have been more enjoyable had the balance shifted in favor of water-bound action over the land-based ` drama


a rare and lightly entertaining look behind the curtain that separates comics from the people laughing in the crowd .


given the stale plot and pornographic way the film revels in swank apartments , clothes and parties


illustrates the problems of fledgling democracies , but also the strength and sense of freedom the iranian people already possess , with or without access to the ballot box


cinematography and exhilarating point-of-view shots and fewer slow-motion ` grandeur ' shots and


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


barney throws away the goodwill the first half of his movie generates by orchestrating a finale that is impenetrable and dull .


quirky , charming and


to the fore for the gifted but no-nonsense human beings they are and for the still-inestimable contribution they have made to our shared history


koury frighteningly and honestly exposes one teenager 's uncomfortable class resentment and , in turn , his self-inflicted retaliation .


a low-budget affair , tadpole was shot on digital video , and the images often look smeary and blurry , to the point of distraction


guess why the cast and crew did n't sign a pact to burn the negative and the script and pretend the whole thing never existed


kapur gives us episodic choppiness , undermining the story 's emotional thrust .


catch the pitch of his poetics , savor the pleasure of his sounds and images , and


nothing good


the usual movie rah-rah , pleasantly and predictably delivered in low-key style by director michael apted and writer tom stoppard .


its almost too-spectacular coastal setting distracts slightly from an eccentric and good-naturedly aimless story .


is impressive for the sights and sounds of the wondrous beats


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


monte cristo smartly emphasizes the well-wrought story and omits needless chase scenes and swordfights as the revenge unfolds .


sven wollter as the stricken composer and viveka seldahl as his desperate violinist wife


who staggered from the theater and blacked out in the lobby


( f ) rom the performances and the cinematography to the outstanding soundtrack and unconventional narrative , the film is blazingly alive and admirable on many levels .


too much forced drama in this wildly uneven movie , about a young man 's battle with his inescapable past and uncertain future in a very shapable but largely unfulfilling present


extraordinarily good


one of those reputedly `` unfilmable '' novels that has bucked the odds to emerge as an exquisite motion picture in its own right


throwing in everything except someone pulling the pin from a grenade with his teeth , windtalkers seems to have ransacked every old world war ii movie for overly familiar material .


before some savvy producer saw the potential success inherent in the mixture of bullock bubble and hugh goo


one of the best films of the year with its exquisite acting , inventive screenplay , mesmerizing music , and many inimitable scenes


fails on its own , but makes you second-guess your affection for the original


is bright and flashy in all the right ways


need not apply


is straight from the saturday morning cartoons -- a retread story , bad writing , and the same old silliness


accurately reflects the rage and alienation that fuels the self-destructiveness of many young people


, rather than forcing us to endure every plot contrivance that the cliché-riddled genre can offer


sticks rigidly to the paradigm , rarely permitting its characters more than two obvious dimensions and repeatedly placing them in contrived , well-worn situations


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


a more balanced or fair portrayal


wazoo and sets


is made fresh by an intelligent screenplay and gripping performances in this low-budget , video-shot , debut indie effort


imperfect , love-hate relationship


exploits ( headbanger ) stereotypes in good fun , while adding a bit of heart and unsettling subject matter .


the poor and the dispossessed


reputedly `` unfilmable '' novels


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


this misty-eyed southern nostalgia piece , in treading the line between sappy and sanguine , winds up mired in tear-drenched quicksand .


just the labor involved in creating the layered richness of the imagery in this chiaroscuro of madness and light


that one eventually resents having to inhale this gutter romancer 's secondhand material


to see people working so hard at leading lives of sexy intrigue , only to be revealed by the dispassionate gantz brothers as ordinary , pasty lumpen


there 's back-stabbing , inter-racial desire and , most importantly , singing and dancing .


that even the most jaded cinema audiences will leave the auditorium feeling dizzy , confused , and totally disorientated


a fairly enjoyable mixture of longest yard ... and the 1999 guy ritchie caper lock stock and two smoking barrels .


is the drama within the drama


gets clunky on the screen


intoxicating documentary charting the rise of hip-hop culture in general and the art of scratching ( or turntablism ) in particular


oedekerk mugs mercilessly , and the genuinely funny jokes are few and far between .


, quite simply , should n't have been made


broomfield 's style of journalism is hardly journalism at all , and even those with an avid interest in the subject will grow impatient


strange and compelling


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


this misty-eyed southern nostalgia piece , in treading the line between sappy and sanguine


is heartfelt and hilarious in ways you ca n't fake


good to see michael caine whipping out the dirty words and punching people in the stomach again


amélie 's audrey tautou with another fabuleux destin -- i.e. , a banal spiritual quest


a lyrical and celebratory vision


the quirky and recessive charms of co-stars martin donovan and mary-louise parker


is a film tailor-made for those who when they were in high school would choose the cliff-notes over reading a full-length classic


that the plot makes no sense


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


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


to squeeze the action and our emotions into the all-too-familiar dramatic arc of the holocaust escape story


long on the irrelevant as on the engaging , which gradually turns what time


keeping the balance between the fantastic and the believable


exhaustion , from watching a movie that is dark ( dark green , to be exact ) , sour , bloody and mean


easy to take this film at face value and enjoy its slightly humorous and tender story


, entertaining and , ultimately , more perceptive moment


buried , drowned and smothered in the excesses of writer-director roger avary


that greasy little vidgame pit in the theater lobby


of its music or comic antics , but through the perverse pleasure of watching disney scrape the bottom of its own cracker barrel


visually transforms the dreary expanse of dead-end distaste the characters inhabit into a poem of art , music and metaphor .


imagine that a more confused , less interesting and more sloppily made film could possibly come down the road in 2002


role , or edit , or score , or anything , really


needs more impressionistic cinematography and exhilarating point-of-view shots and fewer slow-motion ` grandeur ' shots and quick-cut edits that often detract from the athleticism


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


length , awash in self-consciously flashy camera effects , droning house music and flat , flat dialogue


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


bring on the sequel


into forced fuzziness


director shekhar kapur and screenwriters michael schiffer and hossein amini have tried hard to modernize and reconceptualize things ,


bewilderingly brilliant and


just as the lousy tarantino imitations have subsided , here comes the first lousy guy ritchie imitation .


done excellent work here


while the plot follows a predictable connect-the-dots course ... director john schultz colors the picture in some evocative shades .


family togetherness takes a back seat to inter-family rivalry and workplace ambition ... whole subplots have no explanation or even plot relevance


, salvation and good intentions


( f ) rom the performances and the cinematography to the outstanding soundtrack and unconventional narrative


that ultimately defeated the film ... it was the unfulfilling , incongruous , `` wait a second


those reputedly `` unfilmable '' novels that has bucked the odds to emerge as an exquisite motion picture in its own right


that the e-graveyard


disney scrape


of good intentions derailed by a failure to seek and strike just the right tone


enervating determination


because i had a serious urge to grab the old lady at the end of my aisle 's walker and toss it at the screen in frustration


further


all the signs of rich detail condensed


get the same love story and


but it makes for one of the most purely enjoyable and satisfying evenings at the movies i 've had in a while .


has all the enjoyable randomness of a very lively dream and so manages to be compelling , amusing and unsettling at the same time


where the only belly laughs come from the selection of outtakes tacked onto the end credits


to address his own world war ii experience in his signature style


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


is a waste of de niro , mcdormand and the other good actors in the cast


love , duty and friendship


in the name of an allegedly inspiring and easily marketable flick


's good to see michael caine whipping out the dirty words and punching people in the stomach again


gloriously unsubtle


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


its old-hat set-up and predictable plot


's on saturday morning tv especially the pseudo-educational stuff we all ca n't stand


tends to pile too many `` serious issues '' on its plate at times , yet remains fairly light , always entertaining , and smartly written .


a soul and an unabashed sense of good old-fashioned escapism


, the sum of all fears generates little narrative momentum , and invites unflattering comparisons to other installments in the ryan series .


lacks the compassion , good-natured humor and the level of insight that made ( eyre 's ) first film something of a sleeper success


ai n't - she-cute baggage into her lead role as a troubled and determined homicide cop to quite pull off the heavy stuff


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


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


buried at the heart of his story


leave the theater


number 1


change the fact that what we have here is a load of clams left in the broiling sun for a good three days


does n't try to surprise us with plot twists


superficial and


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


serious urge to grab the old lady at the end of my aisle 's walker and toss it at the screen in frustration


a wise and powerful tale of race and culture forcefully told , with superb performances throughout


into parapsychological phenomena and the soulful nuances


evokes the frustration , the awkwardness and the euphoria of growing up , without relying on the usual tropes


fake , dishonest , entertaining and , ultimately , more perceptive moment


goes beyond his usual fluttering and stammering and


has stepped into the mainstream of filmmaking with an assurance worthy of international acclaim and with every cinematic tool well under his control -- driven by a natural sense for what works on screen


donovan ... squanders his main asset , jackie chan , and fumbles the vital action sequences


makes you ache with sadness ( the way chekhov is funny ) , profound without ever being self-important


of the bad reviews


this kind of hands-on storytelling


in a wind-tunnel and a simply astounding cor-blimey-luv-a-duck cockney accent


lost in the `` soon-to-be-forgettable '' section of the quirky rip-off prison romp pile


a keep - 'em - guessing plot and an affectionate take on its screwed-up characters


something appears to have been lost in the translation this time


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


if the filmmakers were worried the story would n't work without all those gimmicks


