the bourne identity should n't be half as entertaining as it is , but director doug liman and his colleagues have managed to pack it with enough action to satisfy the boom-bam crowd without a huge sacrifice of character and mood .


once he starts learning to compromise with reality enough to become comparatively sane and healthy , the film becomes predictably conventional .


a touching , small-scale story of family responsibility and care in the community .


the gifted crudup has the perfect face to play a handsome blank yearning to find himself , and his cipherlike personality and bad behavior would play fine if the movie knew what to do with him .


an artsploitation movie with too much exploitation and too little art .


an unflinching look at the world 's dispossessed .


unless you 're a fanatic , the best advice is : ` scooby ' do n't .


nicole kidman evolved from star to superstar some time over the past year , which means that birthday girl is the kind of quirkily appealing minor movie she might not make for a while .


and the positive change in tone here seems to have recharged him .


the culmination of everyone 's efforts is given life when a selection appears in its final form -lrb- in `` last dance '' -rrb- .


there 's just something about watching a squad of psychopathic underdogs whale the tar out of unsuspecting lawmen that reaches across time and distance .


the script is high on squaddie banter , low on shocks .


go back to sleep .


this movie plays like an extended dialogue exercise in retard 101 .


the movie is gorgeously made , but it is also somewhat shallow and art-conscious .


it 's as if a bored cage spent the duration of the film 's shooting schedule waiting to scream : `` got aids yet ? ''


secret ballot is a funny , puzzling movie ambiguous enough to be engaging and oddly moving .


a visionary marvel , but it 's lacking a depth in storytelling usually found in anime like this .


nair just does n't have the necessary self-control to guide a loose , poorly structured film through the pitfalls of incoherence and redundancy .


one of the most slyly exquisite anti-adult movies ever made .


this low-rent -- and even lower-wit -- rip-off of the farrelly brothers ' oeuvre gets way too mushy -- and in a relatively short amount of time .


happily stays close to the ground in a spare and simple manner and does n't pummel us with phony imagery or music .


fails as a dystopian movie , as a retooling of fahrenheit 451 , and even as a rip-off of the matrix .


whatever one makes of its political edge , this is beautiful filmmaking from one of french cinema 's master craftsmen .


jagger , stoppard and director michael apted ... deliver a riveting and surprisingly romantic ride .


banal and predictable .


takes a clunky tv-movie approach to detailing a chapter in the life of the celebrated irish playwright , poet and drinker .


ritchie may not have a novel thought in his head , but he knows how to pose madonna .


the trashy teen-sleaze equivalent of showgirls .


what eric schaeffer has accomplished with never again may not , strictly speaking , qualify as revolutionary .


best of all is garcia , who perfectly portrays the desperation of a very insecure man .


it does n't flinch from its unsettling prognosis , namely , that the legacy of war is a kind of perpetual pain .


scooby-doo does n't know if it wants to be a retro-refitting exercise in campy recall for older fans or a silly , nickelodeon-esque kiddie flick .


a dramatic comedy as pleasantly dishonest and pat as any hollywood fluff .


unfunny and lacking any sense of commitment to or affection for its characters , the reginald hudlin comedy relies on toilet humor , ethnic slurs .


`` the best disney movie since the lion king ''


merry friggin ' christmas !


best indie of the year , so far .


feels less like a cousin to blade runner than like a bottom-feeder sequel in the escape from new york series .


it jumps around with little logic or continuity , presenting backstage bytes of information that never amount to a satisfying complete picture of this particular , anciently demanding métier .


simone is not a bad film .


harry potter and the chamber of secrets is deja vu all over again , and while that is a cliche , nothing could be more appropriate .


triumph of love is a very silly movie , but the silliness has a pedigree .


a sexy , peculiar and always entertaining costume drama set in renaissance spain , and the fact that it 's based on true events somehow makes it all the more compelling .


as the sulking , moody male hustler in the title role , -lrb- franco -rrb- has all of dean 's mannerisms and self-indulgence , but none of his sweetness and vulnerability .


open-ended and composed of layer upon layer , talk to her is a cinephile 's feast , an invitation to countless interpretations .


the first bond movie in ages that is n't fake fun .


the problem is that for the most part , the film is deadly dull .


for the rest of us , sitting through dahmer 's two hours amounts to little more than punishment .


the rollerball sequences feel sanitised and stagey .


ramsay and morton fill this character study with poetic force and buoyant feeling .


has all the right elements but completely fails to gel together .


the film is saved from are n't - kids-cute sentimentality by a warmth that is n't faked and a stately sense of composition .


death to smoochy is often very funny , but what 's even more remarkable is the integrity of devito 's misanthropic vision .


this is mild-mannered , been-there material given a pedestrian spin by a director who needed a touch of the flamboyant , the outrageous .


you have once again entered the bizarre realm where director adrian lyne holds sway , where all relationships are simultaneously broadly metaphorical , oddly abstract , and excruciatingly literal .


the only young people who possibly will enjoy it are infants ... who might be distracted by the movie 's quick movements and sounds .


there 's something fishy about a seasonal holiday kids ' movie ... that derives its moment of most convincing emotional gravity from a scene where santa gives gifts to grownups .


it collapses when mr. taylor tries to shift the tone to a thriller 's rush .


it 's also not smart or barbed enough for older viewers -- not everyone thinks poo-poo jokes are ` edgy . '


opening with some contrived banter , cliches and some loose ends , the screenplay only comes into its own in the second half .


it gives poor dana carvey nothing to do that is really funny , and then expects us to laugh because he acts so goofy all the time .


efficient , suitably anonymous chiller .


... stylistically , the movie is a disaster .


it 's mildly entertaining , especially if you find comfort in familiarity .


... a guiltless film for nice evening out .


what makes salton sea surprisingly engrossing is that caruso takes an atypically hypnotic approach to a world that 's often handled in fast-edit , hopped-up fashion .


an opportunity missed .


its strengths and weaknesses play off each other virtually to a stand-off , with the unfortunate trump card being the dreary mid-section of the film .


canada 's arctic light shines bright on this frozen tundra soap opera that breathes extraordinary life into the private existence of the inuit people .


fresh and raw like a blown-out vein , narc takes a walking-dead , cop-flick subgenre and beats new life into it .


dignified ceo 's meet at a rustic retreat and pee against a tree .


helps to remind the first world that hiv\/aids is far from being yesterday 's news .


some stunning visuals -- and some staggeringly boring cinema .


a creepy , intermittently powerful study of a self-destructive man ... about as unsettling to watch as an exploratory medical procedure or an autopsy .


the overall vibe is druggy and self-indulgent , like a spring-break orgy for pretentious arts majors .


the transporter bombards the viewer with so many explosions and side snap kicks that it ends up being surprisingly dull .


beneath the film 's obvious determination to shock at any cost lies considerable skill and determination , backed by sheer nerve .


the film may not hit as hard as some of the better drug-related pictures , but it still manages to get a few punches in .


perry 's good and his is an interesting character , but `` serving sara '' has n't much more to serve than silly fluff .


the film 's trailer also looked like crap , so crap is what i was expecting .


the sentimental script has problems , but the actors pick up the slack .


puts a refreshing and comical spin on the all-too-familiar saga of the contemporary single woman .


ending .


there are some laughs in this movie , but williams ' anarchy gets tiresome , the satire is weak .


boisterous , heartfelt comedy .


it 's as if allen , at 66 , has stopped challenging himself .


the characters seem one-dimensional , and the film is superficial and will probably be of interest primarily to its target audience .


i 'm sure mainstream audiences will be baffled , but , for those with at least a minimal appreciation of woolf and clarissa dalloway , the hours represents two of those well spent .


very amusing , not the usual route in a thriller , and the performances are odd and pixilated and sometimes both .


if festival in cannes nails hard - boiled hollywood argot with a bracingly nasty accuracy , much about the film , including some of its casting , is frustratingly unconvincing .


coral reef adventure is a heavyweight film that fights a good fight on behalf of the world 's endangered reefs -- and it lets the pictures do the punching .


but it could be , by its art and heart , a necessary one .


i wanted more .


the entire cast is extraordinarily good .


as if trying to grab a lump of play-doh , the harder that liman tries to squeeze his story , the more details slip out between his fingers .


a bracing , unblinking work that serves as a painful elegy and sobering cautionary tale .


it is one more celluloid testimonial to the cruelties experienced by southern blacks as distilled through a caucasian perspective .


a fine , rousing , g-rated family film , aimed mainly at little kids but with plenty of entertainment value to keep grown-ups from squirming in their seats .


it 's immensely ambitious , different than anything that 's been done before and amazingly successful in terms of what it 's trying to do .


director-writer bille august ... depicts this relationship with economical grace , letting his superb actors convey martin 's deterioration and barbara 's sadness -- and , occasionally , anger .


lavishly , exhilaratingly tasteless .


