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


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


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


a compelling yarn , but not quite a ripping one .

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


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


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

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


but there 's plenty to offend everyone ...


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

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


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


there 's nothing to gain from watching they .

the story is bogus and its characters tissue-thin .


at times , the movie looks genuinely pretty .


imagine susan sontag falling in love with howard stern .

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


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


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


hollywood ending is the most disappointing woody allen movie ever .


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 .

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


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


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


a film of delicate interpersonal dances .


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


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


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

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


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 . '


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

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


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


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


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


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


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


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

this comic gem is as delightful as it is derivative .


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


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

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


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


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

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 .


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


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 . '

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


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


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


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


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


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

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 .


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

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


these people are really going to love the piano teacher .


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

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


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


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


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

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


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


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 .

and they succeed merrily at their noble endeavor .


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


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

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


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


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


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

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


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


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


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


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


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


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

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


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


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

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 .


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


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

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 .


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


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

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 .


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


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

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


a loud , brash and mainly unfunny high school comedy .

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 .


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


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


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.

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


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


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

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


but there 's plenty to offend everyone ...


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

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


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


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 .

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 .


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


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


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


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

hollywood ending is the most disappointing woody allen movie ever .


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

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


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

undoubtedly the scariest movie ever made about tattoos .


an inexperienced director , mehta has much to learn .


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


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

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 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 .

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 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 .


at times , the movie looks genuinely pretty .

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 .


enough is not a bad movie , just mediocre .

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


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


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 . '


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


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

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


there 's nothing to gain from watching they .


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 .

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 .


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


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


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

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


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

enough is not a bad movie , just mediocre .


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


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 .


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


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

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


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


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

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


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


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 .

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 .


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


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 .

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


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 .


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

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- .


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


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


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

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


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


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

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 .


woody allen has really found his groove these days .


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

a film of delicate interpersonal dances .


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


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

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


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 ?


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

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


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


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

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


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


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


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


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 .


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

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


a compelling yarn , but not quite a ripping one .


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

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


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


little more than a well-mounted history lesson .


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


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

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


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 .


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

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


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 .


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


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


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

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


imagine susan sontag falling in love with howard stern .


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

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 .


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


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


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

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 .


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


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 .

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 .


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


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

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


-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 .


as a film director , labute continues to improve .

this comic gem is as delightful as it is derivative .


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


its initial excitement settles into a warmed over pastiche .


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


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


there 's nothing to gain from watching they .


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

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


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 .


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

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


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


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

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 .


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


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

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


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


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


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


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 .

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


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

a compelling yarn , but not quite a ripping one .


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


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


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


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

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


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


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 .

-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 .


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


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


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

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


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


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


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


this comic gem is as delightful as it is derivative .

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


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


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

the country bears wastes an exceptionally good idea .


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 .


undoubtedly the scariest movie ever made about tattoos .

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


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


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


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 .


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

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


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 .


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

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


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


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- .

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 .


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 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 .

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


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


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

and they succeed merrily at their noble endeavor .


a loud , brash and mainly unfunny high school comedy .


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 .

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


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

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 .


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


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

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


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 .


but there 's plenty to offend everyone ...

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


a film of delicate interpersonal dances .


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 .

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


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


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


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

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


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 .


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

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


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


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 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- .


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


imagine susan sontag falling in love with howard stern .


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

there 's nothing to gain from watching they .


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


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

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


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 .


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 .

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 ?


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


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 .


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 .


an inexperienced director , mehta has much to learn .


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


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


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


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


these people are really going to love the piano teacher .

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


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

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


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

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


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


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 .


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

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


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


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


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

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


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


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 .

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


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

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


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


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 .

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


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


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 .

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


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


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


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


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


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


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

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


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


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

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


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


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


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

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 .


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 .


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

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 .

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 .


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


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

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


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


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 .

-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 .


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


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

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


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 .

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


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


the country bears wastes an exceptionally good idea .

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


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


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 ...


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


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


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

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


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 .


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

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


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


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 .

never inspires more than an interested detachment .


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


never inspires more than an interested detachment .

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


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 .


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


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


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 .


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

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


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

but there 's plenty to offend everyone ...


woody allen has really found his groove these days .


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


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


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


the story is bogus and its characters tissue-thin .

impostor is a step down for director gary fleder .