, peculiar and always entertaining costume drama


of de niro , mcdormand and the other good actors


the script by david koepp is perfectly serviceable and because he gives the story some soul


told with sharp ears and eyes for the tenor of the times


seen ( eddie ) murphy do the genial-rogue shtick to death , but because the plot is equally hackneyed


mean


an impenetrable and insufferable ball of pseudo-philosophic twaddle


a fairly enjoyable mixture of longest yard ... and the 1999 guy ritchie


the irrelevant as on the engaging , which gradually turns what time


from its promenade of barely clad bodies in myrtle beach , s.c. , to the adrenaline jolt of a sudden lunch rush at the diner


by storm


to revitalize what is and always has been remarkable about clung-to traditions


but ... in trying to capture the novel 's deeper intimate resonances , the film has -- ironically - distanced us from the characters .


worth the effort


the story has its redundancies , and the young actors , not very experienced , are sometimes inexpressive


short and sweet , but also more than anything else slight ... tadpole pulls back from the consequences of its own actions and revelations .


a refreshing and comical spin


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


mess


this film always keeping the balance between the fantastic and the believable


that 's just experimental enough to alienate the mainstream audience while ringing cliched to hardened indie-heads


's also not very good


to his series of spectacular belly flops both on and off the screen


that serves as a painful elegy and sobering cautionary tale


avoid being recognized as the man who bilked unsuspecting moviegoers


duvall 's throbbing sincerity and his elderly propensity for patting people while he talks


an engrossing iranian film about two itinerant teachers and some lost and desolate people they encounter in a place where war has savaged the lives and liberties of the poor and the dispossessed .


bewilderingly brilliant


goes on and on and on and on


by his art , which is more than he has ever revealed before about the source of his spiritual survival


about the people who live in them , who have carved their own comfortable niche in the world and have been kind enough to share it


savaged the lives and liberties of the poor and the dispossessed


the plot , and a maddeningly insistent and repetitive piano score that made me want to scream


moments and an intelligent subtlety


bogdanich is unashamedly pro-serbian and makes little attempt to give voice to the other side .


cinematography and exhilarating point-of-view shots and


cinematography and exhilarating point-of-view shots and fewer slow-motion ` grandeur ' shots


while the now 72-year-old robert evans been slowed down by a stroke , he has at least one more story to tell : his own .


just as the lousy tarantino imitations have subsided


are required to balance all the formulaic equations in the long-winded heist comedy who is cletis tout ?


with remarkable serenity and discipline


this misty-eyed southern nostalgia piece , in treading the line between sappy and sanguine ,


surrounding its ludicrous and contrived plot


hugely enjoyable in its own right though not really


spectacular in every sense of the word , even if you don ' t


surprising highs , sorrowful lows and hidden impulsive niches ... gorgeous , passionate , and at times uncommonly moving


because the intelligence level of the characters must be low , very low , very very low , for the masquerade to work


and good intentions


is painfully bad , a fourth-rate jim carrey who does n't understand the difference between dumb fun and just plain dumb


suitably kooky which should appeal to women


lovely and


proves she has the stuff to stand tall with pryor , carlin and murphy


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


distinctly sub-par ... more likely to drown a viewer in boredom than to send any shivers down his spine


tell you anything except that the chelsea hotel today is populated by whiny , pathetic , starving and untalented artistes


so much crypt mist in the brain


botching


off the path of good sense


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


watch witherspoon 's talents wasting away inside unnecessary films like legally blonde and sweet home abomination


i loved on first sight and , even more important


worth the trip to the theater


keenly observed and refreshingly natural , swimming gets the details right , from its promenade of barely clad bodies in myrtle beach , s.c. , to the adrenaline jolt of a sudden lunch rush at the diner .


's a testament to de niro and director michael caton-jones


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


hampered by taylor 's cartoonish performance and the film 's ill-considered notion that hitler 's destiny was shaped by the most random of chances


in almost every possible way -- from the writing and direction to the soggy performances -- tossed off


i 've seen some bad singer-turned actors , but lil bow wow takes the cake


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


is heartfelt and hilarious in ways you ca n't fake .


'm not


flinching


slightly naughty , just-above-average off - broadway play


walk away


turn in perfectly executed and wonderfully sympathetic characters , who are alternately touching and funny


forcing us to endure every plot contrivance that the cliché-riddled genre can offer


emphasizes the well-wrought story and omits needless chase scenes and swordfights as the revenge unfolds


to call this one an eventual cult classic would be an understatement ,


supremely unfunny and unentertaining


life affirming and heartbreaking , sweet without the decay factor


that not only fails on its own , but makes you second-guess your affection for the original


between them , de niro and murphy make showtime the most savory and hilarious guilty pleasure of many a recent movie season .


that the e-graveyard holds as many good ideas as bad is the cold comfort that chin 's film serves up with style and empathy .


involved , starting with spielberg and going right through the ranks of the players -- on-camera and off -- that he brings together .


's not really funny


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


the film would have been more enjoyable had the balance shifted in favor of water-bound action over the land-based ` drama ,


with the right actors and with the kind of visual flair that shows what great cinema can really do


a divine monument to a single man 's struggle to regain his life , his dignity and his music


beautifully read and , finally , deeply humanizing


if you can swallow its absurdities and crudities lagaan really is enormously good fun .


that manage to avoid the ghetto of sentimental chick-flicks by treating female follies with a satirical style


did n't sign a pact to burn the negative and the script and pretend the whole thing never existed


feel that we truly know what makes holly and marina tick


forget the psychology 101 study of romantic obsession and just watch the procession of costumes in castles and this wo n't seem like such a bore


a strong and confident work which works so well for the first 89 minutes , but ends so horrendously confusing in the final two


a love story as sanguine


it 's the perfect star vehicle for grant , allowing him to finally move away from his usual bumbling , tongue-tied screen persona .


finally move away from his usual bumbling , tongue-tied screen persona


audiences are advised to sit near the back and squint to avoid noticing some truly egregious lip-non-synching


f


hits the bullseye


catching solely on its visual merits


bewilderingly brilliant and entertaining


strangely moved by even the corniest and most hackneyed contrivances


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


he 's now , more than ever , choosing his roles with the precision of the insurance actuary


divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood suffers from a ploddingly melodramatic structure


unimpressively fussy


... is inspiring , ironic , and revelatory of just how ridiculous and money-oriented the record industry really is .


's simply crude and unrelentingly exploitative


, kapur gives us episodic choppiness , undermining the story 's emotional thrust .


characteristically startling visual style and


are so unmemorable , despite several attempts at lengthy dialogue scenes , that one eventually resents having to inhale this gutter romancer 's secondhand material


weak and ineffective ghost story


wretchedly


a thriller whose style , structure and rhythms are so integrated with the story , you can not separate them .


like mike is a slight and uninventive movie : like the exalted michael jordan referred to in the title , many can aspire but none can equal


that between the son and his wife , and the wife and the father , and between the two brothers


a potentially good comic premise and excellent cast


all the dramatic weight


is a lot like a well-made pb & j sandwich : familiar , fairly uneventful and boasting no real surprises -- but still quite tasty and inviting all the same


a captivating drama that will speak to the nonconformist in us all


is a slight and uninventive movie


's refreshing after the phoniness of female-bonding pictures like divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood


this makes it not only a detailed historical document , but an engaging and moving portrait of a subculture


the cheap , graceless , hackneyed sci-fi serials


it 's been 13 months and 295 preview screenings since i last walked out on a movie , but resident evil really earned my indignant , preemptive departure


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


amateurish , quasi-improvised


young hanks and fisk , who vaguely resemble their celebrity parents , bring fresh good looks and an ease in front of the camera to the work .


seem deceptively slight


not only fails on its own , but makes you second-guess your affection for the original


a powerful , chilling , and affecting study


its faults


it sticks rigidly to the paradigm , rarely permitting its characters more than two obvious dimensions and repeatedly placing them in contrived , well-worn situations .


