true to its animatronic roots : ... as stiff , ponderous and charmless as a mechanical apparatus ... ` the country bears ' should never have been brought out of hibernation .

adults , other than the parents ... will be hard pressed to succumb to the call of the wild .


although frailty fits into a classic genre , in its script and execution it is a remarkably original work .


it 's good , hard-edged stuff , violent and a bit exploitative but also nicely done , morally alert and street-smart .


jackson shamefully strolls through this mess with a smug grin , inexplicably wearing a kilt and carrying a bag of golf clubs over one shoulder .


fortunately , elling never gets too cloying thanks to the actors ' perfect comic timing and sweet , genuine chemistry .


an overstylized , puréed mélange of sex , psychology , drugs and philosophy .


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


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


it is scott 's convincing portrayal of roger the sad cad that really gives the film its oomph .

on the granger movie gauge of 1 to 10 , the powerpuff girls is a fast , frenetic , funny , even punny 6 -- aimed specifically at a grade-school audience .


like the hanks character , he 's a slow study : the action is stilted and the tabloid energy embalmed .


these people are really going to love the piano teacher .

it all plays out ... like a high-end john hughes comedy , a kind of elder bueller 's time out .


does n't deserve a passing grade -lrb- even on a curve -rrb- .


cinematic pyrotechnics aside , the only thing avary seems to care about are mean giggles and pulchritude .

what 's really sad is to see two academy award winning actresses -lrb- and one academy award winning actor -rrb- succumb to appearing in this junk that 's tv sitcom material at best .


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


it 's difficult to conceive of anyone who has reached puberty actually finding the characters in slackers or their antics amusing , let alone funny .

impostor is a step down for director gary fleder .


all leather pants & augmented boobs , hawn is hilarious as she tries to resuscitate the fun-loving libertine lost somewhere inside the conservative , handbag-clutching sarandon .


its initial excitement settles into a warmed over pastiche .


if ever such a dependable concept was botched in execution , this is it .

director elie chouraqui , who co-wrote the script , catches the chaotic horror of war , but why bother if you 're going to subjugate truth to the tear-jerking demands of soap opera ?


mostly , shafer and co-writer gregory hinton lack a strong-minded viewpoint , or a sense of humor .


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


a buoyant romantic comedy about friendship , love , and the truth that we 're all in this together .

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


the cinematic equivalent of patronizing a bar favored by pretentious , untalented artistes who enjoy moaning about their cruel fate .


after one gets the feeling that the typical hollywood disregard for historical truth and realism is at work here , it 's a matter of finding entertainment in the experiences of zishe and the fiery presence of hanussen .

the banter between calvin and his fellow barbers feels like a streetwise mclaughlin group ... and never fails to entertain .


there 's got to be a more graceful way of portraying the devastation of this disease .


a seriously bad film with seriously warped logic by writer-director kurt wimmer at the screenplay level .

like life on the island , the movie grows boring despite the scenery .


angel presents events partly from the perspective of aurelie and christelle , and infuses the film with the sensibility of a particularly nightmarish fairytale .


to the filmmakers , ivan is a prince of a fellow , but he comes across as shallow and glib though not mean-spirited , and there 's no indication that he 's been responsible for putting together any movies of particular value or merit .

though it pretends to expose the life of male hustlers , it 's exploitive without being insightful .


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


chan 's stunts are limited and so embellished by editing that there 's really not much of a sense of action or even action-comedy .


as a feature-length film , it wears out its welcome as tryingly as the title character .

... unlike -lrb- scorsese 's mean streets -rrb- , ash wednesday is essentially devoid of interesting characters or even a halfway intriguing plot .


whether or not you 're enlightened by any of derrida 's lectures on `` the other '' and `` the self , '' derrida is an undeniably fascinating and playful fellow .


hawn and sarandon form an acting bond that makes the banger sisters a fascinating character study with laughs to spare .


like the hanks character , he 's a slow study : the action is stilted and the tabloid energy embalmed .


one can only assume that the jury who bestowed star hoffman 's brother gordy with the waldo salt screenwriting award at 2002 's sundance festival were honoring an attempt to do something different over actually pulling it off


the solid filmmaking and convincing characters makes this a high water mark for this genre .


the solid filmmaking and convincing characters makes this a high water mark for this genre .

lovingly photographed in the manner of a golden book sprung to life , stuart little 2 manages sweetness largely without stickiness .


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


the film never finds its tone and several scenes run too long .


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 .


this bond film goes off the beaten path , not necessarily for the better .


turturro is fabulously funny and over the top as a ` very sneaky ' butler who excels in the art of impossible disappearing\/reappearing acts


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


there 's got to be a more graceful way of portraying the devastation of this disease .

we just do n't really care too much about this love story .


this is a fragmented film , once a good idea that was followed by the bad idea to turn it into a movie .

a droll , bitchy frolic which pokes fun at the price of popularity and small-town pretension in the lone star state .


though in some ways similar to catherine breillat 's fat girl , rain is the far superior film .


this bond film goes off the beaten path , not necessarily for the better .

chan 's stunts are limited and so embellished by editing that there 's really not much of a sense of action or even action-comedy .


and we do n't avert our eyes for a moment .


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

dogtown & z-boys evokes the blithe rebel fantasy with the kind of insouciance embedded in the sexy demise of james dean .


jackson shamefully strolls through this mess with a smug grin , inexplicably wearing a kilt and carrying a bag of golf clubs over one shoulder .


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

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


a baffling mixed platter of gritty realism and magic realism with a hard-to-swallow premise .


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

spider-man is about growing strange hairs , getting a more mature body , and finding it necessary to hide new secretions from the parental units .


the country bears wastes an exceptionally good idea .

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 .


yet another iteration of what 's become one of the movies ' creepiest conventions , in which the developmentally disabled are portrayed with almost supernatural powers to humble , teach and ultimately redeem their mentally `` superior '' friends , family ...

too much of storytelling moves away from solondz 's social critique , casting its audience as that of intellectual lector in contemplation of the auteur 's professional injuries .


sensual , funny and , in the end , very touching .


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


after one gets the feeling that the typical hollywood disregard for historical truth and realism is at work here , it 's a matter of finding entertainment in the experiences of zishe and the fiery presence of hanussen .


the script has less spice than a rat burger and the rock 's fighting skills are more in line with steven seagal .

has all the complexity and realistic human behavior of an episode of general hospital .


offers a clear-eyed chronicle of a female friendship that is more complex and honest than anything represented in a hollywood film .


` film aficionados can not help but love cinema paradiso , whether the original version or new director 's cut . '

spielberg 's picture is smarter and subtler than -lrb- total recall and blade runner -rrb- , although its plot may prove too convoluted for fun-seeking summer audiences .


director elie chouraqui , who co-wrote the script , catches the chaotic horror of war , but why bother if you 're going to subjugate truth to the tear-jerking demands of soap opera ?


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 .

ah , yes , that would be me : fighting off the urge to doze .


as comedic spotlights go , notorious c.h.o. hits all the verbal marks it should .


never inspires more than an interested detachment .

like life on the island , the movie grows boring despite the scenery .


a moving tale of love and destruction in unexpected places , unexamined lives .


... too contrived to be as naturally charming as it needs to be .


a lot more dimensional and complex than its sunny disposition would lead you to believe .


it is scott 's convincing portrayal of roger the sad cad that really gives the film its oomph .


talky , artificial and opaque ... an interesting technical exercise , but a tedious picture .

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


adults , other than the parents ... will be hard pressed to succumb to the call of the wild .

dull , a road-trip movie that 's surprisingly short of both adventure and song .


below may not mark mr. twohy 's emergence into the mainstream , but his promise remains undiminished .


it all plays out ... like a high-end john hughes comedy , a kind of elder bueller 's time out .


what they 're doing is a matter of plumbing arrangements and mind games , of no erotic or sensuous charge .


so devoid of pleasure or sensuality that it can not even be dubbed hedonistic .

this is a fragmented film , once a good idea that was followed by the bad idea to turn it into a movie .


it 's never dull and always looks good .


the story is bogus and its characters tissue-thin .


a bittersweet contemporary comedy about benevolent deception , which , while it may not rival the filmmaker 's period pieces , is still very much worth seeing .


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

sensual , funny and , in the end , very touching .


but the movie 's narrative hook is way too muddled to be an effectively chilling guilty pleasure .


a compelling yarn , but not quite a ripping one .


although god is great addresses interesting matters of identity and heritage , it 's hard to shake the feeling that it was intended to be a different kind of film .


... by the time it 's done with us , mira nair 's new movie has its audience giddy with the delight of discovery , of having been immersed in a foreign culture only to find that human nature is pretty much the same all over .


so devoid of pleasure or sensuality that it can not even be dubbed hedonistic .


the low-key direction is pleasingly emphatic in this properly intense , claustrophobic tale of obsessive love .


