most consumers of lo mein and general tso 's chicken barely give a thought to the folks who prepare and deliver it , so , hopefully , this film will attach a human face to all those little steaming cartons .


even in terms of the low-grade cheese standards on which it operates , it never quite makes the grade as tawdry trash .


the nicest thing that can be said about stealing harvard -lrb- which might have been called freddy gets molested by a dog -rrb- is that it 's not as obnoxious as tom green 's freddie got fingered .


the filmmakers lack the nerve ... to fully exploit the script 's potential for sick humor .


ill-considered , unholy hokum .


it 's just merely very bad .


a flick about our infantilized culture that is n't entirely infantile .


rymer does n't trust laughs -- and does n't conjure proper respect for followers of the whole dead-undead genre , who deserve more from a vampire pic than a few shrieky special effects .


what begins as a film in the tradition of the graduate quickly switches into something more recyclable than significant .


b picture , and i mean that as a compliment .


leading a double life in an american film only comes to no good , but not here .


or else a doggie winks .


especially compared with the television series that inspired the movie .


trying to make head or tail of the story in the hip-hop indie snipes is enough to give you brain strain -- and the pay-off is negligible .


the film does give a pretty good overall picture of the situation in laramie following the murder of matthew shepard .


this toothless dog , already on cable , loses all bite on the big screen .


this rich , bittersweet israeli documentary , about the life of song-and-dance-man pasach ` ke burstein and his family , transcends ethnic lines .


boll uses a lot of quick cutting and blurry step-printing to goose things up , but dopey dialogue and sometimes inadequate performances kill the effect .


this 90-minute dud could pass for mike tyson 's e !


a generic family comedy unlikely to be appreciated by anyone outside the under-10 set .


an amateurish , quasi-improvised acting exercise shot on ugly digital video .


the very simple story seems too simple and the working out of the plot almost arbitrary .


the elements were all there but lack of a pyschological center knocks it flat .


exactly what its title implies : lusty , boisterous and utterly charming .


what remains is a variant of the nincompoop benigni persona , here a more annoying , though less angry version of the irresponsible sandlerian manchild , undercut by the voice of the star of road trip .


cherish is a dud -- a romantic comedy that 's not the least bit romantic and only mildly funny .


heartwarming here relies less on forced air than on petter næss ' delicate , clever direction ... and a wonderful , imaginative script by axel hellstenius .


let 's see , a haunted house , a haunted ship , what 's next ... ghost blimp ?


with its paint fights , motorized scooter chases and dewy-eyed sentiment , it 's a pretty listless collection of kid-movie clichés .


based on dave barry 's popular book of the same name , the movie benefits from having a real writer plot out all of the characters ' moves and overlapping story .


what 's missing is what we call the ` wow ' factor .


normally , rohmer 's talky films fascinate me , but when he moves his setting to the past , and relies on a historical text , he loses the richness of characterization that makes his films so memorable .


even if it is generally amusing from time to time , i spy has all the same problems the majority of action comedies have .


you watch for that sense of openness , the little surprises .


the urban landscapes are detailed down to the signs on the kiosks , and the color palette , with lots of somber blues and pinks , is dreamy and evocative .


the abiding impression , despite the mild hallucinogenic buzz , is of overwhelming waste -- the acres of haute couture ca n't quite conceal that there 's nothing resembling a spine here .


it throws quirky characters , odd situations , and off-kilter dialogue at us , all as if to say , `` look at this !


the film truly does rescue -lrb- the funk brothers -rrb- from motown 's shadows .


this is not chabrol 's best , but even his lesser works outshine the best some directors can offer .


alan and his fellow survivors are idiosyncratic enough to lift the movie above its playwriting 101 premise .


it 's 51 times better than this .


directors harry gantz and joe gantz have chosen a fascinating subject matter , but the couples exposing themselves are n't all that interesting .


a film neither bitter nor sweet , neither romantic nor comedic , neither warm nor fuzzy .


it 's a brilliant , honest performance by nicholson , but the film is an agonizing bore except when the fantastic kathy bates turns up .


of all the halloween 's , this is the most visually unappealing .


light , silly , photographed with colour and depth , and rather a good time .


it 's refreshing to see a romance this smart .


sodden and glum , even in those moments where it 's supposed to feel funny and light .


with nary a glimmer of self-knowledge , -lrb- crane -rrb- becomes more specimen than character -- and auto focus remains a chilly , clinical lab report .


nothing about the film -- with the possible exception of elizabeth hurley 's breasts -- is authentic .


a manically generous christmas vaudeville .


the powder blues and sun-splashed whites of tunis make an alluring backdrop for this sensuous and spirited tale of a prim widow who finds an unlikely release in belly-dancing clubs .


with dickens ' words and writer-director douglas mcgrath 's even-toned direction , a ripping good yarn is told .


certainly .


simultaneously heartbreakingly beautiful and exquisitely sad .


i approached the usher and said that if she had to sit through it again , she should ask for a raise .


it makes you believe the cast and crew thoroughly enjoyed themselves and believed in their small-budget film .


the film is enriched by an imaginatively mixed cast of antic spirits , headed by christopher plummer as the subtlest and most complexly evil uncle ralph i 've ever seen in the many film and stage adaptations of the work .


these three films form a remarkably cohesive whole , both visually and thematically , through their consistently sensitive and often exciting treatment of an ignored people .


smart and alert , thirteen conversations about one thing is a small gem .


insanely hilarious !


... strips bible stores of the potential for sanctimoniousness , making them meaningful for both kids and church-wary adults .


it 's just weirdness for the sake of weirdness , and where human nature should be ingratiating , it 's just grating .


its audacious ambitions sabotaged by pomposity , steven soderbergh 's space opera emerges as a numbingly dull experience .


the balkans provide the obstacle course for the love of a good woman .


it works its magic with such exuberance and passion that the film 's length becomes a part of its fun .


even if the enticing prospect of a lot of nubile young actors in a film about campus depravity did n't fade amid the deliberate , tiresome ugliness , it would be rendered tedious by avary 's failure to construct a story with even a trace of dramatic interest .


it goes on for too long and bogs down in a surfeit of characters and unnecessary subplots .


a feel-good movie that does n't give you enough to feel good about .


this version of h.g. wells ' time machine was directed by h.g. wells ' great-grandson .


give shapiro , goldman , and bolado credit for good intentions , but there 's nothing here that they could n't have done in half an hour .


i was feeling this movie until it veered off too far into the exxon zone , and left me behind at the station looking for a return ticket to realism .


if the real-life story is genuinely inspirational , the movie stirs us as well .


disturbing .


the large-frame imax camera lends itself beautifully to filming the teeming life on the reefs , making this gorgeous film a must for everyone from junior scientists to grown-up fish lovers .


it 's hard to pity the ` plain ' girl who becomes a ravishing waif after applying a smear of lip-gloss .


the ending does n't work ... but most of the movie works so well i 'm almost recommending it , anyway -- maybe not to everybody , but certainly to people with a curiosity about how a movie can go very right , and then step wrong .


why anyone who is not a character in this movie should care is beyond me .


the plot is romantic comedy boilerplate from start to finish .


the movie 's major and most devastating flaw is its reliance on formula , though , and it 's quite enough to lessen the overall impact the movie could have had .


it is depressing , ruthlessly pained and depraved , the movie equivalent of staring into an open wound .


the film affords us intriguing glimpses of the insights gleaned from a lifetime of spiritual inquiry , but ram dass : fierce grace does n't organize it with any particular insight .


as aimless as an old pickup skidding completely out of control on a long patch of black ice , the movie makes two hours feel like four .


a comedy-drama of nearly epic proportions rooted in a sincere performance by the title character undergoing midlife crisis .


... contains very few laughs and even less surprises .


a horrible , 99-minute stink bomb .


you can watch , giggle and get an adrenaline boost without feeling like you 've completely lowered your entertainment standards .


it briefly flirts with player masochism , but the point of real interest - -- audience sadism -- is evaded completely .


earnest and heartfelt but undernourished and plodding .


a dull , somnambulant exercise in pretension whose pervasive quiet is broken by frequent outbursts of violence and noise .


the doofus-on - the-loose banter of welcome to collinwood has a cocky , after-hours loopiness to it .


it is n't quite one of the worst movies of the year .


the film presents visceral and dangerously honest revelations about the men and machines behind the curtains of our planet .


cinematic pratfalls given a working over .


underachieves only in not taking the shakespeare parallels quite far enough .


apparently writer-director attal thought he need only cast himself and his movie-star wife sitting around in their drawers to justify a film .


handled correctly , wilde 's play is a masterpiece of elegant wit and artifice .


this is the best star trek movie in a long time .


a remarkably alluring film set in the constrictive eisenhower era about one suburban woman 's yearning in the face of a loss that shatters her cheery and tranquil suburban life .


instead of simply handling conventional material in a conventional way , secretary takes the most unexpected material and handles it in the most unexpected way .


a winning comedy with its wry observations about long-lived friendships and the ways in which we all lose track of ourselves by trying to please others .


writer-director randall wallace has bitten off more than he or anyone else could chew , and his movie veers like a drunken driver through heavy traffic .


like kissing jessica stein , amy 's orgasm has a key strength in its willingness to explore its principal characters with honesty , insight and humor .


it 's time to let your hair down -- greek style .


charlize chases kevin with a gun .


an edifying glimpse into the wit and revolutionary spirit of these performers and their era .


the directive to protect the code at all costs also begins to blur as the importance of the man and the code merge


steers has an unexpectedly adamant streak of warm-blooded empathy for all his disparate manhattan denizens -- especially the a \*\* holes .


