kind that lets the audience completely off the hook .
If this is the Danish idea of a good time , prospective tourists might want to consider a different destination -- some jolly country embroiled in a bloody civil war , perhaps .
If this is the resurrection of the Halloween franchise , it would have been better off dead .
If this movie were a book , it would be a page-turner , you can't wait to see what happens next .
If we don't demand a standard of quality for the art that we choose , we deserve the trash that we get .
If you're like me , a sucker for a good old fashion romance and someone who shamelessly loves to eat , then Mostly Martha offers all the perfect ingredients to more than satisfy your appetite .
If you're looking for comedy to be served up , better look elsewhere .
If you're not a prepubescent girl , you'll be laughing at Britney Spears ' movie-starring debut whenever it doesn't have you impatiently squinting at your watch .
If you're not into the Pokemon franchise , this fourth animated movie in four years won't convert you -- or even keep your eyes open .
If you're not the target demographic ... this movie is one long chick-flick slog .
If you can get past the fantastical aspects and harsh realities of `` The Isle '' you'll get a sock-you-in-the-eye flick that is a visual tour-de-force and a story that is unlike any you will likely see anywhere else .
If you collected all the moments of coherent dialogue , they still wouldn't add up to the time required to boil a four - minute egg .
If you liked such movies as Notting Hill , Four Weddings And A Funeral , Bridget Jones ' Diary or High Fidelity , then you won't want to miss About A Boy .
If you liked the 1982 film then , you'll still like it now .
If you love Motown music , you'll love this documentary .
If you pitch your expectations at an all time low , you could do worse than this oddly cheerful -- but not particularly funny -- body-switching farce .
If you sometimes like to go to the movies to have fun , Wasabi is a good place to start .
If you think that Jennifer Lopez has shown poor judgment in planning to marry Ben Affleck , wait till you see Maid in Manhattan .
If your senses haven't been dulled by slasher films and gorefests , if you're a connoisseur of psychological horror , this is your ticket .
Imagine a really bad community theater production of West Side Story without the songs .
Imagine if you will a Tony Hawk skating video interspliced with footage from Behind Enemy Lines and set to Jersey shore techno .
Imagine the James Woods character from Videodrome making a home movie of Audrey Rose and showing it to the kid from The Sixth Sense and you've imagined The Ring .
Impresses you with its open-endedness and surprises .
In Adobo , ethnicity is not just the spice , but at the heart of more universal concerns .
In Fessenden's horror trilogy , this theme has proved important to him and is especially so in the finale .
In a normal screen process , these bromides would be barely enough to sustain an interstitial program on the Discovery Channel .
In his debut as a film director , Denzel Washington delivers a lean and engaging work .
In its ragged , cheap and unassuming way , the movie works .
In scope , ambition and accomplishment , Children of the Century ... takes Kurys ' career to a whole new level .
In the end , Punch-Drunk Love is one of those films that I wanted to like much more than I actually did .
In the process , they demonstrate that there's still a lot of life in Hong Kong cinema .
In the second half of the film , Frei's control loosens in direct proportion to the amount of screen time he gives Nachtwey for self-analysis .
Instead , we just get messy anger , a movie as personal therapy .
Instead of accurately accounting a terrible true story , the film's more determined to become the next Texas Chainsaw Massacre .
Instead of kicking off the intrigue and suspense and mystery of the whole thing , Hart's War , like the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl , waits until after halftime to get started .
Intended to be a comedy about relationships , this wretched work falls flat in just about every conceivable area .
Interacting eyeball-to-eyeball and toe-to-toe , Hopkins and Norton are a winning combination -- but Fiennes steals ` Red Dragon ' right from under their noses .
Intriguing and beautiful film , but those of you who read the book are likely to be disappointed .
Invincible is a wonderful movie .
Involving at times , but lapses quite casually into the absurd .
Isn't it great ?
Isn't quite the equal of Woo's best earlier work , but it's easily his finest American film ... comes close to recapturing the brilliance of his Hong Kong films .
Is this progress ?
It's a beautifully accomplished lyrical meditation on a bunch of despondent and vulnerable characters living in the renown Chelsea Hotel ...
It's a bittersweet and lyrical mix of elements .
It's a brave attempt to tap into the heartbeat of the world , a salute to the universal language of rhythm and a zippy sampling of sounds .
It's a decent glimpse into a time period , and an outcast , that is no longer accessible , but it doesn't necessarily shed more light on its subject than the popular predecessor .
It's a film that hinges on its casting , and Glover really doesn't fit the part .
It's a glorious groove that leaves you wanting more .
It's a good film -- not a classic , but odd , entertaining and authentic .
It's a great deal of sizzle and very little steak .
It's a hoot and a half , and a great way for the American people to see what a candidate is like when he's not giving the same 15-cent stump speech .
It's a humble effort , but spiced with wry humor and genuine pathos , especially between Morgan and Redgrave .
It's a minor comedy that tries to balance sweetness with coarseness , while it paints a sad picture of the singles scene .
It's a movie -- and an album -- you won't want to miss .
It's a movie forged in the fires of Chick Flick Hell .
It's a nicely detailed world of pawns , bishops and kings , of wagers in dingy backrooms or pristine forests .
It's a pleasure to see Seinfeld griping about the biz with buddies Chris Rock , Garry Shandling and Colin Quinn .
It's a refreshing change from the self-interest and paranoia that shape most American representations of Castro .
It's a sly wink to The Others without becoming a postmodern joke , made creepy by its `` men in a sardine can '' warped logic .
It's a terrific American sports movie and Dennis Quaid is its athletic heart .
It's absolutely spooky how Lillard channels the Shagster right down to the original Casey Kasem-furnished voice .
It's all pretty cynical and condescending , too .
It's all very cute , though not terribly funny if you're more than six years old .
It's almost impossible not to be moved by the movie's depiction of sacrifice and its stirring epilogue in post-Soviet Russia .
It's also heavy-handed and devotes too much time to bigoted views .
It's also stupider .
It's also the year's sweetest movie .
It's amazingly perceptive in its subtle , supportive but unsentimental look at the Marks family .
It's an awfully derivative story .
It's an example of sophisticated , challenging filmmaking that stands , despite its noticeable lack of emotional heft , in welcome contrast to the indulgent dead-end experimentation of the director's previous Full Frontal .
It's an old story , but a lively script , sharp acting and partially animated interludes make Just a Kiss seem minty fresh .
It's as close as we'll ever come to looking through a photographer's viewfinder as he works .
It's as flat as an open can of pop left sitting in the sun .
It's astonishing .
It's badly acted , blandly directed , and could have been scripted by someone who just graduated from elementary school .
It's best to avoid imprisonment with the dull , nerdy folks that inhabit Cherish .
It's both a necessary political work and a fascinating documentary ...
It's difficult to say whether The Tuxedo is more boring or embarrassing -- I'm prepared to call it a draw .
It's disappointing when filmmakers throw a few big-name actors and cameos at a hokey script .
It's drained of life in an attempt to be sober and educational , and yet it's so devoid of realism that its lack of whistles and bells just makes it obnoxious and stiff .
It's endearing to hear Madame D. refer to her husband as ` Jackie ' -- and he does make for excellent company , not least as a self-conscious performer .
It's fairly self-aware in its dumbness .
It's frustrating to see these guys -- who are obviously pretty clever -- waste their talent on parodies of things they probably thought were funniest when they were high .
It's getting harder and harder to ignore the fact that Hollywood isn't laughing with us , folks .
It's hard not to feel you've just watched a feature-length video game with some really heavy back story .
It's hard to tell with all the crashing and banging where the salesmanship ends and the movie begins .
It's just a silly black genre spoof .
It's just incredibly dull .
It's laughing at us .
It's like a poem .
It's neither as romantic nor as thrilling as it should be .
It's never a good sign when a film's star spends the entirety of the film in a coma .
It's not exactly a gourmet meal but the fare is fair , even coming from the drive-thru .
It's not horrible , just horribly mediocre .
It's not so much enjoyable to watch as it is enlightening to listen to new sides of a previous reality , and to visit with some of the people who were able to make an impact in the theater world .
It's obviously struck a responsive chord with many South Koreans , and should work its magic in other parts of the world .
It's often faintly amusing , but the problems of the characters never become important to us , and the story never takes hold .
It's one of the most honest films ever made about Hollywood .
It's one of the saddest films I have ever seen that still manages to be uplifting but not overly sentimental .
It's painful .
It's predictable , but it jumps through the expected hoops with style and even some depth .
It's push-the-limits teen comedy , the type written by people who can't come up with legitimate funny , and it's used so extensively that good bits are hopelessly overshadowed .
It's rare to find a film that dazzles the eye , challenges the brain , AND satisfies our lust for fast-paced action , but Minority Report delivers all that and a whole lot more .
It's rather like a Lifetime special -- pleasant , sweet and forgettable .
It's really yet another anemic and formulaic Lethal Weapon-derived buddy-cop movie , trying to pass off its lack of imagination as hip knowingness .
It's so full of wrong choices that all you can do is shake your head in disbelief -- and worry about what classic Oliver Parker intends to mangle next time .
It's so underwritten that you can't figure out just where the other characters , including Ana's father and grandfather , come down on the issue of Ana's future .
It's solid and affecting and exactly as thought-provoking as it should be .
It's still worth a look .
It's the best film of the year so far , the benchmark against which all other Best Picture contenders should be measured .
It's the cinematic equivalent of a good page-turner , and even if it's nonsense , its claws dig surprisingly deep .
It's the kind of movie you can't quite recommend because it is all windup and not much of a pitch , yet you can't bring yourself to dislike it .
It's the kind of pigeonhole-resisting romp that Hollywood too rarely provides .
It's traditional moviemaking all the way , but it's done with a lot of careful period attention as well as some very welcome wit .
It almost plays like Solaris , but with guns and jokes .
It becomes gimmicky instead of compelling .
It could change America , not only because it is full of necessary discussion points , but because it is so accessible that it makes complex politics understandable to viewers looking for nothing but energetic entertainment .
It dares to be a little different , and that shading is what makes it worthwhile .
It delivers some chills and sustained unease , but flounders in its quest for Deeper Meaning .
It doesn't do the original any particular dishonor , but neither does it exude any charm or personality .
It doesn't help that the director and cinematographer Stephen Kazmierski shoot on grungy video , giving the whole thing a dirty , tasteless feel .
It does succeed by following a feel-good formula with a winning style , and by offering its target audience of urban kids some welcome role models and optimism .
It extends the writings of Jean Genet and John Rechy , the films of Fassbinder , perhaps even the nocturnal works of Goya .
It feels like a community theater production of a great Broadway play : Even at its best , it will never hold a candle to the original .
It further declares its director , Zhang Yang of Shower , as a boldly experimental , contemporary stylist with a bright future .
It has fun being grown up .
It has the courage to wonder about big questions with sincerity and devotion .
It helps that Lil Bow Wow ... tones down his pint-sized gangsta act to play someone who resembles a real kid .
It helps that the central performers are experienced actors , and that they know their roles so well .
It is a film that will have people walking out halfway through , will encourage others to stand up and applaud , and will , undoubtedly , leave both camps engaged in a ferocious debate for years to come .