... unlike -lrb- scorsese 's mean streets -rrb- , ash wednesday is essentially devoid of interesting characters or even a halfway intriguing plot .


and we do n't avert our eyes for a moment .


contrived , maudlin and cliche-ridden ... if this sappy script was the best the contest received , those rejected must have been astronomically bad .


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

the script was reportedly rewritten a dozen times -- either 11 times too many or else too few .


the banter between calvin and his fellow barbers feels like a streetwise mclaughlin group ... and never fails to entertain .


anyone who suffers through this film deserves , at the very least , a big box of consolation candy .

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


this comic gem is as delightful as it is derivative .


adrift , bentley and hudson stare and sniffle , respectively , as ledger attempts , in vain , to prove that movie-star intensity can overcome bad hair design .

even accepting this in the right frame of mind can only provide it with so much leniency .


a poignant and gently humorous parable that loves its characters and communicates something rather beautiful about human nature .

spielberg 's picture is smarter and subtler than -lrb- total recall and blade runner -rrb- , although its plot may prove too convoluted for fun-seeking summer audiences .


maybe there 's a metaphor here , but figuring it out would n't make trouble every day any better .


wonder of wonders -- a teen movie with a humanistic message .

the lady and the duke is a smart , romantic drama that dares to depict the french revolution from the aristocrats ' perspective .


never inspires more than an interested detachment .


what 's hard to understand is why anybody picked it up .

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 .


while most films these days are about nothing , this film seems to be about everything that 's plaguing the human spirit in a relentlessly globalizing world .


nohe 's documentary about the event is sympathetic without being gullible : he is n't blind to the silliness , but also captures moments of spontaneous creativity and authentic co-operative interaction .

another trumpet blast that there may be a new mexican cinema a-bornin ' . '


the story is bogus and its characters tissue-thin .


fortunately , elling never gets too cloying thanks to the actors ' perfect comic timing and sweet , genuine chemistry .


impostor is a step down for director gary fleder .


one of the most gloriously unsubtle and adrenalized extreme shockers since the evil dead .

with so many bad romances out there , this is the kind of movie that deserves a chance to shine .


cinematic pyrotechnics aside , the only thing avary seems to care about are mean giggles and pulchritude .


although god is great addresses interesting matters of identity and heritage , it 's hard to shake the feeling that it was intended to be a different kind of film .

the film starts promisingly , but the ending is all too predictable and far too cliched to really work .


wonder of wonders -- a teen movie with a humanistic message .


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


it 's never dull and always looks good .

offers a clear-eyed chronicle of a female friendship that is more complex and honest than anything represented in a hollywood film .


like the hanks character , he 's a slow study : the action is stilted and the tabloid energy embalmed .


turturro is fabulously funny and over the top as a ` very sneaky ' butler who excels in the art of impossible disappearing\/reappearing acts

it 's a day at the beach -- with air conditioning and popcorn .


gets the look and the period trappings right , but it otherwise drowns in a sea of visual and verbal clichés .

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


maybe there 's a metaphor here , but figuring it out would n't make trouble every day any better .

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


turturro is fabulously funny and over the top as a ` very sneaky ' butler who excels in the art of impossible disappearing\/reappearing acts


snoots will no doubt rally to its cause , trotting out threadbare standbys like ` masterpiece ' and ` triumph ' and all that malarkey , but rarely does an established filmmaker so ardently waste viewers ' time with a gobbler like this .


woven together handsomely , recalling sixties ' rockumentary milestones from lonely boy to do n't look back .


despite terrific special effects and funnier gags , harry potter and the chamber of secrets finds a way to make j.k. rowling 's marvelous series into a deadly bore .

we just do n't really care too much about this love story .


with an admirably dark first script by brent hanley , paxton , making his directorial feature debut , does strong , measured work .

the acting , for the most part , is terrific , although the actors must struggle with the fact that they 're playing characters who sometimes feel more like literary conceits than flesh-and-blood humans .


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


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

below may not mark mr. twohy 's emergence into the mainstream , but his promise remains undiminished .


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 .


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

on the granger movie gauge of 1 to 10 , the powerpuff girls is a fast , frenetic , funny , even punny 6 -- aimed specifically at a grade-school audience .


if divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood suffers from a ploddingly melodramatic structure , it comes to life in the performances .


one of those films that seems tailor made to air on pay cable to offer some modest amusements when one has nothing else to watch .

the script has less spice than a rat burger and the rock 's fighting skills are more in line with steven seagal .


although frailty fits into a classic genre , in its script and execution it is a remarkably original work .

a hugely rewarding experience that 's every bit as enlightening , insightful and entertaining as grant 's two best films -- four weddings and a funeral and bridget jones 's diary .


the characters are based on stock clichés , and the attempt to complicate the story only defies credibility .


the events of the film are just so weird that i honestly never knew what the hell was coming next .

never inspires more than an interested detachment .


as comedic spotlights go , notorious c.h.o. hits all the verbal marks it should .

wonder of wonders -- a teen movie with a humanistic message .


despite terrific special effects and funnier gags , harry potter and the chamber of secrets finds a way to make j.k. rowling 's marvelous series into a deadly bore .


-lrb- rises -rrb- above its oh-so-hollywood rejiggering and its conventional direction to give the film a soul and an unabashed sense of good old-fashioned escapism .

it must be the end of the world : the best film so far this year is a franchise sequel starring wesley snipes .


impostor is a step down for director gary fleder .


` if you are in the mood for an intelligent weepy , it can easily worm its way into your heart . '

it 's never dull and always looks good .


the script was reportedly rewritten a dozen times -- either 11 times too many or else too few .


a raunchy and frequently hilarious follow-up to the gifted korean american stand-up 's i 'm the one that i want .

blessed with a searing lead performance by ryan gosling -lrb- murder by numbers -rrb- , the movie is powerful and provocative .


... unlike -lrb- scorsese 's mean streets -rrb- , ash wednesday is essentially devoid of interesting characters or even a halfway intriguing plot .


serious movie-goers embarking upon this journey will find that the road to perdition leads to a satisfying destination .

i have a new favorite musical -- and i 'm not even a fan of the genre


but the movie 's narrative hook is way too muddled to be an effectively chilling guilty pleasure .


a lot more dimensional and complex than its sunny disposition would lead you to believe .

fortunately , elling never gets too cloying thanks to the actors ' perfect comic timing and sweet , genuine chemistry .


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 .


angel presents events partly from the perspective of aurelie and christelle , and infuses the film with the sensibility of a particularly nightmarish fairytale .

at times , the movie looks genuinely pretty .


with an unusual protagonist -lrb- a kilt-wearing jackson -rrb- and subject matter , the improbable `` formula 51 '' is somewhat entertaining , but it could have been much stronger .

almodovar is an imaginative teacher of emotional intelligence in this engaging film about two men who discover what william james once called ` the gift of tears . '


the film has -lrb- its -rrb- moments , but they are few and far between .


the acting , for the most part , is terrific , although the actors must struggle with the fact that they 're playing characters who sometimes feel more like literary conceits than flesh-and-blood humans .


if you 're the kind of parent who enjoys intentionally introducing your kids to films which will cause loads of irreparable damage that years and years of costly analysis could never fix , i have just one word for you - -- decasia


a moving tale of love and destruction in unexpected places , unexamined lives .

although frailty fits into a classic genre , in its script and execution it is a remarkably original work .


a baffling mixed platter of gritty realism and magic realism with a hard-to-swallow premise .


nicks and steinberg match their own creations for pure venality -- that 's giving it the old college try .

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


dark and unrepentant , this excursion into the epicenter of percolating mental instability is not easily dismissed or forgotten .


another trumpet blast that there may be a new mexican cinema a-bornin ' . '

woody allen has really found his groove these days .


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 .


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

a poignant and gently humorous parable that loves its characters and communicates something rather beautiful about human nature .


like the hanks character , he 's a slow study : the action is stilted and the tabloid energy embalmed .


does n't deserve a passing grade -lrb- even on a curve -rrb- .


a bittersweet contemporary comedy about benevolent deception , which , while it may not rival the filmmaker 's period pieces , is still very much worth seeing .


problem is , we have no idea what in creation is going on .

never inspires more than an interested detachment .


one of those rare films that come by once in a while with flawless amounts of acting , direction , story and pace .


the movie is hardly a masterpiece , but it does mark ms. bullock 's best work in some time .

the banter between calvin and his fellow barbers feels like a streetwise mclaughlin group ... and never fails to entertain .


what 's hard to understand is why anybody picked it up .


the movie is hardly a masterpiece , but it does mark ms. bullock 's best work in some time .


the film is so busy making reference to other films and trying to be other films that it fails to have a heart , mind or humor of its own .

imagine kevin smith , the blasphemous bad boy of suburban jersey , if he were stripped of most of his budget and all of his sense of humor .


at times , the movie looks genuinely pretty .


ah , yes , that would be me : fighting off the urge to doze .


wonder of wonders -- a teen movie with a humanistic message .