... the same tired old gags , modernized for the extreme sports generation .


starts promisingly but disintegrates into a dreary , humorless soap opera .


the touch is generally light enough and the performances , for the most part , credible .


it is sentimental but feels free to offend , is analytical and then surrenders to the illogic of its characters , is about grief and yet permits laughter .


eight legged freaks wo n't join the pantheon of great monster\/science fiction flicks that we have come to love ...


a slight and obvious effort , even for one whose target demographic is likely still in the single digits , age-wise .


howard and his co-stars all give committed performances , but they 're often undone by howard 's self-conscious attempts to find a ` literary ' filmmaking style to match his subject .


this will go on so long as there are moviegoers anxious to see strange young guys doing strange guy things .


the actors must indeed be good to recite some of this laughable dialogue with a straight face .


it 's better suited for the history or biography channel , but there 's no arguing the tone of the movie - it leaves a bad taste in your mouth and questions on your mind .


a story which fails to rise above its disgusting source material .


belongs in the too-hot-for-tv direct-to-video\/dvd category , and this is why i have given it a one-star rating .


a sincere but dramatically conflicted gay coming-of-age tale .


imagine a film that begins as a seven rip-off , only to switch to a mix of the shining , the thing , and any naked teenagers horror flick from the 1980s .


without a fresh infusion of creativity , 4ever is neither a promise nor a threat so much as wishful thinking .


this humbling little film , fueled by the light comedic work of zhao benshan and the delicate ways of dong jie , is just the sort for those moviegoers who complain that ` they do n't make movies like they used to anymore . '


what does n't this film have that an impressionable kid could n't stand to hear ?


stevens ' vibrant creative instincts are the difference between this and countless other flicks about guys and dolls .


` in this poor remake of such a well loved classic , parker exposes the limitations of his skill and the basic flaws in his vision . '


pull -lrb- s -rrb- off the rare trick of recreating not only the look of a certain era , but also the feel .


overall tomfoolery like this is a matter of taste .


a soap-opera quality twist in the last 20 minutes ... almost puts the kibosh on what is otherwise a sumptuous work of b-movie imagination .


the actors try hard but come off too amateurish and awkward .


occasionally loud and offensive , but more often , it simply lulls you into a gentle waking coma .


we 've seen it all before in one form or another , but director hoffman , with great help from kevin kline , makes us care about this latest reincarnation of the world 's greatest teacher .


easily the most thoughtful fictional examination of the root causes of anti-semitism ever seen on screen .


despite suffering a sense-of-humour failure , the man who wrote rocky does not deserve to go down with a ship as leaky as this .


about half of them are funny , a few are sexy and none are useful in telling the story , which is paper-thin and decidedly unoriginal .


the film is filled with humorous observations about the general absurdity of modern life as seen through the eyes outsiders , but deftly manages to avoid many of the condescending stereotypes that so often plague films dealing with the mentally ill .


impostor ca n't think of a thing to do with these characters except have them run through dark tunnels , fight off various anonymous attackers , and evade elaborate surveillance technologies .


... either you 're willing to go with this claustrophobic concept or you 're not .


a great script brought down by lousy direction .


a family-friendly fantasy that ends up doing very little with its imaginative premise .


its vision of that awkward age when sex threatens to overwhelm everything else is acute enough to make everyone who has been there squirm with recognition .


new ways of describing badness need to be invented to describe exactly how bad it is .


rubbo runs through a remarkable amount of material in the film 's short 90 minutes .


while this film has an ` a ' list cast and some strong supporting players , the tale -- like its central figure , vivi -- is just a little bit hard to love .


zoom !


it 's a bad sign when you 're rooting for the film to hurry up and get to its subjects ' deaths just so the documentary will be over , but it 's indicative of how uncompelling the movie is unless it happens to cover your particular area of interest .


the creative animation work may not look as fully ` rendered ' as pixar 's industry standard , but it uses lighting effects and innovative backgrounds to an equally impressive degree .


every sequel you skip will be two hours gained .


it 's hard to imagine anybody ever being `` in the mood '' to view a movie as harrowing and painful as the grey zone , but it 's equally hard to imagine anybody being able to tear their eyes away from the screen once it 's started .


it gives devastating testimony to both people 's capacity for evil and their heroic capacity for good .


makes one thing abundantly clear .


like shave ice without the topping , this cinematic snow cone is as innocuous as it is flavorless .


cherry orchard is badly edited , often awkwardly directed and suffers from the addition of a wholly unnecessary pre-credit sequence designed to give some of the characters a ` back story . '


too slick and manufactured to claim street credibility .


into scrooge .


the film is full of charm .


it 's not the least of afghan tragedies that this noble warlord would be consigned to the dustbin of history .


the power of this script , and the performances that come with it , is that the whole damned thing did n't get our moral hackles up .


the result might look like vulgar .


there are no special effects , and no hollywood endings .


while hollywood ending has its share of belly laughs -lrb- including a knockout of a closing line -rrb- , the movie winds up feeling like a great missed opportunity .


we admire this film for its harsh objectivity and refusal to seek our tears , our sympathies .


a funny and well-contructed black comedy where the old adage `` be careful what you wish for '' is given a full workout .


not a schlocky creature feature but something far more stylish and cerebral -- and , hence , more chillingly effective .


this movie ... does n't deserve the energy it takes to describe how bad it is .


one of the most important and exhilarating forms of animated filmmaking since old walt doodled steamboat willie .


malone does have a gift for generating nightmarish images that will be hard to burn out of your brain .


after a while , hoffman 's quirks and mannerisms , particularly his penchant for tearing up on cue -- things that seem so real in small doses -- become annoying and artificial .


it 's not like having a real film of nijinsky , but at least it 's better than that eponymous 1980 biopic that used soap in the places where the mysteries lingered .


the only surprise is that heavyweights joel silver and robert zemeckis agreed to produce this ; i assume the director has pictures of them cavorting in ladies ' underwear .


the overall feel is not unlike watching a glorified episode of `` 7th heaven . ''


... spellbinding fun and deliciously exploitative .


what 's next ?


in the end , there is n't much to it .


an allegory concerning the chronically mixed signals african american professionals get about overachieving could be intriguing , but the supernatural trappings only obscure the message .


an incredibly irritating comedy about thoroughly vacuous people ... manages to embody the worst excesses of nouvelle vague without any of its sense of fun or energy .


the movie itself is far from disappointing , offering an original take on courtroom movies , a few nifty twists that are so crucial to the genre and another first-rate performance by top-billed star bruce willis .


norton is magnetic as graham .


the year 's greatest adventure , and jackson 's limited but enthusiastic adaptation has made literature literal without killing its soul -- a feat any thinking person is bound to appreciate .


a remarkable movie with an unsatisfying ending , which is just the point .


those unfamiliar with mormon traditions may find the singles ward occasionally bewildering .


mr. goyer 's loose , unaccountable direction is technically sophisticated in the worst way .


abderrahmane sissako 's heremakono -lrb- waiting for happiness -rrb- is an elegiac portrait of a transit city on the west african coast struggling against foreign influences .


what might 've been an exhilarating exploration of an odd love triangle becomes a sprawl of uncoordinated vectors .


a weird little movie that 's amusing enough while you watch it , offering fine acting moments and pungent insights into modern l.a. 's show-biz and media subcultures .


a wonderful , ghastly film .


the movie weighs no more than a glass of flat champagne .


the film is flat .


stealing harvard will dip into your wallet , swipe 90 minutes of your time , and offer you precisely this in recompense : a few early laughs scattered around a plot as thin as it is repetitious .


shiner can certainly go the distance , but is n't world championship material


but windtalkers does n't beat that one , either .


-lrb- lee -rrb- treats his audience the same way that jim brown treats his women -- as dumb , credulous , unassuming , subordinate subjects .


the problem with antwone fisher is that it has a screenplay written by antwone fisher based on the book by antwone fisher .


whenever you think you 've seen the end of the movie , we cut to a new scene , which also appears to be the end .


a zinger-filled crowd-pleaser that open-minded elvis fans -lrb- but by no means all -rrb- will have fun with .


co-writer\/director jonathan parker 's attempts to fashion a brazil-like , hyper-real satire fall dreadfully short .


his best film remains his shortest , the hole , which makes many of the points that this film does but feels less repetitive .


smart and fun , but far more witty than it is wise .


o fantasma is boldly , confidently orchestrated , aesthetically and sexually , and its impact is deeply and rightly disturbing .


a film about female friendship that men can embrace and women will talk about for hours .


` it looks good , sonny , but you missed the point . '


there 's nothing remotely topical or sexy here .


fincher takes no apparent joy in making movies , and he gives none to the audience .


even after 90 minutes of playing opposite each other bullock and grant still look ill at ease sharing the same scene .


scenario that will give most parents pause ... then , something terrible happens .


blood work is laughable in the solemnity with which it tries to pump life into overworked elements from eastwood 's dirty harry period .


the slapstick is labored , and the bigger setpieces flat .


the pool drowned me in boredom .


if jews were catholics , this would be catechism


-lrb- sports -rrb- admirable energy , full-bodied characterizations and narrative urgency .


here is a vh1 behind the music special that has something a little more special behind it : music that did n't sell many records but helped change a nation .


it 's never dull and always looks good .


competently directed but terminally cute drama .


swimfan , like fatal attraction , eventually goes overboard with a loony melodramatic denouement in which a high school swimming pool substitutes for a bathtub .


a sweet , tender sermon about a 12-year-old welsh boy more curious about god than girls , who learns that believing in something does matter .


loses its sense of humor in a vat of failed jokes , twitchy acting , and general boorishness .


in the era of the sopranos , it feels painfully redundant and inauthentic .


i will be .


it 's tough to be startled when you 're almost dozing .


represents the depths to which the girls-behaving-badly film has fallen .


an impenetrable and insufferable ball of pseudo-philosophic twaddle .


the film is an earnest try at beachcombing verismo , but it would be even more indistinct than it is were it not for the striking , quietly vulnerable personality of ms. ambrose .


it 's the element of condescension , as the filmmakers look down on their working-class subjects from their lofty perch , that finally makes sex with strangers , which opens today in the new york metropolitan area , so distasteful .


a return to pure disney magic and is enjoyable family fare .


distances you by throwing out so many red herrings , so many false scares , that the genuine ones barely register .


the fact that it is n't very good is almost beside the point .


it takes you somewhere you 're not likely to have seen before , but beneath the exotic surface -lrb- and exotic dancing -rrb- it 's surprisingly old-fashioned .


bolstered by exceptional performances and a clear-eyed take on the economics of dealing and the pathology of ghetto fabulousness .


it is a happy , heady jumble of thought and storytelling , an insane comic undertaking that ultimately coheres into a sane and breathtakingly creative film .


meant to reduce blake 's philosophy into a tragic coming-of-age saga punctuated by bursts of animator todd mcfarlane 's superhero dystopia .


perhaps the grossest movie ever made .


viveka seldahl and sven wollter will touch you to the core in a film you will never forget -- that you should never forget .


it 's quite another to feel physically caught up in the process .