's attracting audiences to unfaithful


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


strangely hollow at its emotional core


refreshed


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


relatively nothing


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


deftly manages to avoid many of the condescending stereotypes that so often plague films dealing with the mentally ill


, you come to believe that nachtwey hates the wars he shows and empathizes with the victims he reveals .


a loud , brash and mainly unfunny


, the six musical numbers crystallize key plot moments into minutely detailed wonders of dreamlike ecstasy .


has all the enjoyable randomness of a very lively dream and so


of the plot ( other than its one good idea ) and the movie 's inescapable air of sleaziness


required to balance all the formulaic equations in the long-winded heist comedy who is cletis tout ?


instructs a younger lad in zen and the art of getting laid in this prickly indie comedy of manners and misanthropy


plain old blarney


feel the least bit ashamed in admitting that my enjoyment came at the expense of seeing justice served , even if it 's a dish that 's best served cold


quality


... enthusiastically invokes the percussion rhythm , the brass soul and the sense of fierce competition that helps make great marching bands half the fun of college football games .


is exhaustion , from watching a movie that is dark ( dark green , to be exact ) , sour , bloody and mean


well done and perfectly


even as the hero of the story rediscovers his passion in life , the mood remains oddly detached .


bring fresh good looks and an ease in front of the camera


with mcconaughey in an entirely irony-free zone and bale reduced mainly to batting his sensitive eyelids


's being conned right up to the finale


catch the pitch of his poetics , savor the pleasure of his sounds and images


seems content to dog-paddle in the mediocre end of the pool , and


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


to often play like a milquetoast movie of the week blown up for the big screen


a playful iranian parable


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


the quirky drama touches the heart and the funnybone thanks to the energetic and always surprising performance by rachel griffiths .


go unnoticed and underappreciated by music fans


, the rising place never quite justifies its own existence .


who have carved their own comfortable niche in the world


... the cast portrays their cartoon counterparts well ... but quite frankly , scoob and shag do n't eat enough during the film . '


there 's the plot , and a maddeningly insistent and repetitive piano score that made me want to scream .


offers some flashy twists and turns that occasionally fortify this turgid fable


wonder why paul thomas anderson ever had the inclination to make the most sincere and artful movie in which adam sandler will probably ever appear


does n't understand the difference between dumb fun and just plain dumb


buoy the film , and at times , elevate it to a superior crime movie


would have a good time here


disney


turns the goose-pimple genre on its empty head and fills it with spirit , purpose and emotionally bruised characters who add up to more than body count


once playful and haunting ,


faced


a lot like a well-made pb & j sandwich : familiar , fairly uneventful and boasting no real surprises -- but still quite tasty and inviting all the same


maddeningly insistent and repetitive piano score


a space station in the year 2455 can be crossed off the list of ideas for the inevitable future sequels ( hey , do n't shoot the messenger )


good intentions derailed by a failure to seek and strike just the right tone


walked out muttering words like `` horrible '' and `` terrible


seems worse for the effort


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


wiseman is patient and uncompromising , letting his camera observe and record the lives of women torn apart by a legacy of abuse


fussy


a plot cobbled together from largely flat and uncreative moments


the first film in a long time that made me want to bolt the theater in the first 10 minutes


until the final act


enervating


disquieting and thought-provoking film


's good to see michael caine whipping out the dirty words and punching people in the stomach again .


which awards animals the respect they


to be more than another `` best man '' clone by weaving a theme throughout this funny film


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


beautifully crafted , engaging filmmaking that should attract upscale audiences hungry for quality and a nostalgic , twisty yarn that will keep them guessing .


be forewarned , if you 're depressed about anything before watching this film , you may just end up trying to drown yourself in a lake afterwards .


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


an extremely flat lead performance


... the reason to go see `` blue crush '' is the phenomenal , water-born cinematography by david hennings .


washed away by sumptuous ocean visuals and the cinematic stylings of director john stockwell


its predictable plot and paper-thin supporting characters


influential


histrionic


de niro , mcdormand and the other good actors


be treated to an impressive and highly entertaining celebration of its sounds


brash young men set out to conquer the online world with laptops , cell phones and sketchy business plans


of the year with its exquisite acting , inventive screenplay , mesmerizing music , and many inimitable scenes


swings and jostles


a very charming and funny movie


infuriatingly quirky and taken with its own style .


just copies


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


to pass up , and for the blacklight crowd , way cheaper ( and better ) than pink floyd tickets


for a depressing story that throws a bunch of hot-button items in the viewer 's face and asks to be seen as hip , winking social commentary


references to faith and rainbows to plant smile-button faces on that segment of the populace that made a walk to remember a niche hit


with its love of life and beauty


you can enjoy much of jonah simply , and gratefully , as laugh-out-loud lunacy with a pronounced monty pythonesque flavor .


peculiar and always entertaining costume drama


as the lousy tarantino imitations have subsided


children 's entertainment , superhero comics ,


full advantage


his beautiful , self-satisfied 22-year-old girlfriend and an equally beautiful , self-satisfied 18-year-old mistress


makes the same mistake as the music industry it criticizes , becoming so slick and watered-down it almost loses what made you love it


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


such master screenwriting comes courtesy of john pogue , the yale grad who previously gave us `` the skulls '' and


long gone bottom-of-the-bill fare like the ghost and mr. chicken


woo has as much right to make a huge action sequence as any director , but how long will filmmakers copy the `` saving private ryan '' battle scenes before realizing steven spielberg got it right the first time ?


rent the disney version


is smart and dark - hallelujah for small favors


this is an ungainly movie , ill-fitting , with its elbows sticking out where the knees should be .


is blazingly alive and admirable on many levels


amidst the action , the script carries arnold ( and the viewers ) into the forbidden zone of sympathizing with terrorist motivations by presenting the `` other side of the story . ''


the tv movie-esque , affected child acting to the dullest irish pub scenes ever filmed


of a filmmaker who has secrets buried at the heart of his story and knows how to take time revealing them


has none of the crackle of `` fatal attraction '' , `` 9 1/2 weeks '' , or even `` indecent proposal '' , and


a spooky yarn of demonic doings on the high seas that works better the less the brain is engaged


by movie 's end , we accept the characters and the film , flaws and all


often-funny drama


offers just enough sweet and traditional romantic comedy to counter the crudity .


suffers from over-familiarity since hit-hungry british filmmakers have strip-mined the monty formula mercilessly since 1997 .


, with the director taking a hands-off approach when he should have shaped the story to show us why it 's compelling .


picked me up , swung me around , and dropped me back in my seat with more emotional force than any other recent film


flagrantly


uncool the only thing missing is the `` gadzooks


get popcorn whenever he 's not onscreen


the hackneyed story


intermezzo strain


do anything as stomach-turning as the way adam sandler 's new movie rapes , pillages and


of effecting change and inspiring hope


the middle and lurches between not-very-funny comedy , unconvincing dramatics and


deliciously exploitative


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


counter the crudity


this is a more fascinating look at the future than `` bladerunner '' and one of the most high-concept sci fi adventures attempted for the screen .


like life on the island


beautifully crafted


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


a very compelling , sensitive , intelligent and almost cohesive piece


that shoplifts shamelessly from farewell-to-innocence movies like the wanderers and a bronx tale without cribbing any of their intelligence


's the perfect star vehicle for grant , allowing him to finally move away from his usual bumbling , tongue-tied screen persona


even if you 've seen `` stomp '' ( the stage show ) , you still have to see this !


like bad cinema


some savvy producer saw the potential success inherent in the mixture of bullock bubble and hugh goo


a listless and desultory affair


the visuals and enveloping sounds of blue crush make this surprisingly decent flick worth a summertime look-see .


found the perfect material with which to address his own world war ii experience in his signature style


does n't try to surprise us with plot twists , but rather


a sexy , peculiar and always entertaining costume drama


contrived and exploitative for the art houses and too cynical , small and decadent for the malls


has no real point


the sheer dumbness of the plot ( other than its one good idea ) and the movie 's inescapable air of sleaziness


ingratiating


wanting to abandon the theater


moore wonderfully underplays the long-suffering heroine with an unflappable '50s dignity somewhere between jane wyman and june cleaver


accompanying the stunt-hungry dimwits in a random series of collected gags , pranks , pratfalls , dares , injuries , etc. .


happiness


that only seems to care about the bottom line


smartly emphasizes the well-wrought story and omits needless chase scenes and swordfights as the revenge unfolds .


bask in your own cleverness


a younger lad in zen and the art of getting laid in this prickly indie comedy of manners and misanthropy


brings an irresistible blend of warmth and humor and a consistent embracing humanity in the face of life 's harshness


shanghai ghetto may not be as dramatic as roman polanski 's the pianist , but


who bilked unsuspecting moviegoers


superficiality and


's just not very smart


uses grant 's own twist of acidity to prevent itself from succumbing to its own bathos


with nary an original idea ( or role , or edit , or score , or anything , really ) in sight


absolutely and completely ridiculous and an insult to every family whose mother has suffered through the horrible pains of a death by cancer


grotesque and boring


a smart and funny


ladles on the local flavor with a hugely enjoyable film about changing times , clashing cultures and the pleasures of a well-made pizza .