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


on the granger movie gauge of 1 to 10 , the powerpuff girls is a fast , frenetic , funny , even punny 6 -- aimed specifically at a grade-school audience .


jackson shamefully strolls through this mess with a smug grin , inexplicably wearing a kilt and carrying a bag of golf clubs over one shoulder .


a good film with a solid pedigree both in front of and , more specifically , behind the camera .

it establishes its ominous mood and tension swiftly , and if the suspense never rises to a higher level , it is nevertheless maintained throughout .


a dark comedy that goes for sick and demented humor simply to do so .


impostor is a step down for director gary fleder .

little more than a well-mounted history lesson .


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

exudes the fizz of a busby berkeley musical and the visceral excitement of a sports extravaganza .


adrift , bentley and hudson stare and sniffle , respectively , as ledger attempts , in vain , to prove that movie-star intensity can overcome bad hair design .


likely to have decades of life as a classic movie franchise ?

it ai n't art , by a long shot , but unlike last year 's lame musketeer , this dumas adaptation entertains .


cinematic pyrotechnics aside , the only thing avary seems to care about are mean giggles and pulchritude .


director elie chouraqui , who co-wrote the script , catches the chaotic horror of war , but why bother if you 're going to subjugate truth to the tear-jerking demands of soap opera ?


it 's good , hard-edged stuff , violent and a bit exploitative but also nicely done , morally alert and street-smart .


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


all leather pants & augmented boobs , hawn is hilarious as she tries to resuscitate the fun-loving libertine lost somewhere inside the conservative , handbag-clutching sarandon .


we just do n't really care too much about this love story .


the movie 's thesis -- elegant technology for the masses -- is surprisingly refreshing .


if you 're the kind of parent who enjoys intentionally introducing your kids to films which will cause loads of irreparable damage that years and years of costly analysis could never fix , i have just one word for you - -- decasia


an inexperienced director , mehta has much to learn .


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


blessed with a searing lead performance by ryan gosling -lrb- murder by numbers -rrb- , the movie is powerful and provocative .

likely to have decades of life as a classic movie franchise ?


but the movie 's narrative hook is way too muddled to be an effectively chilling guilty pleasure .


does n't deserve a passing grade -lrb- even on a curve -rrb- .


woven together handsomely , recalling sixties ' rockumentary milestones from lonely boy to do n't look back .


although shot with little style , skins is heartfelt and achingly real .

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


as a feature-length film , it wears out its welcome as tryingly as the title character .


jackson shamefully strolls through this mess with a smug grin , inexplicably wearing a kilt and carrying a bag of golf clubs over one shoulder .


and thanks to kline 's superbly nuanced performance , that pondering is highly pleasurable .


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

below may not mark mr. twohy 's emergence into the mainstream , but his promise remains undiminished .


an overstylized , puréed mélange of sex , psychology , drugs and philosophy .


your children will be occupied for 72 minutes .

the story 's scope and pageantry are mesmerizing , and mr. day-lewis roars with leonine power .


the only camouflage carvey should now be considering is a paper bag to wear over his head when he goes out into public , to avoid being recognized as the man who bilked unsuspecting moviegoers .

the cinematic equivalent of patronizing a bar favored by pretentious , untalented artistes who enjoy moaning about their cruel fate .


almodovar is an imaginative teacher of emotional intelligence in this engaging film about two men who discover what william james once called ` the gift of tears . '


a moving tale of love and destruction in unexpected places , unexamined lives .


a baffling mixed platter of gritty realism and magic realism with a hard-to-swallow premise .


eddie murphy and owen wilson have a cute partnership in i spy , but the movie around them is so often nearly nothing that their charm does n't do a load of good .

a lightweight , uneven action comedy that freely mingles french , japanese and hollywood cultures .


it 's a day at the beach -- with air conditioning and popcorn .

blessed with a searing lead performance by ryan gosling -lrb- murder by numbers -rrb- , the movie is powerful and provocative .


a harrowing account of a psychological breakdown .

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


the film was produced by jerry bruckheimer and directed by joel schumacher , and reflects the worst of their shallow styles : wildly overproduced , inadequately motivated every step of the way and demographically targeted to please every one -lrb- and no one -rrb- .


there are now two signs that m. night shyamalan 's debut feature sucked up all he has to give to the mystic genres of cinema : unbreakable and signs .


a film of delicate interpersonal dances .


dark and unrepentant , this excursion into the epicenter of percolating mental instability is not easily dismissed or forgotten .


an essentially awkward version of the lightweight female empowerment picture we 've been watching for decades


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

a sham construct based on theory , sleight-of-hand , and ill-wrought hypothesis .


undoubtedly the scariest movie ever made about tattoos .


an energizing , intoxicating documentary charting the rise of hip-hop culture in general and the art of scratching -lrb- or turntablism -rrb- in particular .

nohe 's documentary about the event is sympathetic without being gullible : he is n't blind to the silliness , but also captures moments of spontaneous creativity and authentic co-operative interaction .


how this one escaped the lifetime network i 'll never know .


if there was ever a movie where the upbeat ending feels like a copout , this is the one .

ah , yes , that would be me : fighting off the urge to doze .


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


dull , a road-trip movie that 's surprisingly short of both adventure and song .

after you laugh once -lrb- maybe twice -rrb- , you will have completely forgotten the movie by the time you get back to your car in the parking lot .


a hugely rewarding experience that 's every bit as enlightening , insightful and entertaining as grant 's two best films -- four weddings and a funeral and bridget jones 's diary .


does n't deserve a passing grade -lrb- even on a curve -rrb- .

there 's nothing to gain from watching they .


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

a rambling ensemble piece with loosely connected characters and plots that never quite gel .


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


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

it establishes its ominous mood and tension swiftly , and if the suspense never rises to a higher level , it is nevertheless maintained throughout .


true to its animatronic roots : ... as stiff , ponderous and charmless as a mechanical apparatus ... ` the country bears ' should never have been brought out of hibernation .


hawn and sarandon form an acting bond that makes the banger sisters a fascinating character study with laughs to spare .

though in some ways similar to catherine breillat 's fat girl , rain is the far superior film .


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


how this one escaped the lifetime network i 'll never know .

one of those films that seems tailor made to air on pay cable to offer some modest amusements when one has nothing else to watch .


and we do n't avert our eyes for a moment .


a hugely rewarding experience that 's every bit as enlightening , insightful and entertaining as grant 's two best films -- four weddings and a funeral and bridget jones 's diary .

the performers are so spot on , it is hard to conceive anyone else in their roles .


what starts off as a potentially incredibly twisting mystery becomes simply a monster chase film .


i have a new favorite musical -- and i 'm not even a fan of the genre

a poignant and gently humorous parable that loves its characters and communicates something rather beautiful about human nature .


the script has less spice than a rat burger and the rock 's fighting skills are more in line with steven seagal .


first , for a movie that tries to be smart , it 's kinda dumb .


i have a new favorite musical -- and i 'm not even a fan of the genre


even with all its botches , enigma offers all the pleasure of a handsome and well-made entertainment .


the characters are based on stock clichés , and the attempt to complicate the story only defies credibility .


the low-key direction is pleasingly emphatic in this properly intense , claustrophobic tale of obsessive love .

almodovar is an imaginative teacher of emotional intelligence in this engaging film about two men who discover what william james once called ` the gift of tears . '


snoots will no doubt rally to its cause , trotting out threadbare standbys like ` masterpiece ' and ` triumph ' and all that malarkey , but rarely does an established filmmaker so ardently waste viewers ' time with a gobbler like this .

the story is bogus and its characters tissue-thin .


and they succeed merrily at their noble endeavor .


the film starts promisingly , but the ending is all too predictable and far too cliched to really work .

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


full frontal , which opens today nationwide , could almost be classified as a movie-industry satire , but it lacks the generous inclusiveness that is the genre 's definitive , if disingenuous , feature .

gets the look and the period trappings right , but it otherwise drowns in a sea of visual and verbal clichés .


it must be the end of the world : the best film so far this year is a franchise sequel starring wesley snipes .


there 's a whole heap of nothing at the core of this slight coming-of-age\/coming-out tale .

enough is not a bad movie , just mediocre .


this gorgeous epic is guaranteed to lift the spirits of the whole family .


the characters are based on stock clichés , and the attempt to complicate the story only defies credibility .

the film never finds its tone and several scenes run too long .