... a pretentious mess ...


the first half bursts with a goofy energy previous disney films only used for a few minutes here and there .


feeling like a dope has rarely been more fun than it is in nine queens .


too many improbabilities and rose-colored situations temper what could 've been an impacting film .


it sends you away a believer again and quite cheered at just that .


terminally bland , painfully slow and needlessly confusing ... the movie , shot on digital videotape rather than film , is frequently indecipherable .


a very depressing movie of many missed opportunities .


captures the raw comic energy of one of our most flamboyant female comics .


if the man from elysian fields is doomed by its smallness , it is also elevated by it -- the kind of movie that you enjoy more because you 're one of the lucky few who sought it out .


writer-director walter hill and co-writer david giler try to create characters out of the obvious cliches , but wind up using them as punching bags .


this wretchedly unfunny wannabe comedy is inane and awful - no doubt , it 's the worst movie i 've seen this summer .


in the process of trimming the movie to an expeditious 84 minutes , director roger kumble seems to have dumped a whole lot of plot in favor of ... outrageous gags .


singer\/composer bryan adams contributes a slew of songs -- a few potential hits , a few more simply intrusive to the story -- but the whole package certainly captures the intended , er , spirit of the piece .


does n't come close to justifying the hype that surrounded its debut at the sundance film festival two years ago .


this slender plot feels especially thin stretched over the nearly 80-minute running time .


the movie 's biggest shocks come from seeing former nymphette juliette lewis playing a salt-of-the-earth mommy named minnie and watching slim travel incognito in a ridiculous wig no respectable halloween costume shop would ever try to sell .


if you value your time and money , find an escape clause and avoid seeing this trite , predictable rehash .


boasts a handful of virtuosic set pieces and offers a fair amount of trashy , kinky fun .


the jokes are flat , and the action looks fake .


it 's a ripper of a yarn and i for one enjoyed the thrill of the chill .


weirdly , broomfield has compelling new material but he does n't unveil it until the end , after endless scenes of him wheedling reluctant witnesses and pointing his camera through the smeared windshield of his rental car .


once folks started hanging out at the barbershop , they never wanted to leave .


choppy , overlong documentary about ` the lifestyle . '


better still , he does all of this , and more , while remaining one of the most savagely hilarious social critics this side of jonathan swift .


the action quickly sinks into by-the-numbers territory .


ends up offering nothing more than the latest schwarzenegger or stallone flick would .


though there are many tense scenes in trapped , they prove more distressing than suspenseful .


the last kiss will probably never achieve the popularity of my big fat greek wedding , but its provocative central wedding sequence has far more impact .


low rent from frame one .


sheridan seems terrified of the book 's irreverent energy , and scotches most of its élan , humor , bile , and irony .


there 's very little sense to what 's going on here , but the makers serve up the cliches with considerable dash .


unfortunately , carvey 's rubber-face routine is no match for the insipid script he has crafted with harris goldberg .


it may as well be called `` jar-jar binks : the movie . ''


over the years , hollywood has crafted a solid formula for successful animated movies , and ice age only improves on it , with terrific computer graphics , inventive action sequences and a droll sense of humor .


what one is left with , even after the most awful acts are committed , is an overwhelming sadness that feels as if it has made its way into your very bloodstream .


it hates its characters .


... an incredibly heavy-handed , manipulative dud that feels all too familiar .


with `` ichi the killer '' , takashi miike , japan 's wildest filmmaker gives us a crime fighter carrying more emotional baggage than batman ...


anyone who wants to start writing screenplays can just follow the same blueprint from hundreds of other films , sell it to the highest bidder and walk away without anyone truly knowing your identity .


comes off as a long , laborious whine , the bellyaching of a paranoid and unlikable man .


we do n't even like their characters .


just a collection of this and that -- whatever fills time -- with no unified whole .


the characters never change .


even kids deserve better .


while scorsese 's bold images and generally smart casting ensure that `` gangs '' is never lethargic , the movie is hindered by a central plot that 's peppered with false starts and populated by characters who are nearly impossible to care about .


once ice-t sticks his mug in the window of the couple 's bmw and begins haranguing the wife in bad stage dialogue , all credibility flies out the window .


this is more fascinating -- being real -- than anything seen on jerry springer .


into how long is this movie ?


the work of an artist tormented by his heritage , using his storytelling ability to honor the many faceless victims .


think the lion king redone for horses , with fewer deliberate laughs , more inadvertent ones and stunningly trite songs by bryan adams , the world 's most generic rock star .


you 'll probably love it .


and for all the wrong reasons besides .


reminiscent of alfred hitchcock 's thrillers , most of the scary parts in ` signs ' occur while waiting for things to happen .


in his debut as a director , washington has a sure hand .


if you love him , you 'll like it .


what 's so fun about this silly , outrageous , ingenious thriller is the director 's talent .


i like that smith , he 's not making fun of these people , he 's not laughing at them .


the logic of it all will be greek to anyone not predisposed to the movie 's rude and crude humor .


the movie 's downfall is to substitute plot for personality .


so much about the film is loopy and ludicrous ... that it could have been a hoot in a bad-movie way if the laborious pacing and endless exposition had been tightened .


victor rosa is leguizamo 's best movie work so far , a subtle and richly internalized performance .


the strong subject matter continues to shock throughout the film .


psychologically savvy .


a stirring tribute to the bravery and dedication of the world 's reporters who willingly walk into the nightmare of war not only to record the events for posterity , but to help us clearly see the world of our making .


a chilling movie without oppressive gore .


we assume he had a bad run in the market or a costly divorce , because there is no earthly reason other than money why this distinguished actor would stoop so low .


star trek was kind of terrific once , but now it is a copy of a copy of a copy .


several of steven soderbergh 's earlier films were hailed as the works of an artist .


the riveting performances by the incredibly flexible cast make love a joy to behold .


the most audacious , outrageous , sexually explicit , psychologically probing , pure libido film of the year has arrived from portugal .


a thoughtful movie , a movie that is concerned with souls and risk and schemes and the consequences of one 's actions .


the dramatic scenes are frequently unintentionally funny , and the action sequences -- clearly the main event -- are surprisingly uninvolving .


directed by kevin bray , whose crisp framing , edgy camera work , and wholesale ineptitude with acting , tone and pace very obviously mark him as a video helmer making his feature debut .


true hollywood story .


bella is the picture of health with boundless energy until a few days before she dies .


because the intelligence level of the characters must be low , very low , very very low , for the masquerade to work , the movie contains no wit , only labored gags .


viewers of barney 's crushingly self-indulgent spectacle will see nothing in it to match the ordeal of sitting through it .


they ought to be a whole lot scarier than they are in this tepid genre offering .


as it turns out , you can go home again .


it 's far from a frothy piece , and the characters are complex , laden with plenty of baggage and tinged with tragic undertones .


his work transcends the boy-meets-girl posturing of typical love stories .


the pace and the visuals are so hyped up that a curious sense of menace informs everything .


writer \/ director m. night shyamalan 's ability to pull together easily accessible stories that resonate with profundity is undeniable .


fontaine 's direction , especially her agreeably startling use of close-ups and her grace with a moving camera , creates sheerly cinematic appeal .


while glover , the irrepressible eccentric of river 's edge , dead man and back to the future , is perfect casting for the role , he represents bartleby 's main overall flaw .


with rare birds , as with the shipping news before it , an attempt is made to transplant a hollywood star into newfoundland 's wild soil -- and the rock once again resists the intrusion .


what bubbles up out of john c. walsh 's pipe dream is the distinct and very welcome sense of watching intelligent people making a movie they might actually want to watch .


abysmally pathetic


instead of a balanced film that explains the zeitgeist that is the x games , we get a cinematic postcard that 's superficial and unrealized .


the issues are presented in such a lousy way , complete with some of the year 's -lrb- unintentionally -rrb- funniest moments , that it 's impossible to care .


blessed with two fine , nuanced lead performances .


it all unfolds predictably , and the adventures that happen along the way seem repetitive and designed to fill time , providing no real sense of suspense .


an exhilarating experience .


a dazzling dream of a documentary .


narc is a no-bull throwback to 1970s action films .


jones ... makes a great impression as the writer-director of this little $ 1.8 million charmer , which may not be cutting-edge indie filmmaking but has a huge heart .


mandel holland 's direction is uninspired , and his scripting unsurprising , but the performances by phifer and black are ultimately winning .


in the disturbingly involving family dysfunctional drama how i killed my father , french director anne fontaine delivers an inspired portrait of male-ridden angst and the emotional blockage that accompanies this human condition


animated drivel meant to enhance the self-image of drooling idiots .


but rather , ` how can you charge money for this ? '


`` austin powers in goldmember '' has the right stuff for silly summer entertainment and has enough laughs to sustain interest to the end .


exploring value choices is a worthwhile topic for a film -- but here the choices are as contrived and artificial as kerrigan 's platinum-blonde hair .


not really a thriller so much as a movie for teens to laugh , groan and hiss at .


an erotic thriller that 's neither too erotic nor very thrilling , either .


while puerile men dominate the story , the women shine .


family portrait of need , neurosis and nervy negativity is a rare treat that shows the promise of digital filmmaking .


a case in point : doug pray 's scratch .


the uneven movie does have its charms and its funny moments but not quite enough of them .


it manages to squeeze by on angelina jolie 's surprising flair for self-deprecating comedy .


as any creature-feature fan knows , when you cross toxic chemicals with a bunch of exotic creatures , you get a lot of running around , screaming and death .


demme finally succeeds in diminishing his stature from oscar-winning master to lowly studio hack .


i 'm not sure which is worse : the poor acting by the ensemble cast , the flat dialogue by vincent r. nebrida or the gutless direction by laurice guillen .


it 's an ambitious film , and as with all ambitious films , it has some problems .


like the best 60 minutes exposé , the film -lrb- at 80 minutes -rrb- is actually quite entertaining .


the lousy lead performances ... keep the movie from ever reaching the comic heights it obviously desired .


medem may have disrobed most of the cast , leaving their bodies exposed , but the plot remains as guarded as a virgin with a chastity belt .


is it really an advantage to invest such subtlety and warmth in an animatronic bear when the humans are acting like puppets ?


art-house to the core , read my lips is a genre-curling crime story that revives the free-wheeling noir spirit of old french cinema .


madonna has made herself over so often now , there 's apparently nothing left to work with , sort of like michael jackson 's nose .


so exaggerated and broad that it comes off as annoying rather than charming .


there 's a lot of good material here , but there 's also a lot of redundancy and unsuccessful crudeness accompanying it .


... the story , like ravel 's bolero , builds to a crescendo that encompasses many more paths than we started with .


it has fun with the quirks of family life , but it also treats the subject with fondness and respect .


there 's something about a marching band that gets me where i live .


the film favors the scientific over the spectacular -lrb- visually speaking -rrb- .


it should have stayed there .


it has the right approach and the right opening premise , but it lacks the zest and it goes for a plot twist instead of trusting the material .


alas , the black-and-white archival footage of their act showcases pretty mediocre shtick .


well , it probably wo n't have you swinging from the trees hooting it 's praises , but it 's definitely worth taking a look .


bravo for history rewritten , and for the uncompromising knowledge that the highest power of all is the power of love .


