Jonathan Foreman

Though On the Run is a welcome reminder that effective thrillers don't have to be noisy or dumb, the film does contain slightly jarring moments of inadvertent humor.

The most enjoyable western comedy since "Blazing Saddles."

Spectacular special effects and sets.

If you have the patience, its almost endless silences and extremely slow pacing eventually pay off.

What makes 8 Mile transcend the formulaic nature of its plot is the way it makes these rap competitions compelling even for those unfamiliar with rap music, and its scrupulous, loving rendition of a grim, wintry Detroit circa 1995.

Though never dull and often visually beautiful, this work of operatic sweep doesn't fulfill its own ambitions.

A beautifully filmed, scrupulously authentic but strangely evasive exercise in combat ultra-realism.

A charming, (mostly) briskly unsentimental love story, written, directed and acted with remarkable assurance.

Rescues a rarely performed tragedy and makes a brilliant case that it is the Shakespeare play for our time.

Much less mawkish and predictable than you might expect.

It's an original, and a gamble, and one of those movies that works better than it should, despite considerable flaws of conception and execution.

Director Alfonso Cuaron ("A Little Princess") gets vivid, convincing performances from a fine cast, and generally keeps things going at a rapid pace.

The film's tongue is so firmly in cheek that, without being a spoof like "Dragnet" or "The Brady Bunch Movie," it has more in common with the "Austin Powers" films.

Although the jokes aren't as consistently funny as those in "Lock, Stock," once again writer-director Ritchie demonstrates a deeply pleasurable combination of verbal flair and visual wit while conveying the genuine, intimidating hardness of the English working class and its love of language.

A far more impressive and affecting piece of filmmaking and storytelling than most movies put out by Hollywood this year, and offers, as a bonus, a glimpse into a fascinating, contradictory society.

Part sitcom, part comedy of manners - but it lacks the courage to deal honestly with class and ethnicity.

An extraordinary documentary about an extraordinary man that brings to urgent life potentially dry questions of American foreign policy in the 1960s.

It turns into something that is much smarter, and in a gentle, low-key way, tougher and funnier than you expect.

A sophisticated, stylish, fast-moving piece of work.

A gorgeously photographed, sun-baked fable.

The pace slackens a little after the first hour, but the photography by Remi Adefarasin and music by Magnus Fiennes keep the emotion stoked.

Often darkly funny and very well acted, it's a pleasingly subtle, Hitchockian thriller with dark comic overtones.

Fascinating, beautifully photographed portrait of a vanished community.

Doesn't have the emotional heft of his "Children of Paradise," but it's still moving.

A wonderfully acted, strangely low-key prison movie.

A quietly compelling documentary that is refreshing in both form and content.

Comes closer to what a Bond movie should be and once was.

Oddly undramatic.

Bleak, demanding stuff, and its hand-held documentary-style photography is harder on the stomach than "The Blair Witch Project."

It is often as powerful as it is elegantly shot. Unfortunately, Szabo tends to tell this rather predictable tale in an obvious yet uneven way.

Audiences may find that the deliberate, Kubrickesque pacing -- without his intellectual rigor -- causes them to tune out.

A gleefully cunning comedy.

This film of mistaken identity, murder, class envy and (bi)sexual tension doesn't live up to its own promise.

Cinematographer Darius Khonji does a superb job of conveying both the sensual beauty (there's a spectacular moonlight-on-the-water sex scene with Leo and the lovely Ledoyen), and the darkness of Richard's paradise lost.

Generally delightful, and reminiscent of two vanished ages: when men were men, and when movies were movies.

Surprisingly smart and satisfying.

Greengrass' direction is uninspired, but there is powerful chemistry between a workmanlike Branagh and (real-life girlfriend) Bonham Carter. And her original, seductive and always believable turn as the difficult-but-lovable Jane raises the movie above all its flaws. [23 Dec. 1998, p.44]

I was pleased by the forthright defense in Friendly Persuasion of Iranian cinema's use of children.

Beautifully shot and often moving.

Never less than breezily entertaining.

The sequel's battle scenes -- especially the climactic assault on the Helm's Deep fortress by the armies of darkness -- easily put those of the "Star Wars" series to shame.

So unsparingly honest in the way it treats human cruelty and resilience that it makes fashionably bleak films like "In the Company of Men" and even "Boys Don't Cry" seem unforgivably trite or exploitative.

It isn't particularly subtle or original. But it's a good-natured late-summer romp fueled by Lawrence's manic shtick.

This brisk, British-American co-production is one of the better political/historical documentaries to come out in some time.

The film is worth seeing for George Clooney's performance. More than ever he seems like a Clark Gable for our time.

It's a funny and occasionally poignant movie.

All of the characters in this story of love, guilt and redemption feel like real people, facing real dilemmas, and you truly care about what happens to them

One of those rare recent films whose emotional power resonates long after you've left the theater.

A rare and welcome reminder of how original, provocative and moving a low-budget independent film can be.

As entertaining as it is amazingly faithful.

It is worth catching The Singing Detective to see the brilliant Robert Downey Jr. in another extraordinary performance... Unfortunately, the film itself doesn't really work despite its lineage.

Visually gorgeous despite its low budget, The Terrorist is a haunting film.