It is a kickass , dense sci-fi action thriller hybrid that delivers and then some .
It is also , at times , curiously moving .
It is far from the worst , thanks to the topical issues it raises , the performances of Stewart and Hardy , and that essential feature -- a decent full-on space battle .
It is inspirational in characterizing how people from such diverse cultures share the same human and spiritual needs .
It is intensely personal and yet -- unlike Quills -- deftly shows us the temper of the times .
It is interesting and fun to see Goodall and her chimpanzees on the bigger-than-life screen .
It is not a mass-market entertainment but an uncompromising attempt by one artist to think about another .
It is ridiculous , of course ... but it is also refreshing , disarming , and just outright enjoyable despite its ridiculousness .
It is risky , intelligent , romantic and rapturous from start to finish .
It is so refreshing to see Robin Williams turn 180 degrees from the string of insultingly innocuous and sappy fiascoes he's been making for the last several years .
It may be an easy swipe to take , but this Barbershop just doesn't make the cut .
It might as well have been Problem Child IV .
It might be tempting to regard Mr. Andrew and his collaborators as oddballs , but Mr. Earnhart's quizzical , charming movie allows us to see them , finally , as artists .
It never fails to engage us .
It represents better-than-average movie-making that doesn't demand a dumb , distracted audience .
It risks seeming slow and pretentious , because it thinks the gamble is worth the promise .
It settles for being merely grim .
It should be mentioned that the set design and interiors of the haunted vessel are more than effectively creepy and moodily lit .
It smacks of purely commercial motivation , with no great love for the original .
It suggests the wide-ranging effects of media manipulation , from the kind of reporting that is done by the supposedly liberal media ... to the intimate and ultimately tragic heartache of maverick individuals like Hatfield and Hicks .
It takes this never-ending confusion and hatred , puts a human face on it , evokes shame among all who are party to it and even promotes understanding .
It took 19 predecessors to get THIS ?
It tries too hard , and overreaches the logic of its own world .
It turns out to be a cut above the norm , thanks to some clever writing and sprightly acting .
It uses an old-time formula , it's not terribly original and it's rather messy -- but you just have to love the big , dumb , happy movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding .
It virtually defines a comedy that's strongly mediocre , with funny bits surfacing every once in a while .
It will come as no surprise that the movie isn't scary .
It will delight newcomers to the story and those who know it from bygone days .
It won't be long before you'll spy I Spy at a video store near you .
It would be hard to think of a recent movie that has worked this hard to achieve this little fun .
It wouldn't be my preferred way of spending 100 minutes or $ 7.00 .
Its characters are thinner than cardboard -- or even comic-book paper .
Its direction , its script , and Weaver's performance as a vaguely discontented woman of substance make for a mildly entertaining 77 minutes , if that's what you're in the mood for .
Its gross-out gags and colorful set pieces ... are of course stultifyingly contrived and too stylized by half .
Its lack of quality earns it a place alongside those other two recent Dumas botch-jobs , The Man in the Iron Mask and The Musketeer .
Its mysteries are transparently obvious , and it's too slowly paced to be a thriller .
Its over-reliance on genre conventions , character types and formulaic conflict resolutions crushes all the goodwill it otherwise develops .
Its save-the-planet message clashes with its crass marketing .
Its scenes and sensibility are all more than familiar , but it exudes a kind of nostalgic spy-movie charm and , at the same time , is so fresh and free of the usual thriller nonsense that it all seems to be happening for the first time .
Its underlying mythology is a hodgepodge of inconsistencies that pose the question : Since when did dumb entertainment have to be this dumb ?
Jacquot's Tosca is a treat .
Jagger the actor is someone you want to see again .
Japan's premier stylist of sex and blood hits audiences with what may be his most demented film to date .
Jason X has cheesy effects and a hoary plot , but its macabre , self-deprecating sense of humor makes up for a lot .
John Leguizamo may be a dramatic actor -- just not in this movie .
John McTiernan's botched remake may be subtler than Norman Jewison's 1975 ultraviolent futuristic corporate-sports saga .
Jolie's performance vanishes somewhere between her hair and her lips .
Julia is played with exasperating blandness by Laura Regan .
Just a bloody mess .
Just another fish-out-of-water story that barely stays afloat .
Just because it really happened to you , honey , doesn't mean that it's interesting to anyone else .
Just like Hearst's enormous yacht , it's slow and unwieldy and takes a long time to reach its destination .
Just one more collection of penis , breast and flatulence gags in search of a story .
Just when the movie seems confident enough to handle subtlety , it dives into soapy bathos .
K-19 may not hold a lot of water as a submarine epic , but it holds even less when it turns into an elegiacally soggy Saving Private Ryanovich .
Katz uses archival footage , horrifying documents of lynchings , still photographs and charming old reel-to-reel recordings of Meeropol entertaining his children to create his song history , but most powerful of all is the song itself
Kaufman creates an eerie sense of not only being there at the time of these events but the very night Matthew was killed .
Kinnear gives a tremendous performance .
Kwan makes the mix-and - match metaphors intriguing , while lulling us into torpor with his cultivated allergy to action .
Lacking gravitas , MacDowell is a placeholder for grief , and ergo this sloppy drama is an empty vessel .
Lacks heart , depth and , most of all , purpose .
Lame , haphazard teen comedy .
Lanie's professional success means she must be a failure at life , because she's driven by ambition and Doesn't Know How to Have Fun .
Lathan and Diggs have considerable personal charm , and their screen rapport makes the old story seem new .
Lauren Ambrose comes alive under the attention from two strangers in town - with honest performances and realistic interaction between the characters , this is a coming-of-age story with a twist .
Lead provocatuers Testud and Parmentier give superlative performances
Leave it to Rohmer , now 82 , to find a way to bend current technique to the service of a vision of the past that is faithful to both architectural glories and commanding open spaces of the city as it was more than two centuries ago .
Leave these Flowers unpicked -- they're dead on the vine .
Leaves you with a knot in your stomach , its power is undercut by its own head-banging obviousness .
Led by Griffin's smartly nuanced performance and enthusiasm , the cast has a lot of fun with the material .
Lee Jeong-Hyang tells it so lovingly and films it so beautifully that I couldn't help being captivated by it .
Legendary Irish writer Brendan Behan's memoir , Borstal Boy , has been given a loving screen transferral .
Let's cut to the consumer-advice bottom line : Stay home .
Let your silly childhood nostalgia slumber unmolested .
Life is a crock -- or something like it .
Like Dickens with his passages , McGrath crafts quite moving scenes throughout his resolutely dramatic variation on the novel .
Like Mike doesn't win any points for originality .
Like a marathon runner trying to finish a race , you need a constant influx of liquid just to get through it .
Like a south-of-the-border Melrose Place .
Like a tone-deaf singer at a benefit concert , John Q. is a bad movie appearing on behalf of a good cause .
Like its two predecessors , 1983's Koyaanisqatsi and 1988's Powaqqatsi , the cinematic collage Naqoyqatsi could be the most navel-gazing film ever .
Like most Bond outings in recent years , some of the stunts are so outlandish that they border on being cartoonlike .
Like most sequels , it takes what worked last time , repeats it and adds more characters , more stunts , more stuff in attempt to camouflage its sameness .
Like old myths and wonder tales spun afresh .
Like so many other allegedly scary movies , it gets so tangled up in The Twist that it chokes the energy right out of the very audience it seeks to frighten .
Like the film's almost anthropologically detailed realization of early - '80s suburbia , it's significant without being overstated .
Like those to Rome , all roads in The Banger Sisters inevitably lead to a joke about Hawn's breasts , which constantly threaten to upstage the woman sporting them .
Liman , of Swingers and Go , makes his big-budget action film debut something of a clunker as he delivers a long , low-heat chase , interrupted by a middling car chase .
Little more than a frothy vanity project .
Longley has constructed a remarkably coherent , horrifically vivid snapshot of those turbulent days .
Look , this is a terrific flick replete with dazzling camera-work , dancing and music .
Looks awfully like one long tourist spot for a Mississippi that may never have existed outside of a scriptwriter's imagination .
Looks like a high school film project completed the day before it was due .
Lovingly choreographed bloodshed taking place in a pristine movie neverland , basically .
Made by jackasses for jackasses .
Madonna still can't act a lick .
Maguire is a surprisingly effective Peter\/Spider-Man .
Majidi's poetic love story is a ravishing consciousness-raiser , if a bit draggy at times .
Majidi gets uniformly engaging performances from his largely amateur cast .
Makes S&M seem very romantic , and Maggie Gyllenhaal is a delight .
Makes an aborbing if arguable case for the man's greatness .
Makmalbaf follows a resolutely realistic path in this uncompromising insight into the harsh existence of the Kurdish refugees of Iran's borderlands .
Marisa Tomei is good , but Just A Kiss is just a mess .
Mark me down as a non-believer in werewolf films that are not serious and rely on stupidity as a substitute for humor .
Marries the amateurishness of The Blair Witch Project with the illogic of Series 7 : The Contenders to create a completely crass and forgettable movie .
Marvelous , merry and , yes , melancholy film .
Matthew McConaughey tries , and fails , to control the screen with swaggering machismo and over-the-top lunacy .
Maudlin and melodramatic we expected .
May be spoofing an easy target -- those old ' 50's giant creature features -- but ... it acknowledges and celebrates their cheesiness as the reason why people get a kick out of watching them today .
Maybe I found the proceedings a little bit too conventional .
Maybe it's asking too much , but if a movie is truly going to inspire me , I want a little more than this .
Maybe it's the star power of the cast or the redundant messages , but something aboul `` Full Frontal '' seems , well , contrived .
McKay deflates his piece of puffery with a sour cliche and heavy doses of mean-spiritedness
Meandering , sub-aquatic mess : It's so bad it's good , but only if you slide in on a freebie .
Men in Black II has sequel-itis something fierce .
Merchant effectively translates Naipaul's lively mix of characters from the page to screen .
Merely as a technical , logistical feat , Russian Ark marks a cinematic milestone .
Message movie or an action-packed submarine spectacular ?
Might have been better off as a documentary , with less of Mr. Eyre's uninspired dramatics and more of his sense of observation and outrage .
Mixes likeable personalities , inventive photography and cutting , and wall-to-wall toe-tapping music to paint a picture of a subculture that is at once exhilarating , silly , perverse , hopeful and always fun .
Mocking them now is an exercise in pointlessness .
Moderately involving despite bargain-basement photography and hackneyed romance .
Moore's complex and important film is also , believe it or not , immensely entertaining , a David and Goliath story that's still very much playing itself out .
Moore's performance impresses almost as much as her work with Haynes in 1995's Safe .
Moot point .
More a load of enjoyable , Conan-esque claptrap than the punishing , special-effects soul assaults the Mummy pictures represent .
More honest about Alzheimer's disease , I think , than Iris .
More than makes up for its mawkish posing by offering rousing spates of genuine feeling .
Morton is , as usual , brilliant .
Most impressive , though , is the film's open-ended finale that refuses to entirely close its characters ' emotional wounds .
Most new movies have a bright sheen .
Most of Crush is a clever and captivating romantic comedy with a welcome pinch of tartness .