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


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

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


these people are really going to love the piano teacher .


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


... 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 .


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


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


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


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

your children will be occupied for 72 minutes .


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


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

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 .


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 .


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

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


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

an inexperienced director , mehta has much to learn .


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 .


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

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


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


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

... 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 .


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- .


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

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


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


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 .

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


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


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

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 .


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


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 .

little more than a well-mounted history lesson .


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


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

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 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 .


it 's never dull and always looks good .

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


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


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

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


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


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

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


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


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

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


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


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


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 .


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 .

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 .


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


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

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


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


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 .

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


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


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


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 .


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


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


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

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 .


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


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

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 .


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


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

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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

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


there 's nothing to gain from watching they .


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

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


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 .


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

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


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


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 .

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


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


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 .


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


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

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


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


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

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


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


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

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


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


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

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 .


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


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

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 .


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


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

at times , the movie looks genuinely pretty .


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


a film of delicate interpersonal dances .


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 .

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


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


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

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 .


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


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 .


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


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 .

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


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


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


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


impostor is a step down for director gary fleder .

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


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


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


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


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


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


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 ?

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 .


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


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

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 .


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 .


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

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


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


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


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


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 .


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


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

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 .


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


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


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

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


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


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

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


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


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

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


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 .

it 's never dull and always looks good .


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 .


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 .

make like the title and dodge this one .


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


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 .

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


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


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


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


a harrowing account of a psychological breakdown .

-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 .


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 .

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


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


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


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


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

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


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 .


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 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 .


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


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


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


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

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


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


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


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

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


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


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 .


an inexperienced director , mehta has much to learn .


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


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 .


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

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 .


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


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 .

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


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


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

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


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


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

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


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


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

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


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


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

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


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


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 .

impostor is a step down for director gary fleder .


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


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

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 .


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


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 .

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 .


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

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


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

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 .


these people are really going to love the piano teacher .


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

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


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


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

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


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

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


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


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


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 .

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


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


hollywood ending is the most disappointing woody allen movie ever .

nothing happens , and it happens to flat characters .


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


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

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


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


and they succeed merrily at their noble endeavor .

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


make like the title and dodge this one .

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


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


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


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


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

but there 's plenty to offend everyone ...


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


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


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


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 .

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 .


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


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

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


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


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 .

your children will be occupied for 72 minutes .


the country bears wastes an exceptionally good idea .


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


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 .

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


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 .


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

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 .


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


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

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


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


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


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


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


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

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 .


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 .


woody allen has really found his groove these days .

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


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


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

a loud , brash and mainly unfunny high school comedy .


undoubtedly the scariest movie ever made about tattoos .


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


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 .


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 .

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


nothing happens , and it happens to flat characters .


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


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

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


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


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


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


a film of delicate interpersonal dances .


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


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


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


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

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 .


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 .


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

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 .


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


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 . '


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

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


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


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


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


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 .

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


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

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


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


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


an inexperienced director , mehta has much to learn .


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


a compelling yarn , but not quite a ripping one .

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 .


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


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

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


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


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

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 .


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


there 's nothing to gain from watching they .

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 .


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


imagine susan sontag falling in love with howard stern .

its initial excitement settles into a warmed over pastiche .


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


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


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


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 .

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


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


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


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


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

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


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


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

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 .


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


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

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


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

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


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


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


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


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


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


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

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 .


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 . '


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 . '

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


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

enough is not a bad movie , just mediocre .


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 .


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


your children will be occupied for 72 minutes .


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

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


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

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


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


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

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


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


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

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


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


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

-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 .


nothing happens , and it happens to flat characters .


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 .

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


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

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


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


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


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

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


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


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 .

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 .


enough is not a bad movie , just mediocre .


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

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


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


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

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


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 .


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

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


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


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

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


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 .


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

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


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


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

at times , the movie looks genuinely pretty .


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


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 .


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


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


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

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


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 .


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


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

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


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 .

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


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


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


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 .


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

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


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

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 .


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


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

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


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 .


an inexperienced director , mehta has much to learn .

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 .


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


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 .


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 .

an inexperienced director , mehta has much to learn .


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


at times , the movie looks genuinely pretty .

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


imagine susan sontag falling in love with howard stern .


enough is not a bad movie , just mediocre .


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 . '


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


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

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