... instead go rent `` shakes the clown '' , a much funnier film with a similar theme and an equally great robin williams performance .


merchant has n't directed this movie so much as produced it -- like sausage .


the documentary is much too conventional -- lots of boring talking heads , etc. -- to do the subject matter justice .


my wife 's plotting is nothing special ; it 's the delivery that matters here .


an engrossing and infectiously enthusiastic documentary .


i wo n't argue with anyone who calls ` slackers ' dumb , insulting , or childish ... but i laughed so much that i did n't mind .


nothing sticks , really , except a lingering creepiness one feels from being dragged through a sad , sordid universe of guns , drugs , avarice and damaged dreams .


the film 's gamble to occasionally break up the live-action scenes with animated sequences pays off , as does its sensitive handling of some delicate subject matter .


the attempt to build up a pressure cooker of horrified awe emerges from the simple fact that the movie has virtually nothing to show .


wes craven 's presence is felt ; not the craven of ' a nightmare on elm street ' or ` the hills have eyes , ' but the sad schlock merchant of ` deadly friend . '


but tongue-in-cheek preposterousness has always been part of for the most part wilde 's droll whimsy helps `` being earnest '' overcome its weaknesses and parker 's creative interference ...


as the princess , sorvino glides gracefully from male persona to female without missing a beat .


run for your lives !


for every cheesy scene , though , there is a really cool bit -- the movie 's conception of a future-world holographic librarian -lrb- orlando jones -rrb- who knows everything and answers all questions , is visually smart , cleverly written , and nicely realized .


an impressive hybrid .


the chateau ... is less concerned with cultural and political issues than doting on its eccentric characters .


highly recommended as an engrossing story about a horrifying historical event and the elements which contributed to it .


-lrb- macdowell -rrb- ventures beyond her abilities several times here and reveals how bad an actress she is .


pap invested in undergraduate doubling subtexts and ridiculous stabs at existentialism reminding of the discovery of the wizard of god in the fifth trek flick .


the disjointed mess flows as naturally as jolie 's hideous yellow ` do .


he does this so well you do n't have the slightest difficulty accepting him in the role .


where bowling for columbine is at its most valuable is in its examination of america 's culture of fear as a root cause of gun violence .


none of his actors stand out , but that 's less of a problem here than it would be in another film : characterization matters less than atmosphere .


unless bob crane is someone of particular interest to you , this film 's impressive performances and adept direction are n't likely to leave a lasting impression .


a surprisingly funny movie .


if you thought tom hanks was just an ordinary big-screen star , wait until you 've seen him eight stories tall .


drug abuse , infidelity and death are n't usually comedy fare , but turpin 's film allows us to chuckle through the angst .


a not-so-divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood with a hefty helping of re-fried green tomatoes .


allegiance to chekhov , which director michael cacoyannis displays with somber earnestness in the new adaptation of the cherry orchard , is a particularly vexing handicap .


not only a coming-of-age story and cautionary parable , but also a perfectly rendered period piece .


sparkling , often hilarious romantic jealousy comedy ... attal looks so much like a young robert deniro that it seems the film should instead be called ` my husband is travis bickle ' .


a harrowing account of a psychological breakdown .


a mature , deeply felt fantasy of a director 's travel through 300 years of russian history .


wait for pay per view or rental but do n't dismiss barbershop out of hand .


lucky break is perfectly inoffensive and harmless , but it 's also drab and inert .


the movie is a trove of delights .


the filmmakers needed more emphasis on the storytelling and less on the glamorous machine that thrusts the audience into a future they wo n't much care about .


but it does somehow manage to get you under its spell .


in his u.s. debut , mr. schnitzler proves himself a deft pace master and stylist .


yet another arnold vehicle that fails to make adequate use of his particular talents .


it will guarantee to have you leaving the theater with a smile on your face .


an uncomfortable movie , suffocating and sometimes almost senseless , the grey zone does have a center , though a morbid one .


sweet gentle jesus , did the screenwriters just do a cut-and-paste of every bad action-movie line in history ?


-lrb- sam 's -rrb- self-flagellation is more depressing than entertaining .


dramas like this make it human .


although estela bravo 's documentary is cloyingly hagiographic in its portrait of cuban leader fidel castro , it 's still a guilty pleasure to watch .


but the cinematography is cloudy , the picture making becalmed .


it 's difficult for a longtime admirer of his work to not be swept up in invincible and overlook its drawbacks .


this is christmas future for a lot of baby boomers .


this bracingly truthful antidote to hollywood teenage movies that slather clearasil over the blemishes of youth captures the combustible mixture of a chafing inner loneliness and desperate grandiosity that tend to characterize puberty .


it 's up to you to decide whether to admire these people 's dedication to their cause or be repelled by their dogmatism , manipulativeness and narrow , fearful view of american life .


lillard and cardellini earn their scooby snacks , but not anyone else .


viva le resistance !


some body smacks of exhibitionism more than it does cathartic truth telling .


` like a child with an important message to tell ... -lrb- skins ' -rrb- faults are easy to forgive because the intentions are lofty . '


plodding , peevish and gimmicky .


given too much time to consider the looseness of the piece , the picture begins to resemble the shapeless , grasping actors ' workshop that it is .


the ingenuity that parker displays in freshening the play is almost in a class with that of wilde himself .


nijinsky says , ' i know how to suffer ' and if you see this film you 'll know too .


frequent flurries of creative belly laughs and genuinely enthusiastic performances ... keep the movie slaloming through its hackneyed elements with enjoyable ease .


it will make you think twice about what might be going on inside each trailer park you drive past -- even if it chiefly inspires you to drive a little faster .


witless and utterly pointless .


fred schepisi 's film is paced at a speed that is slow to those of us in middle age and deathly slow to any teen .


may lack the pungent bite of its title , but it 's an enjoyable trifle nonetheless .


a rather brilliant little cult item : a pastiche of children 's entertainment , superhero comics , and japanese animation .


the film is a fierce dance of destruction .


it 's really just another silly hollywood action film , one among a multitude of simple-minded , yahoo-ing death shows .


the mark of a respectable summer blockbuster is one of two things : unadulterated thrills or genuine laughs .


it 's hard to care about a film that proposes as epic tragedy the plight of a callow rich boy who is forced to choose between his beautiful , self-satisfied 22-year-old girlfriend and an equally beautiful , self-satisfied 18-year-old mistress .


it 's fitfully funny but never really takes off .


psychologically revealing .


if a big musical number like ` praise the lord , he 's the god of second chances ' does n't put you off , this will be an enjoyable choice for younger kids .


has not so much been written as assembled , frankenstein-like , out of other , marginally better shoot-em-ups .


but seriously , folks , it does n't work .


i was trying to decide what annoyed me most about god is great ... i 'm not , and then i realized that i just did n't care .


and there 's an element of heartbreak to watching it now , with older and wiser eyes , because we know what will happen after greene 's story ends .


though it flirts with bathos and pathos and the further oprahfication of the world as we know it , it still cuts all the way down to broken bone .


bluto blutarsky , we miss you .


this scarlet 's letter is a. . .


crossroads feels like a teenybopper ed wood film , replete with the pubescent scandalous innuendo and the high-strung but flaccid drama .


bond-inspired ?


do n't say you were n't warned .


hopkins , squarely fills the screen .


hashiguchi vividly captures the way young japanese live now , chafing against their culture 's manic mix of millennial brusqueness and undying , traditional politesse .


you leave the same way you came -- a few tasty morsels under your belt , but no new friends .


while it can be a bit repetitive , overall it 's an entertaining and informative documentary .


what makes the film special is the refreshingly unhibited enthusiasm that the people , in spite of clearly evident poverty and hardship , bring to their music .


it 's hard to believe that a relationship like holly and marina 's could survive the hothouse emotions of teendom , and its longevity gets more inexplicable as the characterizations turn more crassly reductive .


the lady and the duke is eric rohmer 's economical antidote to the bloated costume drama


this may be burns 's strongest film since the brothers mcmullen .


warm in its loving yet unforgivingly inconsistent depiction of everyday people , relaxed in its perfect quiet pace and proud in its message .


its director 's most substantial feature for some time .


a chilly , remote , emotionally distant piece ... so dull that its tagline should be : ` in space , no one can hear you snore . '


leave it to john sayles to take on developers , the chamber of commerce , tourism , historical pageants , and commercialism all in the same movie ... without neglecting character development for even one minute .


`` extreme ops '' exceeds expectations .


it 's stylishly directed with verve ...


fans of critics ' darling band wilco will marvel at the sometimes murky , always brooding look of i am trying to break your heart .


its adult themes of familial separation and societal betrayal are head and shoulders above much of the director 's previous popcorn work .


chen films the resolutely downbeat smokers only with every indulgent , indie trick in the book .


impeccably filmed , sexually charged , but ultimately lacking in substance , not to mention dragged down by a leaden closing act .


the weird thing about the santa clause 2 , purportedly a children 's movie , is that there is nothing in it to engage children emotionally .


what -lrb- frei -rrb- gives us ... is a man who uses the damage of war -- far more often than the warfare itself -- to create the kind of art shots that fill gallery shows .


