Connie Ogle

The cast is uniformly spectacular, infusing the characters with nuance and complexity.

Dry humor keeps In Bruges fresh and lively and makes it a whole lot of fun to watch.

The good news is the updated version is scarier than the original, thanks to snazzier special effects, a shorter running time, moody lighting, a few solid jolts and one icky moment involving a bratty babysitter and a closet. The bad news is the film rehashes every horror movie cliché you can imagine.

Sometimes the film feels as if it's trying too hard to include every possible horror a teenager could sample.

Amusingly raunchy.

Jackman's charisma breathes the fire into Wolverine, not the rather pedestrian script or the by-the-numbers action.

Serenity shows what might have happened if Han Solo had been the focus of the original "Star Wars" instead of whiny Jedi wannabe Luke Skywalker.

This film, directed by Curb Your Enthusiasm's Robert Weide, makes an entertaining companion piece to his book.

This movie didn't have to be good, but that it's so boring in its badness is tough to swallow.

Neither scary nor thrilling, although it's reasonably entertaining despite an abundance of haunted-house clichés, the usual inexplicable scary-movie behavior and an almost-naked John Hurt.

The fact that License to Wed isn't as unbearable as its trailers make it look doesn't mean it's good. It's not. It's just another mediocre addition -- worse than the best sitcoms, better than the worst.

It's more amusing than not, but some scenes outlast the humor in them.

Tiresome romantic comedy that reinforces every imaginable gay stereotype.

If nothing else, Yes is certainly a brave experiment.

The film relies a bit too much on the humor of older women flipping each other off and mouthing obscenities, although it is hilarious to see the usually proper Smith frantically chopping up a roofie to slip into Sidda's drink.

What makes The Woodsman meaningful is Bacon's tortured suffering.

It's fitting. Valentin and Jane may be awakening from life's slumber, but mostly they're just putting us to sleep.

Mostly due to luminous writing, Baxter's novel evoked a sense of magic, but this Feast, though never completely uninteresting, leaves you hungry for enchantment.

Together (Hunter/Murphy) they're actually sort of fun to watch, and it's amusing to realize, not quite halfway through the film, that its most potent chemistry exists between them.

Gervais' wickedly sly concept lingers quite awhile after the final chuckle. And that's the truth.

The real Guerin deserves a more complete cinematic tribute.

Smart, entertaining update.

The Family Stone should have been a glittering holiday bauble along the lines of the irresistible Love Actually. Instead, Bezucha stuffs into our stockings what he thinks is good for us. It's not coal, but it's not entirely what we were hoping for, either.

Excruciatingly unamusing.

It's a disappointing chapter in what until now has been a highly entertaining, even thought-provoking series.

Talk to Me is a welcome reminder of a time when radio truly listened to the people instead of just shouted at them.

Sluggish, uninspired drama.

A rarity, a film that preserves the depth and integrity of its source while bringing the story to life in an indelible way.

While there are some genuinely creepy moments, it never truly ends up as more than an average "X-Files" episode.

The most interesting aspect of Danny Deckchair, though, may be that the film is based on the true story.

The Back-up Plan is about as much fun as 36 hours of labor, only you don't get to go home with a baby at the end. Instead, you leave with a throbbing headache and a lot of questions about why anybody still thinks Jennifer Lopez can anchor a movie.

Won't surprise you, but it's more tolerable than the grating, garish, millinery-challenged Cat. Besides, a cadaverous Terence Stamp trumps a glossy Alec Baldwin as a bad guy any day.

Downey gives a nervy, riveting performance in The Soloist.

Despite its scary warnings, the film ends on an upbeat note, unless of course you happen to be Hillary Clinton's campaign manager.

The overwhelming sensation of deja vu is exhausting and disorienting. You really HAVE seen it all before.

The film makes coupling look less like bliss and more like an exhausting series of skirmishes that can send one party scurrying into infidelity or out the door in search of something better.

Soon settles down into a drizzle of steady mediocrity, never living up to all the frenzy of those first few moments.

Once in a great while, a film of insight and wisdom defines a generation. Step Up is not that film. Instead, it's the sort of mildly entertaining movie that comes along a couple of times a year.