` enigma ' is the kind of engaging historical drama that hollywood appears to have given up on in favor of sentimental war movies in the vein of ` we were soldiers . '


what a pity ... that the material is so second-rate .


it 's that good .


calculated swill .


a mischievous visual style and oodles of charm make ` cherish ' a very good -lrb- but not great -rrb- movie .


enthusiastically taking up the current teen movie concern with bodily functions , walt becker 's film pushes all the demographically appropriate comic buttons .


a truly wonderful tale combined with stunning animation .


directors brett morgen and nanette burstein have put together a bold biographical fantasia .


... a confusing drudgery .


it 's a testament to the film 's considerable charm that it succeeds in entertaining , despite playing out like a feature-length sitcom replete with stereotypical familial quandaries .


-lrb- a -rrb- mess .


believes so fervently in humanity that it feels almost anachronistic , and it is too cute by half .


i 'm not generally a fan of vegetables but this batch is pretty cute .


plays like a bad blend of an overripe episode of tv 's dawson 's creek and a recycled and dumbed-down version of love story .


black-and-white and unrealistic .


-lrb- lin chung 's -rrb- voice is rather unexceptional , even irritating -lrb- at least to this western ear -rrb- , making it awfully hard to buy the impetus for the complicated love triangle that develops between the three central characters .


it 's not helpful to listen to extremist name-calling , regardless of whether you think kissinger was a calculating fiend or just a slippery self-promoter .


hardly an objective documentary , but it 's great cinematic polemic ... love moore or loathe him , you 've got to admire ... the intensity with which he 's willing to express his convictions .


the movie is pretty funny now and then without in any way demeaning its subjects .


a lovely film ... elegant , witty and beneath a prim exterior unabashedly romantic ... hugely enjoyable in its own right though not really faithful to its source 's complexity .


a summary of the plot does n't quite do justice to the awfulness of the movie , for that comes through all too painfully in the execution .


taken as a whole , the tuxedo does n't add up to a whole lot .


good-looking but relentlessly lowbrow outing plays like clueless does south fork .


intimate and panoramic .


high crimes knows the mistakes that bad movies make and is determined not to make them , and maybe that is nobility of a sort .


suffers from all the excesses of the genre .


hate it because it 's lousy .


this rather unfocused , all-over-the-map movie would be a lot better if it pared down its plots and characters to a few rather than dozens ... or if it were subtler ... or if it had a sense of humor .


big fat liar is little more than home alone raised to a new , self-deprecating level .


a doa dud from frame one .


it follows the basic plot trajectory of nearly every schwarzenegger film : someone crosses arnie .


elmo touts his drug as being 51 times stronger than coke .


this is n't a terrible film by any means , but it 's also far from being a realized work .


why spend $ 9 on the same stuff you can get for a buck or so in that greasy little vidgame pit in the theater lobby ?


just the sort of lazy tearjerker that gives movies about ordinary folk a bad name .


`` home movie '' is a sweet treasure and something well worth your time .


it 's enough to watch huppert scheming , with her small , intelligent eyes as steady as any noir villain , and to enjoy the perfectly pitched web of tension that chabrol spins .


the bottom line with nemesis is the same as it has been with all the films in the series : fans will undoubtedly enjoy it , and the uncommitted need n't waste their time on it .


robinson 's web of suspense matches the page-turning frenzy that clancy creates .


... a hokey piece of nonsense that tries too hard to be emotional .


intelligent , caustic take on a great writer and dubious human being .


like its title character , esther kahn is unusual but unfortunately also irritating .


where janice beard falters in its recycled aspects , implausibility , and sags in pace , it rises in its courageousness , and comedic employment .


throws in enough clever and unexpected twists to make the formula feel fresh .


a fairly harmless but ultimately lifeless feature-length afterschool special .


debate it .


i did n't laugh .


holm does his sly , intricate magic , and iben hjelje is entirely appealing as pumpkin .


one of the funniest motion pictures of the year , but ... also one of the most curiously depressing .


grainy photography mars an otherwise delightful comedy of errors .


bielinsky is a filmmaker of impressive talent .


such a premise is ripe for all manner of lunacy , but kaufman and gondry rarely seem sure of where it should go .


the film is ultimately about as inspiring as a hallmark card .


the troubling thing about clockstoppers is that it does n't make any sense .


uneven performances and a spotty script add up to a biting satire that has no teeth .


even on its own ludicrous terms , the sum of all fears generates little narrative momentum , and invites unflattering comparisons to other installments in the ryan series .


boasts enough funny dialogue and sharp characterizations to be mildly amusing .


did it move me to care about what happened in 1915 armenia ?


the most offensive thing about the movie is that hollywood expects people to pay to see it .


this is the first full scale wwii flick from hong kong 's john woo .


you do n't know whether to admire the film 's stately nature and call it classicism or be exasperated by a noticeable lack of pace .


the author 's devotees will probably find it fascinating ; others may find it baffling .


the tasteful little revision works wonders , enhancing the cultural and economic subtext , bringing richer meaning to the story 's morals .


less cinematically powerful than quietly and deeply moving , which is powerful in itself .


it 's quaid who anchors the film with his effortless performance and that trademark grin of his -- so perfect for a ballplayer .


often messy and frustrating , but very pleasing at its best moments , it 's very much like life itself .


in its dry and forceful way , it delivers the same message as jiri menzel 's closely watched trains and danis tanovic 's no man 's land .


sinks so low in a poorly played game of absurd plot twists , idiotic court maneuvers and stupid characters that even freeman ca n't save it .


this is the kind of movie that gets a quick release before real contenders arrive in september .


talk to her is not the perfect movie many have made it out to be , but it 's still quite worth seeing .


it 's also built on a faulty premise , one it follows into melodrama and silliness .


shafer 's feature does n't offer much in terms of plot or acting .


observant intelligence constantly vies with pretension -- and sometimes plain wacky implausibility -- throughout maelstrom .


in fact , even better .


feels familiar and tired .


the movie is too impressed with its own solemn insights to work up much entertainment value .


but it 's worth the concentration .


a complex psychological drama about a father who returns to his son 's home after decades away .


the film 's intimate camera work and searing performances pull us deep into the girls ' confusion and pain as they struggle tragically to comprehend the chasm of knowledge that 's opened between them .


humorous and heartfelt , douglas mcgrath 's version of ` nicholas nickleby ' left me feeling refreshed and hopeful .


the film tries to touch on spousal abuse but veers off course and becomes just another revenge film .


what lee does so marvelously compelling is present brown as a catalyst for the struggle of black manhood in restrictive and chaotic america ... sketchy but nevertheless gripping portrait of jim brown , a celebrated wonder in the spotlight


one thing you have to give them credit for : the message of the movie is consistent with the messages espoused in the company 's previous video work .


is not so much a work of entertainment as it is a unique , well-crafted psychological study of grief .


brosnan 's finest non-bondish performance yet fails to overcome the film 's manipulative sentimentality and annoying stereotypes .


an even more predictable , cliche-ridden endeavor than its predecessor .


the storytelling may be ordinary , but the cast is one of those all-star reunions that fans of gosford park have come to assume is just another day of brit cinema .


catch it ... if you can !


to say that this vapid vehicle is downright doltish and uneventful is just as obvious as telling a country skunk that he has severe body odor .


it 's not too much of anything .


one of the most highly-praised disappointments i 've had the misfortune to watch in quite some time .


everything was as superficial as the forced new jersey lowbrow accent uma had .


the bard as black comedy -- willie would have loved it .


clever but not especially compelling .


memorable for a peculiar malaise that renders its tension flaccid and , by extension , its surprises limp and its resolutions ritual .


this is one of those rare docs that paints a grand picture of an era and makes the journey feel like a party .


the performances are remarkable .


as much as i laughed throughout the movie , i can not mount a cogent defense of the film as entertainment , or even performance art , although the movie does leave you marveling at these guys ' superhuman capacity to withstand pain .


not a strike against yang 's similarly themed yi yi , but i found what time ?


everything that was right about blade is wrong in its sequel .


both a beautifully made nature film and a tribute to a woman whose passion for this region and its inhabitants still shines in her quiet blue eyes .


this is a shrewd and effective film from a director who understands how to create and sustain a mood .


-lrb- p -rrb- artnering murphy with robert de niro for the tv-cops comedy showtime would seem to be surefire casting .


i have a confession to make : i did n't particularly like e.t. the first time i saw it as a young boy .


a captivating new film .


it tends to remind one of a really solid woody allen film , with its excellent use of new york locales and sharp writing


you 'd have to be a most hard-hearted person not to be moved by this drama .


this is just lazy writing .


a movie that will surely be profane , politically charged music to the ears of cho 's fans .


while the ensemble player who gained notice in guy ritchie 's lock , stock and two smoking barrels and snatch has the bod , he 's unlikely to become a household name on the basis of his first starring vehicle .


got a david lynch jones ?


this film was made by and for those folks who collect the serial killer cards and are fascinated by the mere suggestion of serial killers .


coppola has made a film of intoxicating atmosphere and little else .


is one of this year 's very best pictures .


the film is darkly funny in its observation of just how much more grueling and time-consuming the illusion of work is than actual work .


the strength of the film comes not from any cinematic razzle-dazzle but from its recovery of an historical episode that , in the simple telling , proves simultaneously harrowing and uplifting .


red dragon is less baroque and showy than hannibal , and less emotionally affecting than silence .


defies logic , the laws of physics and almost anyone 's willingness to believe in it .


a compelling french psychological drama examining the encounter of an aloof father and his chilly son after 20 years apart .


ong 's promising debut is a warm and well-told tale of one recent chinese immigrant 's experiences in new york city .


satisfyingly scarifying , fresh and old-fashioned at the same time .


trailer trash cinema so uncool the only thing missing is the `` gadzooks ! ''


wo n't be placed in the pantheon of the best of the swashbucklers but it is a whole lot of fun and you get to see the one of the world 's best actors , daniel auteuil , have a whale of a good time .


because the genre is well established , what makes the movie fresh is smart writing , skewed characters , and the title performance by kieran culkin .