-lrb- hell is -rrb- looking down at your watch and realizing serving sara is n't even halfway through .


me no lika da accents so good , but i thoroughly enjoyed the love story .


director lee has a true cinematic knack , but it 's also nice to see a movie with its heart so thoroughly , unabashedly on its sleeve .


in other words , it 's just another sports drama\/character study .


there 's nothing interesting in unfaithful whatsoever .


compassionately explores the seemingly irreconcilable situation between conservative christian parents and their estranged gay and lesbian children .


worthy of the gong .


a pointed , often tender , examination of the pros and cons of unconditional love and familial duties .


more dutiful than enchanting ... terribly episodic and lacking the spark of imagination that might have made it an exhilarating treat .


in this film we at least see a study in contrasts ; the wide range of one actor , and the limited range of a comedian .


the fourth `` pokemon '' is a diverting -- if predictable -- adventure suitable for a matinee , with a message that cautions children about disturbing the world 's delicate ecological balance .


the film is so packed with subplots involving the various silbersteins that it feels more like the pilot episode of a tv series than a feature film .


a jewish ww ii doc that is n't trying simply to out-shock , out-outrage or out-depress its potential audience !


it 's both sitcomishly predictable and cloying in its attempts to be poignant .


the charming result is festival in cannes .


while the film is not entirely successful , it still manages to string together enough charming moments to work .


it is parochial , accessible to a chosen few , standoffish to everyone else , and smugly suggests a superior moral tone is more important than filmmaking skill


this breezy caper movie becomes a soulful , incisive meditation on the way we were , and the way we are .


who are ` they ' ?


she allows each character to confront their problems openly and honestly .


though frodo 's quest remains unfulfilled , a hardy group of determined new zealanders has proved its creative mettle .


the film 's maudlin focus on the young woman 's infirmity and her naive dreams play like the worst kind of hollywood heart-string plucking .


plus , like i already mentioned ... it 's robert duvall !


cinematic poetry showcases the city 's old-world charm before machines change nearly everything .


a sensitive , cultivated treatment of greene 's work as well as a remarkably faithful one .


the ring never lets you off the hook .


while the new film is much more eye-catching than its blood-drenched stephen norrington-directed predecessor , the new script by the returning david s. goyer is much sillier .


lan yu seems altogether too slight to be called any kind of masterpiece .


fails in making this character understandable , in getting under her skin , in exploring motivation ... well before the end , the film grows as dull as its characters , about whose fate it is hard to care .


uplifting , funny and wise .


the film has a laundry list of minor shortcomings , but the numerous scenes of gory mayhem are worth the price of admission ... if `` gory mayhem '' is your idea of a good time .


cold , pretentious , thoroughly dislikable study in sociopathy .


jarecki and gibney do find enough material to bring kissinger 's record into question and explain how the diplomat 's tweaked version of statecraft may have cost thousands and possibly millions of lives .


i stopped thinking about how good it all was , and started doing nothing but reacting to it - feeling a part of its grand locations , thinking urgently as the protagonists struggled , feeling at the mercy of its inventiveness , gasping at its visual delights .


though it never rises to its full potential as a film , still offers a great deal of insight into the female condition and the timeless danger of emotions repressed .


a sly dissection of the inanities of the contemporary music business and a rather sad story of the difficulties of artistic collaboration .


the beauty of the piece is that it counts heart as important as humor .


a peculiar misfire that even tunney ca n't save .


fast-paced and wonderfully edited , the film is extremely thorough .


oozes condescension from every pore .


in painting an unabashedly romantic picture of a nation whose songs spring directly from the lives of the people , the movie exalts the marxian dream of honest working folk , with little to show for their labor , living harmoniously , joined in song .


witless , pointless , tasteless and idiotic .


a surprisingly ` solid ' achievement by director malcolm d. lee and writer john ridley .


the problem is that it is one that allows him to churn out one mediocre movie after another .


they kept much of the plot but jettisoned the stuff that would make this a moving experience for people who have n't read the book .


with a tighter editorial process and firmer direction this material could work , especially since the actresses in the lead roles are all more than competent , but as is , personal velocity seems to be idling in neutral .


more timely than its director could ever have dreamed , this quietly lyrical tale probes the ambiguous welcome extended by iran to the afghani refugees who streamed across its borders , desperate for work and food .


brings to a spectacular completion one of the most complex , generous and subversive artworks of the last decade .


a time machine , a journey back to your childhood , when cares melted away in the dark theater , and films had the ability to mesmerize , astonish and entertain .


it goes down easy , leaving virtually no aftertaste .


knockaround guys plays like a student film by two guys who desperately want to be quentin tarantino when they grow up .


despite hoffman 's best efforts , wilson remains a silent , lumpish cipher ; his encounters reveal nothing about who he is or who he was before .


a wildly erratic drama with sequences that make you wince in embarrassment and others , thanks to the actors , that are quite touching .


offers absolutely nothing i had n't already seen .


the movie is a lumbering load of hokum but ... it 's at least watchable .


serving sara is little more than a mall movie designed to kill time .


a mawkish self-parody that plays like some weird masterpiece theater sketch with neither a point of view nor a compelling reason for being .


trapped presents a frightening and compelling ` what if ? '


all right , so it 's not a brilliant piece of filmmaking , but it is a funny -lrb- sometimes hilarious -rrb- comedy with a deft sense of humor about itself , a playful spirit and a game cast .


a bland , obnoxious 88-minute infomercial for universal studios and its ancillary products . . .


henry bean 's thoughtful screenplay provides no easy answers , but offers a compelling investigation of faith versus intellect


not since ghostbusters has a film used manhattan 's architecture in such a gloriously goofy way .


... a triumph of emotionally and narratively complex filmmaking .


it may not be a huge cut of above the rest , but i enjoyed barbershop .


glazed with a tawdry b-movie scum .


the film occasionally tries the viewer 's patience with slow pacing and a main character who sometimes defies sympathy , but it ultimately satisfies with its moving story .


... familiar and predictable , and 4\/5ths of it might as well have come from a xerox machine rather than -lrb- writer-director -rrb- franc .


call it magic realism or surrealism , but miss wonton floats beyond reality with a certain degree of wit and dignity .


this is as lax and limp a comedy as i 've seen in a while , a meander through worn-out material .


the performances of the four main actresses bring their characters to life .


ze movie starts out so funny , then she is nothing .


neatly constructed thriller .


tells -lrb- the story -rrb- with such atmospheric ballast that shrugging off the plot 's persnickety problems is simply a matter of -lrb- being -rrb- in a shrugging mood .


the emotion is impressively true for being so hot-blooded , and both leads are up to the task .


rife with the rueful , wry humor springing out of yiddish culture and language .


rarely , indeed almost never , is such high-wattage brainpower coupled with pitch-perfect acting and an exquisite , unfakable sense of cinema .


a cautionary tale about the grandiosity of a college student who sees himself as impervious to a fall .


a lovably old-school hollywood confection .


it never quite makes it to the boiling point , but manages to sustain a good simmer for most of its running time .


it is n't that the picture is unfamiliar , but that it manages to find new avenues of discourse on old problems .


one of the year 's best films , featuring an oscar-worthy performance by julianne moore .


why would anyone cast the magnificent jackie chan in a movie full of stunt doubles and special effects ?


affleck merely creates an outline for a role he still needs to grow into , a role that ford effortlessly filled with authority .


this film is not a love letter for the slain rappers , it 's a taunt - a call for justice for two crimes from which many of us have not yet recovered .


it 's surprisingly bland despite the heavy doses of weird performances and direction .


if you 're willing to have fun with it , you wo n't feel cheated by the high infidelity of unfaithful .


the script is a disaster , with cloying messages and irksome characters .


but it also comes with the laziness and arrogance of a thing that already knows it 's won .


a movie that will wear you out and make you misty even when you do n't want to be .


what 's really so appealing about the characters is their resemblance to everyday children .


the bottom line , at least in my opinion , is imposter makes a better short story than it does a film .


wilco fans will have a great time , and the movie should win the band a few new converts , too .


provides a porthole into that noble , trembling incoherence that defines us all .


every potential twist is telegraphed well in advance , every performance respectably muted ; the movie itself seems to have been made under the influence of rohypnol .


even these tales of just seven children seem at times too many , although in reality they are not enough .


fails so fundamentally on every conventional level that it achieves some kind of goofy grandeur .


nohe has made a decent ` intro ' documentary , but he feels like a spectator and not a participant .


although no pastry is violated , this nasty comedy pokes fun at the same easy targets as other rowdy raunch-fests -- farts , boobs , unmentionables -- without much success .


the movie is too amateurishly square to make the most of its own ironic implications .


even as i valiantly struggled to remain interested , or at least conscious , i could feel my eyelids ... getting ... very ... heavy ...


a mix of gritty realism , crisp storytelling and radiant compassion that effortlessly draws you in .


watching this gentle , mesmerizing portrait of a man coming to terms with time , you barely realize your mind is being blown .


hashiguchi uses the situation to evoke a japan bustling atop an undercurrent of loneliness and isolation .


despite its sincere acting , signs is just another unoriginal run of the mill sci-fi film with a flimsy ending and lots of hype .


this is a harrowing movie about how parents know where all the buttons are , and how to push them .


making such a tragedy the backdrop to a love story risks trivializing it , though chouraqui no doubt intended the film to affirm love 's power to help people endure almost unimaginable horror .


it 's a masterpeice .


incoherence reigns .


gangs , despite the gravity of its subject matter , is often as fun to watch as a good spaghetti western .


the drama was so uninspiring that even a story immersed in love , lust , and sin could n't keep my attention .


disreputable doings and exquisite trappings are dampened by a lackluster script and substandard performances .


who is the audience for cletis tout ?


works because reno does n't become smug or sanctimonious towards the audience .


it cooks conduct in a low , smoky and inviting sizzle .


wow , so who knew charles dickens could be so light-hearted ?


-lrb- a -rrb- wonderfully loopy tale of love , longing , and voting .


... tara reid plays a college journalist , but she looks like the six-time winner of the miss hawaiian tropic pageant , so i do n't know what she 's doing in here ...


this film can only point the way -- but thank goodness for this signpost .


a major waste ... generic .


see it .


it 's not just a feel-good movie , it 's a feel movie .


the problematic characters and overly convenient plot twists foul up shum 's good intentions .


the photographer 's show-don ` t-tell stance is admirable , but it can make him a problematic documentary subject .