Unpretentious and often witty, it's emotional punch is weakened by spotty performances, especially from Karin Viard in the lead role.

The originality and intelligence that made Smith's "Clerks" and "Chasing Amy" such refreshing pleasures are all but absent.

Before the slightly surreal (self-consciously so) climax, there are some fine set pieces, including a disastrous dinner party that amply showcases Rivette's wonderfully light directorial touch.

Despite its treacly sentimentality, predictability and gutless evasiveness about the power of the church in 1950s Ireland, Evelyn manages to be an enjoyable piece of family entertainment.

A lovely, intelligent film from Spain about recognizable human beings with real-life problems.

Energetic, often very funny comedy filled with sharp, vivid performances by a terrific ensemble cast.

The film's earthy frankness is refreshing.

Wilde's masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest, may be the best play of the 19th century. It's so good that its relentless, polished wit can withstand not only inept school productions, but even Oliver Parker's movie adaptation.

They may not have made another "Back to the Future," but to their credit, the makers of Clockstoppers don't patronize or underestimate their pre-teen audience nearly as much as has become customary.

Still worth watching for Dong Jie's performance -- and for the way it documents a culture in the throes of rapid change.

But even if The Cat's Meow is unsubtle and overlong, in its jaundiced way it convincingly captures a fascinating period in Hollywood history.

Graham is funny and adorable in this endearing little romantic comedy.

Less an updated version of the Dostoevsky novel than an unusually somber Hollywood teen love story.

It feels less predictable and derivative than it is, thanks to Gus Van Sant's deft direction and two fine central performances.

Quirky and good-natured, it makes the most of an unknown but able and refreshingly international cast. And for a low-budget indie, it looks remarkably good and moves along with real snap.

A languid but refreshingly real depiction of female adolescence.

If you've never seen a "masala" musical, you may find Lagaan hilariously bad. Cartoony acting, dreadful dialogue, obvious dubbing, and meandering but ultrapredictable plots are simply part of the Bollywood package, along with six musical numbers and a bizarre mixture of romance, comedy and melodrama.

Initially amusing but finally sour sex comedy.

One of the more entertaining documentaries to come along in some time.

Ghobadi (himself an Iranian Kurd) takes some gorgeous shots against the snow, but his storytelling is uneven and often slow.

There are a few ingenious zig zags in its otherwise by-the-numbers plot...but what keeps you interested... is the sheer movie-star presence of the actors in the lead roles.

The girl you see stabbing and shooting prisoners and fellow trainees makes the killer from "La Femme Nikita" look like a wuss.

Inside Beautiful People, . . . there's a terrific film trying to get out.

There are times when the urban dialect is so thick, you wish the film came with subtitles.

It's only when you're leaving the theater that her spell wears off and you realize just how bad the movie, directed by Andy Tennant, really is.

The whole film could use a jolt of caffeine, and a lugubrious woodwind score doesn't help.

Indeed, for all its jokiness, this isn't the film for anyone who suffers from even the mildest fear of ugly, scuttling, jumping creatures with spindly, furry legs that have a habit of hiding in your shoes.

Sweet, often poignant little film.

No "Crouching Tiger." It lacks the richness of theme and performance that made Ang Lee's film so emotionally satisfying. In fact, watching Iron Monkey makes you realize just how Western and literary the sensibility of "Crouching Tiger" was.

An engaging, bittersweet tale.

So minimalist in characterization and dialogue that the plot all but evaporates -- and so does any dramatic power.

Its bawdy honesty eventually gives way to convention, sentimentality and a frustratingly silly ending.

Ed Radtke's film-fest favorite does at least boast some fine acting, excellent photography and an authentic feel for life on the highway.

Meanders along in a confused, confusing way for what feels like hours.

It's an odd mixture of an unsentimental, darkly humorous take on mental illness with the usual Hollywood loony-bin cliches.

As the plot loses steam, director Mark Pellington (whose paranoid thriller "Arlington Road" was one of the worst movies of 1999) tends to rely on cheap tricks to maintain suspense, although the final catastrophe is very nicely done.

The filmmakers have an pleasurably accurate sense of the embarrassments that darken early adolescence and of the amazing cruelty of teenage girls.

Its abundant laughs are heavily reliant on the chemistry of stars Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson - who show once again that they're as fine a comic team as Hollywood has ever produced.

Slight but entertaining and occasionally touching.

If you're starved for on-screen nudity and sex garnished with art-film trappings -- The price you'll pay is putting up with the director's relentless Euro-pretension, manifested in a tediously contrived plot crammed with absurd coincidences, clunky symbolism and soap-operatic melodrama.

By far the best single performance in the film - and it is really, really terrific, utterly believable and moving - is by Emma Thompson. To the extent that there is genuine feeling in the movie that doesn't feel slickly manipulative, it's in the scenes involving her character.

There are affecting scenes, and not all of Cacoyannis' additions to the Chekhov text detract from the effect of its moving brilliance.

It's fascinating and moving all the same, both in its depiction of Iranian daily life and in its powerful portrait of female oppression.

Despite the high quality of the acting, Spring Forward is for the most part sleepy, long-winded stuff.

Never much more than hagiography that lets the context of its hero's death remain confused.

Poetic but tedious and all but plotless.