created a substantive movie out of several cliched movie structures : the road movie , the coming-of-age movie , and the teenage sex comedy


from the bland songs to the colorful but flat drawings


lacks the wit necessary to fully exploit the comic elements of the premise , making the proceedings more bizarre than actually amusing


's good


's painful to watch witherspoon 's talents wasting away inside unnecessary films like legally blonde and sweet home abomination , i mean , alabama


like it was worth your seven bucks ,


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


a welcome and heartwarming addition to the romantic comedy genre


the style and flash of the double-cross that made mamet 's `` house of games '' and last fall 's `` heist '' so much fun


all the small moments and flashbacks


( soderbergh ) tends to place most of the psychological and philosophical material in italics rather than trust an audience 's intelligence , and


was when green threw medical equipment at a window ; not because it was particularly funny , but because i had a serious urge to grab the old lady at the end of my aisle 's walker and toss it at the screen in frustration


is standard crime drama fare ... instantly forgettable and thoroughly dull .


at the future than `` bladerunner '' and one of the most high-concept sci fi adventures attempted for the screen


have been funnier if the director had released the outtakes theatrically and used the film as a bonus feature on the dvd


all the right ways


the story has its redundancies


from new zealand whose boozy , languid air is balanced by a rich visual clarity and deeply


ugly digital video


the more outrageous bits achieve a shock-you-into-laughter intensity of almost dadaist proportions .


from his usual bumbling , tongue-tied screen persona


flaccid satire and what


feel more like literary conceits than flesh-and-blood humans


mass drug-induced bowel evacuations , and none-too-funny commentary on the cultural distinctions between americans and brits .


leblanc thought , `` hey , the movie about the baseball-playing monkey was worse . ''


is talented enough and charismatic enough to make us care about zelda 's ultimate fate


available


on its own staggeringly unoriginal terms , this gender-bending comedy is generally quite funny .


manages to keep you at the edge of your seat with its shape-shifting perils , political intrigue and brushes with calamity


windtalkers seems to have ransacked every old world war ii movie for overly familiar material .


like `` horrible '' and `` terrible


steers clear of the sensational and offers instead an unflinching and objective look at a decidedly perverse pathology


too infuriatingly quirky and taken with its own style .


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


are portrayed with almost supernatural powers to humble , teach and ultimately redeem their mentally `` superior '' friends , family ...


it is supremely unfunny and unentertaining to watch middle-age and older men drink to excess , piss on trees , b.s. one another and put on a show in drag


of determination and the human spirit


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


( d ) espite its familiar subject matter , ice age is consistently amusing and engrossing ...


squeeze the action and our emotions into the all-too-familiar dramatic arc of the holocaust escape story


strange , funny , twisted , brilliant and macabre


on the soullessness of work


its hackneyed and meanspirited storyline


bang your head on the seat in front of you , at its cluelessness , at its idiocy ,


where this was lazy but enjoyable , a formula comedy redeemed by its stars , that is even lazier and far less enjoyable .


's quinn ( is ) a leather clad grunge-pirate with a hairdo like gandalf in a wind-tunnel and a simply astounding cor-blimey-luv-a-duck cockney accent .


just did n't mean much to me and played too skewed to ever get a hold on


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


a properly spooky film about the power of spirits to influence us whether we believe in them or not


's there to scare while we delight in the images


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


it 's just grating


a series of perfect black pearls clicking together to form a string


billy crystal and robert de niro sleepwalk through vulgarities in a sequel you can refuse .


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


the exploitative


fessenden has nurtured his metaphors at the expense of his narrative , but he does display an original talent


i encourage young and old alike to go see this unique and entertaining twist on the classic whale 's tale -- you wo n't be sorry


nair 's attention to detail creates an impeccable sense of place , while thurman and lewis give what can easily be considered career-best performances .


if you 're looking for a smart , nuanced look at de sade and what might have happened at picpus


spied with my little eye ... a mediocre collection of cookie-cutter action scenes and


another boorish movie from the i-heard-a-joke - at-a-frat-party school of screenwriting .


lost its edge


a sane and breathtakingly creative film


spirit is a visual treat , and it takes chances that are bold by studio standards , but it lacks a strong narrative .


will take you places you have n't been , and also places you have


happened to good actors


blessed with a searing lead performance by ryan gosling ( murder by numbers ) , the movie is powerful and provocative .


a familiar anti-feminist equation ( career - kids = misery ) in tiresome romantic-comedy duds


hampered by taylor 's cartoonish performance and the film 's ill-considered notion


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


an intelligent screenplay


-- that you should never forget


exhibits the shallow sensationalism characteristic of soap opera ... more salacious telenovela than serious drama


played game of absurd plot twists , idiotic court maneuvers and stupid characters that even freeman ca n't save it


blue crush , a late-summer surfer girl entry , should be as entertaining as it is


apparently hoping that the audience will not notice the glaring triteness of the plot device


old-fashioned in all the best possible ways


misguided


clever ideas


fluidity and sense


an undeniably intriguing film from an adventurous young talent who finds his inspiration on the fringes of the american underground


less the product of loving , well integrated homage and more like a mere excuse for the wan , thinly sketched story


being noticeably derivative of goodfellas and at least a half dozen other trouble-in-the-ghetto flicks


its use of the thriller form to examine the labyrinthine ways in which people 's lives cross and change ,


pompous and garbled


the pitch-perfect forster to the always hilarious meara and levy


multi-character story


abandon the theater


it is n't particularly funny


does n't get the job done , running off the limited chemistry created by ralph fiennes and jennifer lopez


the hours is one of those reputedly `` unfilmable '' novels that has bucked the odds to emerge as an exquisite motion picture in its own right .


vastly improved germanic version


a warm , moving message


tastelessness and gall


refreshingly smart and newfangled variation


meandering , norton has to recite bland police procedural details , fiennes wanders around in an attempt to seem weird and distanced ,


it 's weird , wonderful , and not necessarily for kids .


lots of effort and intelligence are on display but in execution it is all awkward , static , and lifeless rumblings


codswallop


junior-high


updates the setting in an attempt to make the film relevant today , without fully understanding what it was that made the story relevant in the first place


relaxed in its perfect quiet pace and proud in its message


might not give a second look if we passed them on the street


would have been funnier if the director had released the outtakes theatrically and used the film as a bonus feature on the dvd


one of those unassuming films that sneaks up on you and stays with you long after you have left the theater


has been lost in the translation ... another routine hollywood frightfest in which the slack execution italicizes the absurdity of the premise


in them , who have carved their own comfortable niche in the world


, but also more than anything else slight ... tadpole pulls back from the consequences of its own actions and revelations .


the makers of this ` we 're - doing-it-for - the-cash ' sequel


can smell the grease on the plot


wimps


's all bluster and cliché


has some quietly moving moments and an intelligent subtlety


it takes a really long , slow and dreary time to dope out what tuck everlasting is about .


it integrates thoughtfulness and pasta-fagioli comedy


its good qualities


... the kind of movie you see because the theater has air conditioning .


gorgeous to look at but insufferably tedious and turgid ... a curiously constricted epic


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 .


's like rocky and bullwinkle on speed


weird / thinking about all the bad things in the world / like puppies with broken legs / and butterflies that die / and movies starring pop queens


delivers a powerful commentary on how governments lie ,


, he has at least one more story to tell : his own .


experimental enough to alienate the mainstream audience while ringing cliched to hardened indie-heads


where this was lazy but enjoyable


recommend secretary , based on the wonderful acting clinic put on by spader and gyllenhaal


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


a strong and confident work which works so well for the first 89 minutes , but ends so horrendously confusing


clever and unexpected


graphically illustrates the problems of fledgling democracies , but also the strength and sense of freedom the iranian people already possess , with or without access to the ballot box .


the story ... is hackneyed


, 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 .


what we have here is n't a disaster , exactly , but a very handsomely produced let-down .


, the film shows signs that someone other than the director got into the editing room and tried to improve things by making the movie go faster .