more sophisticated and literate than such pictures usually are ... an amusing little catch .


i found the ring moderately absorbing , largely for its elegantly colorful look and sound .


a graceful , moving tribute to the courage of new york 's finest and a nicely understated expression of the grief shared by the nation at their sacrifice .


and it 's harder still to believe that anyone in his right mind would want to see the it .


contrived as this may sound , mr. rose 's updating works surprisingly well .


mr. deeds is not really a film as much as it is a loose collection of not-so-funny gags , scattered moments of lazy humor .


just a string of stale gags , with no good inside dope , and no particular bite .


it 's always enthralling .


one big blustery movie where nothing really happens .


one of those rare films that seems as though it was written for no one , but somehow manages to convince almost everyone that it was put on the screen , just for them .


diane lane works nothing short of a minor miracle in unfaithful .


one of the very best movies ever made about the life of moviemaking .


is many things -- stoner midnight flick , sci-fi deconstruction , gay fantasia -- but above all it 's a love story as sanguine as its title .


but if the essence of magic is its make-believe promise of life that soars above the material realm , this is the opposite of a truly magical movie .


a loud , brash and mainly unfunny high school comedy .


watching junk like this induces a kind of abstract guilt , as if you were paying dues for good books unread , fine music never heard .


a lack of thesis makes maryam , in the end , play out with the intellectual and emotional impact of an after-school special .


an inuit masterpiece that will give you goosebumps as its uncanny tale of love , communal discord , and justice unfolds .


can be viewed as pure composition and form -- film as music


this is a remake by the numbers , linking a halfwit plot to a series of standup routines in which wilson and murphy show how funny they could have been in a more ambitious movie .


the jokes are telegraphed so far in advance they must have been lost in the mail .


a cruelly funny twist on teen comedy packed with inventive cinematic tricks and an ironically killer soundtrack


smarter than its commercials make it seem .


a reasonably entertaining sequel to 1994 's surprise family hit that may strain adult credibility .


sinks into the usual cafeteria goulash of fart jokes , masturbation jokes , and racist japanese jokes .


could have been crisper and punchier , but it 's likely to please audiences who like movies that demand four hankies .


a french film with a more down-home flavor .


when a movie asks you to feel sorry for mick jagger 's sex life , it already has one strike against it .


an asian neo-realist treasure .


generic thriller junk .


an honest , sensitive story from a vietnamese point of view .


while some of the camera work is interesting , the film 's mid-to-low budget is betrayed by the surprisingly shoddy makeup work .


more than their unique residences , home movie is about the people who live in them , who have carved their own comfortable niche in the world and have been kind enough to share it .


apparently , romantic comedy with a fresh point of view just does n't figure in the present hollywood program .


thanks to confident filmmaking and a pair of fascinating performances , the way to that destination is a really special walk in the woods .


a typically observant , carefully nuanced and intimate french coming-of-age film that is an encouraging debut feature but has a needlessly downbeat ending that is too heavy for all that has preceded it .


a compelling allegory about the last days of germany 's democratic weimar republic .


or maybe `` how will you feel after an 88-minute rip-off of the rock with action confined to slo-mo gun firing and random glass-shattering ? ''


it falls far short of poetry , but it 's not bad prose .


the things this movie tries to get the audience to buy just wo n't fly with most intelligent viewers .


worth seeing once , but its charm quickly fades .


sillier , cuter , and shorter than the first -lrb- as best i remember -rrb- , but still a very good time at the cinema .


by the time the surprise ending is revealed , interest can not be revived .


an 83 minute document of a project which started in a muddle , seesawed back and forth between controlling interests multiple times , then found its sweet spot


a sloppy slapstick throwback to long gone bottom-of-the-bill fare like the ghost and mr. chicken .


a beguiling evocation of the quality that keeps dickens evergreen : the exuberant openness with which he expresses our most basic emotions .


scotland , pa is entirely too straight-faced to transcend its clever concept .


despite the pyrotechnics , narc is strictly by the book .


i firmly believe that a good video game movie is going to show up soon .


chaiken ably balances real-time rhythms with propulsive incident .


the movie is about as deep as that sentiment .


the real charm of this trifle is the deadpan comic face of its star , jean reno , who resembles sly stallone in a hot sake half-sleep .


brainless , but enjoyably over-the-top , the retro gang melodrama , deuces wild represents fifties teen-gang machismo in a way that borders on rough-trade homo-eroticism .


if you ever wanted to be an astronaut , this is the ultimate movie experience - it 's informative and breathtakingly spectacular .


even the digressions are funny .


and , thanks to the presence of ` the king , ' it also rocks .


in other words , about as bad a film you 're likely to see all year .


visually fascinating ... an often intense character study about fathers and sons , loyalty and duty .


as violent , profane and exploitative as the most offensive action flick you 've ever seen .


we 've seen the hippie-turned-yuppie plot before , but there 's an enthusiastic charm in fire that makes the formula fresh again .


gets better after foster leaves that little room .


... would be a total loss if not for two supporting performances taking place at the movie 's edges .


compulsively watchable , no matter how degraded things get .


-lrb- evans is -rrb- a fascinating character , and deserves a better vehicle than this facetious smirk of a movie .


the plot grows thin soon , and you find yourself praying for a quick resolution .


show me the mugging .


this is more a case of ` sacre bleu ! '


this is rote spookiness , with nary an original idea -lrb- or role , or edit , or score , or anything , really -rrb- in sight , and the whole of the proceedings beg the question ` why ? '


ultimately , jane learns her place as a girl , softens up and loses some of the intensity that made her an interesting character to begin with .


manages to be wholesome and subversive at the same time .


feels aimless for much of its running time , until late in the film when a tidal wave of plot arrives , leaving questions in its wake .


a few zingers aside , the writing is indifferent , and jordan brady 's direction is prosaic .


the corpse count ultimately overrides what little we learn along the way about vicarious redemption .


finally coming down off of miramax 's deep shelves after a couple of aborted attempts , waking up in reno makes a strong case for letting sleeping dogs lie .


a wishy-washy melodramatic movie that shows us plenty of sturm und drung , but explains its characters ' decisions only unsatisfactorily .


a tired , unnecessary retread ... a stale copy of a picture that was n't all that great to begin with .


hardman is a grating , mannered onscreen presence , which is especially unfortunate in light of the fine work done by most of the rest of her cast .


like the series , the movie is funny , smart , visually inventive , and most of all , alive .


is n't as sharp as the original ... despite some visual virtues , ` blade ii ' just does n't cut it .


enigma lacks it .


now i can see why people thought i was too hard on `` the mothman prophecies '' .


mr. caine and mr. fraser are the whole show here , with their memorable and resourceful performances .


too bad none of it is funny .


overcomes its visual hideousness with a sharp script and strong performances .


there 's no conversion effort , much of the writing is genuinely witty and both stars are appealing enough to probably have a good shot at a hollywood career , if they want one .


yet in its own aloof , unreachable way it 's so fascinating you wo n't be able to look away for a second .


a late-night cable sexploitation romp masquerading as a thriller about the ruthless social order that governs college cliques .


this film puts wang at the forefront of china 's sixth generation of film makers .


a sobering and powerful documentary about the most severe kind of personal loss : rejection by one 's mother .


like the full monty , this is sure to raise audience 's spirits and leave them singing long after the credits roll .


i have always appreciated a smartly written motion picture , and , whatever flaws igby goes down may possess , it is undeniably that .


-lrb- n -rrb- o matter how much good will the actors generate , showtime eventually folds under its own thinness .


not many movies have that kind of impact on me these days .


after sitting through this sloppy , made-for-movie comedy special , it makes me wonder if lawrence hates criticism so much that he refuses to evaluate his own work .


texan director george ratliff had unlimited access to families and church meetings , and he delivers fascinating psychological fare .


obviously , a lot of people wasted a lot of their time -lrb- including mine -rrb- on something very inconsequential .


blade ii is as estrogen-free as movies get , so you might want to leave your date behind for this one , or she 's gonna make you feel like you owe her big-time .


should have gone straight to video .


maryam is more timely now than ever .


koepp 's screenplay is n't nearly surprising or clever enough to sustain a reasonable degree of suspense on its own .


it deserves to be seen everywhere .


a timely look back at civil disobedience , anti-war movements and the power of strong voices .


the animation is competent , and some of the gags are quite funny , but jonah ... never shakes the oppressive , morally superior good-for-you quality that almost automatically accompanies didactic entertainment .


you do n't need to know your ice-t 's from your cool-j 's to realize that as far as these shootings are concerned , something is rotten in the state of california .


by turns very dark and very funny .


completely awful iranian drama ... as much fun as a grouchy ayatollah in a cold mosque .


suspend your disbelief here and now , or you 'll be shaking your head all the way to the credits .


nothing more than four or five mild chuckles surrounded by 86 minutes of overly-familiar and poorly-constructed comedy .


uneven but a lot of fun .


the satire is just too easy to be genuinely satisfying .


the biggest problem i have -lrb- other than the very sluggish pace -rrb- is we never really see her esther blossom as an actress , even though her talent is supposed to be growing .


... it 's as comprehensible as any dummies guide , something even non-techies can enjoy .


a zombie movie in every sense of the word -- mindless , lifeless , meandering , loud , painful , obnoxious .


-lrb- moore 's -rrb- better at fingering problems than finding solutions .


... fuses the events of her life with the imagery in her paintings so vividly that the artist 's work may take on a striking new significance for anyone who sees the film .


is there a group of more self-absorbed women than the mother and daughters featured in this film ?


there are cheesy backdrops , ridiculous action sequences , and many tired jokes about men in heels .