Most of the action setups are incoherent .
Most of the supporting characters in Eastwood films are weak , as are most of the subplots .
Mr. Parker has brilliantly updated his source and grasped its essence , composing a sorrowful and hilarious tone poem about alienated labor , or an absurdist workplace sitcom .
Mr. Wedge and Mr. Saldanha handle the mix of verbal jokes and slapstick well .
Ms. Fulford-Wierzbicki is almost spooky in her sulky , calculating Lolita turn .
Much monkeyfun for all .
Much of the way , though , this is a refreshingly novel ride .
Much-anticipated and ultimately lackluster movie .
Murder By Numbers is like a couple of mediocre TV-movie - of-the-week films clumsily stuck together .
Murder and mayhem of this sort quickly becomes monotonous .
Murderous Maids may well be the most comprehensive of these films and also strike closest to the truth .
Must be seen to be believed .
Must-see viewing for anyone involved in the high-tech industry .
My goodness , Queen Latifah has a lot to offer and she seemed to have no problem flaunting her natural gifts .
My oh my , is this an invigorating , electric movie .
My response to the film is best described as lukewarm .
Myers never knows when to let a gag die ; thus , we're subjected to one mind-numbingly lengthy riff on poo and pee jokes after another .
Nair does capture the complexity of a big family and its trials and tribulations ...
Narc may not get an ` A ' for originality , but it wears its B-movie heritage like a badge of honor .
National Lampoon's Van Wilder could be the worst thing to come out of National Lampoon since Class Reunion
Nearly surreal , dabbling in French , this is no simple movie , and you'll be taking a risk if you choose to see it .
Needless to say , the dramatics that follow are utter hooey .
Neither funny nor suspenseful nor particularly well-drawn .
Nervy and sensitive , it taps into genuine artistic befuddlement , and at the same time presents a scathing indictment of what drives Hollywood .
Never Again swings between false sentiment and unfunny madcap comedy and , along the way , expects the audience to invest in the central relationship as some kind of marriage of true minds .
Never engaging , utterly predictable and completely void of anything remotely interesting or suspenseful .
Never mind whether you buy the stuff about Barris being a CIA hit man .
Never quite transcends jokester status ... and the punchline doesn't live up to Barry's dead-eyed , perfectly chilled delivery .
New Best Friend shouldn't have gone straight to video ; it should have gone straight to a Mystery Science Theater 3000 video .
Newton draws our attention like a magnet , and acts circles around her better known co-star , Mark Wahlberg .
Nicely serves as an examination of a society in transition .
Nicolas Philibert observes life inside a one-room schoolhouse in northern France in his documentary To Be and to Have , easily one of the best films of the year .
No , it's not nearly as good as any of its influences .
No , it's the repetition of said behavior , and so Children of the Century is more mindless love than mad , more grating and boring than anything else .
No more .
No movement , no yuks , not much of anything .
No number of fantastic sets , extras , costumes and spectacular locales can disguise the emptiness at the center of the story .
No reason for anyone to invest their hard-earned bucks into a movie which obviously didn't invest much into itself either .
No. .
Nolan bravely treads where few American films dare to delve -- into the world of ambivalence and ambiguity ...
None of these characters resembles anyone you've ever met in real life , unless you happen to know annoyingly self-involved people who speak in glib sentences that could have only come from the pen of a screenwriter .
None of this violates the letter of Behan's book , but missing is its spirit , its ribald , full-throated humor .
Not ` terrible filmmaking ' bad , but more like , ' I once had a nightmare like this , and it's now coming true ' bad .
Not a bad journey at all .
Not a cozy or ingratiating work , but it's challenging , sometimes clever , and always interesting , and those are reasons enough to see it .
Not a movie but a live-action agitprop cartoon so shameless and coarse , it's almost funny .
Not even the Hanson Brothers can save it
Not every animated film from Disney will become a classic , but forgive me if I've come to expect more from this studio than some 79-minute after-school `` cartoon '' .
Not everything works , but the average is higher than in Mary and most other recent comedies .
Not for everyone , but for those with whom it will connect , it's a nice departure from standard moviegoing fare .
Not only does the movie fail to make us part of its reality , it fails the most basic relevancy test as well .
Not so much a movie as a picture book for the big screen .
Not so much funny as aggressively sitcom-cute , it's full of throwaway one-liners , not-quite jokes , and a determined TV amiability that Allen personifies .
Not sweet enough to liven up its predictable story and will leave even fans of hip-hop sorely disappointed .
Not too far below the gloss you can still feel director Denis Villeneuve's beating heart and the fondness he has for his characters .
Nothing Denis has made before , like Beau Travil and Nenette et Boni , could prepare us for this gory , perverted , sex-soaked riff on the cannibal genre .
Nothing about it fits .
Nothing debases a concept comedy quite like the grinding of bad ideas , and Showtime is crammed full of them .
Nothing more than a mediocre trifle .
Nothing plot-wise is worth e-mailing home about .
Notorious C.H.O. has oodles of vulgar highlights .
Novak manages to capture a cruelly hilarious vein of black comedy in the situation with his cast of non-actors and a gritty , no-budget approach .
Now , if it only had a brain .
Now it's a bad , embarrassing movie .
Now it's just tired .
Now trimmed by about 20 minutes , this lavish three-year-old production has enough grandeur and scale to satisfy as grown-up escapism .
Noyce's film is contemplative and mournfully reflective .
Obstacles are too easily overcome and there isn't much in the way of character development in the script .
Obvious politics and rudimentary animation reduce the chances that the appeal of Hey Arnold !
Occasionally , in the course of reviewing art-house obscurities and slam-bam action flicks , a jaded critic smacks into something truly new .
Occasionally funny and consistently odd , and it works reasonably well as a star vehicle for Zhao .
Occasionally melodramatic , it's also extremely effective .
Oedekerk wrote Patch Adams , for which he should not be forgiven .
Offensive in the way it exploits the hot-button issue of domestic abuse for cheap thrills and disgusting in the manner it repeatedly puts a small child in jeopardy , treating her as little more than a prop to be cruelly tormented .
Offers a breath of the fresh air of true sophistication .
Offers enough playful fun to entertain the preschool set while embracing a wholesome attitude .
Offers that rare combination of entertainment and education .
Oft-described as the antidote to American Pie-type sex comedies , it actually has a bundle in common with them , as the film diffuses every opportunity for a breakthrough
Often gruelling and heartbreaking to witness , but Seldahl and Wollter's sterling performances raise this far above the level of the usual maudlin disease movie .
Often hilarious , well-shot and , importantly , entertaining , Hell House is a fascinating document of an event that has to be seen to be believed .
On its own cinematic terms , it successfully showcases the passions of both the director and novelist Byatt .
On the right track to something that's creepy and effective ... It's just going to take more than a man in a Bullwinkle costume to get there .
On the surface , it's a lovers-on-the-run crime flick , but it has a lot in common with Piesiewicz's and Kieslowski's earlier work , films like The Double Life of Veronique .
Once again , director Jackson strikes a rewarding balance between emotion on the human scale and action\/effects on the spectacular scale .
Once the audience figure out what's being said , the filmmaker's relative passivity will make it tough for them to really care .
Once you get into its rhythm ... the movie becomes a heady experience .
One Hour Photo is an intriguing snapshot of one man and his delusions ; it's just too bad it doesn't have more flashes of insight .
One groan-inducing familiarity begets another .
One minute , you think you're watching a serious actioner ; the next , it's as though clips from The Pink Panther Strikes Again and\/or Sailor Moon have been spliced in .
One of the best examples of how to treat a subject , you're not fully aware is being examined , much like a photo of yourself you didn't know was being taken .
One of the best of the year .
One of the greatest family-oriented , fantasy-adventure movies ever .
One of the greatest romantic comedies of the past decade .
One of the most haunting , viciously honest coming-of-age films in recent memory .
One of those movies where you walk out of the theater not feeling cheated exactly , but feeling pandered to , which , in the end , might be all the more infuriating .
One of those rare , exhilarating cinematic delights that gets even better in hindsight , as you mull over its every nuance in your mind .
One scarcely needs the subtitles to enjoy this colorful action farce .
Only an epic documentary could get it all down , and Spike Lee's Jim Brown : All American at long last gives its subject a movie worthy of his talents .
Opens as promising as any war\/adventure film you'll ever see and dissolves into a routine courtroom drama , better suited for a movie titled `` Glory : A Soldier's Story . ''
Opens at a funeral , ends on the protagonist's death bed and doesn't get much livelier in the three hours in between .
Or some damn thing .
Ostensibly celebrates middle-aged girl power , even as it presents friendship between women as pathetic , dysfunctional and destructive .
Others may find it migraine-inducing , despite Moore's attempts at whimsy and spoon feeding .
Outrageousness is all Plympton seemed to be going for this time .
Overall , the film misses the brilliance of Jelinek's novel by some way .
Painful to watch , but viewers willing to take a chance will be rewarded with two of the year's most accomplished and riveting film performances .
Parker holds true to Wilde's own vision of a pure comedy with absolutely no meaning , and no desire to be anything but a polished , sophisticated entertainment that is in love with its own cleverness .
Perhaps no picture ever made has more literally showed that the road to hell is paved with good intentions .
Philip K. Dick must be turning in his grave , along with my stomach .
Places a slightly believable love triangle in a difficult-to-swallow setting , and then disappointingly moves the story into the realm of an improbable thriller .
Plays as hollow catharsis , with lots of tears but very little in the way of insights .
Plays less like a coming-of-age romance than an infomercial .
Pray's film works well and will appeal even to those who aren't too familiar with turntablism .
Preposterous and tedious , Sonny is spiked with unintentional laughter that , unfortunately , occurs too infrequently to make the film even a guilty pleasure .
Presents an astute appraisal of Middle American musical torpor and the desperate struggle to escape it .
Pretentious editing ruins a potentially terrific flick .
Pretty darn good , despite its smarty-pants aura .
Proof that a thriller can be sleekly shot , expertly cast , paced with crisp professionalism ... and still be a letdown if its twists and turns hold no more surprise than yesterday's weather report .
Propelled not by characters but by caricatures .
Proves that a movie about goodness is not the same thing as a good movie .
Provides an intriguing window into the imagination and hermetic analysis of Todd Solondz .
Pryor Lite , with half the demons , half the daring , much less talent , many fewer laughs .
Pumpkin sits in a patch somewhere between mirthless Todd Solondzian satire and callow student film .
Punish the vehicle to adore the star .
Quick : who wants to see a comedy about shoddy airport security ?
Quite funny for the type of movie it is ...
Rain is a small treasure , enveloping the viewer in a literal and spiritual torpor that is anything but cathartic .
Rainy days and movies about the disintegration of families always get me down .
Rambles on in a disjointed , substandard fashion from one poorly executed action sequence to the next .
Ranging from funny to shattering and featuring some of the year's best acting , Personal Velocity gathers plenty of dramatic momentum .
Ranks among Willams ' best screen work .
Rare is the ` urban comedy ' that even attempts the insight and honesty of this disarming indie .
Rarely do films come along that are as intelligent , exuberant , and moving as Monsoon Wedding .