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


everything about it from the bland songs to the colorful but flat drawings is completely serviceable and quickly forgettable .


accept the characters and the film , flaws and all


slightly naughty , just-above-average off


corruption


poignant and moving


maelstrom is strange and compelling , engrossing and different


a playful iranian parable about openness , particularly the


walked out muttering words like `` horrible '' and `` terrible , '' but had so much fun dissing the film that they did n't mind the ticket cost


paul bettany is good at being the ultra-violent gangster wannabe


direction to give the film a soul and an unabashed sense of good old-fashioned escapism


that caruso takes an atypically hypnotic approach to a world that 's often handled in fast-edit , hopped-up fashion


is rigid and evasive in ways that soderbergh 's best films , `` erin brockovich , '' `` out of sight '' and `` ocean 's eleven , ''


a wind-tunnel and a simply astounding cor-blimey-luv-a-duck cockney accent


that jim brown treats his women -- as dumb , credulous , unassuming , subordinate subjects


fails to portray its literarily talented and notorious subject as anything much more than a dirty old man


flabbergasting principals


, smartly played and smartly directed .


a phlegmatic bore , so tedious it makes the silly spy vs. spy film the sum of all fears , starring ben affleck , seem downright hitchcockian


has in fact come closer than anyone could desire to the cheap , graceless , hackneyed sci-fi serials of the '30s and '40s


the film 's drumbeat about authenticity , given the stale plot and pornographic way the film revels in swank apartments , clothes and parties


all the enjoyable randomness


xxx


clooney directs this film always keeping the balance between the fantastic and the believable ...


a smoother , more focused


wildly uneven hit-and-miss enterprise


disapproval


the quirky and recessive charms of co-stars martin donovan and mary-louise parker help overcome the problematic script .


certainly got lost in the `` soon-to-be-forgettable '' section of the quirky rip-off prison romp pile .


a sexy , peculiar and always entertaining costume drama set in renaissance spain , and the fact that it 's based on true events


trying to forget


the attempt to complicate the story


gets the details right , from its promenade of barely clad bodies in myrtle beach , s.c. , to the adrenaline jolt of a sudden lunch rush at the diner


revitalize what is and always has been remarkable about clung-to traditions


best screen


broad , mildly fleshed-out characters that seem to have been conjured up only 10 minutes prior to filming


( soderbergh ) tends to place most of the psychological and philosophical material in italics rather than trust an audience 's intelligence , and he creates an overall sense of brusqueness


by the dynamic first act


, funny and touching


her small , intelligent eyes


to be smarter and more diabolical than you could have guessed at the beginning


there may have been a good film in `` trouble every day , '' but it is not what is on the screen


, it 's almost impossible not to be swept away by the sheer beauty of his images .


self-hating , self-destructive ways


a refreshing change from the usual whoopee-cushion effort aimed at the youth market .


lets go your emotions , taking them to surprising highs , sorrowful lows and hidden impulsive niches ... gorgeous , passionate , and at times uncommonly moving


metropolis you hate to tear your eyes away from the images long enough to read the subtitles


such enervating determination


does n't tell you anything except that the chelsea hotel today is populated by whiny , pathetic , starving and untalented artistes


by talented writer/director anderson


an impenetrable and insufferable ball


combines sharp comedy , old-fashioned monster movie atmospherics , and genuine heart


takes you by the face , strokes your cheeks and coos beseechingly at you


salvation and good intentions


a more sheerly beautiful film


i 've never seen or heard anything quite like this film


one problem with the movie , directed by joel schumacher , is that it jams too many prefabricated story elements into the running time .


guess a space station in the year 2455 can be crossed off the list of ideas for the inevitable future sequels ( hey , do n't shoot the messenger )


refreshed and


cloaks a familiar anti-feminist equation ( career - kids = misery ) in tiresome romantic-comedy duds .


found its audience ,


a ` girls gone wild ' video for the boho art-house crowd , the burning sensation is n't a definitive counter-cultural document -- its makers are n't removed and inquisitive enough for that


this quiet , introspective and entertaining independent


impress


though the aboriginal aspect lends the ending an extraordinary poignancy , and the story itself could be played out in any working class community in the nation .


a good film that must have baffled the folks in the marketing department


if this sappy script was the best the contest received , those rejected must have been astronomically bad


were made for the palm screen


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


expect more from director michael apted ( enigma ) and screenwriter nicholas kazan ( reversal of fortune ) than this cliche pileup


than forcing us to endure every plot contrivance that the cliché-riddled genre can offer


walked away


would change the fact that what we have here is a load of clams left in the broiling sun for a good three days


astonishingly skillful and moving ... it could become a historically significant work as well as a masterfully made one


are simply dazzling , particularly balk , who 's finally been given a part worthy of her considerable talents


in conveying its social message


a rather simplistic one : grief drives her , love drives him , and a second chance to find love in the most unlikely place


live in them , who have carved their own comfortable niche in the world and have been kind enough to share it


creates a drama with such a well-defined sense of place and age -- as in , 15 years old -- that the torments and angst become almost as operatic to us as they are to her characters


be captivated , as i was , by its moods , and by its subtly transformed star ,


savor the pleasure of his sounds and images


a slightly naughty , just-above-average off - broadway play


elegant technology for the masses


though jackson does n't always succeed in integrating the characters in the foreground into the extraordinarily rich landscape


shows crushingly little curiosity about , or is ill-equipped to examine , the interior lives of the characters in his film , much less incorporate them into his narrative


, it revigorates the mind to see a feature that concentrates on people , a project in which the script and characters hold sway .


, windtalkers seems to have ransacked every old world war ii movie for overly familiar material .


chokes


's not one decent performance from the cast and not one clever line of dialogue


, this is the first film in a long time that made me want to bolt the theater in the first 10 minutes .


has taken quite a nosedive from alfred hitchcock 's imaginative flight to shyamalan 's self-important summer fluff


's just grating


`` bad '' is the operative word for `` bad company , '' and i do n't mean that in a good way


full


one senses in world traveler and in his earlier film that freundlich bears a grievous but obscure complaint against fathers , and circles it obsessively , without making contact .


may be wondering what all that jazz was about `` chicago '' in 2002 .


keep you at the edge of your seat with its shape-shifting perils , political intrigue and brushes with calamity


take before indigestion sets


its title implies


go to a picture-perfect beach


a mechanical action-comedy whose seeming purpose is to market the charismatic jackie chan to even younger audiences


as a painful elegy and sobering cautionary tale


an energetic and engaging film


is that , by the end , no one in the audience or the film seems to really care


earnest yet curiously tepid and choppy recycling in which predictability is the only winner .


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


may be more genial than ingenious , but


magic and whimsy for children , a heartfelt romance for teenagers and a compelling argument about death , both pro and con , for adults


a startling story that works both as a detailed personal portrait and as a rather frightening examination of modern times


content merely to lionize its title character and exploit his anger -


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


allowing us to find the small , human moments , and


are powerful and moving without stooping to base melodrama


proves she has the stuff to stand tall with pryor , carlin and murphy .


because it was so endlessly , grotesquely , inventive


, this will be an enjoyable choice for younger kids .


kiddie-oriented stinker


offer a fascinating glimpse into the subculture of extreme athletes whose derring-do puts the x into the games


self-deprecating comedy


might more accurately be titled mr. chips off the old block


while the path may be familiar , first-time director denzel washington and a top-notch cast manage to keep things interesting .


, the movie completely transfixes the audience .


the story has its redundancies , and


bread , my sweet has so many flaws it would be easy for critics to shred it .


this is n't exactly profound cinema , but it 's good-natured and sometimes quite funny


ravishing , baroque beauty


its hackneyed and meanspirited storyline with cardboard characters and performers


're on the edge of your seat


beautifully read and


would have been benefited from a sharper , cleaner script before it went in front of the camera


remarkable ensemble cast


processed comedy


i loved on first sight and , even more important ,


as the queasy-stomached critic who staggered from the theater and blacked out in the lobby


it 's possible that something hip and transgressive was being attempted here that stubbornly refused to gel , but the result is more puzzling than unsettling


instead of making his own style , director marcus adams just copies from various sources -- good sources , bad mixture


all round , but what really sets the film apart is debrauwer 's refusal to push the easy emotional buttons


a buoyant romantic comedy about friendship , love , and the truth


too much ai n't - she-cute baggage into her lead role as a troubled and determined homicide cop to quite pull off the heavy stuff


happens when something goes bump in the night and nobody cares


seems content to dog-paddle in the mediocre end of the pool


, the tale unfolds like a lazy summer afternoon and concludes with the crisp clarity of a fall dawn .


the passion , creativity , and fearlessness of one


depressing than entertaining


including that between the son and his wife , and the wife and the father , and between the two brothers , with incredible subtlety and acumen


... something appears to have been lost in the translation this time


if the last man were the last movie left on earth , there would be a toss-up between presiding over the end of cinema as we know it and another night of delightful hand shadows .


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


pyrotechnics its punchy style promises


want to bang your head on the seat in front of you , at its cluelessness , at its idiocy , at its utterly misplaced earnestness


at once overly old-fashioned in its sudsy plotting and heavy-handed in its effort to modernize it with encomia to diversity and tolerance


once in the rush to save the day did i become very involved in the proceedings ; to me


is n't very good


because the plot is equally hackneyed


offers a desperately ingratiating performance


directed , highly professional film that 's old-fashioned in all the best possible ways .


an admitted egomaniac , evans is no hollywood villain , and yet this grating showcase almost makes you wish he 'd gone the way of don simpson .


thanks to the château 's balance of whimsicality , narrative discipline and serious improvisation , almost every relationship and personality in the film yields surprises .


beautifully reclaiming the story of carmen


had a serious urge to grab the old lady at the end of my aisle 's walker and toss it at the screen in frustration


of being the big


of good sense


a knack for casting , often resurrecting performers who rarely work in movies now ... and drawing flavorful performances from bland actors


the leads are natural and lovely , the pace is serene , the humor wry and sprightly .