-lrb- green is -rrb- the comedy equivalent of saddam hussein , and i 'm just about ready to go to the u.n. and ask permission for a preemptive strike .


a difficult but worthy film that bites off more than it can chew by linking the massacre of armenians in 1915 with some difficult relationships in the present .


once again , director chris columbus takes a hat-in-hand approach to rowling that stifles creativity and allows the film to drag on for nearly three hours .


some of the characters die and others do n't , and the film pretends that those living have learned some sort of lesson , and , really , nobody in the viewing audience cares .


brave and sweetly rendered love story .


for decades we 've marveled at disney 's rendering of water , snow , flames and shadows in a hand-drawn animated world .


the level of acting elevates the material above pat inspirational status and gives it a sturdiness and solidity that we 've long associated with washington the actor .


curling may be a unique sport but men with brooms is distinctly ordinary .


while tattoo borrows heavily from both seven and the silence of the lambs , it manages to maintain both a level of sophisticated intrigue and human-scale characters that suck the audience in .


although bright , well-acted and thought-provoking , tuck everlasting suffers from a laconic pace and a lack of traditional action .


long before it 's over , you 'll be thinking of 51 ways to leave this loser .


the film belongs to the marvelous verdu , a sexy slip of an earth mother who mourns her tragedies in private and embraces life in public


a thought-provoking and often-funny drama about isolation .


bittersweet comedy\/drama full of life , hand gestures , and some really adorable italian guys .


it 's not the worst comedy of the year , but it certainly wo n't win any honors .


the town has kind of an authentic feel , but each one of these people stand out and everybody else is in the background and it just seems manufactured to me and artificial .


this is a sincerely crafted picture that deserves to emerge from the traffic jam of holiday movies .


remarkable for its intelligence and intensity .


a complete waste of time .


should be required viewing for civics classes and would-be public servants alike .


an intimate contemplation of two marvelously messy lives .


you never know where changing lanes is going to take you but it 's a heck of a ride .


resident evil is n't a product of its cinematic predecessors so much as an mtv , sugar hysteria , and playstation cocktail .


that works .


what 's most memorable about circuit is that it 's shot on digital video , whose tiny camera enables shafer to navigate spaces both large ... and small ... with considerable aplomb .


the journey is worth your time , especially if you have ellen pompeo sitting next to you for the ride .


a classy , sprightly spin on film .


frankly , it 's kind of insulting , both to men and women .


in addition to the overcooked , ham-fisted direction , which has all the actors reaching for the back row , the dialogue sounds like horrible poetry .


watching austin powers in goldmember is like binging on cotton candy .


nothing overly original , mind you , but solidly entertaining .


it ends up being neither , and fails at both endeavors .


so putrid it is not worth the price of the match that should be used to burn every print of the film .


one of the finest , most humane and important holocaust movies ever made .


would n't it be funny if a bunch of allied soldiers went undercover as women in a german factory during world war ii ?


this fascinating look at israel in ferment feels as immediate as the latest news footage from gaza and , because of its heightened , well-shaped dramas , twice as powerful .


if villainous vampires are your cup of blood , blade 2 is definitely a cut above the rest .


but this is lohman 's film .


if swimfan does catch on , it may be because teens are looking for something to make them laugh .


a shame that stealing harvard is too busy getting in its own way to be anything but frustrating , boring , and forgettable .


the script 's snazzy dialogue establishes a realistic atmosphere that involves us in the unfolding crisis , but the lazy plotting ensures that little of our emotional investment pays off .


personal velocity has a no-frills docu-dogma plainness , yet miller lingers on invisible , nearly psychic nuances , leaping into digressions of memory and desire .


refreshing .


a clichéd and shallow cautionary tale about the hard-partying lives of gay men .


by the end of it all i sort of loved the people onscreen , even though i could not stand them .


the waterlogged script plumbs uncharted depths of stupidity , incoherence and sub-sophomoric sexual banter .


... a rich and intelligent film that uses its pulpy core conceit to probe questions of attraction and interdependence and how the heart accomodates practical needs .


director chris eyre is going through the paces again with his usual high melodramatic style of filmmaking .


while the film is competent , it 's also uninspired , lacking the real talent and wit to elevate it beyond its formula to the level of classic romantic comedy to which it aspires .


the locale ... remains far more interesting than the story at hand .


releasing a film with the word ` dog ' in its title in january lends itself to easy jokes and insults , and snow dogs deserves every single one of them .


alternating between facetious comic parody and pulp melodrama , this smart-aleck movie ... tosses around some intriguing questions about the difference between human and android life .


director todd solondz has made a movie about critical reaction to his two previous movies , and about his responsibility to the characters that he creates .


shankman ... and screenwriter karen janszen bungle their way through the narrative as if it were a series of bible parables and not an actual story .


cinematic poo .


she 's as rude and profane as ever , always hilarious and , most of the time , absolutely right in her stinging social observations .


i ca n't begin to tell you how tedious , how resolutely unamusing , how thoroughly unrewarding all of this is , and what a reckless squandering of four fine acting talents ...


buries an interesting storyline about morality and the choices we make underneath such a mountain of clichés and borrowed images that it might more accurately be titled mr. chips off the old block .


in an art film !


the movie just has too much on its plate to really stay afloat for its just under ninety minute running time .


presents a side of contemporary chinese life that many outsiders will be surprised to know exists , and does so with an artistry that also smacks of revelation .


after watching it , you can only love the players it brings to the fore for the gifted but no-nonsense human beings they are and for the still-inestimable contribution they have made to our shared history .


promises is a compelling piece that demonstrates just how well children can be trained to live out and carry on their parents ' anguish .


so-so entertainment .


it is most remarkable not because of its epic scope , but because of the startling intimacy it achieves despite that breadth .


robin williams has thankfully ditched the saccharine sentimentality of bicentennial man in favour of an altogether darker side .


throwing it all away for the fleeting joys of love 's brief moment .


the sweetest thing is expressly for idiots who do n't care what kind of sewage they shovel into their mental gullets to simulate sustenance .


the film would have been more enjoyable had the balance shifted in favor of water-bound action over the land-based ` drama , ' but the emphasis on the latter leaves blue crush waterlogged .


tackles the difficult subject of grief and loss with such life-embracing spirit that the theme does n't drag an audience down .


a disaster of a drama , saved only by its winged assailants .


playfully profound ... and crazier than michael jackson on the top floor of a skyscraper nursery surrounded by open windows .


the story itself is actually quite vapid .


this orange has some juice , but it 's far from fresh-squeezed .


he does n't , however , deliver nearly enough of the show 's trademark style and flash .


no amount of good intentions is able to overcome the triviality of the story .


the film has several strong performances .


nothing here seems as funny as it did in analyze this , not even joe viterelli as de niro 's right-hand goombah .


the wild thornberrys movie has all the sibling rivalry and general family chaos to which anyone can relate .


too predictably , in fact .


the emperor 's club is one of those films that possesses all the good intentions in the world , but ...


what makes how i killed my father compelling , besides its terrific performances , is fontaine 's willingness to wander into the dark areas of parent-child relationships without flinching .


apart from its own considerable achievement , metropolis confirms tezuka 's status as both the primary visual influence on the animé tradition and its defining philosophical conscience .


it is that rare combination of bad writing , bad direction and bad acting -- the trifecta of badness .


japanese director shohei imamura 's latest film is an odd but ultimately satisfying blend of the sophomoric and the sublime .


only in its final surprising shots does rabbit-proof fence find the authority it 's looking for .


one of the more glaring signs of this movie 's servitude to its superstar is the way it skirts around any scenes that might have required genuine acting from ms. spears .


jaw-droppingly superficial , straining to get by on humor that is not even as daring as john ritter 's glory days on three 's company .


not too fancy , not too filling , not too fluffy , but definitely tasty and sweet .


a true pleasure .


lacks the spirit of the previous two , and makes all those jokes about hos and even more unmentionable subjects seem like mere splashing around in the muck .


if you go into the theater expecting a scary , action-packed chiller , you might soon be looking for a sign .


a movie of technical skill and rare depth of intellect and feeling .


no big hairy deal .


i loved this film .


if this is cinema , i pledge allegiance to cagney and lacey .


could this be the first major studio production shot on video tape instead of film ?


for the most part , it works beautifully as a movie without sacrificing the integrity of the opera .


it 's loud and boring ; watching it is like being trapped at a bad rock concert .


probably the best case for christianity since chesterton and lewis .


gives us a lot to chew on , but not all of it has been properly digested .


i suspect that you 'll be as bored watching morvern callar as the characters are in it .


this ill-conceived and expensive project winds up looking like a bunch of talented thesps slumming it .


this is one of mr. chabrol 's subtlest works , but also one of his most uncanny .


despite the holes in the story and the somewhat predictable plot , moments of the movie caused me to jump in my chair ...


sparse but oddly compelling .


despite the opulent lushness of every scene , the characters never seem to match the power of their surroundings .


in a strange way , egoyan has done too much .


it 's a powerful though flawed movie , guaranteed to put a lump in your throat while reaffirming washington as possibly the best actor working in movies today .


the movie is virtually without context -- journalistic or historical .


-lrb- the film 's -rrb- taste for `` shock humor '' will wear thin on all but those weaned on the comedy of tom green and the farrelly brothers .


as a remake , it 's a pale imitation .


lan yu is a genuine love story , full of traditional layers of awakening and ripening and separation and recovery .