Rates an ` E ' for effort -- and a ` B ' for boring .
Rather , you'll have to wrestle disbelief to the ground and then apply the chloroform-soaked handkerchief .
Rather quickly , the film falls into a soothing formula of brotherly conflict and reconciliation .
Ray Liotta and Jason Patric do some of their best work in their underwritten roles , but don't be fooled : Nobody deserves any prizes here .
Reggio's trippy , ambitious downer can also sometimes come across like nothing more than a glorified Nike ad .
Reggio falls victim to relying on the very digital technology that he fervently scorns , creating a meandering , inarticulate and ultimately disappointing film .
Reign of Fire may be little more than another platter of reheated Aliens , but it's still pretty tasty .
Reinforces the often forgotten fact of the world's remarkably varying human population and mindset , and its capacity to heal using creative , natural and ancient antidotes .
Reinforces the talents of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman , creator of Adaptation and Being John Malkovich .
Remarkably accessible and affecting .
Remember when Bond had more glamour than clamor ?
Renner's performance as Dahmer is unforgettable , deeply absorbing .
Resourceful and ingenious entertainment .
Rich in detail , gorgeously shot and beautifully acted , Les Destinees is , in its quiet , epic way , daring , inventive and refreshingly unusual .
Ridiculous .
Ritchie's treatment of the class reversal is majorly ham-fisted , from the repetitive manifestos that keep getting thrown in people's faces to the fact Amber is such a joke .
Roger Michell , who did an appealing job directing Persuasion and Notting Hill in England , gets too artsy in his American debut .
Roman Coppola may never become the filmmaker his Dad was , but heck -- few filmmakers will .
Romanek keeps the film constantly taut ... reflecting the character's instability with a metaphorical visual style and an unnerving , heartbeat-like score .
Run , don't walk , to see this barbed and bracing comedy on the big screen .
Sadly , Hewitt's forte is leaning forward while wearing low-cut gowns , not making snappy comebacks .
Safe Conduct , however ambitious and well-intentioned , fails to hit the entertainment bull's - eye .
Sam Jones became a very lucky filmmaker the day Wilco got dropped from their record label , proving that one man's ruin may be another's fortune .
Sandra Nettelbeck beautifully orchestrates the transformation of the chilly , neurotic , and self-absorbed Martha as her heart begins to open .
Say this for the soundtrack , it drowns out the lousy dialogue .
Scarlet Diva has a voyeuristic tug , but all in all it's a lot less sensational than it wants to be .
Scene-by-scene , things happen , but you'd be hard-pressed to say what or why .
Schindler's List it ain't .
Schmaltzy and unfunny , Adam Sandler's cartoon about Hanukkah is numbingly bad , Little Nicky bad , 10 Worst List bad .
Scores a few points for doing what it does with a dedicated and good-hearted professionalism .
Scotland , Pa. is a strangely drab romp .
Screenwriters Scott Abbott and Michael Petroni have turned Rice's complex Akasha into a cartoon monster .
Sensitive , insightful and beautifully rendered film .
Serry does a fine job of capturing the climate of the times and , perhaps unwittingly , relating it to what is happening in America in 2002 .
Sets up a nice concept for its fiftysomething leading ladies , but fails loudly in execution .
Shadyac shoots his film like an M. Night Shyamalan movie , and he frequently maintains the same snail's pace ; he just forgot to add any genuine tension .
Shainberg weaves a carefully balanced scenario that is controlled by neither character , is weirdly sympathetic to both and manages to be tender and darkly comic .
Shamelessly sappy and , worse , runs away from its own provocative theme .
Sharp , lively , funny and ultimately sobering film .
She lists ingredients , but never mixes and stirs .
She must have a very strong back .
Shocking only in that it reveals the filmmaker's bottomless pit of self-absorption .
Shot perhaps ` artistically ' with handheld cameras and apparently no movie lights by Joaquin Baca-Asay , the low-budget production swings annoyingly between vertigo and opacity .
Showtime is closer to Slowtime .
Showtime is one of the hapless victims of the arrogant `` if we put together a wry white man and a chatty black man and give them guns , the movie will be funny '' syndrome .
Sits uneasily as a horror picture ... but finds surprising depth in its look at the binds of a small family .
Skip work to see it at the first opportunity .
Sluggishly directed by episodic TV veteran Joe Zwick , it's a sitcom without the snap-crackle .
Smart science fiction for grown-ups , with only a few false steps along the way .
Smith's approach is never to tease , except gently and in that way that makes us consider our own eccentricities and how they are expressed through our homes .
Smith's point is simple and obvious -- people's homes are extensions of themselves , and particularly eccentric people have particularly eccentric living spaces -- but his subjects are charmers .
Smith profiles five extraordinary American homes , and because the owners seem fully aware of the uses and abuses of fame , it's a pleasure to enjoy their eccentricities .
So few movies explore religion that it's disappointing to see one reduce it to an idea that fits in a sampler .
So lazy and slipshod it confuses the mere flashing of kinky soft-core imagery with naughty fun .
So many documentaries like this presuppose religious bigotry or zealous nuttiness of its antagonists , but Family Fundamentals displays a rare gift for unflinching impartiality .
So routine , familiar and predictable , it raises the possibility that it wrote itself as a newly automated Final Draft computer program .
So stupid , so ill-conceived , so badly drawn , it created whole new levels of ugly .
So what is the point ?
So young , so smart , such talent , such a wise \*\*\* .
Solid , lump-in-the-throat family entertainment that derives its power by sticking to the facts .
Some , like Ballistic , arrive stillborn ... looking like the beaten , well-worn video box cover of seven years into the future .
Some actors have so much charisma that you'd be happy to listen to them reading the phone book .
Some decent actors inflict big damage upon their reputations .
Some movies are like a tasty hors-d'oeuvre ; this one is a feast .
Some of Seagal's action pictures are guilty pleasures , but this one is so formulaic that it seems to be on auto-pilot .
Some studio pizazz might have helped .
Somehow we're meant to buy that this doting mother would shun her kids , travel to one of the most dangerous parts of the world , don fatigues and become G.I. Jane .
Sometimes , nothing satisfies like old-fashioned swashbuckling .
Somewhat blurred , but Kinnear's performance is razor sharp .
Somewhere short of Tremors on the modern B-scene : neither as funny nor as clever , though an agreeably unpretentious way to spend ninety minutes .
Son of the Bride may be a good half-hour too long but comes replete with a flattering sense of mystery and quietness .
Sorry , Charlie
Soul is what's lacking in every character in this movie and , subsequently , the movie itself .
Sound the trumpets : For the first time since Desperately Seeking Susan , Madonna doesn't suck as an actress .
Splashes its drama all over the screen , subjecting its audience and characters to action that feels not only manufactured , but also so false you can see the filmmakers ' puppet strings .
Spousal abuse is a major problem in contemporary society , but the film reduces this domestic tragedy to florid melodrama .
Star Wars is back in a major way .
Stars Matthew Perry and Elizabeth Hurley illicit more than a chuckle , and more jokes land than crash , but ultimately Serving Sara doesn't distinguish itself from the herd .
Starts off with a bang , but then fizzles like a wet stick of dynamite at the very end .
Static , repetitive , muddy and blurry , Hey Arnold !
Stay clear of reminding yourself that it's a `` true story '' and you're likely to have one helluva time at the movies .
Steers turns in a snappy screenplay that curls at the edges ; it's so clever you want to hate it .
Stephen Earnhart's homespun documentary Mule Skinner Blues has nothing but love for its posse of trailer park denizens .
Steve Irwin's method is Ernest Hemmingway at accelerated speed and volume .
Still , I'm not quite sure what the point is ...
Still , I thought it could have been more .
Still , it gets the job done -- a sleepy afternoon rental .
Still , this thing feels flimsy and ephemeral .
Still pretentious and filled with subtext , but entertaining enough at ` face value ' to recommend to anyone looking for something different .
Strong setup and ambitious goals fade as the film descends into unsophisticated scare tactics and B-film thuggery .
Sturdy , entertaining period drama ... both Caine and Fraser have their moments .
Subversive , meditative , clinical and poetic , The Piano Teacher is a daring work of genius .
Succeeds in providing a disquiet world the long-dreaded completion of the Police Academy series .
Succumbs to the same kind of maudlin , sentimental mysticism that mars the Touched by an Angel school of non-God spiritual-uplift movies .
Sucking all the ` classic ' out of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island and filling the void with sci-fi video game graphics and Disney-fied adolescent angst ...
Suffers from rambling , repetitive dialogue and the visual drabness endemic to digital video .
Suffocated at conception by its Munchausen-by-proxy mum .
Suggests puns about ingredients and soup and somebody being off their noodle , but let's just say the ingredients don't quite add up to a meal .
Sunshine State lacks the kind of dynamic that Limbo offers , and in some ways is a rather indulgent piece .
Superior genre storytelling , which gets under our skin simply by crossing the nuclear line .
Sushi for the connoisseurs of the macabre .
Tadpole is a sophisticated , funny and good-natured treat , slight but a pleasure .
Tailored to entertain !
Take Care of My Cat offers a refreshingly different slice of Asian cinema .
Taken individually or collectively , the stories never add up to as much as they promise .
Technically , the film is about as interesting as an insurance commercial .
Tender yet lacerating and darkly funny fable .
That Zhang would make such a strainingly cute film -- with a blind orphan at its center , no less -- indicates where his ambitions have wandered .
That rara avis : the intelligent romantic comedy with actual ideas on its mind .
The 3D images only enhance the film's otherworldly quality , giving it a strange combo of you-are-there closeness with the disorienting unreality of the seemingly broken-down fourth wall of the movie screen .
The Bourne Identity is what summer screen escapism used to be in the decades when it was geared more to grownups .
The Hours is what movies are supposed to be ...
The Hours makes you examine your own life in much the same way its characters do , and the experience is profound .
The Irwins emerge unscathed , but the fictional footage is unconvincing and criminally badly acted .
The Master Of Disaster - it's a piece of dreck disguised as comedy .
The Movie will reach far beyond its core demographic .
The New Guy does have a heart .
The Pianist is a fine valedictory work for Polanski , made richer by his own experiences , making his other movies somehow richer in the bargain .
The Piano Teacher is the sort of movie that discourages American audiences from ever wanting to see another foreign film .
The Powers team has fashioned a comedy with more laughs than many , no question .
The Ring just left me cold and wet like I was out in the Seattle drizzle without rainwear .
The Sum of All Fears is almost impossible to follow -- and there's something cringe-inducing about seeing an American football stadium nuked as pop entertainment .
The Transporter is as lively and as fun as it is unapologetically dumb
The WWII drama is well plotted , visually striking and filled with enjoyably complex characters who are never what they first appear .
The Weight of Water uses water as a metaphor for subconscious desire , but this leaky script barely stays afloat .
The acting alone is worth the price of admission .
The acting by the over-25s lacks spark , with Csokas particularly unconnected .
The acting is stiff , the story lacks all trace of wit , the sets look like they were borrowed from Gilligan's Island -- and the CGI Scooby might well be the worst special-effects creation of the year .
The actors are forced to grapple with hazy motivations that never come into focus .