` the film is stark , straightforward and deadly ... an unnatural calm that 's occasionally shaken by ... blasts of rage , and later , violent jealousy . '


tres greek writer and star nia vardalos has crafted here a worldly-wise and very funny script .


with lesser talents , high crimes would be entertaining , but forgettable .


this is a film about the irksome , tiresome nature of complacency that remains utterly satisfied to remain the same throughout .


a deeply felt and vividly detailed story about newcomers in a strange new world .


really is a pan-american movie , with moments of genuine insight into the urban heart .


... plenty of warmth to go around , with music and laughter and the love of family .


this overlong infomercial , due out on video before month 's end , is tepid and tedious .


but how it washed out despite all of that is the project 's prime mystery .


far-fetched premise , convoluted plot , and thematic mumbo jumbo about destiny and redemptive love .


the animated sequences are well done and perfectly constructed to convey a sense of childhood imagination and creating adventure out of angst .


a movie that 's just plain awful but still manages to entertain on a guilty-pleasure , so-bad-it 's - funny level .


this cinema verite speculation on the assassination of john f. kennedy may have been inspired by blair witch , but it takes its techniques into such fresh territory that the film never feels derivative .


-lrb- city -rrb- reminds us how realistically nuanced a robert de niro performance can be when he is not more lucratively engaged in the shameless self-caricature of ` analyze this ' -lrb- 1999 -rrb- and ` analyze that , ' promised -lrb- or threatened -rrb- for later this year .


fast and funny , an action cartoon that 's suspenseful enough for older kids but not too scary for the school-age crowd .


demeo is not without talent ; he just needs better material .


not a bad choice here , assuming that ... the air-conditioning in the theater is working properly .


it 's so tedious that it makes you forgive every fake , dishonest , entertaining and , ultimately , more perceptive moment in bridget jones 's diary .


watching these two actors play against each other so intensely , but with restraint , is a treat .


this is one of the biggest disappointments of the year .


critics need a good laugh , too , and this too-extreme-for-tv rendition of the notorious mtv show delivers the outrageous , sickening , sidesplitting goods in steaming , visceral heaps .


since the movie is based on a nicholas sparks best seller , you know death is lurking around the corner , just waiting to spoil things .


real-life strongman ahola lacks the charisma and ability to carry the film on his admittedly broad shoulders .


a mimetic approximation of better films like contempt and 8 1\/2 .


nettelbeck has crafted an engaging fantasy of flavours and emotions , one part romance novel , one part recipe book .


directed in a flashy , empty sub-music video style by a director so self-possessed he actually adds a period to his first name


it 's just hard to believe that a life like this can sound so dull .


there is a welcome lack of pretension about the film , which very simply sets out to entertain and ends up delivering in good measure .


there 's not a single jump-in-your-seat moment and believe it or not , jason actually takes a backseat in his own film to special effects .


as relationships shift , director robert j. siegel allows the characters to inhabit their world without cleaving to a narrative arc .


nicks sustains the level of exaggerated , stylized humor throughout by taking your expectations and twisting them just a bit .


here the love scenes all end in someone screaming .


a lot smarter than your average bond .


a soul-stirring documentary about the israeli\/palestinian conflict as revealed through the eyes of some children who remain curious about each other against all odds .


enormously enjoyable , high-adrenaline documentary .


too many scenarios in which the hero might have an opportunity to triumphantly sermonize , and too few that allow us to wonder for ourselves if things will turn out okay .


kiarostami has crafted a deceptively casual ode to children and managed to convey a tiny sense of hope .


stale first act , scrooge story , blatant product placement , some very good comedic songs , strong finish , dumb fart jokes .


the band performances featured in drumline are red hot ... -lrb- but -rrb- from a mere story point of view , the film 's ice cold .


that rare film whose real-life basis is , in fact , so interesting that no embellishment is needed .


for more than two decades mr. nachtwey has traveled to places in the world devastated by war , famine and poverty and documented the cruelty and suffering he has found with an devastating , eloquent clarity .


in fact , it does n't even seem like she tried .


superb production values & christian bale 's charisma make up for a derivative plot .


visually striking and viscerally repellent .


though intrepid in exploring an attraction that crosses sexual identity , ozpetek falls short in showing us antonia 's true emotions ... but at the very least , his secret life will leave you thinking .


stealing harvard does n't care about cleverness , wit or any other kind of intelligent humor .


rarely has a film 's title served such dire warning .


dripping with cliche and bypassing no opportunity to trivialize the material .


it 's an interesting effort -lrb- particularly for jfk conspiracy nuts -rrb- , and barry 's cold-fish act makes the experience worthwhile .


an unexpectedly sweet story of sisterhood .


they do a good job of painting this family dynamic for the audience but they tried to squeeze too many elements into the film .


the talk-heavy film plays like one of robert altman 's lesser works .


just because a walk to remember is shrewd enough to activate girlish tear ducts does n't mean it 's good enough for our girls .


the explosion essentially ruined -- or , rather , overpowered -- the fiction of the movie for me .


the script is smart , not cloying .


its initial excitement settles into a warmed over pastiche .


auto focus is not your standard hollywood bio-pic .


an uncluttered , resonant gem that relays its universal points without lectures or confrontations . '


depicts the sorriest and most sordid of human behavior on the screen , then laughs at how clever it 's being .


on its icy face , the new film is a subzero version of monsters , inc. , without the latter 's imagination , visual charm or texture .


starts out mediocre , spirals downward , and thuds to the bottom of the pool with an utterly incompetent conclusion .


michele is a such a brainless flibbertigibbet that it 's hard to take her spiritual quest at all seriously .


the film falls short on tension , eloquence , spiritual challenge -- things that have made the original new testament stories so compelling for 20 centuries .


the idea is more interesting than the screenplay , which lags badly in the middle and lurches between not-very-funny comedy , unconvincing dramatics and some last-minute action strongly reminiscent of run lola run .


if you are willing to do this , then you so crazy !


there 's nothing exactly wrong here , but there 's not nearly enough that 's right .


kim ki-deok seems to have in mind an -lrb- emotionally at least -rrb- adolescent audience demanding regular shocks and bouts of barely defensible sexual violence to keep it interested .


so earnest and well-meaning , and so stocked with talent , that you almost forget the sheer , ponderous awfulness of its script .


amid the new populist comedies that underscore the importance of family tradition and familial community , one would be hard-pressed to find a movie with a bigger , fatter heart than barbershop .


brought to life on the big screen .


if it 's not entirely memorable , the movie is certainly easy to watch .


knows how to make our imagination wonder .


leaks treacle from every pore .


do you say `` hi '' to your lover when you wake up in the morning ?


the saigon of 1952 is an uneasy mix of sensual delights and simmering violence , and the quiet american brings us right into the center of that world .


the actors are fantastic .


... a spoof comedy that carries its share of laughs -- sometimes a chuckle , sometimes a guffaw and , to my great pleasure , the occasional belly laugh .


... an enjoyably frothy ` date movie ' ...


neither the funniest film that eddie murphy nor robert de niro has ever made , showtime is nevertheless efficiently amusing for a good while .


awesome work : ineffable , elusive , yet inexplicably powerful


leaping from one arresting image to another , songs from the second floor has all the enjoyable randomness of a very lively dream and so manages to be compelling , amusing and unsettling at the same time .


intensely romantic , thought-provoking and even an engaging mystery .


please .


authentic , and at times endearing , humorous , spooky , educational , but at other times as bland as a block of snow .


faithful without being forceful , sad without being shrill , `` a walk to remember '' succeeds through sincerity .


a wildly entertaining scan of evans ' career .


does point the way for adventurous indian filmmakers toward a crossover into nonethnic markets .


a life-size reenactment of those jack chick cartoon tracts that always ended with some hippie getting tossed into the lake of fire .


schaeffer is n't in this film , which may be why it works as well as it does .


is now stretched to barely feature length , with a little more attention paid to the animation .


it is about irrational , unexplainable life and it seems so real because it does not attempt to filter out the complexity .


-lrb- breheny 's -rrb- lensing of the new zealand and cook island locations captures both the beauty of the land and the people .


-lrb- an -rrb- absorbing documentary .


if you open yourself up to mr. reggio 's theory of this imagery as the movie 's set ... it can impart an almost visceral sense of dislocation and change .


oscar caliber cast does n't live up to material


showtime 's starry cast could be both an asset and a detriment .


an overly melodramatic but somewhat insightful french coming-of-age film ...


it 's hard to imagine another director ever making his wife look so bad in a major movie .


has enough gun battles and throwaway humor to cover up the yawning chasm where the plot should be .


parris ' performance is credible and remarkably mature .


the film 's sense of imagery gives it a terrible strength , but it 's propelled by the acting .


` stock up on silver bullets for director neil marshall 's intense freight train of a film . '


the casting of von sydow ... is itself intacto 's luckiest stroke .


exhilarating , funny and fun .


bean drops the ball too many times ... hoping the nifty premise will create enough interest to make up for an unfocused screenplay .


michael moore 's latest documentary about america 's thirst for violence is his best film yet ...


the tuxedo miscalculates badly by forcing the star to play second fiddle to the dull effects that allow the suit to come to life .


at the one-hour mark , herzog simply runs out of ideas and the pace turns positively leaden as the movie sputters to its inevitable tragic conclusion .


nearly every attempt at humor here is doa .


the animation and backdrops are lush and inventive , yet return to neverland never manages to take us to that elusive , lovely place where we suspend our disbelief .


it 's a road-trip drama with too many wrong turns .


everything in maid in manhattan is exceedingly pleasant , designed not to offend .


ourside the theatre roger might be intolerable company , but inside it he 's well worth spending some time with .


enigma is well-made , but it 's just too dry and too placid .


not quite as miraculous as its dreamworks makers would have you believe , but it more than adequately fills the eyes and stirs the emotions .


eight legged freaks falls flat as a spoof .


takes you by the face , strokes your cheeks and coos beseechingly at you : slow down , shake off your tensions and take this picture at its own breezy , distracted rhythms .


it 's a long way from orwell 's dark , intelligent warning cry -lrb- 1984 -rrb- to the empty stud knockabout of equilibrium , and what once was conviction is now affectation .


there are times when you wish that the movie had worked a little harder to conceal its contrivances , but brown sugar turns out to be a sweet and enjoyable fantasy .


short-story quaint , touchingly mending a child 's pain for his dead mother via communication with an old woman straight out of eudora welty .


smart , funny and just honest enough to provide the pleasures of a slightly naughty , just-above-average off - broadway play .


a photographic marvel of sorts , and it 's certainly an invaluable record of that special fishy community .