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


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

an enjoyable comedy of lingual and cultural differences ... the château is a film -- full of life and small delights -- that has all the wiggling energy of young kitten .


even accepting this in the right frame of mind can only provide it with so much leniency .


it ai n't art , by a long shot , but unlike last year 's lame musketeer , this dumas adaptation entertains .

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


an overstylized , puréed mélange of sex , psychology , drugs and philosophy .


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


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

wonder of wonders -- a teen movie with a humanistic message .


a fake street drama that keeps telling you things instead of showing them .


it 's good , hard-edged stuff , violent and a bit exploitative but also nicely done , morally alert and street-smart .


imagine susan sontag falling in love with howard stern .


hollywood ending is the most disappointing woody allen movie ever .

there 's nothing to gain from watching they .


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


has all the complexity and realistic human behavior of an episode of general hospital .


as comedic spotlights go , notorious c.h.o. hits all the verbal marks it should .


the problem with the bread , my sweet is that it 's far too sentimental .

... unlike -lrb- scorsese 's mean streets -rrb- , ash wednesday is essentially devoid of interesting characters or even a halfway intriguing plot .


almodovar is an imaginative teacher of emotional intelligence in this engaging film about two men who discover what william james once called ` the gift of tears . '


and they succeed merrily at their noble endeavor .

a pretty decent kid-pleasing , tolerable-to-adults lark of a movie .


nicks and steinberg match their own creations for pure venality -- that 's giving it the old college try .


make like the title and dodge this one .

to the filmmakers , ivan is a prince of a fellow , but he comes across as shallow and glib though not mean-spirited , and there 's no indication that he 's been responsible for putting together any movies of particular value or merit .


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


waiting for godard can be fruitful : ` in praise of love ' is the director 's epitaph for himself .

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


so devoid of pleasure or sensuality that it can not even be dubbed hedonistic .


a dark comedy that goes for sick and demented humor simply to do so .


these people are really going to love the piano teacher .


and we do n't avert our eyes for a moment .


we just do n't really care too much about this love story .


imagine kevin smith , the blasphemous bad boy of suburban jersey , if he were stripped of most of his budget and all of his sense of humor .

a loud , brash and mainly unfunny high school comedy .


the wild thornberrys movie is pleasant enough and the message of our close ties with animals can certainly not be emphasized enough .


everything about girls ca n't swim , even its passages of sensitive observation , feels secondhand , familiar -- and not in a good way .

there 's a whole heap of nothing at the core of this slight coming-of-age\/coming-out tale .


an energizing , intoxicating documentary charting the rise of hip-hop culture in general and the art of scratching -lrb- or turntablism -rrb- in particular .


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 .

-lrb- rises -rrb- above its oh-so-hollywood rejiggering and its conventional direction to give the film a soul and an unabashed sense of good old-fashioned escapism .


its initial excitement settles into a warmed over pastiche .


a droll , bitchy frolic which pokes fun at the price of popularity and small-town pretension in the lone star state .

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


what 's really sad is to see two academy award winning actresses -lrb- and one academy award winning actor -rrb- succumb to appearing in this junk that 's tv sitcom material at best .

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


and thanks to kline 's superbly nuanced performance , that pondering is highly pleasurable .


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

turturro is fabulously funny and over the top as a ` very sneaky ' butler who excels in the art of impossible disappearing\/reappearing acts


impostor is a step down for director gary fleder .


a baffling mixed platter of gritty realism and magic realism with a hard-to-swallow premise .


this is a fragmented film , once a good idea that was followed by the bad idea to turn it into a movie .


adam sandler 's heart may be in the right place , but he needs to pull his head out of his butt

there 's got to be a more graceful way of portraying the devastation of this disease .


the acting , for the most part , is terrific , although the actors must struggle with the fact that they 're playing characters who sometimes feel more like literary conceits than flesh-and-blood humans .


the film has -lrb- its -rrb- moments , but they are few and far between .

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


waiting for godard can be fruitful : ` in praise of love ' is the director 's epitaph for himself .


woody allen has really found his groove these days .

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


contrived , maudlin and cliche-ridden ... if this sappy script was the best the contest received , those rejected must have been astronomically bad .

an inexperienced director , mehta has much to learn .


i 'm sorry to say that this should seal the deal - arnold is not , nor will he be , back .


sensual , funny and , in the end , very touching .


mr. wollter and ms. seldhal give strong and convincing performances , but neither reaches into the deepest recesses of the character to unearth the quaking essence of passion , grief and fear .

director elie chouraqui , who co-wrote the script , catches the chaotic horror of war , but why bother if you 're going to subjugate truth to the tear-jerking demands of soap opera ?


a portrait of hell so shattering it 's impossible to shake .


nothing happens , and it happens to flat characters .

one can only assume that the jury who bestowed star hoffman 's brother gordy with the waldo salt screenwriting award at 2002 's sundance festival were honoring an attempt to do something different over actually pulling it off


and they succeed merrily at their noble endeavor .


the film has a terrific look and salma hayek has a feel for the character at all stages of her life .

all leather pants & augmented boobs , hawn is hilarious as she tries to resuscitate the fun-loving libertine lost somewhere inside the conservative , handbag-clutching sarandon .


while easier to sit through than most of jaglom 's self-conscious and gratingly irritating films , it 's still tainted by cliches , painful improbability and murky points .

a waterlogged version of ` fatal attraction ' for the teeny-bopper set ... a sad , soggy potboiler that wastes the talents of its attractive young leads .


undoubtedly the scariest movie ever made about tattoos .


a film of delicate interpersonal dances .

it 's a funny little movie with clever dialogue and likeable characters .


for all its shoot-outs , fistfights , and car chases , this movie is a phlegmatic bore , so tedious it makes the silly spy vs. spy film the sum of all fears , starring ben affleck , seem downright hitchcockian .


like the hanks character , he 's a slow study : the action is stilted and the tabloid energy embalmed .

impostor is a step down for director gary fleder .


an enjoyable comedy of lingual and cultural differences ... the château is a film -- full of life and small delights -- that has all the wiggling energy of young kitten .


with this masterful , flawless film , -lrb- wang -rrb- emerges in the front ranks of china 's now numerous , world-renowned filmmakers .

dogtown & z-boys evokes the blithe rebel fantasy with the kind of insouciance embedded in the sexy demise of james dean .


even accepting this in the right frame of mind can only provide it with so much leniency .


the movie 's thesis -- elegant technology for the masses -- is surprisingly refreshing .


an essentially awkward version of the lightweight female empowerment picture we 've been watching for decades

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


blessed with a searing lead performance by ryan gosling -lrb- murder by numbers -rrb- , the movie is powerful and provocative .


the script has less spice than a rat burger and the rock 's fighting skills are more in line with steven seagal .


waiting for godard can be fruitful : ` in praise of love ' is the director 's epitaph for himself .


but unless you 're an absolute raving star wars junkie , it is n't much fun .

the characters are based on stock clichés , and the attempt to complicate the story only defies credibility .


turturro is fabulously funny and over the top as a ` very sneaky ' butler who excels in the art of impossible disappearing\/reappearing acts


if you 're as happy listening to movies as you are watching them , and the slow parade of human frailty fascinates you , then you 're at the right film .

a harrowing account of a psychological breakdown .


the movie is so resolutely cobbled together out of older movies that it even uses a totally unnecessary prologue , just because it seems obligatory .


... by the time it 's done with us , mira nair 's new movie has its audience giddy with the delight of discovery , of having been immersed in a foreign culture only to find that human nature is pretty much the same all over .


tully is in many ways the perfect festival film : a calm , self-assured portrait of small town regret , love , duty and friendship that appeals to the storytelling instincts of a slightly more literate filmgoing audience .

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


cinematic pyrotechnics aside , the only thing avary seems to care about are mean giggles and pulchritude .


the script was reportedly rewritten a dozen times -- either 11 times too many or else too few .

the film is so busy making reference to other films and trying to be other films that it fails to have a heart , mind or humor of its own .


your children will be occupied for 72 minutes .


like the hanks character , he 's a slow study : the action is stilted and the tabloid energy embalmed .


there 's nothing to gain from watching they .


while most films these days are about nothing , this film seems to be about everything that 's plaguing the human spirit in a relentlessly globalizing world .


a compelling yarn , but not quite a ripping one .

but it also has many of the things that made the first one charming .


even accepting this in the right frame of mind can only provide it with so much leniency .


imamura has said that warm water under a red bridge is a poem to the enduring strengths of women .

the banter between calvin and his fellow barbers feels like a streetwise mclaughlin group ... and never fails to entertain .


the cinematic equivalent of patronizing a bar favored by pretentious , untalented artistes who enjoy moaning about their cruel fate .


and , there 's no way you wo n't be talking about the film once you exit the theater .


the events of the film are just so weird that i honestly never knew what the hell was coming next .


there 's nothing to gain from watching they .

richard pryor mined his personal horrors and came up with a treasure chest of material , but lawrence gives us mostly fool 's gold .


the movie 's thesis -- elegant technology for the masses -- is surprisingly refreshing .


imagine susan sontag falling in love with howard stern .

little more than a well-mounted history lesson .