-lrb- washington 's -rrb- strong hand , keen eye , sweet spirit and good taste are reflected in almost every scene .


only about as sexy and dangerous as an actress in a role that reminds at every turn of elizabeth berkley 's flopping dolphin-gasm .


i 'm left slightly disappointed that it did n't .


this is lightweight filmmaking , to be sure , but it 's pleasant enough -- and oozing with attractive men .


i was impressed by how many tit-for-tat retaliatory responses the filmmakers allow before pulling the plug on the conspirators and averting an american-russian armageddon .


entertaining enough , but nothing new


arty gay film .


pure cinematic intoxication , a wildly inventive mixture of comedy and melodrama , tastelessness and swooning elegance .


changing lanes tries for more .


the only time 8 crazy nights comes close to hitting a comedic or satirical target is during the offbeat musical numbers .


the predominantly amateur cast is painful to watch , so stilted and unconvincing are the performances .


sean penn , you owe nicolas cage an apology .


the film exudes the urbane sweetness that woody allen seems to have bitterly forsaken .


ludicrous , but director carl franklin adds enough flourishes and freak-outs to make it entertaining .


for his first attempt at film noir , spielberg presents a fascinating but flawed look at the near future .


a lively and engaging examination of how similar obsessions can dominate a family .


certainly the performances are worthwhile .


fifty years after the fact , the world 's political situation seems little different , and -lrb- director phillip -rrb- noyce brings out the allegory with remarkable skill .


i do n't feel the least bit ashamed in admitting that my enjoyment came at the expense of seeing justice served , even if it 's a dish that 's best served cold .


the acting in pauline and paulette is good all round , but what really sets the film apart is debrauwer 's refusal to push the easy emotional buttons .


spectacularly beautiful , not to mention mysterious , sensual , emotionally intense , and replete with virtuoso throat-singing .


a weird and wonderful comedy .


smart and taut .


a non-britney person might survive a screening with little harm done , except maybe for the last 15 minutes , which are as maudlin as any after-school special you can imagine .


c'mon !


this is one of the outstanding thrillers of recent years .


will be far more interesting to the soderbergh faithful than it will be to the casual moviegoer who might be lured in by julia roberts ...


in the end , the film is less the cheap thriller you 'd expect than it is a fairly revealing study of its two main characters -- damaged-goods people whose orbits will inevitably and dangerously collide .


a searing , epic treatment of a nationwide blight that seems to be , horrifyingly , ever on the rise .


every individual will see the movie through the prism of his or her own beliefs and prejudices , but the one thing most will take away is the sense that peace is possible .


the film is a masterpiece of nuance and characterization , marred only by an inexplicable , utterly distracting blunder at the very end .


an extraordinary dramatic experience .


piccoli 's performance is amazing , yes , but the symbols of loss and denial and life-at-arm 's - length in the film seem irritatingly transparent .


no film could possibly be more contemptuous of the single female population .


it 's clear why deuces wild , which was shot two years ago , has been gathering dust on mgm 's shelf .


drowning 's too good for this sucker .


rob schneider , dana carvey and sarah michelle gellar in the philadelphia story ?


the path ice age follows most closely , though , is the one established by warner bros. giant chuck jones , who died a matter of weeks before the movie 's release .


if i could have looked into my future and saw how bad this movie was , i would go back and choose to skip it .


as inept as big-screen remakes of the avengers and the wild wild west .


everything -- even life on an aircraft carrier -- is sentimentalized .


a bittersweet film , simple in form but rich with human events .


a classic fairy tale that perfectly captures the wonders and worries of childhood in a way that few movies have ever approached .


directed with purpose and finesse by england 's roger mitchell , who handily makes the move from pleasing , relatively lightweight commercial fare such as notting hill to commercial fare with real thematic heft .


it 's an odd show , pregnant with moods , stillborn except as a harsh conceptual exercise .


cletis is playful but highly studied and dependent for its success on a patient viewer .


would benigni 's italian pinocchio have been any easier to sit through than this hastily dubbed disaster ?


this is a fudged opportunity of gigantic proportions -- a lunar mission with no signs of life .


each punch seen through prison bars , the fights become not so much a struggle of man vs. man as brother-man vs. the man .


there 's an admirable rigor to jimmy 's relentless anger , and to the script 's refusal of a happy ending , but as those monologues stretch on and on , you realize there 's no place for this story to go but down .


i 'll stay with the stage versions , however , which bite cleaner , and deeper .


it 's a movie that ends with truckzilla , for cryin ' out loud .


chalk it up as the worst kind of hubristic folly .


the story , once it gets rolling , is nothing short of a great one .


they just do n't work in concert .


a movie that falls victim to frazzled wackiness and frayed satire .


it 's supposed to be a humorous , all-too-human look at how hope can breed a certain kind of madness -- and strength -- but it never quite adds up .


an unintentionally surreal kid 's picture ... in which actors in bad bear suits enact a sort of inter-species parody of a vh1 behind the music episode .


both damning and damned compelling .


it 's not original enough .


apart from anything else , this is one of the best-sustained ideas i have ever seen on the screen .


the adventures of pluto nash is a whole lot of nada .


a meditation on faith and madness , frailty is blood-curdling stuff .


he 's one of the few ` cool ' actors who never seems aware of his own coolness .


this 100-minute movie only has about 25 minutes of decent material .


a serious movie with serious ideas .


attal 's hang-ups surrounding infidelity are so old-fashioned and , dare i say , outdated , it 's a wonder that he could n't have brought something fresher to the proceedings simply by accident .


plot , characters , drama , emotions , ideas -- all are irrelevant to the experience of seeing the scorpion king .


stripped almost entirely of such tools as nudity , profanity and violence , labute does manage to make a few points about modern man and his problematic quest for human connection .


it 's the cute frissons of discovery and humor between chaplin and kidman that keep this nicely wound clock not just ticking , but humming .


leave it to the french to truly capture the terrifying angst of the modern working man without turning the film into a cheap thriller , a dumb comedy or a sappy melodrama .


beautiful to watch and holds a certain charm .


campbell scott finds the ideal outlet for his flick-knife diction in the role of roger swanson .


it 's like a `` big chill '' reunion of the baader-meinhof gang , only these guys are more harmless pranksters than political activists .


then you 'd do well to check this one out because it 's straight up twin peaks action ...


aside from showing us in explicit detail how difficult it is to win over the two-drink-minimum crowd , there 's little to be learned from watching ` comedian '


mana gives us compelling , damaged characters who we want to help -- or hurt .


that neither protagonist has a distinguishable condition hardly matters because both are just actory concoctions , defined by childlike dimness and a handful of quirks .


land , people and narrative flow together in a stark portrait of motherhood deferred and desire explored .


did the film inform and educate me ?


barney 's ideas about creation and identity do n't really seem all that profound , at least by way of what can be gleaned from this three-hour endurance test built around an hour 's worth of actual material .


build some robots , haul 'em to the theatre with you for the late show , and put on your own mystery science theatre 3000 tribute to what is almost certainly going to go down as the worst -- and only -- killer website movie of this or any other year .


cineasts will revel in those visual in-jokes , as in the film 's verbal pokes at everything from the likes of miramax chief harvey weinstein 's bluff personal style to the stylistic rigors of denmark 's dogma movement .


bottom-rung new jack city wannabe .


despite the fact that this film was n't as bad as i thought it was going to be , it 's still not a good movie


but this time , the old mib label stands for milder is n't better .


forget the misleading title , what 's with the unexplained baboon cameo ?


it 's clotted with heavy-handed symbolism , dime-store psychology and endless scenic shots that make 105 minutes seem twice as long .


what 's surprising about this traditional thriller , moderately successful but not completely satisfying , is exactly how genteel and unsurprising the execution turns out to be .


yet another entry in the sentimental oh-those-wacky-brits genre that was ushered in by the full monty and is still straining to produce another smash hit .


every conceivable mistake a director could make in filming opera has been perpetrated here .


the film 's desire to be liked sometimes undermines the possibility for an exploration of the thornier aspects of the nature\/nurture argument in regards to homosexuality .


a standard police-oriented drama that , were it not for de niro 's participation , would have likely wound up a tnt original .


yet another movie which presumes that high school social groups are at war , let alone conscious of each other 's existence .


with notorious c.h.o. cho proves she has the stuff to stand tall with pryor , carlin and murphy .


watching this film , one is left with the inescapable conclusion that hitchens ' obsession with kissinger is , at bottom , a sophisticated flower child 's desire to purge the world of the tooth and claw of human power .


e.t. works because its flabbergasting principals , 14-year-old robert macnaughton , 6-year-old drew barrymore and 10-year-old henry thomas , convince us of the existence of the wise , wizened visitor from a faraway planet .


so unique and stubborn and charismatic that you want it to be better and more successful than it is .


yes , it 's as good as you remember .


for veggietales fans , this is more appetizing than a side dish of asparagus .


there are problems with this film that even 3 oscar winners ca n't overcome , but it 's a nice girl-buddy movie once it gets rock-n-rolling .


as directed by dani kouyate of burkina faso , sia lacks visual flair .


full of detail about the man and his country , and is well worth seeing .


little more than a well-mounted history lesson .


wallace directs with such patronising reverence , it turns the stomach .


peter jackson and company once again dazzle and delight us , fulfilling practically every expectation either a longtime tolkien fan or a movie-going neophyte could want .


this tale has been told and retold ; the races and rackets change , but the song remains the same .


a joyous occasion


-lrb- `` take care of my cat '' -rrb- is an honestly nice little film that takes us on an examination of young adult life in urban south korea through the hearts and minds of the five principals .


a bonanza of wacky sight gags , outlandish color schemes , and corny visual puns that can be appreciated equally as an abstract frank tashlin comedy and as a playful recapitulation of the artist 's career .


novak contemplates a heartland so overwhelmed by its lack of purpose that it seeks excitement in manufactured high drama .


one-of-a-kind near-masterpiece .


trying to figure out the rules of the country bear universe -- when are bears bears and when are they like humans , only hairier -- would tax einstein 's brain .


a thoroughly engaging , surprisingly touching british comedy .


you have no affinity for most of the characters .


its salient points are simultaneously buried , drowned and smothered in the excesses of writer-director roger avary .


sensitively examines general issues of race and justice among the poor , and specifically raises serious questions about the death penalty and asks what good the execution of a mentally challenged woman could possibly do .


whether or not you buy mr. broomfield 's findings , the film acquires an undeniable entertainment value as the slight , pale mr. broomfield continues to force himself on people and into situations that would make lesser men run for cover .


a relentless , bombastic and ultimately empty world war ii action flick .


charlotte sometimes is a brilliant movie .


move over bond ; this girl deserves a sequel .


an exceptionally dreary and overwrought bit of work , every bit as imperious as katzenberg 's the prince of egypt from 1998 .


for a story set at sea , ghost ship is pretty landbound , with its leaden acting , dull exposition and telegraphed ` surprises . '


congrats disney on a job well done , i enjoyed it just as much !


a muddy psychological thriller rife with miscalculations .


is it possible for a documentary to be utterly entranced by its subject and still show virtually no understanding of it ?


it 's a piece of handiwork that shows its indie tatters and self-conscious seams in places , but has some quietly moving moments and an intelligent subtlety .


the movie 's plot is almost entirely witless and inane , carrying every gag two or three times beyond its limit to sustain a laugh .


in between all the emotional seesawing , it 's hard to figure the depth of these two literary figures , and even the times in which they lived .


expect no major discoveries , nor any stylish sizzle , but the film sits with square conviction and touching good sense on the experience of its women .


an exit sign , that is .


beautifully crafted and brutally honest , promises offers an unexpected window into the complexities of the middle east struggle and into the humanity of its people .


entirely suspenseful , extremely well-paced and ultimately ... dare i say , entertaining !


just dreadful .


bill morrison 's decasia is uncompromising , difficult and unbearably beautiful .


a superlative b movie -- funny , sexy , and rousing .


the advantage of a postapocalyptic setting is that it can be made on the cheap .


yet another genre exercise , gangster no. 1 is as generic as its title .


before it collapses into exactly the kind of buddy cop comedy it set out to lampoon , anyway .


a well-acted movie that simply does n't gel .