The actors don't inhabit their roles -- they're trapped by them , forced to change behavior in bizarre unjustified fashion and spout dialog that consists mostly of platitudes .
The angst-ridden , affluent slacker characters are more grating than engaging .
The animated subplot keenly depicts the inner struggles of our adolescent heroes - insecure , uncontrolled , and intense .
The backyard battles you staged with your green plastic army men were more exciting and almost certainly made more sense .
The best movie of its kind since ` Brazil . '
The best thing the film does is to show us not only what that mind looks like , but how the creative process itself operates .
The best way to hope for any chance of enjoying this film is by lowering your expectations .
The best you can say about it is it's so uninspired , it barely gives one pause when considering some of the other dreck out there right now .
The cartoon that isn't really good enough to be on afternoon TV is now a movie that isn't really good enough to be in theaters .
The cast is so low-wattage that none of the characters comes off as big ... and the setting remains indistinct .
The cast is uniformly excellent and relaxed .
The central story lacks punch .
The character is too forced and overwritten to be funny or believable much of the time , and Clayburgh doesn't always improve the over-the-top mix .
The charms of willful eccentricity , at least as evidenced by this latest cinematic essay , are beginning to wear a bit thin .
The cold and dreary weather is a perfect metaphor for the movie itself , which contains few laughs and not much drama .
The comic performances are all spot on , especially Lee Ross's turn as Ken .
The creaking , rusty ship makes a fine backdrop , but the ghosts ' haunting is routine .
The director , Steven Shainberg , has succeeded by focusing intently on his characters , making them quirky individuals rather than figures of fun .
The diversity of the artists represented , both in terms of style and ethnicity , prevents the proceedings from feeling repetitious , as does the appropriately brief 40-minute running time .
The drama is played out with such aching beauty and truth that it brings tears to your eyes .
The editing is chaotic , the photography grainy and badly focused , the writing unintentionally hilarious , the direction unfocused , the performances as wooden .
The ending is a cop-out .
The enormous comic potential of an oafish idiot impersonating an aristocrat remains sadly unrealized .
The episodic film makes valid points about the depersonalization of modern life .
The essential problem in Orange County is that , having created an unusually vivid set of characters worthy of its strong cast , the film flounders when it comes to giving them something to do .
The experience of watching blobby old-school CGI animation in this superlarge format is just surreal enough to be diverting .
The fact that The Rookie is a nearly impeccable cinematic experience -- and a wonderful all-ages triumph besides -- is a miracle akin to the story the film portrays .
The fight scenes are fun , but it grows tedious .
The film's 45-minute running time stops shy of overkill , though viewers may be more exhausted than the athletes onscreen .
The film's center will not hold .
The film's greatest asset is how much it's not just another connect-the-dots , spy-on-the-run picture .
The film's real appeal won't be to Clooney fans or adventure buffs , but to moviegoers who enjoy thinking about compelling questions with no easy answers .
The film's sharp , often mischievous sense of humor will catch some off guard ...
The film benefits greatly from a less manic tone than its predecessor , as Cho appears to have settled comfortably into her skin .
The film delivers not just the full assault of Reno's immense wit and insight , but a time travel back to what it felt like during those unforgettably uncertain days .
The film equivalent of a toy chest whose contents get scattered over the course of 80 minutes .
The film has just enough of everything -- re-enactments , archival footage , talking-head interviews -- and the music is simply sublime .
The film hinges on its performances , and both leads are up to the task .
The film is a travesty of the genre and even as spoof takes itself too seriously .
The film is all a little Lit Crit 101 , but it's extremely well played and often very funny .
The film is an enjoyable family film -- pretty much aimed at any youngster who loves horses .
The film is exhilarating to watch because Sandler , liberated from the constraints of formula , reveals unexpected depths as an actor .
The film is faithful to what one presumes are the book's twin premises -- that we become who we are on the backs of our parents , but we have no idea who they were at our age ; and that time is a fleeting and precious commodity no matter how old you are .
The film is itself a sort of cinematic high crime , one that brings military courtroom dramas down very , very low .
The film is just a big , gorgeous , mind-blowing , breath-taking mess .
The film is like a series of beginnings and middles that never take off .
The film is often filled with a sense of pure wonderment and excitement not often seen in today's cinema du sarcasm
The film is painfully authentic , and the performances of the young players are utterly convincing .
The film is really not so much bad as bland .
The film is surprisingly well-directed by Brett Ratner , who keeps things moving well -- at least until the problematic third act .
The film makes a strong case for the importance of the musicians in creating the Motown sound .
The film makes a tragic error by going on for too long , trying to mirror every subsequent event in Chinese history : war , revolution , Communism , etc. .
The film meant well in its horse tale about freedom , but wasn't able to reach the heart because it was too overbearing .
The film might have been more satisfying if it had , in fact , been fleshed out a little more instead of going for easy smiles .
The film often achieves a mesmerizing poetry .
The film overcomes the regular minefield of coming-of-age cliches with potent doses of honesty and sensitivity .
The film runs on equal parts of innocence and wisdom -- wisdom that comes with experience .
The film seems a dead weight .
The film starts out as competent but unremarkable ... and gradually grows into something of considerable power .
The film takes too long getting to the good stuff , then takes too long figuring out what to do next .
The film would work much better as a video installation in a museum , where viewers would be free to leave .
The filmmakers juggle and juxtapose three story lines but fail to come up with one cogent point , unless it's that life stinks , especially for sensitive married women who really love other women .
The filmmakers skillfully evoke the sense of menace that nature holds for many urban dwellers .
The humor is hinged on the belief that knees in the crotch , elbows in the face and spit in the eye are inherently funny .
The ill-conceived modern-day ending falls flat where it should deliver a moral punch .
The impact of the Armenian genocide is diluted by too much stage business in the modern day .
The inherent strength of the material as well as the integrity of the filmmakers gives this coming-of-age story restraint as well as warmth .
The invincible Werner Herzog is alive and well and living in LA
The issue of faith is not explored very deeply
The kids often appear to be reading the lines and are incapable of conveying any emotion .
The kooky yet shadowy vision Clooney sustains throughout is daring , inventive and impressive .
The lack of opposing viewpoints soon grows tiresome -- the film feels more like a series of toasts at a testimonial dinner than a documentary .
The lack of pace kills it , although , in a movie about cancer , this might be apt .
The laser-projected paintings provide a spell-casting beauty , while Russell and Dreyfus are a romantic pairing of hearts , preciously exposed as history corners them .
The latest installment in the Pokemon canon , Pokemon 4ever is surprising less moldy and trite than the last two , likely because much of the Japanese anime is set in a scenic forest where Pokemon graze in peace .
The level of maturity displayed by this 33-year-old first-time feature director is astonishing , considering her inexperience and her subject matter .
The long-range appeal of `` Minority Report '' should transcend any awards it bags .
The low-budget Full Frontal was one of the year's murkiest , intentionally obscure and self-indulgent pictures , and Solaris is its big-budget brother .
The makers have forsaken the entertaining elements of the original and , instead , rehash old jokes and leave any life at the doorstep .
The more Kevin Costner rests on his pretty-boy laurels , the public is , regrettably , going to have tepid films like Dragonfly tossed at them .
The movie's biggest offense is its complete and utter lack of tension .
The movie's eventual success should be credited to Dennis Quaid , in fighting trim shape as an athlete as well as an actor
The movie's quiet affirmation of neighborhood values gives it an honest , lived-in glow .
The movie's ripe , enrapturing beauty will tempt those willing to probe its inscrutable mysteries .
The movie bounces all over the map .
The movie exists for its soccer action and its fine acting .
The movie feels like it's going to be great , and it carries on feeling that way for a long time , but takeoff just never happens .
The movie gets muted and routine .
The movie has a soft , percolating magic , a deadpan suspense .
The movie has an avalanche of eye-popping visual effects .
The movie has lots of dancing and fabulous music .
The movie has very little to offer besides unintentional laughs .
The movie is a blast of educational energy , as bouncy animation and catchy songs escort you through the entire 85 minutes .
The movie is as far as you can get from racy , to the point where it almost stops the blood flow to your brain ; it has a dull , costumey feel .
The movie is full of fine performances , led by Josef Bierbichler as Brecht and Monica Bleibtreu as Helene Weigel , his wife .
The movie is one of the best examples of artful Large Format filmmaking you are likely to see anytime soon .
The movie is well shot and very tragic , and one to ponder after the credits roll .
The movie makes absolutely no sense .
The movie quickly drags on becoming boring and predictable .
The movie stays afloat thanks to its hallucinatory production design .
The movie succumbs to being nothing more than a formulaic chase in the dark .
The movie takes itself too seriously and , as a result , it makes for only intermittent fun .
The noble tradition of men in drag hits an all-time low in Sorority Boys , whose makers apparently believe that women's clothing can cover up any deficiency in acting , writing or direction .
The only element of suspense is whether the movie will change titles or distributors again before the closing credits roll .
The only thing in Pauline and Paulette that you haven't seen before is a scene featuring a football field-sized Oriental rug crafted out of millions of vibrant flowers .
The only thing that could possibly make them less interesting than they already are is for them to get full montied into a scrappy , jovial team .
The only thing worse than your substandard , run-of-the-mill Hollywood picture is an angst-ridden attempt to be profound .
The only way this supernatural snore-fest could give anyone a case of the frights is if they were put to sleep by the movie and had a nightmare .
The overall effect is so completely inane that one would have to be mighty bored to even think of staying with this for more than , say , ten ... make that three minutes .
The overall feel of the film is pretty cheesy , but there's still a real sense that the Star Trek tradition has been honored as best it can , given the embarrassing script and weak direction .
The passions aroused by the discord between old and new cultures are set against the strange , stark beauty of the Mideast desert , so lovingly and perceptively filmed that you can almost taste the desiccated air .
The people in Dogtown and Z-Boys are so funny , aggressive and alive , you have to watch them because you can't wait to see what they do next .
The perfect film for those who like sick comedies that can be snide .
The performances are so leaden , Michael Rymer's direction is so bloodless and the dialogue is so corny that the audience laughs out loud .
The period -- swinging London in the time of the mods and the rockers -- gets the once-over once again in Gangster No. 1 , but falls apart long before the end .
The picture , scored by a perversely cheerful Marcus Miller accordion\/harmonica\/banjo abomination , is a monument to bad in all its florid variety .
The picture is a primer on what happens when lack of know-how mixes with lack of give-a-damn .
The pivotal narrative point is so ripe the film can't help but go soft and stinky .
The pleasures of Super Troopers may be fleeting , but they'll register strongly with anybody who still retains a soft spot for precollegiate humor .
The plot grinds on with yawn-provoking dullness .
The plot is so predictable and sentimental that viewers are likely to lose interest before Sandrine and her goats walk off into the sunset .
The plot is straight off the shelf , the performances are television - caliber and the message of providing solace through deception is a little creepy .
The plot is very clever , but Boyd weighs it down with too many characters and events , all intertwined and far too complicated to keep track of .
The premise for this kegger comedy probably sounded brilliant four six-packs and a pitcher of margaritas in , but the film must have been written ... in the thrall of a vicious hangover .
