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(Jackson and Bledel) seem to have been picked not for their acting chops, but for their looks and appeal to the pre-teen crowd.

Whatever the movie's sentimental, hypocritical lessons about sexism, its true colors come out in various wet T-shirt and shower scenes.

Piercingly affecting...while clearly a manipulative film, emerges as powerful rather than cloying.

Gussied up with so many distracting special effects and visual party tricks that it's not clear whether we're supposed to shriek or laugh.

If only it had the story to match.

"Frailty" has been written so well, that even a simple "Goddammit!"

The Pianist is the film Roman Polanski may have been born to make.

The film has an infectious enthusiasm and we're touched by the film's conviction that all life centered on that place, that time and that sport.

An excellent sequel.

The trouble with making this queen a thoroughly modern maiden is that it also makes her appear foolish and shallow rather than, as was more likely, a victim of mental illness.

It's a technically superb film, shining with all the usual Spielberg flair, expertly utilizing the talents of his top-notch creative team.

The story really has no place to go since Simone is not real--she can't provide any conflict.

Both a detective story and a romance spiced with the intrigue of academic skullduggery and politics.

All the sensuality, all the eroticism of a good vampire tale has been, pardon the pun, sucked out and replaced by goth goofiness.

A quiet, disquieting triumph.

Anyone who ever fantasized about space travel but can't afford the $20 million ticket to ride a Russian rocket should catch this IMAX offering.

(Carvey's) characters are both overplayed and exaggerated, but then again, subtlety has never been his trademark.

If Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood suffers from a ploddingly melodramatic structure, it comes to life in the performances.

Rashomon-for-dipsticks tale.

Sleek and arty.

A terrific date movie, whatever your orientation.

The exploitative, clumsily staged violence overshadows everything, including most of the actors.

It takes a really long, slow and dreary time to dope out what TUCK EVERLASTING is about.

It's Splash without the jokes.

Even as it pays earnest homage to turntablists and beat jugglers, old schoolers and current innovators, Scratch is great fun, full of the kind of energy it's documenting.

You begin to long for the end credits as the desert does for rain.

A coming-of-age movie that Hollywood wouldn't have the guts to make.

'Possession,' based on the book by A.S. Byatt, demands that LaBute deal with the subject of love head-on; trading in his cynicism for reverence and a little wit

Did no one on the set have a sense of humor, or did they not have the nerve to speak up?

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

Some of the most inventive silliness you are likely to witness in a movie theatre for some time.

The story is lacking any real emotional impact, and the plot is both contrived and cliched.

Others, more attuned to the anarchist maxim that 'the urge to destroy is also a creative urge', or more willing to see with their own eyes, will find Morrison's iconoclastic uses of technology to be liberating.

An awfully good, achingly human picture.

But no.

It never plays as dramatic even when dramatic things happen to people.

I haven't seen such self-amused trash since Freddy Got Fingered.

A cross between Blow and Boyz N The Hood, this movie strives to be more, but doesn't quite get there.

It's a bad action movie because there's no rooting interest and the spectacle is grotesque and boring.

Provides the kind of 'laugh therapy' I need from movie comedies -- offbeat humor, amusing characters, and a happy ending.

A prolonged extrusion of psychopathic pulp.

..little action, almost no suspense or believable tension, one-dimensional characters up the wazoo and sets that can only be described as sci-fi generic.

Director Nancy Savoca's no-frills record of a show forged in still-raw emotions captures the unsettled tenor of that post 9-11 period far better than a more measured or polished production ever could.

Despite its floating narrative, this is a remarkably accessible and haunting film.

The Sum of All Fears pretends to be a serious exploration of nuclear terrorism, but it's really nothing more than warmed-over Cold War paranoia.

The hypnotic imagery and fragmentary tale explore the connections between place and personal identity.

It's fun, splashy and entertainingly nasty.

...the first 2/3 of the film are incredibly captivating and insanely funny, thanks in part to interesting cinematic devices ( cool visual backmasking), a solid cast, and some wickedly sick and twisted humor...

Rather, pity anyone who sees this mishmash.

Return to Never Land may be another shameless attempt by Disney to rake in dough from baby boomer families, but it's not half-bad.

The movie, despite its rough edges and a tendency to sag in certain places, is wry and engrossing.

Much like Robin Williams, Death to Smoochy has already reached its expiration date.

A pleasing, often-funny comedy.

A tour de force drama about the astonishingly pivotal role of imagination in the soulful development of two rowdy teenagers.

