Jami Bernard

There's a thin line between smart-stupid and just plain stupid, and Super Troopers walks it with ease.

While this is not exactly a hopeful movie, it's a polished exercise in the kind of social commentary that can wake people up.

Thanks to Grant's script and direction, the exotic Swaziland location (a film first) and an engaging cast, this smartly crafted drama radiates a gently comic pulse.

The segments are introduced with little clichés or homilies, like "Ignorance Is Bliss," but the fierce intelligence of the script reminds us that sometimes a cliché is the only way to express the ineffable.

Pretty thin feature-film subject. But the silliness is so contagious that it doesn't matter.

The suspense is as tingly as jalapenos on the tongue.

A stately and deeply affecting look at the human condition, told in something like a series of snapshots.

Tense, fiercely optimistic movie.

Although rife with comic possibilities, The Personals develops into a somber tale of personal identity.

Any which way you describe this uncompromising movie, it will never sound palatable. Still, it features one of the most spectacular physical transformations by an actress hungry for a meaty role. I haven't used the term "tour de force" in all of 2003, but now it is time.

Annaud is a filmmaker who often works with a bare minimum of dialogue. Yet his storytelling is so strong and emotional that words are barely necessary.

A standout feature of the movie is its representation of female friendship.

This challenging, inventive movie from Thailand is not for everyone.

For all its folksy jocularity, the movie inspires a sense of global patriotism. In the big picture, every little dish counts.

Shangri-La is in your own backyard.

A lyrical, subtle, chaste and nearly wordless romance.

A perversely enjoyable entry in that new genre, the biopic of the tawdry TV personality.

A smart, old-fashioned spy thriller in which the weapon of choice is brainpower.

What is unusual and exciting about the movie is the assemblage of raw talent in the cast.

Among the many skills required by a documentary maker is the ability to make reticent people blossom. Michael Almereyda has done that in This So-Called Disaster with several of the film industry's most notorious iconoclasts.

Holm is dazzling as the grubby little misfit, just a little brilliant and a little insane.

An enjoyable, gorgeously photographed aquatic adventure whose stars are blissfully bodacious.

The movie tells you right up front you're going to get what you came for: big stars, winking inside jokes and a spin on something so familiar it doesn't matter that you don't buy it for one minute. You're not meant to.

The mere fact that Shakespeare can teach hardened criminals to search their souls gives hope that forgiveness and redemption are possible.

Any woman who wears more than a size 12 -- and that would be the majority of adult females in the United States -- will get buckets of self-esteem from Real Women Have Curves.

Garcia's somber narration is a turnoff, but this plucky little diatribe gets you thinking about the larger implications facing future generations.

Here's one movie you'll want to see with an audience of squealing, excited, terrified kids, their arms extended greedily to grab, squish or ward off all things exoskeletal and beady-eyed. It's gross, but in the nicest way (meaning no roaches).

Kinetic, sexy and full of meaningful coincidences and intertwined fates.

Has a simple but exceptionally powerful and uplifting emotional lure.

The movie turns choppy in the final third, but it is a monumental achievement nonetheless.

A gentle, soulful comedy about everyday dreams and what it takes to make them come true.

A solid action story with inventive battles (one on the Statue of Liberty) and satisfyingly gooey special effects.

With a cast of mostly non-actors, the film seems rough-hewn, like something you'd find rusted along a road. But it's actually a sophisticated blend of crime thriller, coming-of-age story and social realism.

Rock School celebrates music, family, hard work and, yes, Paul Green. Best of all, it shows the flexibility of children to learn and adapt -- even when their teacher is nuts.

This rousing story of the comeback colt comes close to a modern-day Frank Capra film without the pandering or mawkishness. Yes, it's a bit hokey, but if you fight the movie's gait you'll miss the excitement of the race.

A story about people learning to know themselves through relationships to others -- delivered with gentle, offbeat humor.

A pleasant romp through the land of Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction.

Has all the tense crackle of film noir and the molasses drip of irony that is the trademark of movie-making brothers Joel and Ethan Coen.

A cat's cradle of creepy childhood memory oozing unreliably from the mind of an aging, desiccated, paranoid schizophrenic, played quite amazingly by a mumbling, stooped, shifty-eyed Ralph Fiennes.

It's the first mainstream gay movie that feels totally comfortable in its shoes.

Thrillers have become so gnawingly generic that The Bourne Identity wakes the senses without leaning on cliché and soundtrack.

Brisk pacing and a remarkable cast achieve the sleight-of-hand effect of making you forgive some implausible twists and a sanitized ending.

Does an uncommonly good job of summoning all that goes into a masterpiece - erotic tension, financial considerations, even the sensual, elaborate grinding and mixing of paint colors as per 17th-century requirements.

Excellent, troubling social commentary based on a true story.

Makes a fine date movie...thanks to its life-affirming view of friendship, love and honor.

Like a Hollywood buddy-cop movie gone through a multi-culti blender. It holds up a funhouse mirror to that familiar scenario in which a maverick cop breaks the rules.

Not without missteps and the occasional mouthful of sugar, but it grows on you.

You'd never guess this just-off-center movie was directed by indie hero Gus Van Sant. Maybe, like Will, he's casual about his gifts and feels no need to trot them out.

