Derek Elley

Some fine screen chemistry between its leads and a spikey, offhandedly comic script by young writer-director John McKay put spice into Crush.

Looks set to unsettle as many conservative auds as it will delight nihilistic film buffs.

Kaneshiro is all long flowing locks and smoldering disdain, the visual F/X are only so-so, and pacing is almost brisk enough to hide the plot holes.

A largely dull history lesson…stripped of any backgrounding, peopled with archetypes rather than fully-drawn characters, and features self-consciously arty direction that gets in the way of story-telling.

Strikes too many false notes on the dramatic side to add up to a satisfying emotional experience.

Deadly dull in stretches, and just plain embarrassing in others.

Depressingly parochial.

A routine haunted child psychothriller gussied up with A-list casting.

It's a silly but enjoyable farrago from the cult quickie-meister, again set in an amoral universe-on-a-budget.

The movie essentially mirrors the non-diva, down-to-earth personalities on which their act is based, and which include a sizable amount of self-parody.

A fantastical romp with a buoyant pace, exotic locations, a finger-popping score, appealing leads and spicy cooking demonstrations.

A half-klutzy, half-engaging eccentric comedy.

A feast of A-grade f/x married to a Z-grade, irony-free script.

Basically a very conventional movie gussied up with a few jaw-dropping moments. Unlike genuinely amoral pics such as "Heathers" or "Shallow Grave," it never seems really comfortable with its characters' actions.

An enjoyably trashy blend of impressive special effects, low-key refs to Landis's movie, and sudden moments of horror breaking the jokey tone.

Though unrecognizable, Amitabh Bachchan is the star of -- and the only reason to go see -- Paa.

A curate's egg of a movie that starts intriguingly but becomes increasingly frustrating.

There's an appalling amount of talent at waste up on the screen, starting with Jackson and Carlyle whose tall/short, silent/motormouth double act never clicks.

Starts intriguingly but ends up thrashing around as a toothless wonder.

A movie that keeps jumping the gate and finally unravels all over the floor.

The sheer raggedness of the plotting -- and the pic's cynical disdain toward audiences -- is staggering.

All mish-mash.

Plays as a blackly comic slice of mock '70s-style exploitation that flirts with the viewer before applying its chokehold.

Cross Uncle Buck with Home Alone, stir in the Hulkster, and you've got Mr. Nanny, a gonzo comedy-actioner that should entertain the under-12 and couch-potato sets.

Beautiful but lifeless, poetic but unelevated, The Mistress of Spices reps a brave but flawed attempt at that most unforgiving of contemporary genres, magical realism.

By-the-numbers item, in which five American college students literally get wasted while tripping out on magic mushrooms in rural Ireland, is OK vid fodder with few real scares and not an ounce of originality.

Pic is an obvious but highly accessible entertainment that manages to josh its subjects without being condescending to either Eastern or Western auds.

A check-your-brains-at-the-door, almost non-stop actioner that finally wins the viewer over with its sheer single-mindedness.

After several years of transition, Jackie Chan finally gets the mix right in The Accidental Spy, an entertaining meld of far-flung locales and criminal shenanigans that sees the 47-year-old action star comfortably combining the twin demands of action and maturity.

Fluff is hardly the word for Neal 'n' Nikki, a mismatched romantic comedy that makes most Bollywood twosomes look like art movies.

A star-loaded, Gotham-set relationships movie that's generally good but works better in bits than as a whole.

Rani Mukerji provides the star power, but up-and-coming actress Konkona Sen Sharma is the revelation in Laaga chunari mein daag, a glossy throwback to '90s Bollywood that proves a treat, if you check most of your brains at the door.

Scores high on the tech front but considerably lower on script smarts.

Gay's the way, but the way's not really gay, in the fluffy and largely entertaining Dostana.

A monumental piece of miscasting in the title role, and an apparently tin ear for the nuances of English dialogue by Gallic helmer Francois Ozon.

Loaded with unashamedly sophomoric humor, but fired with a kind of early Richard Lester-esque elan that doesn’t run out of gas, A Fistful of Fingers shows more wit and invention than most of its no-budget Brit saddlemates.