... while the humor aspects of ` jason x ' were far more entertaining than i had expected , everything else about the film tanks .


but not without cheesy fun factor .


if you ignore the cliches and concentrate on city by the sea 's interpersonal drama , it ai n't half-bad .


tsai ming-liang 's witty , wistful new film , what time is it there ?


becomes the last thing you would expect from a film with this title or indeed from any plympton film : boring .


heavy with flabby rolls of typical toback machinations .


last orders nurtures the multi-layers of its characters , allowing us to remember that life 's ultimately a gamble and last orders are to be embraced .


the only thing i laughed at were the people who paid to see it .


the script , the gags , the characters are all direct-to-video stuff , and that 's where this film should have remained .


on the evidence before us , the answer is clear : not easily and , in the end , not well enough .


an awkwardly contrived exercise in magic realism .


each scene immediately succumbs to gravity and plummets to earth .


assayas ' ambitious , sometimes beautiful adaptation of jacques chardonne 's novel .


nothing but one relentlessly depressing situation after another for its entire running time , something that you could easily be dealing with right now in your lives .


the film just might turn on many people to opera , in general , an art form at once visceral and spiritual , wonderfully vulgar and sublimely lofty -- and as emotionally grand as life .


it just does n't have much else ... especially in a moral sense .


a straight-shooting family film which awards animals the respect they 've rarely been given .


... hokey art house pretension .


harvard man is a semi-throwback , a reminiscence without nostalgia or sentimentality .


unfortunately the story and the actors are served with a hack script .


and there 's the inimitable diaz , holding it all together .


told in scattered fashion , the movie only intermittently lives up to the stories and faces and music of the men who are its subject .


comes across as a fairly weak retooling .


one of the best films of the year with its exquisite acting , inventive screenplay , mesmerizing music , and many inimitable scenes of tenderness , loss , discontent , and yearning .


the big finish is a bit like getting all excited about a chocolate eclair and then biting into it and finding the filling missing .


as saccharine movies go , this is likely to cause massive cardiac arrest if taken in large doses .


the film was immensely enjoyable thanks to great performances by both steve buscemi and rosario dawson ...


what started out as a taut contest of wills between bacon and theron , deteriorates into a protracted and borderline silly chase sequence .


it 's quite an achievement to set and shoot a movie at the cannes film festival and yet fail to capture its visual appeal or its atmosphere .


ninety minutes of viva castro !


apparently designed as a reverie about memory and regret , but the only thing you 'll regret is remembering the experience of sitting through it .


it never rises to its clever what-if concept .


shallow , noisy and pretentious .


demonstrates a vivid imagination and an impressive style that result in some terrific setpieces .


not a film for the faint of heart or conservative of spirit , but for the rest of us -- especially san francisco lovers -- it 's a spirited film and a must-see .


a somewhat disappointing and meandering saga .


as allen 's execution date closes in , the documentary gives an especially poignant portrait of her friendship with the never flagging legal investigator david presson .


engages us in constant fits of laughter , until we find ourselves surprised at how much we care about the story , and end up walking out not only satisfied but also somewhat touched .


a clever script and skilled actors bring new energy to the familiar topic of office politics .


it 's probably worth catching solely on its visual merits .


none of this has the suavity or classical familiarity of bond , but much of it is good for a laugh .


an enjoyable feel-good family comedy regardless of race .


a handsome but unfulfilling suspense drama more suited to a quiet evening on pbs than a night out at an amc .


a fine production with splendid singing by angela gheorghiu , ruggero raimondi , and roberto alagna .


it may scream low budget , but this charmer has a spirit that can not be denied .


- style cross-country adventure ... it has sporadic bursts of liveliness , some so-so slapstick and a few ear-pleasing songs on its soundtrack .


a polished and vastly entertaining caper film that puts the sting back into the con .


do n't wait to see this terrific film with your kids -- if you do n't have kids borrow some .


could as easily have been called ` under siege 3 : in alcatraz ' ... a cinematic corpse that never springs to life .


cedar somewhat defuses this provocative theme by submerging it in a hoary love triangle .


make no mistake , ivans xtc .


is it a comedy ?


a thunderous ride at first , quiet cadences of pure finesse are few and far between ; their shortage dilutes the potency of otherwise respectable action .


as is often the case with ambitious , eager first-time filmmakers , mr. murray , a prolific director of music videos , stuffs his debut with more plot than it can comfortably hold .


it does n't make for great cinema , but it is interesting to see where one 's imagination will lead when given the opportunity .


its and pieces of the hot chick are so hilarious , and schneider 's performance is so fine , it 's a real shame that so much of the movie -- again , as in the animal -- is a slapdash mess .


this is sandler running on empty , repeating what he 's already done way too often .


the 70-year-old godard has become , to judge from in praise of love , the sort of bitter old crank who sits behind his light meter and harangues the supposed injustices of the artistic world-at-large without doing all that much to correct them .


both exuberantly romantic and serenely melancholy , what time is it there ?


director boris von sychowski instead opts for a routine slasher film that was probably more fun to make than it is to sit through .


... a series of tales told with the intricate preciseness of the best short story writing .


i walked away not really know who `` they '' were , what `` they '' looked like .


the movie is genial but never inspired , and little about it will stay with you .


a technically well-made suspenser ... but its abrupt drop in iq points as it races to the finish line proves simply too discouraging to let slide .


what happens when something goes bump in the night and nobody cares ?


just like igby .


long on twinkly-eyed close-ups and short on shame .


familiar but utterly delightful .


the chocolate factory without charlie .


a chick flick for guys .


may offend viewers not amused by the sick sense of humor .


wobbly senegalese updating of `` carmen '' which is best for the stunning star turn by djeinaba diop gai


steven spielberg brings us another masterpiece


... a lesson in prehistoric hilarity .


it made me feel unclean , and i 'm the guy who liked there 's something about mary and both american pie movies .


complex , sinuously plotted and , somehow , off-puttingly cold .


a lot of the credit for the film 's winning tone must go to grant , who has n't lost a bit of the dry humor that first made audiences on both sides of the atlantic love him .


the rare imax movie that you 'll wish was longer than an hour .


if you 're a comic fan , you ca n't miss it .


a marvel of production design .


the soupy end result has the odd distinction of being playful without being fun , too .


from the choppy editing to the annoying score to ` special effects ' by way of replacing objects in a character 's hands below the camera line , `` besotted '' is misbegotten


a welcome relief from baseball movies that try too hard to be mythic , this one is a sweet and modest and ultimately winning story .


from both a great and a terrible story , mr. nelson has made a film that is an undeniably worthy and devastating experience .


the santa clause 2 is a barely adequate babysitter for older kids , but i 've got to give it thumbs down .


as his circle of friends keeps getting smaller one of the characters in long time dead says ` i 'm telling you , this is f \*\*\* ed ' .


consider it ` perfection . '


affectionately reminds us that , in any language , the huge stuff in life can usually be traced back to the little things .


if the material is slight and admittedly manipulative , jacquot preserves tosca 's intoxicating ardor through his use of the camera .


the dramatic crisis does n't always succeed in its quest to be taken seriously , but huppert 's volatile performance makes for a riveting movie experience .


like the tuck family themselves , this movie just goes on and on and on and on


it should be doing a lot of things , but does n't .


anyone who gets chills from movies with giant plot holes will find plenty to shake and shiver about in ` the ring . '


moretti ... is the rare common-man artist who 's wise enough to recognize that there are few things in this world more complex -- and , as it turns out , more fragile -- than happiness .


... irritating soul-searching garbage .


the message of such reflections -- intentional or not -- is that while no art grows from a vacuum , many artists exist in one .


the bland outweighs the nifty , and cletis tout never becomes the clever crime comedy it thinks it is .


a humorless journey into a philosophical void .


none of this sounds promising and , indeed , the first half of sorority boys is as appalling as any ` comedy ' to ever spill from a projector 's lens .


you can drive right by it without noticing anything special , save for a few comic turns , intended and otherwise .


the film 's thoroughly recycled plot and tiresome jokes ... drag the movie down .


the story gives ample opportunity for large-scale action and suspense , which director shekhar kapur supplies with tremendous skill .


were dylan thomas alive to witness first-time director ethan hawke 's strained chelsea walls , he might have been tempted to change his landmark poem to , ` do not go gentle into that good theatre . '


the film ultimately offers nothing more than people in an urban jungle needing other people to survive ...


triple x is a double agent , and he 's one bad dude .


wanders all over the map thematically and stylistically , and borrows heavily from lynch , jeunet , and von trier while failing to find a spark of its own .


lyne 's latest , the erotic thriller unfaithful , further demonstrates just how far his storytelling skills have eroded .


a determined , ennui-hobbled slog that really does n't have much to say beyond the news flash that loneliness can make people act weird .


fails to satisfactorily exploit its gender politics , genre thrills or inherent humor .


jeffs has created a breathtakingly assured and stylish work of spare dialogue and acute expressiveness .


daughter from danang sticks with its subjects a little longer and tells a deeper story


almost nothing else -- raunchy and graphic as it may be in presentation -- is one-sided , outwardly sexist or mean-spirited .


the movie 's captivating details are all in the performances , from foreman 's barking-mad taylor to thewlis 's smoothly sinister freddie and bettany\/mcdowell 's hard-eyed gangster .


