Desson Thomson

One artist's moving tribute to another.

If you're a fan of Witherspoon, this movie was produced, shot, edited and distributed entirely for you.

It yields surprisingly unspectacular results.

More like a waking nightmare than a docudrama. A true story of murder and justice evidently miscarried, wrapped in the fictional haze of a surrealistic whodunit, it will leave you in a trance for days. [2 Sept 1988]

Fabulously kinetic.

Del Toro has made a ghost story that's not only evocative and original, it's a pleasure to watch.

To watch "Time" is not merely to marvel at the heavens we cannot yet know; it is also to admire Hawking, now 50, for approaching such daunting problems on a daily basis, despite every possible problem the cosmos can throw at him.

This fictional documentary's films-in-miniature -- subdued, engaging grace notes that run from 45 seconds to several minutes -- create a subtle, appropriately unconventional portrait of this eccentric man.

Belgian actor [Jan] Decleir's tough-guy vulnerability ... gives an otherwise standard police procedural extraordinary grace and power.

As viscerally compelling as smash-mouth filmmaking gets.

Something to treasure: a thriller whose style, structure and rhythms are so integrated with the story, you cannot separate them.

Corbijn makes us achingly aware of the singer's talent, the haunting poetry of his songs and how, living in the gloomy culture he did, his passing was virtually inevitable.

The most eloquent and exacting vision of the war to date... Inspired with technique rather than overblown with it, Kubrick, the filmmaker's filmmaker, lays one on you.

No matter what is going on in the story, these star-crossed lovers are always fascinating to watch.

In this extended good time of a fairy tale, there's something for everyone.

A historical drama about a black regiment that proves its mettle during the Civil War, may not hold up to intense scrutiny but it marches to the glorious beat that fired up the Massachusetts 54th. And it's hard not to get carried along.

An extraordinarily riveting drama.

Diabolically amusing without plunging into the Mel Brooks zone, and it's smart without being pedantic. And it's genuinely scary at times.

It's great to watch characters in The War Room operating as most of us do -- by the seat of their pants.

As we vicariously participate in their daily rituals, we find ourselves at the ground level of spiritual worship. It's hard to recall a similar documentary that brings viewers so palpably close to that sacred experience.

It is quietly observant, with a detached eye for the telling moment, and the visual compositions are often exquisite.

The movie is visually stirring. And the locations, in Zimbabwe and Mozambique, imbue the story with eerie authenticity.

Doesn't just bring you to the edge of the hopeless zone, it takes you right into its homes where the children play.

If the story seems a little waterlogged, it's still big, loud, and fun to watch.

This banquet is the glorious finale of Gabriel Axel's Babette's Feast, his handsome, understated adaptation of the Isak Dinesen short story.

What songs, what people and what a triumph that their music won in the end.

Once again, Frears -- who has enjoyed a glorious run of diverse, good-quality movies, from "My Beautiful Laundrette" to "High Fidelity" -- has crafted a unique gem.

Through this miasma of pain and suffering, love may not flicker more strongly than a dim lamp. But it's the only beacon to consider. Can Barry find his? Thanks to Anderson's assured picture, a symphony of cinematic textures, that disarmingly simple question becomes incredibly compelling.