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


take on a great writer and dubious human being


odoriferous thing


a fascinating , unnerving examination


redone for horses , with fewer deliberate laughs , more inadvertent ones and stunningly trite songs


misfire that even tunney ca n't save


strangely believable


for a smart , nuanced look at de sade and what might have happened at picpus


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


bad name


rhetoric and cliché


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


like the guys


possibly the worst film


, american chai is enough to make you put away the guitar , sell the amp , and apply to medical school .


a well-crafted film that is all the more remarkable because it achieves its emotional power and moments of revelation with restraint and a delicate ambiguity .


witty , contemplative , and sublimely beautiful .


suffers from two fatal ailments -- a dearth of vitality and a story that 's shapeless and uninflected


a sugar-coated rocky whose valuable messages are forgotten 10 minutes after the last trombone honks .


a lame romantic comedy about an unsympathetic character and someone who would not likely be so stupid as to get


is a dazzling , remarkably unpretentious reminder of what ( evans ) had , lost , and got back


, you 're on the edge of your seat


its ludicrous and contrived plot


catch the pitch of his poetics , savor the pleasure of his sounds and images ,


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


's still not a good movie


mr. soderbergh 's direction and visual style struck me as unusually and unimpressively fussy and pretentious .


at the very root of his contradictory , self-hating , self-destructive ways


the cast ... keeps this pretty watchable , and casting mick jagger as director of the escort service was inspired


directs this film always keeping the balance between the fantastic and the believable ...


it 's a visual delight and a decent popcorn adventure , as long as you do n't try to look too deep into the story


that would have made vittorio de sica proud


well paced and satisfying


while you watch it , offering fine acting moments and pungent insights into modern l.a. 's show-biz and media


easy , comfortable


another phone call warning you that if the video is n't back at blockbuster before midnight , you 're going to face frightening late fees


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


tom tykwer , director of the resonant and sense-spinning run lola run , has turned out to be a one-trick pony


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


in the book-on-tape market , the film of `` the kid stays in the picture '' would be an abridged edition


moving and solidly entertaining


inimitable diaz


's not that funny


fake


lost the politics and the social observation and become just another situation romance about a couple of saps stuck in an inarticulate screenplay


's not just the vampires that are damned in queen of the damned


finds one of our most conservative and hidebound movie-making traditions and gives it new texture , new relevance , new reality


left slightly disappointed


of two fine actors , morgan freeman and ashley judd


below casts its spooky net out into the atlantic ocean and spits it back , grizzled and charred , somewhere northwest of the bermuda triangle .


could n't stand to hear


in its attempts


those exceedingly rare films in which the talk alone is enough to keep us


, populating its hackneyed and meanspirited storyline with cardboard characters and performers who value cash above credibility .


ultimately very satisfying


see how many times they can work the words `` radical '' or `` suck '' into a sentence


in an entirely irony-free zone and bale reduced mainly to batting his sensitive eyelids


victims


its own good


the long and eventful spiritual journey


maid in manhattan proves that it 's easier to change the sheets than to change hackneyed concepts when it comes to dreaming up romantic comedies .


, witty and beneath


a minor-league soccer remake


, this deeply moving french drama develops a startling story that works both as a detailed personal portrait and as a rather frightening examination of modern times .


the soulful development


bring fresh good looks and an ease in front of the camera to the work


highly gifted 12-year-old


excellent performances on its side


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


really a true `` us '' versus `` them ''


for the ones that do n't come off


truly terrible


's pauly shore awful


the movie is silly beyond comprehension , and even if it were n't silly , it would still be beyond comprehension


religion that dares to question an ancient faith , and


that by movie 's end , we accept the characters and the film , flaws and all


working from a surprisingly sensitive script co-written by gianni romoli ... ozpetek avoids most of the pitfalls you 'd expect in such a potentially sudsy set-up


will just as likely make you weep


of those films where the characters inhabit that special annex of hell where adults behave like kids , children behave like adults and everyone


creeping into the second half


fathers and sons , and the uneasy bonds between them


richard pryor mined his personal horrors and came up with a treasure chest of material , but


a clumsily manufactured exploitation flick ,


... a quietly introspective portrait of the self-esteem of employment and the shame of losing a job


once she lets her love depraved leads meet , ( denis ' ) story becomes a hopeless , unsatisfying muddle


comedian , like its subjects , delivers the goods and audiences will have a fun , no-frills ride .


is hampered by its predictable plot and paper-thin supporting characters


genuinely satisfying


in the wake of saving private ryan , black hawk down and we were soldiers , you are likely to be as heartily sick of mayhem as cage 's war-weary marine .


lowly studio hack


hellish


it follows the blair witch formula for an hour , in which we 're told something creepy and vague is in the works , and


has secrets buried at the heart of his story and knows how to take time revealing them


that criticizing feels more like commiserating


with its exquisite acting , inventive screenplay , mesmerizing music , and many inimitable scenes


a huge disappointment coming


likeable thanks to its cast , its cuisine and its quirky tunes .


going right through the ranks of the players -- on-camera and off -- that he brings together


do anything as stomach-turning as the way adam sandler 's new movie rapes , pillages and incinerates frank capra 's classic


drawing wrenching performances from his actors ( improvised over many months ) and for conveying the way tiny acts of kindness make ordinary life survivable


would do well to cram earplugs in their ears and put pillowcases over their heads for 87 minutes


essentially awkward version


a thoughtful and surprisingly affecting portrait


brings to the fore for the gifted but no-nonsense human beings they are and for the still-inestimable contribution they have made to our shared history


goosebumps as its uncanny tale of love , communal discord , and justice


`` the road paved with good intentions leads to the video store ''


misunderstanding of marivaux 's rhythms , and mira sorvino 's limitations as a classical actress


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


seems like someone going through the motions


is n't exactly profound cinema


the kind of soft-core twaddle you 'd expect to see on showtime 's ` red shoe diaries


does no justice


brash , intelligent


deep down , i realized the harsh reality of my situation : i would leave the theater with a lower i.q. than when i had entered


complex


it 's a compelling and horrifying story , and the laramie project is worthwhile for reminding us that this sort of thing does , in fact , still happen in america


that 's so mechanical you can smell the grease on the plot


engages us in constant fits of laughter , until we find ourselves surprised at how much we care about the story , and


is nothing funny in this every-joke-has - been-told-a - thousand-times - before movie


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


encourage young and old alike to go see this unique and entertaining twist on the classic whale 's tale


ice-t sticks his mug in the window of the couple 's bmw and begins haranguing the wife in bad stage dialogue


ultimately defeated the film ... it was the unfulfilling , incongruous , `` wait a second


quite rich and exciting


a very moving and revelatory footnote to the holocaust


her pale , dark beauty and


that stubbornly refused to gel


lazily directed by charles stone iii ... from a leaden script by matthew cirulnick and novelist thulani davis .


to imagine that a more confused , less interesting and more sloppily made film could possibly come down the road in 2002


barely makes sense , with its unbelievable naïveté and arbitrary flashbacks .


that avoids the cartoonish clichés and sneering humor of the genre as it provides a fresh view of an old type


that if the video is n't back at blockbuster before midnight , you 're going to face frightening late fees


broomfield 's style of journalism is hardly journalism at all , and even those with an avid interest in the subject will grow impatient .


sentimental ooze


spectacularly ugly-looking


the hook is the drama within the drama , as an unsolved murder and an unresolved moral conflict jockey for the spotlight .


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


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


there is a certain sense of experimentation and improvisation to this film that may not always work , but it is nevertheless compelling


, the film is also imbued with strong themes of familial ties and spirituality that are powerful and moving without stooping to base melodrama


that something hip and transgressive was being attempted here that stubbornly refused to gel


it has been deemed important enough to make a film in which someone has to be hired to portray richard dawson


bewilderingly


sure the filmmakers found this a remarkable and novel concept


the film ... it was the unfulfilling , incongruous , `` wait a second


feels comfortable with taking insane liberties and doing the goofiest stuff out of left field


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


like its hero


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


lack depth or complexity , with the ironic exception of scooter


a strong first act and


meager weight


a love story as sanguine as its title


`` sweet home alabama '' is what it is -- a nice , harmless date film ...


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


's all about anakin ... and the lustrous polished visuals rich in color and creativity and , of course , special effect


, roiling black-and-white inspires trembling and gratitude .


before quickly losing its focus , point and purpose in a mess of mixed messages , over-blown drama and bruce willis with a scar


hitting your head on the theater seat


cremaster 3 is at once a tough pill to swallow and a minor miracle of self-expression .


's not very good


predictable storyline and by-the-book scripting is all but washed away by sumptuous ocean visuals and the cinematic stylings of director john stockwell .