` if you are in the mood for an intelligent weepy , it can easily worm its way into your heart . '


with an unusual protagonist -lrb- a kilt-wearing jackson -rrb- and subject matter , the improbable `` formula 51 '' is somewhat entertaining , but it could have been much stronger .


director elie chouraqui , who co-wrote the script , catches the chaotic horror of war , but why bother if you 're going to subjugate truth to the tear-jerking demands of soap opera ?


too much of storytelling moves away from solondz 's social critique , casting its audience as that of intellectual lector in contemplation of the auteur 's professional injuries .

we just do n't really care too much about this love story .


almodovar is an imaginative teacher of emotional intelligence in this engaging film about two men who discover what william james once called ` the gift of tears . '


too much of storytelling moves away from solondz 's social critique , casting its audience as that of intellectual lector in contemplation of the auteur 's professional injuries .


woody allen has really found his groove these days .


richard pryor mined his personal horrors and came up with a treasure chest of material , but lawrence gives us mostly fool 's gold .

ah , yes , that would be me : fighting off the urge to doze .


dogtown & z-boys evokes the blithe rebel fantasy with the kind of insouciance embedded in the sexy demise of james dean .


a sham construct based on theory , sleight-of-hand , and ill-wrought hypothesis .

if there was ever a movie where the upbeat ending feels like a copout , this is the one .


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


has all the complexity and realistic human behavior of an episode of general hospital .

the film is so busy making reference to other films and trying to be other films that it fails to have a heart , mind or humor of its own .


likely to have decades of life as a classic movie franchise ?


visually breathtaking , viscerally exciting , and dramatically moving , it 's the very definition of epic adventure .

but it also has many of the things that made the first one charming .


a baffling mixed platter of gritty realism and magic realism with a hard-to-swallow premise .


a buoyant romantic comedy about friendship , love , and the truth that we 're all in this together .


and thanks to kline 's superbly nuanced performance , that pondering is highly pleasurable .

the movie is hardly a masterpiece , but it does mark ms. bullock 's best work in some time .


there 's nothing to gain from watching they .


this gorgeous epic is guaranteed to lift the spirits of the whole family .

while insomnia is in many ways a conventional , even predictable remake , nolan 's penetrating undercurrent of cerebral and cinemantic flair lends -lrb- it -rrb- stimulating depth .


there are now two signs that m. night shyamalan 's debut feature sucked up all he has to give to the mystic genres of cinema : unbreakable and signs .


like life on the island , the movie grows boring despite the scenery .

never inspires more than an interested detachment .


these people are really going to love the piano teacher .


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

talky , artificial and opaque ... an interesting technical exercise , but a tedious picture .


i 'd be hard pressed to think of a film more cloyingly sappy than evelyn this year .

an overstylized , puréed mélange of sex , psychology , drugs and philosophy .


imagine kevin smith , the blasphemous bad boy of suburban jersey , if he were stripped of most of his budget and all of his sense of humor .


almodovar is an imaginative teacher of emotional intelligence in this engaging film about two men who discover what william james once called ` the gift of tears . '


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

a compelling yarn , but not quite a ripping one .


what they 're doing is a matter of plumbing arrangements and mind games , of no erotic or sensuous charge .


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


blessed with a searing lead performance by ryan gosling -lrb- murder by numbers -rrb- , the movie is powerful and provocative .


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

if you 're down for a silly hack-and-slash flick , you can do no wrong with jason x.


... unlike -lrb- scorsese 's mean streets -rrb- , ash wednesday is essentially devoid of interesting characters or even a halfway intriguing plot .


the film , despite the gratuitous cinematic distractions impressed upon it , is still good fun .

spielberg 's picture is smarter and subtler than -lrb- total recall and blade runner -rrb- , although its plot may prove too convoluted for fun-seeking summer audiences .


the film starts promisingly , but the ending is all too predictable and far too cliched to really work .


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

a film of delicate interpersonal dances .


adults , other than the parents ... will be hard pressed to succumb to the call of the wild .


while insomnia is in many ways a conventional , even predictable remake , nolan 's penetrating undercurrent of cerebral and cinemantic flair lends -lrb- it -rrb- stimulating depth .

the lively appeal of the last kiss lies in the ease with which it integrates thoughtfulness and pasta-fagioli comedy .


the events of the film are just so weird that i honestly never knew what the hell was coming next .


the characters are more deeply thought through than in most ` right-thinking ' films .

the movie 's thesis -- elegant technology for the masses -- is surprisingly refreshing .


like life on the island , the movie grows boring despite the scenery .


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


one of those films that seems tailor made to air on pay cable to offer some modest amusements when one has nothing else to watch .


i love the opening scenes of a wintry new york city in 1899 .

undoubtedly the scariest movie ever made about tattoos .


what 's hard to understand is why anybody picked it up .


while most films these days are about nothing , this film seems to be about everything that 's plaguing the human spirit in a relentlessly globalizing world .

it 's fairly solid -- not to mention well edited so that it certainly does n't feel like a film that strays past the two and a half mark .


no amount of arty theorizing -- the special effects are ` german-expressionist , ' according to the press notes -- can render it anything but laughable .

an inexperienced director , mehta has much to learn .


after one gets the feeling that the typical hollywood disregard for historical truth and realism is at work here , it 's a matter of finding entertainment in the experiences of zishe and the fiery presence of hanussen .


a lightweight , uneven action comedy that freely mingles french , japanese and hollywood cultures .

little more than a well-mounted history lesson .


although shot with little style , skins is heartfelt and achingly real .


offers a clear-eyed chronicle of a female friendship that is more complex and honest than anything represented in a hollywood film .

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


while easier to sit through than most of jaglom 's self-conscious and gratingly irritating films , it 's still tainted by cliches , painful improbability and murky points .


if you 're the kind of parent who enjoys intentionally introducing your kids to films which will cause loads of irreparable damage that years and years of costly analysis could never fix , i have just one word for you - -- decasia

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


the solid filmmaking and convincing characters makes this a high water mark for this genre .


an overstylized , puréed mélange of sex , psychology , drugs and philosophy .

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


but it also has many of the things that made the first one charming .

tully is in many ways the perfect festival film : a calm , self-assured portrait of small town regret , love , duty and friendship that appeals to the storytelling instincts of a slightly more literate filmgoing audience .


ah , yes , that would be me : fighting off the urge to doze .


a loud , brash and mainly unfunny high school comedy .

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


has all the complexity and realistic human behavior of an episode of general hospital .


if you 're down for a silly hack-and-slash flick , you can do no wrong with jason x.

it 's never dull and always looks good .


the script has less spice than a rat burger and the rock 's fighting skills are more in line with steven seagal .


woven together handsomely , recalling sixties ' rockumentary milestones from lonely boy to do n't look back .

on the granger movie gauge of 1 to 10 , the powerpuff girls is a fast , frenetic , funny , even punny 6 -- aimed specifically at a grade-school audience .


the problem with the bread , my sweet is that it 's far too sentimental .


below may not mark mr. twohy 's emergence into the mainstream , but his promise remains undiminished .

this comic gem is as delightful as it is derivative .


if divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood suffers from a ploddingly melodramatic structure , it comes to life in the performances .


spielberg 's picture is smarter and subtler than -lrb- total recall and blade runner -rrb- , although its plot may prove too convoluted for fun-seeking summer audiences .

if you 're as happy listening to movies as you are watching them , and the slow parade of human frailty fascinates you , then you 're at the right film .


though it pretends to expose the life of male hustlers , it 's exploitive without being insightful .

this is a fragmented film , once a good idea that was followed by the bad idea to turn it into a movie .


your children will be occupied for 72 minutes .


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


while insomnia is in many ways a conventional , even predictable remake , nolan 's penetrating undercurrent of cerebral and cinemantic flair lends -lrb- it -rrb- stimulating depth .


fortunately , elling never gets too cloying thanks to the actors ' perfect comic timing and sweet , genuine chemistry .

if you 're down for a silly hack-and-slash flick , you can do no wrong with jason x.


your 20th outing shows off a lot of stamina and vitality , and get this , madonna 's cameo does n't suck !


an inexperienced director , mehta has much to learn .


the movie 's thesis -- elegant technology for the masses -- is surprisingly refreshing .