Me and You and Everyone We Know brings to mind the work of happily downbeat, bad-boy provocateur Todd Solondz (Happiness, Palindromes), but July is more kind to her oddballs, although she displays a disturbing aptitude for perversity that Solondz would applaud.

Assassination Tango offers little heat. In dancing with death, Duvall stumbles a few too many times.

They pull it off, but even if you believe in Santa, you'll never believe that this is any sort of holiday classic.

The film, which comes way too close to preaching, lurches away from the control of director Mark Waters (Mean Girls, Freaky Friday) and ends on a stretched-out note so sappy it makes "Must Love Dogs" look like "8 Mile."

Tale is anything but spellbinding.

Just one more in the plague of weak Cinderella stories released in the past year. It's too sugary to be good for you, but in the end, its over-the-top sweetness won't kill you.

It's almost impossible not to respond emotionally to this fascinating, sobering and all-too-brief exploration of the politicized religious right and its hopes, dreams and power.

This engaging documentary is briskly funny.

Vardalos may not have been the best possible Connie. But as Billy Wilder could have told you, nobody's perfect.

Mostly, by story's end, we're just glad they and their unfortunate clothing are out of our sight for good.

Full of It's message is directed straight at 9-year-olds -- lying is bad! -- and yet there's plenty of sexual content. Unfortunately there isn't much else.

Solid family entertainment, with thrilling action sequences and gorgeous scenery.

There's only one excuse for the sentimental and ham-handed I Am Sam, and it's not to tout the rights of the mentally disabled.

It never comes close to touching the audience's heart.

If you can overlook that last little bit of sports fantasy, you just might like Just Wright.

Despite its slight and vaguely silly premise, Driving Lessons turns out to be sweet, never cloying, and amusing in an understated British way.

Dogme films don't have to be bleak to be effective. They can be -- imagine! -- fun. Scherfig may have taken the discipline in an entirely new and welcome direction.

It's terrifically funny and, for a few brief moments, poignant.

Watchmen is a spectacularly violent movie.

Silly, tedious, inept disaster.

An incredibly lazy movie -- but not an unbearable one, thanks to Aaron Eckhart's charm.

There's nothing here you haven't seen before, especially if you own a PlayStation.

This shameless cheerleader of a documentary is the sort of propaganda you might expect in a Republican campaign ad or perhaps featured at a small theater located somewhere in Fantasyland.

With more time and a dash more cynicism, the film just might have achieved the thrilling allure of Becky Sharp's perfectly icy heart.

Documentary gold, and you will have formed an opinion on the controversy by the time you leave the theater. You may not know art, but you'll know what you like.

Easy A is unnecessarily hard on the religious kids. Unlike "Saved," it uses broad caricatures of gospel-singing fanatics to get laughs, and the bug-eyed, over-the-top performance by Bynes (who apparently really should have retired after making this film) doesn't help matters.

A romantic comedy need not be original to work. It just needs, you know, romance. Something to swoon over. What Two Weeks Notice provides, however, is a lot more messy.

Unimaginative, exasperating film, hopefully but fruitlessly recycled after the success of 2002's ebullient Whale Rider.

Dench and Blanchett will likely pick up Oscar nominations; no one could improve on either performance.

Right now, this goofy film is the best candidate for mindless, enjoyable laughs.

There is magic here, enough to make Whale Rider worthy of the audience-choice awards it has earned at film festivals worldwide.

Fortunately, Bardem, who earned an Oscar nomination for his role in Julian Schnabel's "Before Night Falls," makes up for the script's shortcomings.

A pleasant if unremarkable romantic comedy that plays out like a sitcom with great scenery.

Its sumptuous, stately pace will wither the patience of countless moviegoers, but the impressively acted and gorgeously exotic The White Countess improves the longer you mull its complexities.

Essentially an old-fashioned movie, nothing fancy, nothing new, just some jokes and some action and a crowd-pleasing finale.

But Babys also resembles "Sunshine State" in another, more satisfying way: It leaves you longing to know what happens to these characters once the movie ends.