... while dark water is n't a complete wash -lrb- no pun intended -rrb- , watched side-by-side with ringu , it ultimately comes off as a pale successor .


plays out with a dogged and eventually winning squareness that would make it the darling of many a kids-and-family-oriented cable channel .


the movie is obviously a labour of love so howard appears to have had free rein to be as pretentious as he wanted .


one feels the dimming of a certain ambition , but in its place a sweetness , clarity and emotional openness that recalls the classics of early italian neorealism .


the script 's judgment and sense of weight is way , way off .


the filmmakers might want to look it up .


despite its dry wit and compassion , the film suffers from a philosophical emptiness and maddeningly sedate pacing .


is a mess .


adroit but finally a trifle flat , mad love does n't galvanize its outrage the way , say , jane campion might have done , but at least it possesses some .


... quite endearing .


a mess , but it 's a sincere mess .


hip-hop prison thriller of stupefying absurdity .


i found myself liking the film , though in this case one man 's treasure could prove to be another man 's garbage .


a domestic melodrama with weak dialogue and biopic cliches .


a little better than sorcerer 's stone .


nothing short of wonderful with its ten-year-old female protagonist and its steadfast refusal to set up a dualistic battle between good and evil .


almost as offensive as `` freddy got fingered . ''


imagine susan sontag falling in love with howard stern .


cockettes has the glorious , gaudy benefit of much stock footage of those days , featuring all manner of drag queen , bearded lady and lactating hippie .


there 's no point of view , no contemporary interpretation of joan 's prefeminist plight , so we 're left thinking the only reason to make the movie is because present standards allow for plenty of nudity .


narc can only remind us of brilliant crime dramas without becoming one itself .


a listless sci-fi comedy in which eddie murphy deploys two guises and elaborate futuristic sets to no particularly memorable effect .


renner carries much of the film with a creepy and dead-on performance .


renner ?


brainy , artistic and muted , almost to the point of suffocation .


the film fits into a genre that has been overexposed , redolent of a thousand cliches , and yet remains uniquely itself , vibrant with originality .


the sequel plays out like a flimsy excuse to give blade fans another look at wesley snipes ' iconic hero doing battle with dozens of bad guys -- at once .


wendigo wants to be a monster movie for the art-house crowd , but it falls into the trap of pretention almost every time .


steven soderbergh does n't remake andrei tarkovsky 's solaris so much as distill it .


although melodramatic and predictable , this romantic comedy explores the friendship between five filipino-americans and their frantic efforts to find love .


a compelling yarn , but not quite a ripping one .


if routine action and jokes like this are your cup of tea , then pay your $ 8 and get ready for the big shear .


tale will be all too familiar for anyone who 's seen george roy hill 's 1973 film , `` the sting . ''


secretary is not a movie about fetishism .


warm and exotic .


the movie 's blatant derivativeness is one reason it 's so lackluster .


rehearsals are frequently more fascinating than the results .


like a grinning jack o ' lantern , its apparent glee is derived from a lobotomy , having had all its vital essence scooped out and discarded .


the story is virtually impossible to follow here , but there 's a certain style and wit to the dialogue .


a dazzling thing to behold -- as long as you 're wearing the somewhat cumbersome 3d goggles the theater provides .


it 's a wonderful , sobering , heart-felt drama .


here 's yet another cool crime movie that actually manages to bring something new into the mix .


one of those movies that make us pause and think of what we have given up to acquire the fast-paced contemporary society .


done in mostly by a weak script that ca n't support the epic treatment .


troll the cult section of your local video store for the real deal .


unfortunately , kapur modernizes a.e.w. mason 's story to suit the sensibilities of a young american , a decision that plucks `` the four feathers '' bare .


uneven , self-conscious but often hilarious spoof .


the phone rings and a voice tells you you 've got seven days left to live .


deserving of its critical backlash and more .


entertainment more disposable than hanna-barbera 's half-hour cartoons ever were .


when the twist endings were actually surprising ?


do we really need another film that praises female self-sacrifice ?


more mature than fatal attraction , more complete than indecent proposal and more relevant than 9 1\/2 weeks , unfaithful is at once intimate and universal cinema .


the wonder of mostly martha is the performance of gedeck , who makes martha enormously endearing .


a battle between bug-eye theatre and dead-eye matinee .


like a tarantino movie with heart , alias betty is richly detailed , deftly executed and utterly absorbing .


it 's hard to say who might enjoy this , are there tolstoy groupies out there ?


this movie is to be cherished .


in all fairness , i must report that the children of varying ages in my audience never coughed , fidgeted or romped up and down the aisles for bathroom breaks .


the screenplay is hugely overwritten , with tons and tons of dialogue -- most of it given to children .


entertains not so much because of its music or comic antics , but through the perverse pleasure of watching disney scrape the bottom of its own cracker barrel .


ryan gosling ... is at 22 a powerful young actor .


-lrb- garbus -rrb- discards the potential for pathological study , exhuming instead , the skewed melodrama of the circumstantial situation .


i am highly amused by the idea that we have come to a point in society where it has been deemed important enough to make a film in which someone has to be hired to portray richard dawson .


while this movie , by necessity , lacks fellowship 's heart , two towers outdoes its spectacle .


for those who are intrigued by politics of the '70s , the film is every bit as fascinating as it is flawed .


an absorbing and unsettling psychological drama .


skillful as he is , mr. shyamalan is undone by his pretensions .


like the best of godard 's movies ... it is visually ravishing , penetrating , impenetrable .


with wit and empathy to spare , waydowntown acknowledges the silent screams of workaday inertia but stops short of indulging its characters ' striving solipsism .


spare but quietly effective retelling .


the story that emerges has elements of romance , tragedy and even silent-movie comedy .


this is an insultingly inept and artificial examination of grief and its impacts upon the relationships of the survivors .


it 's a strange film , one that was hard for me to warm up to .


a series of immaculately composed shots of patch adams quietly freaking out does not make for much of a movie .


chomp chomp !


harks back to a time when movies had more to do with imagination than market research .


all the queen 's men is a throwback war movie that fails on so many levels , it should pay reparations to viewers .


fessenden 's narrative is just as much about the ownership and redefinition of myth as it is about a domestic unit finding their way to joy .


the exclamation point seems to be the only bit of glee you 'll find in this dreary mess .


a banal , virulently unpleasant excuse for a romantic comedy .


a must see for all sides of the political spectrum


the storylines are woven together skilfully , the magnificent swooping aerial shots are breathtaking , and the overall experience is awesome .


skip the film and buy the philip glass soundtrack cd .


viewed as a comedy , a romance , a fairy tale , or a drama , there 's nothing remotely triumphant about this motion picture .


... unspeakably , unbearably dull , featuring reams of flatly delivered dialogue and a heroine who comes across as both shallow and dim-witted .


forages for audience sympathy like a temperamental child begging for attention , giving audiences no reason to truly care for its decrepit freaks beyond the promise of a reprieve from their incessant whining .


an action\/thriller of the finest kind , evoking memories of day of the jackal , the french connection , and heat .


beyond the cleverness , the weirdness and the pristine camerawork , one hour photo is a sobering meditation on why we take pictures .


the best part about `` gangs '' was daniel day-lewis .


... hypnotically dull .


we ca n't accuse kung pow for misfiring , since it is exactly what it wants to be : an atrociously , mind-numbingly , indescribably bad movie .


but then again , i hate myself most mornings .


a charming and funny story of clashing cultures and a clashing mother\/daughter relationship .


although purportedly a study in modern alienation , it 's really little more than a particularly slanted , gay s\/m fantasy , enervating and deadeningly drawn-out .


if signs is a good film , and it is , the essence of a great one is in there somewhere .


it can be safely recommended as a video\/dvd babysitter .


the movie should jolt you out of your seat a couple of times , give you a few laughs , and leave you feeling like it was worth your seven bucks , even though it does turn out to be a bit of a cheat in the end .


part of the film 's cheeky charm comes from its vintage schmaltz .


a fun family movie that 's suitable for all ages -- a movie that will make you laugh , cry and realize , ` it 's never too late to believe in your dreams . '


unlike most anime , whose most ardent fans outside japan seem to be introverted young men with fantasy fetishes , metropolis never seems hopelessly juvenile .


there is something that is so meditative and lyrical about babak payami 's boldly quirky iranian drama secret ballot ... a charming and evoking little ditty that manages to show the gentle and humane side of middle eastern world politics


it winds up moving in many directions as it searches -lrb- vainly , i think -rrb- for something fresh to say .


it 's as if de palma spent an hour setting a fancy table and then served up kraft macaroni and cheese .


fulfills the minimum requirement of disney animation .


with or without the sex , a wonderful tale of love and destiny , told well by a master storyteller


rifkin no doubt fancies himself something of a hubert selby jr. , but there is n't an ounce of honest poetry in his entire script ; it 's simply crude and unrelentingly exploitative .


but it will just as likely make you weep , and it will do so in a way that does n't make you feel like a sucker .


the acting is just fine , but there 's not enough substance here to sustain interest for the full 90 minutes , especially with the weak payoff .


romantic comedy and dogme 95 filmmaking may seem odd bedfellows , but they turn out to be delightfully compatible here .