Good actors have a radar for juicy roles -- there's a plethora of characters in this picture, and not one of them is flat.

After all, it'll probably be in video stores by Christmas, and it might just be better suited to a night in the living room than a night at the movies.

It concentrates far too much on the awkward interplay and utter lack of chemistry between Chan and Hewitt.

Her performance moves between heartbreak and rebellion as she continually tries to accommodate to fit in and gain the unconditional love she seeks.

Bad company.

So vivid a portrait of a woman consumed by lust and love and crushed by betrayal that it conjures up the intoxicating fumes and emotional ghosts of a freshly painted Rembrandt.

If you've grown tired of going where no man has gone before, but several movies have - take heart.

Swiftly deteriorates into a terribly obvious melodrama and rough-hewn vanity project for lead actress Andie MacDowell.

Almost everyone growing up believes their family must look like "The Addams Family" to everyone looking in... "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" comes from the heart...

An excruciating demonstration of the unsalvageability of a movie saddled with an amateurish screenplay.

Despite its old-hat set-up and predictable plot, Empire still has enough moments to keep it entertaining.

Otherwise, this could be a passable date film.

(At least) Moore is a real charmer.

Leaves viewers out in the cold and undermines some phenomenal performances.

This rush to profits has created a predictably efficient piece of business notable largely for its overwhelming creepiness, for an eagerness to create images you wish you hadn't seen, which, in this day and age, is of course the point.

The concept behind Kung Pow: Enter the Fist is hilarious.

By not averting his eyes, Solondz forces us to consider the unthinkable, the unacceptable, the unmentionable.

... better described as a ghost story gone badly awry.

The movie itself appears to be running on hypertime in reverse as the truly funny bits get further and further apart.

Doesn't get the job done, running off the limited chemistry created by Ralph Fiennes and Jennifer Lopez.

Tsai has a well-deserved reputation as one of the cinema world's great visual stylists, and in this film, every shot enhances the excellent performances.

A movie that's about as overbearing and over-the-top as the family it depicts.

A movie that both thrills the eye and, in its over-the-top way, touches the heart.

Elegantly crafted but emotionally cold, a puzzle whose intricate construction one can admire but is difficult to connect with on any deeper level.

It's hard to understand why anyone in his right mind would even think to make the attraction a movie.

SC2 is an autopilot Hollywood concoction lacking in imagination and authentic Christmas spirit, yet it's geared toward an audience full of masters of both.

Donovan ... squanders his main asset, Jackie Chan, and fumbles the vital action sequences.

This angst-ridden territory was covered earlier and much better in Ordinary People.

In spite of featuring a script credited to no fewer than five writers, apparently nobody here bothered to check it twice.

As underwater ghost stories go, Below casts its spooky net out into the Atlantic Ocean and spits it back, grizzled and charred, somewhere northwest of the Bermuda Triangle.

The most compelling performance of the year adds substantial depth to this shocking testament to anti-Semitism and neo-fascism.

Though this saga would be terrific to read about, it is dicey screen material that only a genius should touch.

A sentimental hybrid that could benefit from the spice of specificity.

Despite slick production values and director Roger Michell's tick-tock pacing, the final effect is like having two guys yelling in your face for two hours.

Well, Jason's gone to Manhattan and Hell, I guess a space station in the year 2455 can be crossed off the list of ideas for the inevitable future sequels (hey, don't shoot the messenger).

Like a veteran head cutter, Barbershop is tuned in to its community.

Brisk hack job.

Thumbs up to Paxton for not falling into the Hollywood trap and making a vanity project with nothing new to offer.

Performances all around are tops, with the two leads delivering Oscar-caliber performances.

It doesn't offer audiences any way of gripping what its point is, or even its attitude toward its subject.

Miller comes at film with bracing intelligence and a vision both painterly and literary.

This odd, poetic road movie, spiked by jolts of pop music, pretty much takes place in Morton's ever-watchful gaze -- and it's a tribute to the actress, and to her inventive director, that the journey is such a mesmerizing one.

As gamely as the movie tries to make sense of its title character, there remains a huge gap between the film's creepy, clean-cut Dahmer (Jeremy Renner) and fiendish acts that no amount of earnest textbook psychologizing can bridge.

As earnest as a community-college advertisement, American Chai is enough to make you put away the guitar, sell the amp, and apply to medical school.

If you're not, you'll still have a good time."

Has a certain ghoulish fascination, and generates a fair amount of B-movie excitement.