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

no amount of arty theorizing -- the special effects are ` german-expressionist , ' according to the press notes -- can render it anything but laughable .


all leather pants & augmented boobs , hawn is hilarious as she tries to resuscitate the fun-loving libertine lost somewhere inside the conservative , handbag-clutching sarandon .


the beautiful images and solemn words can not disguise the slack complacency of -lrb- godard 's -rrb- vision , any more than the gorgeous piano and strings on the soundtrack can drown out the tinny self-righteousness of his voice .

despite terrific special effects and funnier gags , harry potter and the chamber of secrets finds a way to make j.k. rowling 's marvelous series into a deadly bore .


at times , the movie looks genuinely pretty .

the solid filmmaking and convincing characters makes this a high water mark for this genre .


enough is not a bad movie , just mediocre .

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


blessed with a searing lead performance by ryan gosling -lrb- murder by numbers -rrb- , the movie is powerful and provocative .


almodovar is an imaginative teacher of emotional intelligence in this engaging film about two men who discover what william james once called ` the gift of tears . '

although frailty fits into a classic genre , in its script and execution it is a remarkably original work .


the film was produced by jerry bruckheimer and directed by joel schumacher , and reflects the worst of their shallow styles : wildly overproduced , inadequately motivated every step of the way and demographically targeted to please every one -lrb- and no one -rrb- .


a portrait of hell so shattering it 's impossible to shake .

the acting , for the most part , is terrific , although the actors must struggle with the fact that they 're playing characters who sometimes feel more like literary conceits than flesh-and-blood humans .


ah , yes , that would be me : fighting off the urge to doze .


an enjoyable comedy of lingual and cultural differences ... the château is a film -- full of life and small delights -- that has all the wiggling energy of young kitten .


its initial excitement settles into a warmed over pastiche .


the performers are so spot on , it is hard to conceive anyone else in their roles .


sensual , funny and , in the end , very touching .

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


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


even accepting this in the right frame of mind can only provide it with so much leniency .

full frontal , which opens today nationwide , could almost be classified as a movie-industry satire , but it lacks the generous inclusiveness that is the genre 's definitive , if disingenuous , feature .


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

i 'd be hard pressed to think of a film more cloyingly sappy than evelyn this year .


turturro is fabulously funny and over the top as a ` very sneaky ' butler who excels in the art of impossible disappearing\/reappearing acts


a poignant and gently humorous parable that loves its characters and communicates something rather beautiful about human nature .


the only camouflage carvey should now be considering is a paper bag to wear over his head when he goes out into public , to avoid being recognized as the man who bilked unsuspecting moviegoers .


rarely does a film so graceless and devoid of merit as this one come along .

it 's just that it 's so not-at-all-good .


at times , the movie looks genuinely pretty .


it must be the end of the world : the best film so far this year is a franchise sequel starring wesley snipes .

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


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


it 's about issues most adults have to face in marriage and i think that 's what i liked about it -- the real issues tucked between the silly and crude storyline .

lovingly photographed in the manner of a golden book sprung to life , stuart little 2 manages sweetness largely without stickiness .


the film never finds its tone and several scenes run too long .


it 's fairly solid -- not to mention well edited so that it certainly does n't feel like a film that strays past the two and a half mark .


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


but the movie 's narrative hook is way too muddled to be an effectively chilling guilty pleasure .

the film is so busy making reference to other films and trying to be other films that it fails to have a heart , mind or humor of its own .


it all plays out ... like a high-end john hughes comedy , a kind of elder bueller 's time out .


nicks and steinberg match their own creations for pure venality -- that 's giving it the old college try .


as comedic spotlights go , notorious c.h.o. hits all the verbal marks it should .


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

after one gets the feeling that the typical hollywood disregard for historical truth and realism is at work here , it 's a matter of finding entertainment in the experiences of zishe and the fiery presence of hanussen .


the story is bogus and its characters tissue-thin .


a fake street drama that keeps telling you things instead of showing them .


while insomnia is in many ways a conventional , even predictable remake , nolan 's penetrating undercurrent of cerebral and cinemantic flair lends -lrb- it -rrb- stimulating depth .


the story 's scope and pageantry are mesmerizing , and mr. day-lewis roars with leonine power .


while easier to sit through than most of jaglom 's self-conscious and gratingly irritating films , it 's still tainted by cliches , painful improbability and murky points .


a bittersweet contemporary comedy about benevolent deception , which , while it may not rival the filmmaker 's period pieces , is still very much worth seeing .

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


rarely does a film so graceless and devoid of merit as this one come along .


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

-lrb- rises -rrb- above its oh-so-hollywood rejiggering and its conventional direction to give the film a soul and an unabashed sense of good old-fashioned escapism .


a waterlogged version of ` fatal attraction ' for the teeny-bopper set ... a sad , soggy potboiler that wastes the talents of its attractive young leads .


the lady and the duke is a smart , romantic drama that dares to depict the french revolution from the aristocrats ' perspective .

a compelling yarn , but not quite a ripping one .


adults , other than the parents ... will be hard pressed to succumb to the call of the wild .


likely to have decades of life as a classic movie franchise ?


an improvement on the feeble examples of big-screen poke-mania that have preceded it .


if ever such a dependable concept was botched in execution , this is it .


pretend like your sat scores are below 120 and you might not notice the flaws .

if divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood suffers from a ploddingly melodramatic structure , it comes to life in the performances .


it 's a funny little movie with clever dialogue and likeable characters .


what starts off as a potentially incredibly twisting mystery becomes simply a monster chase film .

the film was produced by jerry bruckheimer and directed by joel schumacher , and reflects the worst of their shallow styles : wildly overproduced , inadequately motivated every step of the way and demographically targeted to please every one -lrb- and no one -rrb- .


it 's fairly solid -- not to mention well edited so that it certainly does n't feel like a film that strays past the two and a half mark .


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


almodovar is an imaginative teacher of emotional intelligence in this engaging film about two men who discover what william james once called ` the gift of tears . '


little more than a well-mounted history lesson .

but unless you 're an absolute raving star wars junkie , it is n't much fun .


turturro is fabulously funny and over the top as a ` very sneaky ' butler who excels in the art of impossible disappearing\/reappearing acts


what they 're doing is a matter of plumbing arrangements and mind games , of no erotic or sensuous charge .

though it pretends to expose the life of male hustlers , it 's exploitive without being insightful .


it is scott 's convincing portrayal of roger the sad cad that really gives the film its oomph .


a buoyant romantic comedy about friendship , love , and the truth that we 're all in this together .


gets the look and the period trappings right , but it otherwise drowns in a sea of visual and verbal clichés .


a rambling ensemble piece with loosely connected characters and plots that never quite gel .


a film of delicate interpersonal dances .


dogtown & z-boys evokes the blithe rebel fantasy with the kind of insouciance embedded in the sexy demise of james dean .

another trumpet blast that there may be a new mexican cinema a-bornin ' . '


the problem with the bread , my sweet is that it 's far too sentimental .


the lively appeal of the last kiss lies in the ease with which it integrates thoughtfulness and pasta-fagioli comedy .

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 .


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

snoots will no doubt rally to its cause , trotting out threadbare standbys like ` masterpiece ' and ` triumph ' and all that malarkey , but rarely does an established filmmaker so ardently waste viewers ' time with a gobbler like this .


the cinematic equivalent of patronizing a bar favored by pretentious , untalented artistes who enjoy moaning about their cruel fate .

anyone who suffers through this film deserves , at the very least , a big box of consolation candy .


a moving tale of love and destruction in unexpected places , unexamined lives .


one of those rare films that come by once in a while with flawless amounts of acting , direction , story and pace .


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 .


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

cinematic pyrotechnics aside , the only thing avary seems to care about are mean giggles and pulchritude .


whether or not you 're enlightened by any of derrida 's lectures on `` the other '' and `` the self , '' derrida is an undeniably fascinating and playful fellow .


spider-man is about growing strange hairs , getting a more mature body , and finding it necessary to hide new secretions from the parental units .

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


` film aficionados can not help but love cinema paradiso , whether the original version or new director 's cut . '


as a film director , labute continues to improve .

likely to have decades of life as a classic movie franchise ?


its initial excitement settles into a warmed over pastiche .


these people are really going to love the piano teacher .


with so many bad romances out there , this is the kind of movie that deserves a chance to shine .

it 's a funny little movie with clever dialogue and likeable characters .


little more than a well-mounted history lesson .


the wild thornberrys movie is pleasant enough and the message of our close ties with animals can certainly not be emphasized enough .

it all plays out ... like a high-end john hughes comedy , a kind of elder bueller 's time out .


rarely does a film so graceless and devoid of merit as this one come along .