quite frankly , i ca n't see why any actor of talent would ever work in a mcculloch production again if they looked at how this movie turned out .


a little more intensity and a little less charm would have saved this film a world of hurt .


a really good premise is frittered away in middle-of-the-road blandness .


a fantastic premise anchors this movie , but what it needs is either a more rigid , blair witch-style commitment to its mockumentary format , or a more straightforward , dramatic treatment , with all the grandiosity that that implies .


a bit too eager to please .


sade achieves the near-impossible : it turns the marquis de sade into a dullard .


it seems impossible that an epic four-hour indian musical about a cricket game could be this good , but it is .


rarely has skin looked as beautiful , desirable , even delectable , as it does in trouble every day .


a piece of mildly entertaining , inoffensive fluff that drifts aimlessly for 90 minutes before lodging in the cracks of that ever-growing category : unembarrassing but unmemorable .


noyce creates a film of near-hypnotic physical beauty even as he tells a story as horrifying as any in the heart-breakingly extensive annals of white-on-black racism .


funny and also heartwarming without stooping to gooeyness .


this kiddie-oriented stinker is so bad that i even caught the gum stuck under my seat trying to sneak out of the theater


shreve 's graceful dual narrative gets clunky on the screen , and we keep getting torn away from the compelling historical tale to a less-compelling soap opera .


the sundance film festival has become so buzz-obsessed that fans and producers descend upon utah each january to ferret out the next great thing .


the story passes time until it 's time for an absurd finale of twisted metal , fireballs and revenge .


imagine a scenario where bergman approaches swedish fatalism using gary larson 's far side humor


leigh 's daring here is that without once denying the hardscrabble lives of people on the economic fringes of margaret thatcher 's ruinous legacy , he insists on the importance of those moments when people can connect and express their love for each other .


murder by numbers ' is n't a great movie , but it 's a perfectly acceptable widget .


he 's not good with people .


big mistake .


aan opportunity wasted .


y tu mamá también is hilariously , gloriously alive , and quite often hotter than georgia asphalt .


rubbo 's humorously tendentious intervention into the who-wrote-shakespeare controversy .


it is quite a vision .


a stupid , derivative horror film that substitutes extreme gore for suspense .


the color sense of stuart little 2 is its most immediate and most obvious pleasure , but it would count for very little if the movie were n't as beautifully shaped and as delicately calibrated in tone as it is .


downbeat , period-perfect biopic hammers home a heavy-handed moralistic message .


less a study in madness or love than a study in schoolgirl obsession .


gorgeous scenes , masterful performances , but the sickly sweet gender normative narrative left an acrid test in this gourmet 's mouth .


the pairing does sound promising in theory ... but their lack of chemistry makes eddie murphy and robert deniro in showtime look like old , familiar vaudeville partners .


gere gives a good performance in a film that does n't merit it .


you come away thinking not only that kate is n't very bright , but that she has n't been worth caring about and that maybe she , janine and molly -- an all-woman dysfunctional family -- deserve one another .


the stripped-down dramatic constructs , austere imagery and abstract characters are equal parts poetry and politics , obvious at times but evocative and heartfelt .


ultimately feels like just one more in the long line of films this year about the business of making movies .


if you 're looking for something new and hoping for something entertaining , you 're in luck .


a triumph of pure craft and passionate heart .


cool .


the film boasts dry humor and jarring shocks , plus moments of breathtaking mystery .


beautiful , angry and sad , with a curious sick poetry , as if the marquis de sade had gone in for pastel landscapes .


morvern callar confirms lynne ramsay as an important , original talent in international cinema .


just plain silly .


guy gets girl , guy loses girl , audience falls asleep .


there are so few films about the plight of american indians in modern america that skins comes as a welcome , if downbeat , missive from a forgotten front .


depressingly thin and exhaustingly contrived .


bluer than the atlantic and more biologically detailed than an autopsy , the movie ... is , also , frequently hilarious .


eh .


bouquet gives a performance that is masterly .


it 's as sorry a mess as its director 's diabolical debut , mad cows .


these two are generating about as much chemistry as an iraqi factory poised to receive a un inspector .


there 's a lot to recommend read my lips .


i 'd rather watch a rerun of the powerpuff girls


this submarine drama earns the right to be favorably compared to das boot .


bartlett 's hero remains a reactive cipher , when opening the man 's head and heart is the only imaginable reason for the film to be made .


the only question ... is to determine how well the schmaltz is manufactured -- to assess the quality of the manipulative engineering .


it 's impossible to even categorize this as a smutty guilty pleasure .


maintains your interest until the end and even leaves you with a few lingering animated thoughts .


the movie does n't think much of its characters , its protagonist , or of us .


britney spears ' phoniness is nothing compared to the movie 's contrived , lame screenplay and listless direction .


or intelligent .


the movie 's progression into rambling incoherence gives new meaning to the phrase ` fatal script error . '


devos and cassel have tremendous chemistry -- their sexual and romantic tension , while never really vocalized , is palpable .


... about as exciting to watch as two last-place basketball teams playing one another on the final day of the season .


terrific as nadia , a russian mail-order bride who comes to america speaking not a word of english , it 's kidman who holds the film together with a supremely kittenish performance that gradually accumulates more layers .


he fails .


this new movie version of the alexandre dumas classic is the stuff of high romance , brought off with considerable wit .


nicolas cage is n't the first actor to lead a group of talented friends astray , and this movie wo n't create a ruffle in what is already an erratic career .


it 's dark but has wonderfully funny moments ; you care about the characters ; and the action and special effects are first-rate .


jeong-hyang lee 's film is deceptively simple , deeply satisfying .


the bodily function jokes are about what you 'd expect , but there are rich veins of funny stuff in this movie .


... a story , an old and scary one , about the monsters we make , and the vengeance they take .


two hours of sepia-tinted heavy metal images and surround sound effects of people moaning .


for a film about action , ultimate x is the gabbiest giant-screen movie ever , bogging down in a barrage of hype .


it 's a solid movie about people whose lives are anything but .


the people in abc africa are treated as docile , mostly wordless ethnographic extras .


one ca n't shake the feeling that crossroads is nothing more than an hour-and-a-half-long commercial for britney 's latest album .


visually engrossing , seldom hammy , honorably mexican and burns its kahlories with conviction .


high crimes steals so freely from other movies and combines enough disparate types of films that it ca n't help but engage an audience .


it makes even elizabeth hurley seem graceless and ugly .


if you can read the subtitles -lrb- the opera is sung in italian -rrb- and you like ` masterpiece theatre ' type costumes , you 'll enjoy this movie .


`` the quiet american '' begins in saigon in 1952 .


a terrifically entertaining specimen of spielbergian sci-fi .


simply a re-hash of the other seven films .


hmmm ... might i suggest that the wayward wooden one end it all by stuffing himself into an electric pencil sharpener ?


-lrb- a -rrb- stuporously solemn film .


a playful iranian parable about openness , particularly the need for people of diverse political perspectives to get along despite their ideological differences .


death might be a release .


the film 's stagecrafts are intimate and therefore bolder than the otherwise calculated artifice that defines and overwhelms the film 's production design .


the movie 's messages are quite admirable , but the story is just too clichéd and too often strains credulity .


a live-action cartoon , a fast-moving and cheerfully simplistic 88 minutes of exaggerated action put together with the preteen boy in mind .


going to this movie is a little like chewing whale blubber - it 's an acquired taste that takes time to enjoy , but it 's worth it , even if it does take 3 hours to get through .


the problem is not that it 's all derivative , because plenty of funny movies recycle old tropes .


as ex-marine walter , who may or may not have shot kennedy , actor raymond j. barry is perfectly creepy and believable .


the production design , score and choreography are simply intoxicating .


13 conversations may be a bit too enigmatic and overly ambitious to be fully successful , but sprecher and her screenwriting partner and sister , karen sprecher , do n't seem ever to run out of ideas .


it 's not a bad plot ; but , unfortunately , the movie is nowhere near as refined as all the classic dramas it borrows from .


the result puts a human face on derrida , and makes one of the great minds of our times interesting and accessible to people who normally could n't care less .


a gem , captured in the unhurried , low-key style favored by many directors of the iranian new wave .


the film is way too full of itself ; it 's stuffy and pretentious in a give-me-an-oscar kind of way .


according to the script , grant and bullock 's characters are made for each other .


a punch line without a premise , a joke built entirely from musty memories of half-dimensional characters .


the picture uses humor and a heartfelt conviction to tell a story about discovering your destination in life , but also acknowledging the places , and the people , from whence you came .


a perfect example of rancid , well-intentioned , but shamelessly manipulative movie making .


a movie version of a paint-by-numbers picture .


lux , now in her eighties , does a great combination act as narrator , jewish grandmother and subject -- taking us through a film that is part biography , part entertainment and part history .


a stylish but steady , and ultimately very satisfying , piece of character-driven storytelling .


i 'm happy to have seen it -- not as an alternate version , but as the ultimate exercise in viewing deleted scenes .


the feature-length stretch ... strains the show 's concept .


the characters , cast in impossibly contrived situations , are totally estranged from reality .


a small independent film suffering from a severe case of hollywood-itis .


an exercise in cynicism every bit as ugly as the shabby digital photography and muddy sound .


ken russell would love this .


has all the scenic appeal of a cesspool .


they can and will turn on a dime from oddly humorous to tediously sentimental .


claire is a terrific role for someone like judd , who really ought to be playing villains .


the most ill-conceived animated comedy since the 1991 dog rover dangerfield .


kitschy , flashy , overlong soap opera .


its message has merit and , in the hands of a brutally honest individual like prophet jack , might have made a point or two regarding life .


sex is one of those films that aims to confuse .


first-time director joão pedro rodrigues ' unwillingness to define his hero 's background or motivations becomes more and more frustrating as the film goes on .


salma goes native and she 's never been better in this colorful bio-pic of a mexican icon .


his scenes are short and often unexpected .


human nature is a goofball movie , in the way that malkovich was , but it tries too hard .


the asylum material is gripping , as are the scenes of jia with his family .


the inevitable double - and triple-crosses arise , but the only drama is in waiting to hear how john malkovich 's reedy consigliere will pronounce his next line .


a literary detective story is still a detective story and aficionados of the whodunit wo n't be disappointed .


the soundtrack alone is worth the price of admission .


impostor does n't do much with its template , despite a remarkably strong cast .


it sounds like another clever if pointless excursion into the abyss , and that 's more or less how it plays out .


the film has the high-buffed gloss and high-octane jolts you expect of de palma , but what makes it transporting is that it 's also one of the smartest , most pleasurable expressions of pure movie love to come from an american director in years .


sly , sophisticated and surprising .