The premise is in extremely bad taste , and the film's supposed insights are so poorly thought-out and substance-free that even a high school senior taking his or her first psychology class could dismiss them .
The premise is overshadowed by the uberviolence of the Clericks as this becomes just another kung-fu sci-fi movie with silly action sequences .
The principals in this cast are all fine , but Bishop and Stevenson are standouts .
The problem , it is with most of these things , is the script .
The problem isn't that the movie hits so close to home so much as that it hits close to home while engaging in such silliness as that snake-down-the-throat business and the inevitable shot of Schwarzenegger outrunning a fireball .
The problem with concept films is that if the concept is a poor one , there's no saving the movie .
The problem with this film is that it's forced to make its characters idiots in order to advance the plot .
The production values are up there .
The reason this picture works better than its predecessors is that Myers is no longer simply spoofing the mini-mod-madness of '60s spy movies .
The reason we keep seeing the same movie with roughly the same people every year is because so many of us keep going and then , out of embarrassment or stupidity , not warning anyone .
The result is mesmerizing -- filled with menace and squalor .
The result is solemn and horrifying , yet strangely detached .
The result is something quite fresh and delightful .
The sad thing about Knockaround Guys is its lame aspiration for grasping the coolness vibes when in fact the film isn't as flippant or slick as it thinks it is .
The saturation bombing of Reggio's images and Glass ' evocative music ... ultimately leaves viewers with the task of divining meaning .
The scope of the Silberstein family is large and we grow attached to their lives , full of strength , warmth and vitality . .
The screenplay sabotages the movie's strengths at almost every juncture .
The second chapter of the Harry Potter series is even more magical than the first and simply the best family film of the year .
The sequel has turned completely and irrevocably bizarre to the point of utter nonsense .
The situations and jokes are as predictable and as lowbrow as the endless pratfalls the boys take in their high heels .
The smartest bonehead comedy of the summer .
The smug , oily demeanor that Donovan adopts throughout the stupidly named Pipe Dream is just repulsive .
The sort of movie that gives tastelessness a bad rap .
The spark of special anime magic here is unmistakable and hard to resist .
The stories here suffer from the chosen format .
The story's so preposterous that I didn't believe it for a second , despite the best efforts of everyone involved .
The story ... is moldy and obvious .
The story and characters are nowhere near gripping enough .
The story bogs down in a mess of purposeless violence .
The story feels more like a serious read , filled with heavy doses of always enticing Sayles dialogue .
The story is familiar from its many predecessors ; like them , it eventually culminates in the not-exactly - stunning insight that crime doesn't pay .
The story is naturally poignant , but first-time screenwriter Paul Pender overloads it with sugary bits of business .
The story loses its bite in a last-minute happy ending that's even less plausible than the rest of the picture .
The story may not be new , but Australian director John Polson , making his American feature debut , jazzes it up adroitly .
The streets , shot by cinematographer Michael Ballhaus , may be as authentic as they are mean , but it is nearly impossible to care about what happens on them .
The stunning , dreamlike visuals will impress even those viewers who have little patience for Euro-film pretension .
The stupidest , most insulting movie of 2002's first quarter .
The subject of swinging still seems ripe for a documentary -- just not this one .
The talents of the actors helps `` Moonlight Mile '' rise above its heart-on-its-sleeve writing .
The tenderness of the piece is still intact .
The thriller side of this movie is falling flat , as the stalker doesn't do much stalking , and no cop or lawyer grasps the concept of actually investigating the case .
The timing in nearly every scene seems a half beat off .
The title's lameness should clue you in on how bad the movie is .
The title Trapped turns out to be a pretty fair description of how you feel while you're watching this ultra-manipulative thriller .
The tone is balanced , reflective and reasonable .
The tone shifts abruptly from tense to celebratory to soppy .
The truth is that The Truth About Charlie gets increasingly tiresome .
The tug of war that ensues is as much a snapshot of modern China in microcosm as it is a crash course in movie mythology .
The tug-of-war at the core of Beijing Bicycle becomes weighed down with agonizing contrivances , overheated pathos and long , wistful gazes .
The two leads are almost good enough to camouflage the dopey plot , but so much naturalistic small talk , delivered in almost muffled exchanges , eventually has a lulling effect .
The two leads chomp considerably more scenery with their acting than fire-breathing monsters barbecue with their breath ...
The unceasing sadism is so graphically excessive , the director just ends up exposing his own obsession .
The unique tug-of-war with viewer expectations is undeniable , if not a pleasure in its own right .
The use of CGI and digital ink-and-paint make the thing look really slick .
The values that have held the Enterprise crew together through previous adventures and perils do so again-courage , self-sacrifice and patience under pressure .
The vampire thriller Blade II starts off as a wild hoot and then sucks the blood out of its fun -- toward the end , you can feel your veins cringing from the workout .
The visuals alone make Metropolis worth seeing .
The voices are fine as well .
The way Coppola professes his love for movies -- both colorful pop junk and the classics that unequivocally qualify as art -- is giddily entertaining .
The whole cast looks to be having so much fun with the slapstick antics and silly street patois , tossing around obscure expressions like Bellini and Mullinski , that the compact 86 minutes breezes by .
The whole damn thing is ripe for the Jerry Springer crowd .
The whole thing plays out with the drowsy heaviness of synchronized swimmer wearing a wool wetsuit .
The writers , director Wally Wolodarsky , and all the actors should start their own coeducational fraternity : Kappa Rho Alpha Phi .
The year's happiest surprise , a movie that deals with a real subject in an always surprising way .
Their film falters , however , in its adherence to the Disney philosophy of required poignancy , a salute that I'd hoped the movie would avoid .
Theirs is a simple and heart-warming story , full of mirth that should charm all but the most cynical .
Then lower them a bit more .
Theology aside , why put someone who ultimately doesn't learn at the center of a kids ' story ?
There's a disreputable air about the whole thing , and that's what makes it irresistible .
There's a vastness implied in Metropolis that is just breathtaking .
There's an audience for it , but it could have been funnier and more innocent .
There's enough science to make it count as educational , and enough beauty to make it unforgettable .
There's more scatological action in 8 Crazy Nights than a proctologist is apt to encounter in an entire career .
There's no denying the elaborateness of the artist's conceptions , nor his ability to depict them with outrageous elan , but really the whole series is so much pretentious nonsense , lavishly praised by those who equate obscurity with profundity .
There's no denying the physically spectacular qualities of the film ... or the emotional integrity of the performances .
There's not enough to sustain the comedy .
There's not much more to this adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel than charm -- effortless , pleasurable , featherweight charm .
There's nothing provocative about this film save for the ways in which it studiously avoids provoking thought .
There's plenty of style in Guillermo Del Toro's sequel to the 1998 hit but why do we need 117 minutes to tell a tale that simply can't sustain more than 90 minutes .
There's something fundamental missing from this story : something or someone to care about .
There's suspension of disbelief and then there's bad screenwriting ... this film packs a wallop of the latter .
There are a few laughs and clever sight gags scattered about , but not enough to make this anything more than another big-budget bust .
There are a few stabs at absurdist comedy ... but mostly the humor is of the sweet , gentle and occasionally cloying kind that has become an Iranian specialty .
There are as many misses as hits , but ultimately , it finds humor in the foibles of human behavior , and it's a welcome return to the roots of a genre that should depend on surprises .
There are films that try the patience of even the most cinema-besotted critic -- and this was one of them .
There are just enough twists in the tale to make it far more satisfying than almost any horror film in recent memory .
There are moments in this account of the life of artist Frida Kahlo that are among cinema's finest this year .
There are slow and repetitive parts , but it has just enough spice to keep it interesting .
There are times when A Rumor of Angels plays like an extended episode of Touched by an Angel -- a little too much dancing , a few too many weeping scenes -- but I liked its heart and its spirit .
There are touching moments in Etoiles , but for the most part this is a dull , dour documentary on what ought to be a joyful or at least fascinating subject .
There are weird resonances between actor and role here , and they're not exactly flattering .
There has been much puzzlement among critics about what the election symbolizes .
There is a kind of attentive concern that Hoffman brings to his characters , as if he has been giving them private lessons , and now it is time for their first public recital .
There is a refreshing absence of cynicism in Stuart Little 2 -- quite a rarity , even in the family film market .
There isn't a weak or careless performance amongst them .
There is no entry portal in The Rules of Attraction , and I spent most of the movie feeling depressed by the shallow , selfish , greedy characters .
There is not a character in the movie with a shred of plausibility , not an event that is believable , not a confrontation that is not staged , not a moment that is not false .
There is not an ounce of honesty in the entire production .
These are lives worth watching , paths worth following .
These are names to remember , in order to avoid them in the future .
These people wouldn't know subtle characterization if it put on a giant furry monster costume and then gave them a lapdance .
These spiders can outrun a motorcycle and wrap a person in a sticky cocoon in seconds , but they fall short of being interesting or entertaining .
They felt like the same movie to me .
Think of it as a sort of comfort food for the mind .
Thirty years ago , it would have been groundbreaking .
This bold and lyrical first feature from Raja Amari expands the pat notion that middle-aged women just wanna have fun into a rousing treatise of sensual empowerment .
This cheery , down-to-earth film is warm with the cozy feeling of relaxing around old friends .
This clever caper movie has twists worthy of David Mamet and is enormous fun for thinking audiences .
This concoction , so bizarre to the adult mind , is actually a charming triumph where its intended under-12 audience is concerned .
This cuddly sequel to the 1999 hit is a little more visually polished , a little funnier , and a little more madcap .
This delicately observed story , deeply felt and masterfully stylized , is a triumph for its maverick director .
This ecologically minded , wildlife friendly film teaches good ethics while entertaining with its unconventionally wacky but loving family
This examination of aquatic life off the shores of the Baja California peninsula of Mexico offers an engrossing way to demonstrate the virtues of the IMAX format .
This extremely unfunny film clocks in at 80 minutes , but feels twice as long .
This film's relationship to actual tension is the same as what Christmas-tree flocking in a spray can is to actual snow : a poor -- if durable -- imitation .
This film is so slick , superficial and trend-hoppy , that it's easy to imagine that a new software program spit out the screenplay .
This film looks like it was produced in 1954 , shelved for 48 years , and repackaged for a 2002 audience .
This film was made to get laughs from the slowest person in the audience -- just pure slapstick with lots of inane , inoffensive screaming and exaggerated facial expressions .
This formulaic chiller will do little to boost Stallone's career .
This goofy gangster yarn never really elevates itself from being yet another earnestly generic crime-busting comic vehicle -- a well-intentioned remake that shows some spunk and promise but fails to register as anything distinctive or daring
This idea has lost its originality ... and neither star appears very excited at rehashing what was basically a one-joke picture .
This insightful , Oscar-nominated documentary , in which children on both sides of the ever-escalating conflict have their say away from watchful parental eyes , gives peace yet another chance .
This is Carion's debut feature but his script and direction hums with a confidence that many spend entire careers trying to reach .
This is a film brimming with detail and nuance and one that speaks volumes about the ability of the human spirit to find solace in events that could easily crush it forever .
This is a film well worth seeing , talking and singing heads and all .
