Derek Elley

The overall effect simply underlines the central weakness of the pic: that the neo-kitschy futuristic scenes don't add much to the real-life '60s relationships.

Devoid of genuine inspiration or involving character development.

A true original…Beautifully shot, full of droll humor and at 77 minutes never overstaying its welcome.

Immaculately shot and composed as always, and moving at Ceylan's usual measured pace, this one is slightly enlivened by more likable perfs and a trim 98-minute running time.

Triad oozes a confidence that carries the viewer almost without pause to its shocking climax and ironic close.

What the picture most needed was a complete cinematic rethink and, yes, even some action to move it along.

Recognizably Godard with its playfulness and wordplays, but deeply human at the same time.

One of the most highly crafted pics in recent memory, and certainly the most original in vision of the 23 features competing at Cannes this year, Songs From the Second Floor rapidly wears out its welcome after the first few reels to finish up as a perplexing objet d'art.

An epic story of mismatched love shaped in the most intimate terms, the Ingmar Bergman-scripted The Best Intentions packs a sustained emotional wallop that lightens its three-hour span.

Highly enjoyable when all its gears are clicking, but rarely as good as it should be.

Admirably balanced production that pulls the curtain back slightly on a little-charted period of modern Chinese history.

A classic example of a clever idea that could easily have run out of steam halfway. However, co-scripters Pegg and Wright structure it as a classic three-acter (set-up, journey, finale) with enough twists, character development and small set pieces to keep the comedy boiling.

Despite its large cast and complex criss-crossing from past to present, the movie rarely catches fire as an involving human drama.

A deliciously observed, ironic take on middle-class Austrian life through an introverted teen's eyes, "Lovely Rita" reps a strong step up to the feature plate by 28-year-old Jessica Hausner after a couple of well-remarked shorts.

A triumph on the casting side but less so dramatically, Richard Eyre's Iris fails to do full justice to its subject.

A portrait of a contempo British family drifting apart because of generational differences, The Mother ends up an uneasy brew of too many competing tastes and themes.

An ace performance by 26-year-old Julia Jentsch ("The Edukators," "Snowland"), as the quietly determined Munich student who was beheaded for distributing counter-propaganda leaflets in 1943, gives pic a focused dramatic power.

As shocking and deliberately manipulative as the original movie and -- some may reckon -- even more pointless.

A string of striking set pieces hung on a dramatically shaky clothesline.

There's no shortage of disaster stories in the history of film production, but none have been recorded with such frankness, immediacy and aching sense of disappointment.

Pic is superbly honed at both script and performance levels, with character taking precedence over action.

A wildly inventive, highly cinematic director's showcase that looks likely, at least in the West, to enthuse fans of Asian -- especially Korean -- genre movies more than general auds.

This slyly humorous, cleverly constructed comedy-drama wends its way through different takes on similar time frames to a warm, inclusive ending.

Result is far more accessible than Jia's previous two pictures, with moments of genuine emotion by the real-life interviewees.

A haunted-house one-trick pony.

Bright and sassy, The Full Monty is a treat.

Pleasant and engaging, rather than laugh-out-loud funny or emotionally involving.

Makes engrossing viewing for much of the way...but stumbles dramatically in its final leg.