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


love is the great equalizer that can calm us of our daily ills and bring out joys in our lives that we never knew


a children 's film in the truest sense


the cast and crew did n't sign a pact to burn the negative and the script and pretend the whole thing never existed


shows excess in business and pleasure , allowing us to find the small , human moments , and leaving off with a grand whimper


are few things in this world more complex -- and , as it turns out , more fragile


a clear-eyed take on the economics of dealing and the pathology of ghetto fabulousness


bringing richer meaning to the story 's morals


jacquot has filmed the opera exactly as the libretto directs , ideally capturing the opera 's drama and lyricism .


claims to sort the bad guys from the good , which is its essential problem .


the real issues tucked between the silly and crude storyline


is more than he has ever revealed before about the source of his spiritual survival


this dreadfully earnest inversion of the concubine love triangle eschews the previous film 's historical panorama and roiling pathos for bug-eyed mugging and gay-niche condescension .


acted meditation on both the profoundly devastating events of one year ago and the slow , painful healing process that has followed in their wake


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


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


nagging


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


... if you , like me , think an action film disguised as a war tribute is disgusting to begin with , then you 're in for a painful ride .


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


fails to fulfill its own ambitious goals


that the beauty and power of the opera reside primarily in the music itself


that the film never feels derivative


revitalize


it summons more spirit and bite than your average formulaic romantic quadrangle


is such high-wattage brainpower coupled with pitch-perfect acting and an exquisite , unfakable sense of cinema


fessenden has nurtured his metaphors at the expense of his narrative , but he does display an original talent .


's on par with the first one


you 'll forget about it by monday , though , and if they 're old enough to have developed some taste , so will your kids


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


goes straight to video -- with a lousy script , inept direction , pathetic acting , poorly dubbed dialogue and murky cinematography


, almost every relationship and personality in the film yields surprises .


to grab the old lady at the end of my aisle 's walker and toss it at the screen in frustration


victorious revolutionaries


here is how so many talented people were convinced to waste their time


complex story


them , who have carved their own comfortable niche in the world


that 's refreshing after the phoniness of female-bonding pictures like divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood


's a testament to de niro and director michael caton-jones that by movie 's end , we accept the characters and the film , flaws and all


relies on subtle ironies and visual devices


of those unassuming films that sneaks up on you and stays with you long after you have left the theater


long for the end


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


breathtakingly assured and stylish work


the screen to attract and sustain an older crowd


painful to watch witherspoon 's talents wasting away inside unnecessary films like legally blonde and sweet home abomination , i mean , alabama


it may not be particularly innovative , but the film 's crisp , unaffected style and air of gentle longing make it unexpectedly rewarding


crafty , energetic and smart


in the film 's drumbeat about authenticity , given the stale plot and pornographic way the film revels in swank apartments , clothes and parties


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


's also not smart or barbed enough for older viewers


've been nice if the screenwriters had trusted audiences to understand a complex story , and left off the film 's predictable denouement


films had the ability to mesmerize , astonish and entertain


a testament to the integrity and vision of the band


, accompanying the stunt-hungry dimwits in a random series of collected gags , pranks , pratfalls , dares , injuries , etc. .


with the director taking a hands-off approach when he should have shaped the story to show us why it 's compelling


's only one way to kill michael myers for good : stop buying tickets to these movies


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


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


the plot follows a predictable connect-the-dots course


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


the film would have been more enjoyable had the balance shifted in favor of water-bound action over the land-based ` drama , ' but


taken it a step further , richer and deeper


lovely and amazing


's the plot , and a maddeningly insistent and repetitive piano score that made me want to scream


one decent performance


toss logic and science into what is essentially a `` dungeons and dragons '' fantasy with modern military weaponry


in the end , it stays in formula -- which is a waste of de niro , mcdormand and the other good actors in the cast


pale , dark beauty


the middle and lurches between not-very-funny comedy , unconvincing dramatics


criminal


on the glamorous machine that thrusts the audience into a future they wo n't much care about


patchy combination of soap opera , low-tech magic realism and , at times , ploddingly sociological commentary


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


, dogtown and z-boys has a compelling story to tell .


as the slight , pale mr. broomfield continues to force himself on people and into situations that would make lesser men run for cover


grating and tedious


invites unflattering comparisons to other installments in the ryan series


to its clever what-if concept


the cheap , graceless , hackneyed sci-fi serials of the '30s and '40s


the 3-d vistas from orbit , with the space station suspended like a huge set of wind chimes over the great blue globe


sometimes murky , always brooding look


is even lazier and far less enjoyable


have no bearing on the story


creates a drama with such a well-defined sense of place and age -- as in , 15 years old --


devotees of star trek ii : the wrath of khan will feel a nagging sense of deja vu , and


after the phoniness of female-bonding pictures like divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood


urge to grab the old lady at the end of my aisle 's walker and toss it at the screen in frustration


had been developed with more care


the cast is so engagingly messing around like slob city reductions of damon runyon crooks


this movie loves women at all


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


linklater


justifies


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


a bad improvisation exercise , the superficially written characters ramble on tediously about their lives , loves and the art


not smart and


of gently swaying back and forth as it cradles its characters , veiling tension beneath otherwise tender movements


which , while it may not rival the filmmaker 's period pieces , is still very much worth seeing


something more user-friendly


beneath the familiar , funny surface


the dark visions already relayed by superb


especially well-executed television movie


is the film roman polanski may have been born to make


the flowers of perversity , comedy and romance


the dark theater


though the story ... is hackneyed , the characters have a freshness and modesty that transcends their predicament .


this unique and entertaining twist on the classic whale 's tale


a charming , funny and beautifully crafted import


has stepped into the mainstream of filmmaking with an assurance worthy of international acclaim and with every cinematic tool well under his control -- driven by a natural sense for what works


is nothing distinguishing in a randall wallace film


makes the same mistake as the music industry it criticizes , becoming so slick and watered-down it almost loses what made you love it in the first place


seeing things from new sides , plunging deeper ,


behan 's memoir is great material for a film -- rowdy , brawny and lyrical in the best irish sense --


give a spark to `` chasing amy '' and `` changing lanes '' falls flat as thinking man cia agent jack ryan in this summer 's new action film , ``


that even tunney ca n't save


on the subgenre


a fiercely clever and subtle film , capturing the precarious balance between the extravagant confidence of the exiled aristocracy and the cruel earnestness of the victorious revolutionaries


` just letting the mountain tell you what to do


overwhelm what is left of the scruffy , dopey old hanna-barbera charm


you wondering about the characters ' lives after the clever credits roll


invest such subtlety and warmth in an animatronic bear when the humans are acting like puppets


a stylish cast and some clever scripting solutions help chicago make the transition from stage to screen with considerable appeal intact .


with its lackadaisical plotting and mindless action , all about the benjamins evokes the bottom tier of blaxploitation flicks from the 1970s .


fail to generate any interest in an unsympathetic hero caught up in an intricate plot that while cleverly worked out , can not overcome blah characters


the performances and the cinematography to the outstanding soundtrack and unconventional narrative


of its title character


quite good-natured


very little to add beyond the dark visions already relayed by superb


surprised at how much we care about the story


goes beyond his usual fluttering and stammering


i know i should n't have laughed , but


expressing the way many of us live -- someplace between consuming self-absorption and insistently demanding otherness


jumps to the head of the class of women 's films that manage to avoid the ghetto of sentimental chick-flicks by treating female follies with a satirical style


in perfectly executed and wonderfully sympathetic characters , who are alternately touching and funny


on the amateurish


a breathtaking adventure for all ages , spirit tells its poignant and uplifting story in a stunning fusion of music and images .


self-consciously flashy camera effects , droning house music and flat , flat dialogue


a passion for cinema , and indeed sex ,


's boring


slow down , shake off your tensions and take this picture at its own breezy , distracted rhythms


strangely


duvall 's throbbing sincerity and


, mass drug-induced bowel evacuations , and none-too-funny commentary on the cultural distinctions between americans and brits .


a loud , low-budget and tired formula film that arrives cloaked in the euphemism ` urban drama . '


enormously good


a loud , brash and mainly unfunny high school comedy


devos delivers a perfect performance that captures the innocence and budding demons within a wallflower .


the lousy tarantino imitations


a smart , sassy and exceptionally charming


for a strong education and good teachers being more valuable in the way they help increase an average student 's self-esteem


where the old adage `` be careful what you wish for ''


sorvino makes the princess seem smug and cartoonish , and


when green threw medical equipment at a window ; not because it was particularly funny , but because i had a serious urge to grab the old lady at the end of my aisle 's walker and toss it at the screen in frustration


catch the pitch of his poetics , savor the pleasure of his sounds and images , and ponder the historical , philosophical , and ethical issues that intersect with them


just consider what new best friend does not have , beginning with the minor omission of a screenplay .


it 's easier to change the sheets than to change hackneyed concepts when it comes to dreaming up romantic comedies