This is a great subject for a movie , but Hollywood has squandered the opportunity , using it as a prop for warmed-over melodrama and the kind of choreographed mayhem that director John Woo has built his career on .
This is a happy throwback to the time when cartoons were cinema's most idiosyncratic form instead of one of its most predictable .
This is a particularly toxic little bonbon , palatable to only a chosen and very jaundiced few .
This is a raw and disturbing tale that took five years to make , and the trio's absorbing narrative is a heart-wrenching showcase indeed .
This is a startling film that gives you a fascinating , albeit depressing view of Iranian rural life close to the Iraqi border .
This is a terrific character study , a probe into the life of a complex man .
This is a throwaway , junk-food movie whose rap soundtrack was better tended to than the film itself .
This is a very fine movie -- go see it .
This is art paying homage to art .
This is as powerful a set of evidence as you'll ever find of why art matters , and how it can resonate far beyond museum walls and through to the most painfully marginal lives .
This is cool , slick stuff , ready to quench the thirst of an audience that misses the summer blockbusters .
This is how you use special effects .
This is junk food cinema at its greasiest .
This isn't a `` Friday '' worth waiting for .
This isn't a narrative film -- I don't know if it's possible to make a narrative film about September 11th , though I'm sure some will try -- but it's as close as anyone has dared to come .
This isn't just the CliffsNotes version of Nicholas Nickleby , it's the CliffsNotes with pages missing .
This isn't my favorite in the series , still I enjoyed it enough to recommend .
This is one for the ages .
This is one of Polanski's best films .
This is one of the most visually stunning and thematically moving epics in recent memory , and in spite of numerous minor flaws , Scorsese's best in more than a decade .
This is pretty dicey material .
This is simply the most fun you'll ever have with a documentary !
This is such a dazzlingly self-assured directorial debut that it's hard to know what to praise first .
This is such a high-energy movie where the drumming and the marching are so excellent , who cares if the story's a little weak .
This is the best American movie about troubled teens since 1998's Whatever .
This is the kind of movie that used to be right at home at the Saturday matinee , and it still is .
This is the type of movie best enjoyed by frat boys and college kids while sucking on the bong and downing one alcoholic beverage after another .
This is what IMAX was made for : Strap on a pair of 3-D goggles , shut out the real world , and take a vicarious voyage to the last frontier -- space .
This limp gender-bender-baller from a first-time director and rookie screenwriter steals wholesale from that 1982's Tootsie , forgetting only to retain a single laugh .
This may be the dumbest , sketchiest movie on record about an aspiring writer's coming-of-age .
This may not have the dramatic gut-wrenching impact of other Holocaust films , but it's a compelling story , mainly because of the way it's told by the people who were there .
This miserable excuse of a movie runs on empty , believing Flatbush machismo will get it through .
This one's weaker than most .
This overproduced and generally disappointing effort isn't likely to rouse the Rush Hour crowd .
This pep-talk for faith , hope and charity does little to offend , but if saccharine earnestness were a crime , the film's producers would be in the clink for life .
This road movie gives you emotional whiplash , and you'll be glad you went along for the ride .
This romantic thriller is steeped in the atmosphere of wartime England , and ably captures the speech patterns , moral codes and ideals of the 1940s .
This self-infatuated goofball is far from the only thing wrong with the clumsy comedy Stealing Harvard , but he's the most obvious one .
This series should have died long ago , but they keep bringing it back another day as punishment for paying money to see the last James Bond movie .
This time Kaufman's imagination has failed him .
This version's no classic like its predecessor , but its pleasures are still plentiful .
This version incarnates the prophetic book in a way even its exacting author might admire .
This warm and gentle romantic comedy has enough interesting characters to fill several movies , and its ample charms should win over the most hard-hearted cynics .
Those outside show business will enjoy a close look at people they don't really want to know .
Those who managed to avoid the Deconstructionist theorizing of French philosopher Jacques Derrida in college can now take an 85-minute brush-up course with the documentary Derrida .
Those who would follow Haneke on his creepy explorations ... are rewarded by brutal , committed performances from Huppert and Magimel .
Though Avary has done his best to make something out of Ellis ' nothing novel , in the end , his Rules is barely worth following .
Though Ganesh is successful in a midlevel sort of way , there's nothing so striking or fascinating or metaphorically significant about his career as to rate two hours of our attention .
Though Howard demonstrates a great eye as a director , this Southern Gothic drama is sadly a tough sit , with an undeveloped narrative and enough flashbacks and heavy-handed metaphors to choke a horse -- or at least slow him down to a canter .
Though Mama takes a bit too long to find its rhythm and a third-act plot development is somewhat melodramatic , its ribald humor and touching nostalgia are sure to please anyone in search of a Jules and Jim for the new millennium .
Though a bit of a patchwork in script and production , a glossy , rich green , environment almost makes the picture work .
Though everything might be literate and smart , it never took off and always seemed static .
Though it is by no means his best work , Laissez-Passer is a distinguished and distinctive effort by a bona-fide master , a fascinating film replete with rewards to be had by all willing to make the effort to reap them .
Though of particular interest to students and enthusiast of international dance and world music , the film is designed to make viewers of all ages , cultural backgrounds and rhythmic ability want to get up and dance .
Though the book runs only about 300 pages , it is so densely packed ... that even an ambitious adaptation and elaborate production like Mr. Schepisi's seems skimpy and unclear .
Though the controversial Korean filmmaker's latest effort is not for all tastes , it offers gorgeous imagery , effective performances , and an increasingly unsettling sense of foreboding .
Though the film's scenario is certainly not earthshaking , this depiction of fluctuating female sexuality has two winning lead performances and charm to spare .
Though the violence is far less sadistic than usual , the film is typical Miike : fast , furious and full of off-the-cuff imaginative flourishes .
Thoughtful , even stinging at times , and lots of fun .
Thoughtful , provocative and entertaining .
Thrilling , provocative and darkly funny , this timely sci-fi mystery works on so many different levels that it not only invites , it demands repeated viewings .
Throwing caution to the wind with an invitation to the hedonist in us all , Nair has constructed this motion picture in such a way that even the most cynical curmudgeon with find himself or herself smiling at one time or another .
Thurman and Lewis are hilarious throughout .
Tim Allen is great in his role but never hogs the scenes from his fellow cast , as there are plenty of laughs and good lines for everyone in this comedy .
Tim Story's not there yet - but ` Barbershop ' shows he's on his way .
Time Changer may not be the most memorable cinema session but its profound self-evaluation message about our fragile existence and the absence of spiritual guidance should at least invade an abundance of mindsets
To imagine the life of Harry Potter as a martial arts adventure told by a lobotomized Woody Allen is to have some idea of the fate that lies in store for moviegoers lured to the mediocrity that is Kung Pow : Enter the Fist .
To the film's credit , the acting is fresh and unselfconscious , and Munch is a marvel of reality versus sappy sentiment .
Together , Tok and O orchestrate a buoyant , darkly funny dance of death .
Tom Green just gives them a bad odor .
Too bad , but thanks to some lovely comedic moments and several fine performances , it's not a total loss .
Too bad the former Murphy Brown doesn't pop Reese back .
Too close to Phantom Menace for comfort .
Too clunky and too busy ribbing itself to be truly entertaining .
Too lazy to take advantage of its semi-humorous premise .
Too loud , too long and too frantic by half , Die Another Day suggests that the Bond franchise has run into a creative wall that 007 can not fly over , tunnel under or barrel through .
Too much of this well-acted but dangerously slow thriller feels like a preamble to a bigger , more complicated story , one that never materializes .
Too silly to be frightening , too stolid to be funny , it projects the same lazy affability as its nominal star , David Arquette .
Too stupid to be satire , too obviously hateful to be classified otherwise , Frank Novak's irritating slice of lumpen life is as reliably soul-killing as its title is nearly meaningless .
Too timid to bring a sense of closure to an ugly chapter of the twentieth century .
Topkapi this is not .
Trivial where it should be profound , and hyper-cliched where it should be sincere .
Truth to tell , if you've seen more than half-a-dozen horror films , there's nothing here you haven't seen before .
Tsai Ming-liang has taken his trademark style and refined it to a crystalline point .
Tuck Everlasting achieves a delicate balance of romantic innocence and philosophical depth .
Two generations within one family test boundaries in this intelligent and restrained coming-of-age drama .
Ultimately the project comes across as clinical , detached , uninvolving , possibly prompting audience members to wonder , ` What's the point ? '
Uncertain in tone ... a garbled exercise in sexual politics , a junior varsity Short Cuts by way of Very Bad Things .
Undercover Brother doesn't go far enough .
Undone by its overly complicated and derivative screenplay , the glacier-paced direction and the stereotypical characters .
Uneasy mishmash of styles and genres .
Unfortunately , Heartbreak Hospital wants to convey the same kind of haughtiness in its own sketchy material but this territory has already been explored previously with better aplomb and sardonic wit .
Unfortunately , as a writer , Mr. Montias isn't nearly as good to his crew as he is as a director or actor .
Unfortunately , the picture failed to capture me .
Unfortunately , they're sandwiched in between the most impossibly dry account of Kahlo's life imaginable .
Unless you are in dire need of a Diesel fix , there is no real reason to see it .
Unlike his directorial efforts , La Femme Nikita and The Professional , The Transporter lacks Besson's perspective as a storyteller .
Unlike the nauseating fictions peddled by such ` Have-yourself-a-happy-little-Holocaust ' movies as Life Is Beautiful and Jakob the Liar , The Grey Zone is honest enough to deny the possibility of hope in Auschwitz .
Usually when I get this much syrup , I like pancakes to go with it .
Verbinski substitutes atmosphere for action , tedium for thrills .
Vile and tacky are the two best adjectives to describe Ghost Ship .
Visits spy-movie territory like a novel you can't put down , examines a footnote to history seldom brought to light on the screen , and keeps you guessing from first frame to last .
Vividly conveys both the pitfalls and the pleasures of over-the-top love .
Wait for video -- and then don't rent it .
Warmed-over Tarantino by way of wannabe Elmore Leonard .
Watching Beanie and his gang put together his slasher video from spare parts and borrowed materials is as much fun as it must have been for them to make it .
Watching Haneke's film is , aptly enough , a challenge and a punishment .
Watching Scarlet Diva , one is poised for titillation , raw insight or both .
Watching Trouble Every Day , at least if you don't know what's coming , is like biting into what looks like a juicy , delicious plum on a hot summer day and coming away with your mouth full of rotten pulp and living worms .
Watching it is rather like an overlong visit from a large group of your relatives .
Watching it is rather like viewing a long soap opera in which only the first episode was any good .
Watching the film is like reading a Times Portrait of Grief that keeps shifting focus to the journalist who wrote it .
Watstein handily directs and edits around his screenplay's sappier elements ... and sustains Off the Hook's buildup with remarkable assuredness for a first-timer .
Waydowntown is by no means a perfect film , but its boasts a huge charm factor and smacks of originality .
We are left with a superficial snapshot that , however engaging , is insufficiently enlightening and inviting .
We can see the wheels turning , and we might resent it sometimes , but this is still a nice little picture , made by bright and friendly souls with a lot of good cheer .
