Jonathan Foreman

This film is fighting the good fight, albeit in a rather heavy-handed way.

Unfortunately, the mind and motivation of Otomo -- remain a mystery.

Transcends ironic grunge-glamour and achieves a beguiling combination of dark comedy and genuine sweetness.

Surprisingly enjoyable, as adaptations of cult comic books go, thanks to a sense of humor all too rare in the genre, winning performances by Ron Perlman and Selma Blair, and a sweet romance of the kind that made "Spider-Man" a richer experience than its competitors.

Quickly morphs into a messy double message movie with motifs and clichés lifted from military courtroom films like "A Soldier's Story" and "A Few Good Men."

Perhaps no movie could do Muhammad Ali justice. But this overlong but sketchy biopic by Michael Mann, in which style repeatedly tramples substance, actually does the great man a disservice.

For all its virtues, this is not a film to see on less than a good night's sleep.

Despite its visual brilliance, its all-round cleverness, and the way it demonstrates a profound understanding of genre, the Coen brothers' The Man Who Wasn't There doesn't quite come off.

As mechanical and predictable as a cuckoo clock, it shouldn't work half as well as it does.

Often charming and sweet, and always prettily photographed.

Turns out to be a choppily written, unevenly acted exercise, no less shlocky and predictable than any of Hollywood's average second-string heterosexual comedies.

With uncommon ineptitude even by the standards of contemporary action flicks, Kyle's script submerges the inherently dramatic tale of the K-19 under a pile of clichés, while failing to tell you enough about the characters for their actions to make much sense.

Laughably predictable in its plotting, crude in its symbolism, ploddingly paced and often rendered almost comical by the heavy-breathing overacting of Johansson's supporting cast.

A lean, deftly shot, well-acted, weirdly retro thriller that recalls a raft of '60s and '70s European-set spy pictures. There are even moments when you hope it could turn into a modern "Charade."

Despite inadequate editing and overreliance on bad background music, The Girl Next Door doesn't disappoint.

Visually unimpressive and laden with awkward dialogue; its primary interest doesn't lie in its storytelling but in its sociology -- in the window it opens onto a Muslim Middle Eastern society in transition.

Perfectly enjoyable swashbuckling, eye-catching entertainment.

The sheer loathesomeness of protagonist Stephen Glass as portrayed by Hayden Christensen makes Shattered Glass hard to watch.

A perfectly enjoyable sci-fi thriller.

It's hardly a dramatic story. You learn absolutely nothing about her personal life. But there is plenty of drama in that amazing, soulful voice and the songs she sang.

Undeniably powerful, grimly fascinating.

Almost everything about Ice Age proves to be disappointingly generic.

Prime date fare, but cotton-candy light and occasionally just a little too whimsical.

Unfortunately, you are often distractingly aware that you are watching re-enactments of real events.

So daring and unsparing in its depiction of the psyche and experience of adolescent girls that it's hard to imagine an audience that wouldn't find it deeply provocative despite a slow pace.

Entertaining as he is, there are many times when you wish you'd been given a few more facts and numbers so you could understand what the young CEO and his colleagues were celebrating or bemoaning.

Almost too creepy to be poignant, and generally funny only in an uncomfortable, squirm-in-your seat way.

Boisterously amusing.