, brash and mainly unfunny


that buoy the film , and at times , elevate it to a superior crime movie


the same stuff you can get for a buck or so in that greasy little vidgame pit in the theater lobby


timeless and unique perspective


, yet not as hilariously raunchy as south park , this strangely schizo cartoon seems suited neither to kids or adults .


in my own very humble opinion , in praise of love lacks even the most fragmented charms i have found in almost all of his previous works .


to pamela 's emotional roller coaster life


young adult life in urban south korea


the intelligence level of the characters must be low , very low , very very low , for the masquerade to work


falls far short


is smart , not cloying .


to be embraced


probably the best case for christianity since chesterton and lewis .


informative , intriguing , observant ,


to add beyond the dark visions already relayed by superb


that someone other than the director got into the editing room and tried to improve things by making the movie go faster


decidedly flimsier with its many out-sized , out of character and logically porous action set pieces


forceful drama


who knows everything and answers all questions , is visually smart , cleverly written , and nicely realized


reasonably creative eighth-grader


by the time the plot grinds itself out in increasingly incoherent fashion


a bracing truth that 's refreshing after the phoniness of female-bonding pictures like divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood


the balance between the fantastic and the believable


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


almost everyone growing up believes their family must look like `` the addams family '' to everyone looking in


children 's entertainment , superhero comics , and japanese animation


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


a movie as artificial and soulless as the country bears owes its genesis to an animatronic display at disneyland


superficiality


the year with its exquisite acting , inventive screenplay , mesmerizing music , and many inimitable scenes


it 's a quirky , off-beat project .


documentary to disregard available bias


is also imbued with strong themes of familial ties and spirituality that are powerful and moving without stooping to base melodrama


prejudices


a bland , surfacey way that does n't offer any insight into why , for instance , good things happen to bad people


episodic choppiness


you want the story to go on and on


-- the real issues tucked between the silly and crude storyline


there is a certain sense of experimentation and improvisation to this film that may not always work , but


followed through


it 's provocative stuff , but the speculative effort is hampered by taylor 's cartoonish performance and the film 's ill-considered notion that hitler 's destiny was shaped by the most random of chances


not exaggerated enough to be a parody of gross-out flicks , college flicks , or even flicks in general


hugely enjoyable in its own right though not really faithful to


wonderful fencing scenes and an exciting plot make this an eminently engrossing film .


found the perfect material


passion , melodrama , sorrow , laugther , and tears cascade over the screen effortlessly


delivering in good measure


a hugely rewarding experience


vulgarity , sex scenes , and cussing


this odd , poetic road movie , spiked by jolts of pop music , pretty much takes place in morton 's ever-watchful gaze --


comes from a renowned indian film culture that allows americans to finally revel in its splendor


( or role , or edit , or score , or anything , really


allows his cast the benefit of being able to give full performances ...


it 's hard to imagine anybody ever being `` in the mood '' to view a movie as harrowing and painful as the grey zone ,


to the movie 's contrived , lame screenplay and listless direction


sure which is worse : the poor acting by the ensemble cast , the flat dialogue by vincent r. nebrida or the gutless direction by laurice guillen


although made on a shoestring and unevenly


adds enough quirky and satirical touches in the screenplay to keep the film entertaining


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


would make it the darling of many a kids-and-family-oriented cable channel


is paced at a speed that is slow to those of us in middle age and deathly slow to any teen


a movie that , quite simply , should n't have been made


stereotypes in good fun


little vidgame pit


guaranteed to put a lump in your throat while reaffirming washington as possibly the best actor working in movies today


those crass , contrived sequels that not only fails on its own , but makes you second-guess your affection for the original


soderbergh 's best films , `` erin brockovich , '' `` out of sight '' and `` ocean 's eleven , ''


` stoked


winds up moving in many directions as it searches ( vainly , i think ) for something fresh to say


into a terribly obvious melodrama and rough-hewn vanity project for lead actress andie macdowell


a low-budget affair , tadpole was shot on digital video ,


the film chimes in on the grieving process and strangely draws the audience into the unexplainable pain and eccentricities that are attached to the concept of loss .


instead of panoramic sweep , kapur gives us episodic choppiness , undermining the story 's emotional thrust .


'' wanted and quite honestly


why paul thomas anderson ever had the inclination to make the most sincere and artful movie in which adam sandler will probably ever appear


of critiquing itself at every faltering half-step of its development that criticizing feels more like commiserating


, this halloween is a gory slash-fest .


lies a plot cobbled together from largely flat and uncreative moments


for all its brilliant touches , dragon loses its fire midway , nearly flickering out by its perfunctory conclusion .


a meditation on faith and madness


, sandler does n't understand that the idea of exploiting molestation for laughs is funny , not actually exploiting it yourself .


for its excellent storytelling , its economical , compressed characterisations and for its profound humanity


change hackneyed concepts


a dashing and resourceful hero ; a lisping , reptilian villain ; big fights ; big hair ;


avoid many of the condescending stereotypes that so often plague films dealing with the mentally ill


let crocodile hunter steve irwin do what he does best , and fashion a story around him


makes the viewer feel like the movie 's various victimized audience members after a while , but it also happens to be the movie 's most admirable quality


for the playlist


may cause you to bite your tongue to keep from laughing at the ridiculous dialog or the oh-so convenient plot twists .


bad company


the movie is loaded with good intentions , but in his zeal to squeeze the action and our emotions into the all-too-familiar dramatic arc of the holocaust escape story , minac drains his movie of all individuality


's as lumpy as two-day old porridge ... the filmmakers ' paws , sad to say , were all over this `` un-bear-able '' project


appalling ,


feels capable of charming the masses with star power , a pop-induced score and sentimental moments that have become a spielberg trademark .


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


bring on the sequel .


gets around to its real emotional business ,


it 's good to see michael caine whipping out the dirty words and punching people in the stomach again .


a genuine love story


horrible


a rich and intelligent film


the chateau , a sense of light-heartedness , that makes it attractive throughout


cinematography and exhilarating point-of-view shots


so fiendishly cunning that even the most jaded cinema audiences will leave the auditorium feeling dizzy , confused , and totally disorientated .


seems to want to be a character study , but apparently ca n't quite decide which character .


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


enough to make you put away the guitar , sell the amp , and apply to medical school


wasted by a script that takes few chances and manages to insult the intelligence of everyone in the audience


, unlikeable people


indeed , the more outrageous bits achieve a shock-you-into-laughter intensity of almost dadaist proportions .


of purpose or even a plot


both exuberantly romantic and serenely


done excellent work


won -- and wins still


shot on digital video , whose tiny camera enables shafer to navigate spaces both large ... and small ... with considerable aplomb


directing with a sure and measured hand , ( haneke ) steers clear of the sensational and offers instead an unflinching and objective look at a decidedly perverse pathology .


eventually , they will have a showdown , but , by then , your senses are as mushy as peas and you do n't care who fires the winning shot .


, but through the perverse pleasure of watching disney scrape the bottom of its own cracker barrel


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


of motherhood and desperate mothers


birot creates a drama with such a well-defined sense of place and age -- as in , 15 years old -- that the torments and angst become almost as operatic to us as they are to her characters .


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


an unsettling sight , and indicative of his , if you will , out-of-kilter character , who rambles aimlessly through ill-conceived action pieces


in all , an interesting look at the life of the campaign-trail press , especially ones that do n't really care for the candidate


crossed off the list of ideas for the inevitable future sequels ( hey , do n't shoot the messenger )


's the gift of the magi relocated to the scuzzy underbelly of nyc 's drug scene


had the inclination to make the most sincere and artful movie in which adam sandler will probably ever appear


a predictably efficient piece of business notable largely for its overwhelming creepiness , for an eagerness to create images you wish you had n't seen


in that greasy little vidgame pit in the theater lobby


it appears to have been modeled on the worst revenge-of-the-nerds clichés the filmmakers could dredge up .


where you expect and often surprises you with unexpected comedy


well-acted , well-directed and , for all its moodiness , not too pretentious .


awkward


surrounding us


a thoughtful examination of faith , love and power


, more playful tone


that begins with the everyday lives of naval personnel in san diego and ends with scenes so true and heartbreaking that tears welled up in my eyes both times i


goes beyond his usual fluttering and stammering and captures the soul of a man in pain who gradually comes to recognize it and deal with it


bad love


tian 's meticulous talent


to wander into the dark areas of parent-child relationships without flinching


quite possibly the sturdiest example yet of why the dv revolution has cheapened the artistry of making a film


enables shafer to navigate spaces both large ... and small ... with considerable aplomb


washed away


of fun or energy


based on theory , sleight-of-hand , and ill-wrought hypothesis


even bigger and more ambitious than the first installment , spy kids 2 looks as if it were made by a highly gifted 12-year-old instead of a grown man .


formula -- which is a waste of de niro , mcdormand and the other good actors in the cast


disgusted with the lazy material and the finished product 's unshapely look


a film centering on a traditional indian wedding in contemporary new delhi may not sound like specialized fare