We get some truly unique character studies and a cross-section of Americana that Hollywood couldn't possibly fictionalize and be believed .
We miss the quirky amazement that used to come along for an integral part of the ride .
We never really feel involved with the story , as all of its ideas remain just that : abstract ideas .
Well , it does go on forever .
Well-intentioned though it may be , its soap-opera morality tales have the antiseptic , preprogrammed feel of an after-school special .
Well-shot but badly written tale set in a future ravaged by dragons .
Well-written , nicely acted and beautifully shot and scored , the film works on several levels , openly questioning social mores while ensnaring the audience with its emotional pull .
Westfeldt and Juergensen exude a chemistry and comfort level that's both saucy and endearing .
What's at stake in this film is nothing more than an obsolete , if irritating , notion of class .
What's most striking about this largely celebratory film ... is the sense of isolation that permeates these bastions of individuality in an Ikea world .
What's next ?
What Full Frontal lacks in thematic coherence it largely makes up for as loosey-goosey , experimental entertainment .
What Jackson has accomplished here is amazing on a technical level .
What could and should have been biting and droll is instead a tepid waste of time and talent .
What could have become just another cautionary fable is allowed to play out as a clever , charming tale -- as pleasantly in its own way as its self-dramatizing characters .
What could have been a neat little story about believing in yourself is swamped by heavy-handed melodrama .
What happened with Pluto Nash ?
What it lacks in originality it makes up for in intelligence and B-grade stylishness .
What kids will discover is a new collectible .
What makes the movie a comedy is the way it avoids the more serious emotions involved .
What might have been a predictably heartwarming tale is suffused with complexity .
What parents will suspect is that they're watching a 76-minute commercial .
What really surprises about Wisegirls is its low-key quality and genuine tenderness .
What was subtle and mystifying in the novella is now broad and farcical .
What will , most likely , turn out to be the most repellent movie of 2002 .
What you get with Empire is a movie you've seen many times before , repackaged as new material because there is a Latino in the lead .
What you would end up with if you took Orwell , Bradbury , Kafka , George Lucas and the Wachowski Brothers and threw them into a blender .
Whatever Eyre's failings as a dramatist , he deserves credit for bringing audiences into this hard and bitter place .
When a film is created SOLELY because it's a marketable product , soulless and ugly movies like this are the result .
When a set of pre-shooting guidelines a director came up with for his actors turns out to be cleverer , better written and of considerable more interest than the finished film , that's a bad sign .
When it's all wet , Blue Crush is highly enjoyable .
When it's on dry land , though , this surfer-girl melodrama starts gasping like a beached grouper .
When it comes to entertainment , children deserve better than Pokemon 4Ever .
When it really counts ... Bloody Sunday connects on a visceral level that transcends language .
When she speaks , her creepy Egyptian demigod voice is as computer processed and overproduced as it was in her music .
When the first few villians are introduced as `` Spider '' and `` Snake '' you know you're in for a real winner , creativity at its peak .
When the painted backdrops in a movie are more alive than its characters , you know you're in trouble .
When the plot kicks in , the film loses credibility .
When your leading ladies are a couple of screen-eating dominatrixes like Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon at their raunchy best , even hokum goes down easily .
Where last time jokes flowed out of Cho's life story , which provided an engrossing dramatic through line , here the comedian hides behind obviously constructed routines .
Whether seen on a 10-inch television screen or at your local multiplex , the edge-of-your-seat , educational antics of Steve Irwin are priceless entertainment .
Whether you're moved and love it , or bored or frustrated by the film , you'll still feel something .
While McFarlane's animation lifts the film firmly above the level of other coming-of-age films ... it's also so jarring that it's hard to get back into the boys ' story .
While Super Troopers is above Academy standards , its quintet of writers could still use some more schooling .
While The Isle is both preposterous and thoroughly misogynistic , its vistas are incredibly beautiful to look at .
While Undercover Brother is definitely one for the masses , it's also full of sharp , smart satire .
While it would be easy to give Crush the new title of Two Weddings and a Funeral , it's a far more thoughtful film than any slice of Hugh Grant whimsy .
While not all transitions to adulthood are so fraught , there's much truth and no small amount of poetry in Girls Can't Swim .
While not as aggressively impressive as its American counterpart , `` In the Bedroom , '' Moretti's film makes its own , quieter observations
While surprisingly sincere , this average little story is adorned with some awesome action photography and surfing .
While the film misfires at every level , the biggest downside is the paucity of laughter in what's supposed to be a comedy .
While the mystery surrounding the nature of the boat's malediction remains intriguing enough to sustain mild interest , the picture refuses to offer much accompanying sustenance in the way of characterization , humor or plain old popcorn fun .
While this film is not in the least surprising , it is still ultimately very satisfying .
Who knows what exactly Godard is on about in this film , but his words and images don't have to add up to mesmerize you .
Why come up with something even quasi-original , when you can pillage from Shirley Jackson , Richard Matheson ... and puke up something like ROSE RED ?
Why he was given free reign over this project -- he wrote , directed , starred and produced -- is beyond me .
Will grab your children by the imagination and amaze them and amuse them .
Will only satisfy those who can't tell the difference between the good , the bad and the ugly .
Will probably stay in the shadow of its two older , more accessible Qatsi siblings .
Winds up feeling like lots of other quirky movies that try to score hipness points with young adults .
Windtalkers blows this way and that , but there's no mistaking the filmmaker in the tall grass , true to himself .
Windtalkers celebrates the human spirit and packs an emotional wallop .
Windtalkers is shapelessly gratifying , the kind of movie that invites you to pick apart its faults even as you have to admit that somehow it hit you where you live .
With Danilo Donati's witty designs and Dante Spinotti's luscious cinematography , this might have made a decent children's movie -- if only Benigni hadn't insisted on casting himself in the title role .
With Spy Kids 2 : The Island of Lost Dreams writer\/director\/producer Robert Rodriguez has cobbled together a film that feels like a sugar high gone awry .
With a cast that includes some of the top actors working in independent film , Lovely & Amazing involves us because it is so incisive , so bleakly amusing about how we go about our lives .
With a story as bizarre and mysterious as this , you don't want to be worrying about whether the ineffectual Broomfield is going to have the courage to knock on that door .
With a story inspired by the tumultuous surroundings of Los Angeles , where feelings of marginalization loom for every dreamer with a burst bubble , The Dogwalker has a few characters and ideas , but it never manages to put them on the same path .
With generic sets and B-grade special effects , Jason is about as convincing on the sci-fi front as TV's defunct Cleopatra 2525 .
With its hints of a greater intelligence lurking somewhere , The Ring makes its stupidity more than obvious .
With the film's striking ending , one realizes that we have a long way to go before we fully understand all the sexual permutations involved .
With youthful high spirits , Tautou remains captivating throughout Michele's religious and romantic quests , and she is backed by a likable cast .
Without September 11 , Collateral Damage would have been just another bad movie .
Without a strong script and energetic acting , Dogma films can produce the same sleep-inducing effects as watching your neighbor's home videos .
Without heavy-handedness , Dong provides perspective with his intelligent grasp of human foibles and contradictions .
Without resorting to hyperbole , I can state that Kissing Jessica Stein may be the best same-sex romance I have seen .
Witty , touching and well paced .
Woo's fights have a distinct flair .
Working from Elliott's memoir , Rohmer fashions the sort of delicate , articulate character - and - relationship study he's favored for decades .
Workmanlike , maybe , but still a film with all the elements that made the other three great , scary times at the movies .
Works because , for the most part , it avoids the stupid cliches and formulaic potholes that befall its brethren .
Worth the effort to watch .
Writer-director Burger imaginatively fans the embers of a dormant national grief and curiosity that has calcified into chronic cynicism and fear .
Writer\/director John McKay ignites some charming chemistry between Kate and Jed but , when he veers into sodden melodrama , punctuated by violins , it's disastrous and Kate's jealous female friends become downright despicable .
Writhing under dialogue like ` You're from two different worlds ' and ` Tonight the maid is a lie and this , this is who you are , ' this schlock-filled fairy tale hits new depths of unoriginality and predictability .
Yeah , these flicks are just that damn good .
You'll be left with the sensation of having just witnessed a great performance and , perhaps , give in to the urge to get on your feet and shake it .
You'll be more entertained getting hit by a bus .
You'll have more fun setting fire to yourself in the parking lot .
You're better off staying home and watching The X-Files .
You've seen them a million times .
You can feel the heat that ignites this gripping tale , and the humor and humanity that root it in feeling .
You can practically smell the patchouli oil .
You could nap for an hour and not miss a thing .
You have to pay attention to follow all the stories , but they're each interesting .
You might not buy the ideas .
You might not want to hang out with Samantha , but you'll probably see a bit of yourself in her unfinished story .
You would be better off investing in the worthy EMI recording that serves as the soundtrack , or the home video of the 1992 Malfitano-Domingo production .
Zany , exuberantly irreverent animated space adventure .
Zhang Yimou delivers warm , genuine characters who lie not through dishonesty , but because they genuinely believe it's the only way to bring happiness to their loved ones .
` Abandon all hope , ye who enter here ' ... you should definitely let Dante's gloomy words be your guide .
` Dragonfly ' is a movie about a bus wreck that turns into a film wreck .
` Enigma ' is a good name for a movie this delibrately obtuse and unapproachable .
`` An entire film about researchers quietly reading dusty old letters . ''
`` Antwone Fisher '' is an earnest , by-the-numbers effort by Washington .
`` Collateral Damage '' goes by the numbers and reps decent action entertainment -- until the silly showdown ending that forces the viewer to totally suspend disbelief
`` Men in Black II , '' has all the earmarks of a sequel .
a budget affair that exposes the generally sad existence of the Bedouins while providing a precious twinkle of insight into their lives .
a compelling journey ... and `` His Best Friend Remembers '' is up there with the finest of specials .
a compelling portrait of moral emptiness
an exceedingly clever piece of cinema .
another great ` what you don't see ' is much more terrifying than what you do see thriller , coupled with some arresting effects , incandescent tones and stupendous performances
can see where this dumbed-down concoction is going .
despite the long running time , the pace never feels slack -- there's no scene that screams `` bathroom break ! ''
fear dot com is so rambling and disconnected it never builds any suspense .
focuses on Joan's raging hormones and sledgehammers the audience with Spanish inquisitions about her `` madness '' so much that I became mad that I wasted 123 minutes and $ 9.50 on this 21st century torture device .
has a plot full of twists upon knots ... and a nonstop parade of mock-Tarantino scuzbag types that starts out clever but veers into overkill .
it's a worthwhile tutorial in quantum physics and slash-dash
it sounds sick and twisted , but the miracle of Shainberg's film is that it truly is romance
ordinary melodrama that is heavy on religious symbols but wafer-thin on dramatic substance
s personal revelations regarding what the shop means in the big picture , iconic characters gambol fluidly through the story , with charming results .
something the true film buff will enjoy .
the story itself is uninteresting , and the songs are painfully undistinguished : They Might Be Giants ' So to Be One of Us may be the most tuneless tune ever composed .
very solid , very watchable first feature for director Peter Sheridan
well worth the time .
would seem to have a lock on the title of ugliest movie of the year .