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

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


when your subject is illusion versus reality , should n't the reality seem at least passably real ?

there 's got to be a more graceful way of portraying the devastation of this disease .


with an unusual protagonist -lrb- a kilt-wearing jackson -rrb- and subject matter , the improbable `` formula 51 '' is somewhat entertaining , but it could have been much stronger .


though in some ways similar to catherine breillat 's fat girl , rain is the far superior film .


this is a fragmented film , once a good idea that was followed by the bad idea to turn it into a movie .


it 's just that it 's so not-at-all-good .

pretend like your sat scores are below 120 and you might not notice the flaws .


as comedic spotlights go , notorious c.h.o. hits all the verbal marks it should .


after you laugh once -lrb- maybe twice -rrb- , you will have completely forgotten the movie by the time you get back to your car in the parking lot .

richard pryor mined his personal horrors and came up with a treasure chest of material , but lawrence gives us mostly fool 's gold .


it ai n't art , by a long shot , but unlike last year 's lame musketeer , this dumas adaptation entertains .


it establishes its ominous mood and tension swiftly , and if the suspense never rises to a higher level , it is nevertheless maintained throughout .


an essentially awkward version of the lightweight female empowerment picture we 've been watching for decades


a pretty decent kid-pleasing , tolerable-to-adults lark of a movie .


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 .


it 's a funny little movie with clever dialogue and likeable characters .

below may not mark mr. twohy 's emergence into the mainstream , but his promise remains undiminished .


how this one escaped the lifetime network i 'll never know .


the re-release of ron howard 's apollo 13 in the imax format proves absolutely that really , really , really good things can come in enormous packages .

a lot more dimensional and complex than its sunny disposition would lead you to believe .


... unlike -lrb- scorsese 's mean streets -rrb- , ash wednesday is essentially devoid of interesting characters or even a halfway intriguing plot .

ah , yes , that would be me : fighting off the urge to doze .


woody allen has really found his groove these days .


an improvement on the feeble examples of big-screen poke-mania that have preceded it .

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


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


the wild thornberrys movie is pleasant enough and the message of our close ties with animals can certainly not be emphasized enough .


this comic gem is as delightful as it is derivative .

and we do n't avert our eyes for a moment .


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

anyone who suffers through this film deserves , at the very least , a big box of consolation candy .


i love the opening scenes of a wintry new york city in 1899 .


undoubtedly the scariest movie ever made about tattoos .

a moving tale of love and destruction in unexpected places , unexamined lives .


adults , other than the parents ... will be hard pressed to succumb to the call of the wild .


a pretty decent kid-pleasing , tolerable-to-adults lark of a movie .

a hugely rewarding experience that 's every bit as enlightening , insightful and entertaining as grant 's two best films -- four weddings and a funeral and bridget jones 's diary .


nicks and steinberg match their own creations for pure venality -- that 's giving it the old college try .


a waterlogged version of ` fatal attraction ' for the teeny-bopper set ... a sad , soggy potboiler that wastes the talents of its attractive young leads .

gets the look and the period trappings right , but it otherwise drowns in a sea of visual and verbal clichés .


the movie 's thesis -- elegant technology for the masses -- is surprisingly refreshing .

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


despite terrific special effects and funnier gags , harry potter and the chamber of secrets finds a way to make j.k. rowling 's marvelous series into a deadly bore .


the film was produced by jerry bruckheimer and directed by joel schumacher , and reflects the worst of their shallow styles : wildly overproduced , inadequately motivated every step of the way and demographically targeted to please every one -lrb- and no one -rrb- .

the script has less spice than a rat burger and the rock 's fighting skills are more in line with steven seagal .


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 .


a poignant and gently humorous parable that loves its characters and communicates something rather beautiful about human nature .


exudes the fizz of a busby berkeley musical and the visceral excitement of a sports extravaganza .

the movie 's thesis -- elegant technology for the masses -- is surprisingly refreshing .


there 's a whole heap of nothing at the core of this slight coming-of-age\/coming-out tale .


for all its shoot-outs , fistfights , and car chases , this movie is a phlegmatic bore , so tedious it makes the silly spy vs. spy film the sum of all fears , starring ben affleck , seem downright hitchcockian .

this is a fragmented film , once a good idea that was followed by the bad idea to turn it into a movie .


sensual , funny and , in the end , very touching .


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

never inspires more than an interested detachment .


it 's never dull and always looks good .


lovingly photographed in the manner of a golden book sprung to life , stuart little 2 manages sweetness largely without stickiness .

turturro is fabulously funny and over the top as a ` very sneaky ' butler who excels in the art of impossible disappearing\/reappearing acts


if divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood suffers from a ploddingly melodramatic structure , it comes to life in the performances .


but there 's plenty to offend everyone ...

a loud , brash and mainly unfunny high school comedy .


whether or not you 're enlightened by any of derrida 's lectures on `` the other '' and `` the self , '' derrida is an undeniably fascinating and playful fellow .

a harrowing account of a psychological breakdown .


rarely does a film so graceless and devoid of merit as this one come along .


nicks and steinberg match their own creations for pure venality -- that 's giving it the old college try .


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


visually breathtaking , viscerally exciting , and dramatically moving , it 's the very definition of epic adventure .


almodovar is an imaginative teacher of emotional intelligence in this engaging film about two men who discover what william james once called ` the gift of tears . '


all leather pants & augmented boobs , hawn is hilarious as she tries to resuscitate the fun-loving libertine lost somewhere inside the conservative , handbag-clutching sarandon .

a raunchy and frequently hilarious follow-up to the gifted korean american stand-up 's i 'm the one that i want .


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


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


... too contrived to be as naturally charming as it needs to be .


if you 're as happy listening to movies as you are watching them , and the slow parade of human frailty fascinates you , then you 're at the right film .


the banter between calvin and his fellow barbers feels like a streetwise mclaughlin group ... and never fails to entertain .

although shot with little style , skins is heartfelt and achingly real .


there 's nothing to gain from watching they .


true to its animatronic roots : ... as stiff , ponderous and charmless as a mechanical apparatus ... ` the country bears ' should never have been brought out of hibernation .

first , for a movie that tries to be smart , it 's kinda dumb .


while most films these days are about nothing , this film seems to be about everything that 's plaguing the human spirit in a relentlessly globalizing world .


after you laugh once -lrb- maybe twice -rrb- , you will have completely forgotten the movie by the time you get back to your car in the parking lot .


a portrait of hell so shattering it 's impossible to shake .


yet another iteration of what 's become one of the movies ' creepiest conventions , in which the developmentally disabled are portrayed with almost supernatural powers to humble , teach and ultimately redeem their mentally `` superior '' friends , family ...


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

a dark comedy that goes for sick and demented humor simply to do so .


it is scott 's convincing portrayal of roger the sad cad that really gives the film its oomph .

if you 're down for a silly hack-and-slash flick , you can do no wrong with jason x.


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


these people are really going to love the piano teacher .

this gorgeous epic is guaranteed to lift the spirits of the whole family .


has all the complexity and realistic human behavior of an episode of general hospital .


cinematic pyrotechnics aside , the only thing avary seems to care about are mean giggles and pulchritude .

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


it 's difficult to conceive of anyone who has reached puberty actually finding the characters in slackers or their antics amusing , let alone funny .


whether or not you 're enlightened by any of derrida 's lectures on `` the other '' and `` the self , '' derrida is an undeniably fascinating and playful fellow .


if ever such a dependable concept was botched in execution , this is it .

like the hanks character , he 's a slow study : the action is stilted and the tabloid energy embalmed .


woven together handsomely , recalling sixties ' rockumentary milestones from lonely boy to do n't look back .


mostly , shafer and co-writer gregory hinton lack a strong-minded viewpoint , or a sense of humor .

we just do n't really care too much about this love story .


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


a buoyant romantic comedy about friendship , love , and the truth that we 're all in this together .

these people are really going to love the piano teacher .


as a feature-length film , it wears out its welcome as tryingly as the title character .


after one gets the feeling that the typical hollywood disregard for historical truth and realism is at work here , it 's a matter of finding entertainment in the experiences of zishe and the fiery presence of hanussen .

it 's a funny little movie with clever dialogue and likeable characters .


i 'd be hard pressed to think of a film more cloyingly sappy than evelyn this year .


a seriously bad film with seriously warped logic by writer-director kurt wimmer at the screenplay level .

for all its shoot-outs , fistfights , and car chases , this movie is a phlegmatic bore , so tedious it makes the silly spy vs. spy film the sum of all fears , starring ben affleck , seem downright hitchcockian .


fortunately , elling never gets too cloying thanks to the actors ' perfect comic timing and sweet , genuine chemistry .


to the filmmakers , ivan is a prince of a fellow , but he comes across as shallow and glib though not mean-spirited , and there 's no indication that he 's been responsible for putting together any movies of particular value or merit .

a loud , brash and mainly unfunny high school comedy .


if you 're down for a silly hack-and-slash flick , you can do no wrong with jason x.


chan 's stunts are limited and so embellished by editing that there 's really not much of a sense of action or even action-comedy .


woody allen has really found his groove these days .


as a feature-length film , it wears out its welcome as tryingly as the title character .

it 's just that it 's so not-at-all-good .