-lrb- kline 's -rrb- utterly convincing -- and deeply appealing -- as a noble teacher who embraces a strict moral code , and as a flawed human being who ca n't quite live up to it .


more trifle than triumph .


like its predecessor , it 's no classic , but it provides a reasonably attractive holiday contraption , one that families looking for a clean , kid-friendly outing should investigate .


thanks to ice cube , benjamins feels an awful lot like friday in miami .


fubar is very funny , but not always in a laugh-out-loud way .


... generically , forgettably pleasant from start to finish .


it 's hard to believe these jokers are supposed to have pulled off four similar kidnappings before .


murphy and wilson actually make a pretty good team ... but the project surrounding them is distressingly rote .


the screenplay , co-written by director imogen kimmel , lacks the wit necessary to fully exploit the comic elements of the premise , making the proceedings more bizarre than actually amusing .


i hope the movie is widely seen and debated with appropriate ferocity and thoughtfulness .


she may not be real , but the laughs are .


clumsy , obvious , preposterous , the movie will likely set the cause of woman warriors back decades .


a depressingly retrograde , ` post-feminist ' romantic comedy that takes an astonishingly condescending attitude toward women .


scherfig 's light-hearted profile of emotional desperation is achingly honest and delightfully cheeky .


you can sip your vintage wines and watch your merchant ivory productions ; i 'll settle for a nice cool glass of iced tea and a jerry bruckheimer flick any day of the week .


this is the kind of movie where the big scene is a man shot out of a cannon into a vat of ice cream .


both garcia and jagger turn in perfectly executed and wonderfully sympathetic characters , who are alternately touching and funny .


many went to see the attraction for the sole reason that it was hot outside and there was air conditioning inside , and i do n't think that a.c. will help this movie one bit .


even more baffling is that it 's funny .


you 'll trudge out of the theater feeling as though you rode the zipper after eating a corn dog and an extra-large cotton candy .


crudup 's screen presence is the one thing that holds interest in the midst of a mushy , existential exploration of why men leave their families .


not everyone will welcome or accept the trials of henry kissinger as faithful portraiture , but few can argue that the debate it joins is a necessary and timely one .


by surrounding us with hyper-artificiality , haynes makes us see familiar issues , like racism and homophobia , in a fresh way .


... somehow manages to escape the shackles of its own clichés to be the best espionage picture to come out in weeks .


a highly spirited , imaginative kid 's movie that broaches neo-augustinian theology : is god stuck in heaven because he 's afraid of his best-known creation ?


deserves high marks for political courage but barely gets by on its artistic merits .


alas , it 's the man that makes the clothes .


when the fire burns out , we 've only come face-to-face with a couple dragons and that 's where the film ultimately fails .


it 's not a film to be taken literally on any level , but its focus always appears questionable .


this often-hilarious farce manages to generate the belly laughs of lowbrow comedy without sacrificing its high-minded appeal .


the pianist is polanski 's best film .


the camera twirls !


oliveira seems to pursue silent film representation with every mournful composition .


you feel good , you feel sad , you feel pissed off , but in the end , you feel alive - which is what they did .


klein , charming in comedies like american pie and dead-on in election , delivers one of the saddest action hero performances ever witnessed .


from the dull , surreal ache of mortal awareness emerges a radiant character portrait .


utter mush ... conceited pap .


despite its hawaiian setting , the science-fiction trimmings and some moments of rowdy slapstick , the basic plot of `` lilo '' could have been pulled from a tear-stained vintage shirley temple script .


gooding is the energetic frontman , and it 's hard to resist his enthusiasm , even if the filmmakers come up with nothing original in the way of slapstick sequences .


... the whole thing succeeded only in making me groggy .


just when you think that every possible angle has been exhausted by documentarians , another new film emerges with yet another remarkable yet shockingly little-known perspective .


think of it as gidget , only with muscles and a lot more smarts , but just as endearing and easy to watch .


grant carries the day with impeccable comic timing , raffish charm and piercing intellect .


a frustrating ` tweener ' -- too slick , contrived and exploitative for the art houses and too cynical , small and decadent for the malls .


predictably soulless techno-tripe .


the filmmakers keep pushing the jokes at the expense of character until things fall apart .


it 's incredible the number of stories the holocaust has generated .


the movie keeps coming back to the achingly unfunny phonce and his several silly subplots .


the film 's most improbable feat ?


the charm of revolution os is rather the way it introduces you to new , fervently held ideas and fanciful thinkers .


one of those based-on-truth stories that persuades you , with every scene , that it could never really have happened this way .


there is no substitute for on-screen chemistry , and when friel pulls the strings that make williams sink into melancholia , the reaction in williams is as visceral as a gut punch .


there are some fairly unsettling scenes , but they never succeed in really rattling the viewer .


possibly the most irresponsible picture ever released by a major film studio .


the characters are paper thin and the plot is so cliched and contrived that it makes your least favorite james bond movie seem as cleverly plotted as the usual suspects .


a crisp psychological drama -lrb- and -rrb- a fascinating little thriller that would have been perfect for an old `` twilight zone '' episode .


there is simply no doubt that this film asks the right questions at the right time in the history of our country .


time stands still in more ways that one in clockstoppers , a sci-fi thriller as lazy as it is interminable .


a dark , quirky road movie that constantly defies expectation .


mr. spielberg and his company just want you to enjoy yourselves without feeling conned .


put it somewhere between sling blade and south of heaven , west of hell in the pantheon of billy bob 's body of work .


while not quite a comedy , the film tackles its relatively serious subject with an open mind and considerable good cheer , and is never less than engaging .


what the audience feels is exhaustion , from watching a movie that is dark -lrb- dark green , to be exact -rrb- , sour , bloody and mean .


mr. polanski is in his element here : alone , abandoned , but still consoled by his art , which is more than he has ever revealed before about the source of his spiritual survival .


a devastating indictment of unbridled greed and materalism .


it feels like very light errol morris , focusing on eccentricity but failing , ultimately , to make something bigger out of its scrapbook of oddballs .


it 's full of cheesy dialogue , but great trashy fun that finally returns de palma to his pulpy thrillers of the early '80s .


diggs and lathan are among the chief reasons brown sugar is such a sweet and sexy film .


but this new jangle of noise , mayhem and stupidity must be a serious contender for the title .


darkly funny and frequently insightful .


formuliac , but fun .


there 's some good material in their story about a retail clerk wanting more out of life , but the movie too often spins its wheels with familiar situations and repetitive scenes .


damon brings the proper conviction to his role as -lrb- jason bourne -rrb- .


the movie does n't generate a lot of energy .


and yet , it still works .


it squanders chan 's uniqueness ; it could even be said to squander jennifer love hewitt !


... a light , yet engrossing piece .


really quite funny .


it 's a tour de force , written and directed so quietly that it 's implosion rather than explosion you fear .


pretty much sucks , but has a funny moment or two .


though it was made with careful attention to detail and is well-acted by james spader and maggie gyllenhaal , i felt disrespected .


a singularly off-putting romantic comedy .


diaz wears out her welcome in her most charmless performance


the actors improvise and scream their way around this movie directionless , lacking any of the rollicking dark humor so necessary to make this kind of idea work on screen .


the off-center humor is a constant , and the ensemble gives it a buoyant delivery .


nearly all the fundamentals you take for granted in most films are mishandled here .


an eye-boggling blend of psychedelic devices , special effects and backgrounds , ` spy kids 2 ' is a visual treat for all audiences .


a lot of talent is wasted in this crass , low-wattage endeavor .


saddled with an unwieldy cast of characters and angles , but the payoff is powerful and revelatory .


personal velocity ought to be exploring these women 's inner lives , but it never moves beyond their surfaces .


an engaging criminal romp that will have viewers guessing just who 's being conned right up to the finale .


an engrossing portrait of uncompromising artists trying to create something original against the backdrop of a corporate music industry that only seems to care about the bottom line .


kaufman 's script is never especially clever and often is rather pretentious .


for a film that celebrates radical , nonconformist values , what to do in case of fire ?


it celebrates the group 's playful spark of nonconformity , glancing vividly back at what hibiscus grandly called his ` angels of light . '


like coming into a long-running , well-written television series where you 've missed the first half-dozen episodes and probably wo n't see the next six .


its flame-like , roiling black-and-white inspires trembling and gratitude .


although it includes a fair share of dumb drug jokes and predictable slapstick , `` orange county '' is far funnier than it would seem to have any right to be .


-lrb- the film -rrb- tackles the topic of relationships in such a straightforward , emotionally honest manner that by the end , it 's impossible to ascertain whether the film is , at its core , deeply pessimistic or quietly hopeful .


the film is weighed down by supporting characters who are either too goodly , wise and knowing or downright comically evil .


it 's a visual rorschach test and i must have failed .


an uncomfortable experience , but one as brave and challenging as you could possibly expect these days from american cinema .


the huskies are beautiful , the border collie is funny and the overall feeling is genial and decent .


charming and witty , it 's also somewhat clumsy .


draggin ' about dragons


amari has dressed up this little parable in a fairly irresistible package full of privileged moments and memorable performances .


i ca n't .


with mcconaughey in an entirely irony-free zone and bale reduced mainly to batting his sensitive eyelids , there 's not enough intelligence , wit or innovation on the screen to attract and sustain an older crowd .