Hugo Weaving, weaving deftly beneath a fixed plastic grin and Prince Valiant wig as the mysterious avenger in V for Vendetta, both chills and amuses throughout this enjoyable - if occasionally irresponsible - comic-book thriller.

Unlike Patch Adams, Sy is not lovable. But you wind up feeling for him, much as you feel for Sy's pet hamster on that endless wheel.

Perhaps not since Truffaut's "The Story of Adele H" has thwarted love been rendered so compassionately on the screen, its psychology laid bare.

Has something to add about the toll Western society takes on spiritual values, and the ugliness of consumerism.

It's a smartly surreal little movie, and again shows why, whenever there's a role that calls for an actress who can speak volumes without much dialogue (as in "Minority Report" and "Sweet and Lowdown"), the call goes out to Morton.

An update with a jolt of sheer exuberance.

May actually appeal more to women than men because of the steely heroine, the pitting of love of family against love of filthy lucre -- and the mom-fights-back plot.

The filmmakers' decision to go with prosthetic enhancements rather than CGI gives the snouts, fangs and snapping jaws a refreshingly tactile look.

Basinger gives one of her best performances as a woman too young, poor and overwhelmed to handle motherhood. And the uncommonly self-assured Murphy proves again that she is a cut above other actresses of her tender years.

Implausible yet enjoyably diverting thriller.

Some segments are anti-American, but to concentrate on that is to miss the variety, depth of opinion, and fierceness of the emotions that drive each director.

Take the Lead hits all the marks you'd expect of a movie like this, but it's done vibrantly and with warm-blooded characters.

The information here isn't necessarily new, but it is packaged in an acid-tongued way along with powerhouse visuals that drive home the filmmaker's nakedly political views.

A fascinating movie that explores grief from an emotionally truthful angle rarely seen in movies.

Presents a refreshing appreciation of Chaplin's work in the context of comedy, political and social satire, and history itself.

Its social satire is so dead-on.

Furiously paced.

A rare window into the apparatus and limitations of glam-rock.

Satires like this tend to throw a lot of stuff at the wall, and in Undercover Brother, a surprising amount sticks.

Absorbing, operatic.

This South Korean political satire might not have historical resonance for American audiences -- it's loosely based on the 1979 assassination of dictator Park Chunghee by his own people -- but it takes the same comically dim view of governmental power and procedure as "Dr. Strangelove."

This is a lyrical art movie with admittedly limited commercial appeal, but worth seeing for cinematic explorers.

A poetic and somber film that underscores the bum deal women usually get in any restrictive society.

Disturbing, visually stunning thriller.

Cannibalizes "Saturday Night Fever" for everything from structure to plot, but does it adorably.

This one uses sweeping compositions of nearly solitary figures as a reminder of what individuals stood to lose, and an auction scene is horrifying -- some livestock and a basket of everyday items are exchanged for a man's future.

The strong script (with updated flourishes by "Bad Santa" writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa) and some of the vibrant child characters pull it through, with the comically reptilian Thornton egging them on with one inappropriate shocker after another.

This heavenly sequel, again directed by "McG" (aka Joseph McGinty Nichol), is infused with an irresistibly joyous spirit that simply cannot be faked.

Uses social and historical perspective to explain what happened then and, perhaps inadvertently, what's happening now.

Yet another deceptively simple, supremely moving film from Iran.

After a moment's adjustment, it works amazingly well, because the emotions that drive teenagers like Jim to seek their places in the firmament transcend eras, fashion, even animation styles.

An adorable family movie.

Wolfgang Becker's premise is absurdist and makes great sense as political satire.

If it doesn't shed much light on the violinist's personal life, it certainly conveys how personally she relates to her work.

An intelligent, old-fashioned nail-biter.

Once in a very long while, a truly memorable romantic teen comedy comes along. The Girl Next Door is one.

When it comes to cute, this baby is off the charts.

A thorough, gutsy and appropriately scuzzy-looking documentary.

Ya-Ya Sisterhood is so divine. It offers a world where friendship is forever, the half-empty glass is refilled and the men are perfect.

Blood, grotesquerie and humor mix equally in the first two, but the full combo makes a savory witches' brew for Asian-cinema cultists (or Halloween lovers in need of a gore fix).

With Chomsky as its star, this documentary cannot go far wrong, even though filmmaker John Junkerman intersperses Chomsky footage with some really bad Japanese pop music.

The result is a galvanizing mix of intellectual discourse and guillotined heads.

Carrey gives an otherworldly, possessed performance as Kaufman.

There's a sensational, highly original performance by Swinton.

Crushingly realistic.

What makes it work so well is superb chemistry and a light touch. The spray-painted cat scene doesn't hurt, either.

The humor is simple but far from dumb. The dueling "walk-off" between rival male mannequins is inspired, as are the sly juxtapositions of the male model's faux physicality with such real-world demands as coal mining.

A richly inventive, slightly eerie animated movie from Japan.

The movie is fast and fun. Best of all are the actors, who likewise seem to know they've lucked into a rare good gig.

In keeping with the unrefined spirit of the '70s, the movie is deliberately haphazard and proudly retains all its mistakes, including narrator Sean Penn going up on his lines.