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


the solid filmmaking and convincing characters makes this a high water mark for this genre .


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


one can only assume that the jury who bestowed star hoffman 's brother gordy with the waldo salt screenwriting award at 2002 's sundance festival were honoring an attempt to do something different over actually pulling it off

the story is bogus and its characters tissue-thin .


a good film with a solid pedigree both in front of and , more specifically , behind the camera .


contrived , maudlin and cliche-ridden ... if this sappy script was the best the contest received , those rejected must have been astronomically bad .


the film never finds its tone and several scenes run too long .

first , for a movie that tries to be smart , it 's kinda dumb .


an enjoyable comedy of lingual and cultural differences ... the château is a film -- full of life and small delights -- that has all the wiggling energy of young kitten .


how this one escaped the lifetime network i 'll never know .


it 's never dull and always looks good .


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

like the hanks character , he 's a slow study : the action is stilted and the tabloid energy embalmed .


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


there 's got to be a more graceful way of portraying the devastation of this disease .

adam sandler 's heart may be in the right place , but he needs to pull his head out of his butt


a portrait of hell so shattering it 's impossible to shake .


this is a fragmented film , once a good idea that was followed by the bad idea to turn it into a movie .

although god is great addresses interesting matters of identity and heritage , it 's hard to shake the feeling that it was intended to be a different kind of film .


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


this bond film goes off the beaten path , not necessarily for the better .

little more than a well-mounted history lesson .


all leather pants & augmented boobs , hawn is hilarious as she tries to resuscitate the fun-loving libertine lost somewhere inside the conservative , handbag-clutching sarandon .


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

i have a new favorite musical -- and i 'm not even a fan of the genre


though it pretends to expose the life of male hustlers , it 's exploitive without being insightful .


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

wonder of wonders -- a teen movie with a humanistic message .


director elie chouraqui , who co-wrote the script , catches the chaotic horror of war , but why bother if you 're going to subjugate truth to the tear-jerking demands of soap opera ?


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


it must be the end of the world : the best film so far this year is a franchise sequel starring wesley snipes .


the country bears wastes an exceptionally good idea .


nohe 's documentary about the event is sympathetic without being gullible : he is n't blind to the silliness , but also captures moments of spontaneous creativity and authentic co-operative interaction .


yet another iteration of what 's become one of the movies ' creepiest conventions , in which the developmentally disabled are portrayed with almost supernatural powers to humble , teach and ultimately redeem their mentally `` superior '' friends , family ...

this is a fragmented film , once a good idea that was followed by the bad idea to turn it into a movie .


it ai n't art , by a long shot , but unlike last year 's lame musketeer , this dumas adaptation entertains .


snoots will no doubt rally to its cause , trotting out threadbare standbys like ` masterpiece ' and ` triumph ' and all that malarkey , but rarely does an established filmmaker so ardently waste viewers ' time with a gobbler like this .


one of those rare films that come by once in a while with flawless amounts of acting , direction , story and pace .


the script has less spice than a rat burger and the rock 's fighting skills are more in line with steven seagal .


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


` film aficionados can not help but love cinema paradiso , whether the original version or new director 's cut . '


but there 's plenty to offend everyone ...


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 .

when your subject is illusion versus reality , should n't the reality seem at least passably real ?


if you 're as happy listening to movies as you are watching them , and the slow parade of human frailty fascinates you , then you 're at the right film .


never inspires more than an interested detachment .

an essentially awkward version of the lightweight female empowerment picture we 've been watching for decades


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


gets the look and the period trappings right , but it otherwise drowns in a sea of visual and verbal clichés .


the characters are more deeply thought through than in most ` right-thinking ' films .


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


talky , artificial and opaque ... an interesting technical exercise , but a tedious picture .

a baffling mixed platter of gritty realism and magic realism with a hard-to-swallow premise .


adults , other than the parents ... will be hard pressed to succumb to the call of the wild .

what they 're doing is a matter of plumbing arrangements and mind games , of no erotic or sensuous charge .


another trumpet blast that there may be a new mexican cinema a-bornin ' . '


it all plays out ... like a high-end john hughes comedy , a kind of elder bueller 's time out .

dark and unrepentant , this excursion into the epicenter of percolating mental instability is not easily dismissed or forgotten .


the problem with the bread , my sweet is that it 's far too sentimental .


so devoid of pleasure or sensuality that it can not even be dubbed hedonistic .

its initial excitement settles into a warmed over pastiche .


woody allen has really found his groove these days .


the story is bogus and its characters tissue-thin .


although shot with little style , skins is heartfelt and achingly real .


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

wonder of wonders -- a teen movie with a humanistic message .


the lively appeal of the last kiss lies in the ease with which it integrates thoughtfulness and pasta-fagioli comedy .


one of those films that seems tailor made to air on pay cable to offer some modest amusements when one has nothing else to watch .


... by the time it 's done with us , mira nair 's new movie has its audience giddy with the delight of discovery , of having been immersed in a foreign culture only to find that human nature is pretty much the same all over .

these people are really going to love the piano teacher .


the characters are based on stock clichés , and the attempt to complicate the story only defies credibility .


if you 're down for a silly hack-and-slash flick , you can do no wrong with jason x.


eddie murphy and owen wilson have a cute partnership in i spy , but the movie around them is so often nearly nothing that their charm does n't do a load of good .


and we do n't avert our eyes for a moment .

blessed with a searing lead performance by ryan gosling -lrb- murder by numbers -rrb- , the movie is powerful and provocative .


while easier to sit through than most of jaglom 's self-conscious and gratingly irritating films , it 's still tainted by cliches , painful improbability and murky points .


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

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


anyone who suffers through this film deserves , at the very least , a big box of consolation candy .


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 .


adrift , bentley and hudson stare and sniffle , respectively , as ledger attempts , in vain , to prove that movie-star intensity can overcome bad hair design .

nothing happens , and it happens to flat characters .


the movie is hardly a masterpiece , but it does mark ms. bullock 's best work in some time .


a poignant and gently humorous parable that loves its characters and communicates something rather beautiful about human nature .

whether or not you 're enlightened by any of derrida 's lectures on `` the other '' and `` the self , '' derrida is an undeniably fascinating and playful fellow .


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


wonder of wonders -- a teen movie with a humanistic message .

with an unusual protagonist -lrb- a kilt-wearing jackson -rrb- and subject matter , the improbable `` formula 51 '' is somewhat entertaining , but it could have been much stronger .


what 's hard to understand is why anybody picked it up .

adrift , bentley and hudson stare and sniffle , respectively , as ledger attempts , in vain , to prove that movie-star intensity can overcome bad hair design .


nohe 's documentary about the event is sympathetic without being gullible : he is n't blind to the silliness , but also captures moments of spontaneous creativity and authentic co-operative interaction .

an energizing , intoxicating documentary charting the rise of hip-hop culture in general and the art of scratching -lrb- or turntablism -rrb- in particular .


director elie chouraqui , who co-wrote the script , catches the chaotic horror of war , but why bother if you 're going to subjugate truth to the tear-jerking demands of soap opera ?


one of the most gloriously unsubtle and adrenalized extreme shockers since the evil dead .

visually breathtaking , viscerally exciting , and dramatically moving , it 's the very definition of epic adventure .


as a feature-length film , it wears out its welcome as tryingly as the title character .


although god is great addresses interesting matters of identity and heritage , it 's hard to shake the feeling that it was intended to be a different kind of film .

nicks and steinberg match their own creations for pure venality -- that 's giving it the old college try .


the re-release of ron howard 's apollo 13 in the imax format proves absolutely that really , really , really good things can come in enormous packages .


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

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


if you 're the kind of parent who enjoys intentionally introducing your kids to films which will cause loads of irreparable damage that years and years of costly analysis could never fix , i have just one word for you - -- decasia


it 's never dull and always looks good .


there 's got to be a more graceful way of portraying the devastation of this disease .


turturro is fabulously funny and over the top as a ` very sneaky ' butler who excels in the art of impossible disappearing\/reappearing acts

wonder of wonders -- a teen movie with a humanistic message .


imagine susan sontag falling in love with howard stern .


gets the look and the period trappings right , but it otherwise drowns in a sea of visual and verbal clichés .

one of those films that seems tailor made to air on pay cable to offer some modest amusements when one has nothing else to watch .


the low-key direction is pleasingly emphatic in this properly intense , claustrophobic tale of obsessive love .