Jonathan Foreman

It tries to be an update of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" crossed with "Pygmalion," but while it has some funny and even original moments, it's too predictable to be "all that."

Essentially a feature-length commercial for both the growing sport of competitive cheerleading and ESPN2 .

Not entirely bereft of chuckles, though it misses one comic opportunity after another (the best jokes are in the trailer).

Besson is unable to weave the comic scenes together with the serious gory ones, so both seem increasingly jarring and unbelievable.

It's hard to feel anything but disappointment and boredom by the time the picture grinds to a mystical ending.

A gorgeously shot endurance test that is impossible to get through on anything less than a full night's sleep and a double shot of espresso.

Begins exceptionally well. Indeed, for at least its first half it's an unusually thoughtful, admirably underplayed piece of work of disorienting, rather harsh realism that builds its mysteries in pleasurably oblique and unpredictable ways.

But even that talent (Freeman) isn't enough to distract you from the general predictability of Spider or the absurdity of its elaborate last-minute plot twists.

A rather crude affair that feels like a student film, due to performances that often lack conviction and would-be "street" dialogue that rings false.

Visually flat and uninteresting and too often feels like a (leisurely paced) filmed play.

A hokey, overblown and deeply unsatisfying movie.

A crude, manic and embarrassingly unfunny satire that feels off from beginning to end.

Pumped-up, dumbed-down Bond, with tattoos instead of brains.

It's a lumpy and disorganized film that remains unsatisfying, perhaps because the fundamental oddness of having sex in public for money as a way of life remains just as mysterious at the end of the film as in the beginning.

Not a movie but a live-action agitprop cartoon so shameless and coarse, it's almost funny.

A slack-paced, surprisingly bland affair, filled with jokes that sound like they should be funny but aren't.

Strong cast is defeated by a labored, screenplay in this overlong, clunky love story.

There's not a moment in it that feels fresh or authentic or inspired. But neither is it offensive.

Doesn't press all its obvious lessons, and there are actually a few surprises -- and even a couple of moving and interesting moments -- before an all too predictable resolution.

A predictable tearjerker whose main redeeming feature is that you don't actually see any of the angels in the title.

Although Vatel is trying to say something about freedom and gilded cages, it feels more like a behind-the-scenes look at the high-end catering business.

Feels much more like a very, very long, music video, albeit one made for an audience that gets off on high-tech firepower rather than nearly-naked babes.

It's moody and atmospheric. But with the exception of a few cool moments that remind you of Ferrara at his best, it's dull and written with little attention paid to basic storytelling.

Thereare moving moments in this over-hyped satire by the Israeli-Arab writer-director-actor Elia Suleiman, and it's fascinating to get a picture of daily life in prosperous Palestinian neighborhoods.

Agonizingly slow-moving and talky, it consists primarily of conversations between two men in a truck.

Hardly a deep examination of gender relations or character, but in its unsentimental way it's a tender and charming story of friendship and tolerance.

One of those films that takes up a potentially fascinating subject only to fumble it.

Unoriginal but effective raunchy drag comedy.