-lrb- a -rrb- rather thinly-conceived movie .


good , solid storytelling .


it 's a treat watching shaw , a british stage icon , melting under the heat of phocion 's attentions .


the film does n't sustain its initial promise with a jarring , new-agey tone creeping into the second half


a smug and convoluted action-comedy that does n't allow an earnest moment to pass without reminding audiences that it 's only a movie .


um ... is n't that the basis for the entire plot ?


-lrb- has -rrb- an immediacy and an intimacy that sucks you in and dares you not to believe it 's all true .


a deftly entertaining film , smartly played and smartly directed .


bogdanovich taps deep into the hearst mystique , entertainingly reenacting a historic scandal .


a terrible movie that some people will nevertheless find moving .


to blandly go where we went 8 movies ago ...


this is not a retread of `` dead poets ' society . ''


an intriguing near-miss .


the film 's lack of personality permeates all its aspects -- from the tv movie-esque , affected child acting to the dullest irish pub scenes ever filmed .


the kind of sense of humor that derives from a workman 's grasp of pun and entendre and its attendant need to constantly draw attention to itself .


craig bartlett and director tuck tucker should be commended for illustrating the merits of fighting hard for something that really matters .


rosenthal -lrb- halloween ii -rrb- seems to have forgotten everything he ever knew about generating suspense .


but it 's defiantly and delightfully against the grain .


famuyiwa 's feature deals with its subject matter in a tasteful , intelligent manner , rather than forcing us to endure every plot contrivance that the cliché-riddled genre can offer .


` matrix ' - style massacres erupt throughout ... but the movie has a tougher time balancing its violence with kafka-inspired philosophy .


-lrb- toback 's -rrb- fondness for fancy split-screen , stuttering editing and pompous references to wittgenstein and kirkegaard ... blends uneasily with the titillating material .


at a time when commercialism has squeezed the life out of whatever idealism american moviemaking ever had , godfrey reggio 's career shines like a lonely beacon .


the type of dumbed-down exercise in stereotypes that gives the -lrb- teen comedy -rrb- genre a bad name .


elegant and eloquent -lrb- meditation -rrb- on death and that most elusive of passions , love .


you bet there is and it 's what makes this rather convoluted journey worth taking .


weird .


-lrb- clooney 's -rrb- debut can be accused of being a bit undisciplined , but it has a tremendous , offbeat sense of style and humor that suggests he was influenced by some of the filmmakers who have directed him , especially the coen brothers and steven soderbergh .


pair that with really poor comedic writing ... and you 've got a huge mess .


it was a dark and stormy night ...


the audience when i saw this one was chuckling at all the wrong times , and that 's a bad sign when they 're supposed to be having a collective heart attack .


nicholas nickleby celebrates the human spirit with such unrelenting dickensian decency that it turned me -lrb- horrors ! -rrb-


romanek 's themes are every bit as distinctive as his visuals .


no worse a film than breaking out , and breaking out was utterly charming .


an empty , ugly exercise in druggy trance-noir and trumped-up street credibility .


scooby doo is surely everything its fans are hoping it will be , and in that sense is a movie that deserves recommendation .


a dim-witted and lazy spin-off of the animal planet documentary series , crocodile hunter is entertainment opportunism at its most glaring .


... an airless , prepackaged julia roberts wannabe that stinks so badly of hard-sell image-mongering you 'll wonder if lopez 's publicist should share screenwriting credit .


will anyone who is n't a fangoria subscriber be excited that it has n't gone straight to video ?


your children will be occupied for 72 minutes .


exciting and well-paced .


in this film , aussie david caesar channels the not-quite-dead career of guy ritchie .


wallace gets a bit heavy handed with his message at times , and has a visual flair that waxes poetic far too much for our taste .


lasker 's canny , meditative script distances sex and love , as byron and luther ... realize they ca n't get no satisfaction without the latter .


`` feardotcom '' has the makings of an interesting meditation on the ethereal nature of the internet and the otherworldly energies it could channel , but it simply becomes a routine shocker .


essentially , the film is weak on detail and strong on personality


like rudy yellow lodge , eyre needs to take a good sweat to clarify his cinematic vision before his next creation and remember the lessons of the trickster spider .


the amazing film work is so convincing that by movies ' end you 'll swear you are wet in some places and feel sand creeping in others .


it must be in the genes .


only for young children , if them .


femme fatale offers nothing more than a bait-and-switch that is beyond playing fair with the audience .


combines sharp comedy , old-fashioned monster movie atmospherics , and genuine heart to create a film that 's not merely about kicking undead \*\*\* , but also about dealing with regret and , ultimately , finding redemption .


just a bunch of good actors flailing around in a caper that 's neither original nor terribly funny .


while hoffman 's performance is great , the subject matter goes nowhere .


the movie does its best to work us over , with second helpings of love , romance , tragedy , false dawns , real dawns , comic relief , two separate crises during marriage ceremonies , and the lush scenery of the cotswolds .


filled with honest performances and exceptional detail , baran is a gentle film with dramatic punch , a haunting ode to humanity .


rodriguez does a splendid job of racial profiling hollywood style -- casting excellent latin actors of all ages -- a trend long overdue .


takashi miike keeps pushing the envelope : ichi the killer


more likely to have you scratching your head than hiding under your seat .


fairly run-of-the-mill .


so could young romantics out on a date .


despite its flaws ... belinsky is still able to create an engaging story that keeps you guessing at almost every turn .


the secrets of time travel will have been discovered , indulged in and rejected as boring before i see this piece of crap again .


the script boasts some tart tv-insider humor , but the film has not a trace of humanity or empathy .


though it 's not very well shot or composed or edited , the score is too insistent and the dialogue is frequently overwrought and crudely literal , the film shatters you in waves .


satin rouge is not a new , or inventive , journey , but it 's encouraging to see a three-dimensional , average , middle-aged woman 's experience of self-discovery handled with such sensitivity .


due to stodgy , soap opera-ish dialogue , the rest of the cast comes across as stick figures reading lines from a teleprompter .


it 's so crammed with scenes and vistas and pretty moments that it 's left a few crucial things out , like character development and coherence .


shamelessly resorting to pee-related sight gags that might even cause tom green a grimace ; still , myer 's energy and the silliness of it all eventually prevail


a hypnotic cyber hymn and a cruel story of youth culture .


noyce has worked wonders with the material .


a sometimes incisive and sensitive portrait that is undercut by its awkward structure and a final veering toward melodrama .


no thanks .


despite the predictable parent vs. child coming-of-age theme , first-class , natural acting and a look at `` the real americans '' make this a charmer .


delia , greta , and paula rank as three of the most multilayered and sympathetic female characters of the year .


best described as i know what you did last winter .


action - mechanical .


another wholly unnecessary addition to the growing , moldering pile of , well , extreme stunt pictures .


this would have been better than the fiction it has concocted , and there still could have been room for the war scenes .


it 's a bad sign in a thriller when you instantly know whodunit .


while the production details are lavish , film has little insight into the historical period and its artists , particularly in how sand developed a notorious reputation .


although olivier assayas ' elegantly appointed period drama seems , at times , padded with incident in the way of a too-conscientious adaptation ... its three-hour running time plays closer to two .


the tonal shifts are jolting , and though wen 's messages are profound and thoughtfully delivered , more thorough transitions would have made the film more cohesive .


dense and enigmatic ... elusive ... stagy and stilted


the moral shrapnel and mental shellshock will linger long after this film has ended .


a sleek advert for youthful anomie that never quite equals the sum of its pretensions .


overall , it 's a very entertaining , thought-provoking film with a simple message : god is love .


some movies were made for the big screen , some for the small screen , and some , like ballistic : ecks vs. sever , were made for the palm screen .


`` on guard ! ''


a minor work yet there 's no denying the potency of miller 's strange , fleeting brew of hopeful perseverance and hopeless closure .


a confident , richly acted , emotionally devastating piece of work and 2002 's first great film


labute 's careful handling makes the material seem genuine rather than pandering .


the whole film has this sneaky feel to it -- as if the director is trying to dupe the viewer into taking it all as very important simply because the movie is ugly to look at and not a hollywood product .


an inelegant combination of two unrelated shorts that falls far short of the director 's previous work in terms of both thematic content and narrative strength .


... a funny yet dark and seedy clash of cultures and generations .


routine and rather silly .


denver should not get the first and last look at one of the most triumphant performances of vanessa redgrave 's career .


as tricky and satisfying as any of david mamet 's airless cinematic shell games .


the best thing that can be said of the picture is that it does have a few cute moments .


the story is smart and entirely charming in intent and execution .


a different kind of love story - one that is dark , disturbing , painful to watch , yet compelling .


the action clichés just pile up .


not only does the thoroughly formulaic film represent totally exemplify middle-of-the-road mainstream , it also represents glossy hollywood at its laziest .


a delicious and delicately funny look at the residents of a copenhagen neighborhood coping with the befuddling complications life tosses at them .


if ever a concept came handed down from the movie gods on a silver platter , this is it .


you may be captivated , as i was , by its moods , and by its subtly transformed star , and still wonder why paul thomas anderson ever had the inclination to make the most sincere and artful movie in which adam sandler will probably ever appear .


`` brown sugar '' admirably aspires to be more than another `` best man '' clone by weaving a theme throughout this funny film .


highlighted by a gritty style and an excellent cast , it 's better than one might expect when you look at the list of movies starring ice-t in a major role .


far away .


the kind of trifle that date nights were invented for . .


all the actors are good in pauline & paulette but van der groen , described as ` belgium 's national treasure , ' is especially terrific as pauline .


gently humorous and touching .


puportedly `` based on true events , '' a convolution of language that suggests it 's impossible to claim that it is `` based on a true story '' with a straight face .