Janice Page

The movie's heart is in the right place, but all its messages of tolerance might resonate better if the Spanish-accented pirate didn't get drawn with a gold tooth and the turban-wearing Khalil wasn't an opportunistic rug merchant.

What really makes 'The Warrior worthwhile is its indomitable soul.

What results is both real and surreal, giving and self indulgent. That’s the country we all live in.

Has a sultry and complex psychological intent all its own, yet it's reminiscent of some earlier Denis works, including ''Nenette and Boni.''

Assassin is funnier and less awkward than her last concert film, 2004's ''CHO Revolution," but nowhere near as consistently gut busting as 2002's ''Notorious C.H.O." or (first and still best) 2000's ''I'm the One That I Want."

Can be quite amusing and enjoyable to watch.

Artful, especially in the ways it avoids sentimentality and employs vintage film clips of truly riveting performances...But Maximilian's narcissistic examination of his theatrical family -- can be boring, and his creative license with the truth is kind of troubling.

A semiserious documentary about a cult of performance art that until recently was never meant to be taken seriously.

It's still Black's franchise, though. And part of the problem with this sequel is how little it lets its star just riff with silly abandon, as he did throughout the original.

Inspirational.

Whatever blend of fact and fiction is really at work in this latest offering from ''Dog Days" director Ulrich Seidl -- known, by the way, for playing fast and loose with the documentary format -- the irony-laced ''Jesus, You Know" does persuade viewers to sit up and take notice of its inspired conceit.

Wolf Creek is ultimately all about the torture and the trauma. Happy holidays.

It's worth noting that the movie's spiritual underpinnings are sometimes fairly subtle and other times veer into "Touched by an Angel" territory. The third act is downright Bible-thumping.

Miller is certainly faithful to the spirit of Rendell's psychologically probing, class-dissecting novels, even if his probing doesn't go nearly as deep and his storytelling isn't as compelling.

The cast is up to the challenges of that arc, but the plot doesn't always keep them afloat.

With more character development this might have been an eerie thriller; with better payoffs, it could have been a thinking man's monster movie.

Ironically, Born to Be Wild banks solely on its tameness to captivate and inspire, aided by an upbeat, sometimes incongruous soundtrack.

For a certain kind of moviegoer, Saints and Soldiers provides above-average nostalgia. Others, more hardened, might call it child's play.

Would have benefited from putting a wider lens on the man and his detractors.

This is just humble, heartwarming storytelling with good acting and lush visuals.

More storytelling and less preaching would have served those messages better.

Serves up enough action and passion to stay afloat, but at the end of the day it's just not the perfect ride those earlier films were.

If ''Sean" was about conviction and revolution, Following Sean is about ambivalence and resignation. In either case it's pretty easy for a funny-provocative kid to stand out.

No sophisticated dance, but it moves about with an open heart. And hey, it's at least as funny as that Greek thing.

While obviously not a unique or uniquely satisfying experience, the film still does the job in a pinch, and looks cool doing it.

Isn't the most seductive film ever made about border life or undocumented immigrants, but in a way it's unfair to compare it to such artistic triumphs as ''Touch of Evil,'' ''El Norte,'' ''Lone Star,'' and ''Traffic.''

Likable performances are critically wounded by implausible scenarios and derivative-minded direction referencing everything from ''Reservoir Dogs'' to ''Fargo.''

Ramona and Beezus the movie, should not be confused with "Beezus and Ramona'' the book.