Kevin Maynard

Works so hard at being pleasant and ingratiating that it wears out its welcome.

The most heartfelt tribute to women -- specifically, actresses -- he's (Almodovar) ever made.

A gritty, well-acted urban drama with lots of humanity.

As a snapshot of Hungarian history, Glamour's watchability trumps that of "Sunshine" — the droll absurdity of the former leaves a much deeper impression than the latter's bruising moralism.

Features a sexy, appealing cast, especially Guillermo Diaz.

Especially timely in light of the current escalation in Palestinian-Israeli aggressions, but this is one sad story that would pack a staggering punch in any political climate.

Thanks to the first-time filmmaker's attention to character, Gun Shy is worth at least a shot at a matinee.

42 Up is filled with truth and poignancy as these people reflect on their first half of their lives, their goals, ambitions, and how they, for the most part, succeeded in reinventing them.

All in all, she comes off as quite a complex creature.

A must-see for avid fans and a welcome primer for nascent hip-shakers everywhere.

The film ends with a surprisingly upbeat coda. But Startup.com leaves us with a sense that our heroes' idealism will be forever lost.

The appealing cast makes the most of the derivative story.

It's another subtle, fantastic performance from McKee ("Notting Hill," "Croupier").

A uniquely personal, vibrant mosaic of the American dream, and like a dream, it evaporates beautifully before our eyes.

A technologically marvelous animated movie that's just as funny and inventive as the first, but also more emotionally engaging than most live-action films. This is clearly a sequel in name only.

A jauntily entertaining ride.

It's Zahn's heartbreaking performance that drives Riding in Cars with Boys.

Offers up keys and cakes and plunges its characters down a deep rabbit hole.

The film is never less than a satisfying mix of compelling entertainment and social critique. The performances are uniformly superb.

How well you respond to this handsomely mounted, cold-blooded tragedy will depend on your feelings toward Gillian Anderson's highly theatrical lead performance.

A new version of the greatest psychological mystery of all: love.

Strangely, what it most lacks is the genuine tension found in the first "Mission"'s signature set pieces.

It's the sum of things not spoken, things too painful to express, that's the heart of this quietly moving drama.

The results are both savagely funny and poignant for anyone who's ever had a friendship that felt like their only connection to the outside world.

Traffic is a riveting, semi-documentary drama, and yet calling it that is a disservice to just how suspenseful and stylish an entertainment it is.

Reed's manic direction rarely lets up between show-stopping cheer numbers.

Doesn't come close to the pulp beauty and complexity of classic noir.

Together is unabashedly about people who need people. The film's satiric skewering of '70s liberalism works because it feels emotionally authentic.

A satisfying, sentimental trip.

Croupier should please people who take their noir straight up -- with plenty of twists.

Yields beguiling nectar.

Mesmerizing entertainment, but it's also a cop-out.

It's filled with far too much talk and it never justifies its length, but if you succumb to its old-fashioned Renoir style of storytelling, The Grandfather has its pleasures.

You could do a lot worse than spend two hours in the company of two such talented actresses.

Visually, Pitch Black is sleek and stylish in a post-apocalyptic way, and a scantily clad Radha Mitchell does a nice, more femme variation of Sigourney Weaver's Ripley.

Oy, it's such a pleasure that you'll be begging for Rush Hour 3.

The casting is sublime.

All this artful violence won't change your life, but Non-Stop is a satisfying quickie.

The results are far more real than MTV's The Real World.

Election is a bracingly intelligent adult comedy that shrewdly captures adolescence.

Will take you by surprise as a romantic, fast-paced, entertaining spectacle that deserves to earn back every penny spent to produce it.

It's got enough hilarious moments that, all in all, the film's bite is as toothsome as its bark.

Most tenderly, the film deciphers the true meaning of its corporate-speak title in Franck and his father's impassioned struggle to ensure each other's welfare.

Unfolds like quietly engrossing short fiction, reminding us that there are few things more pleasurable than being in the hands of a good storyteller.

Praise will get under your skin.

It's a tad too generic to be a slam dunk.

John August's script is exciting, witty, original material, and this film's got the talent to match.

Unsuccessfully attempts to fathom Kaufman's lunatic sensibilities, supplying scant psychological insight into what made the outrageous comic tick.

A cross between a Hogarth painting and an MTV video, Plunkett & Macleane cuts quite a swath.

Nico and Dani merely retells a not uncommon tale without significantly enriching it. It's just too familiar to play as poignantly as it would like to.

Best of all is the supporting performance of The Jackie Robinson Steppers Marching Band, a real group of high-school musicians in which the three girls all perform.

The Spy Who Shagged Me is impossible-to-resist summer fun that left me feeling, dare I say, randy for more? Oh, behave.

Dares to substitute wit and warmth for the standard gay indie tropes in tackling its tale of an unconventional couple.

Even if it sometimes skips, it's consistently wittier and more idiosyncratic that most studio movies.

A disarming helping of Capra-esque corn served up by writer-director Rob Sitch.

A profoundly moving human drama, a quasi love story about two lost men who form an unlikely friendship.

Elevates the horror genre with a refreshing intelligence and humor -- too bad it's not half as good at generating scares.

Liam is mostly an emotionally devastating chronicle of the disintegration of a family. The entire cast is superb, but Frears has cast two screen naturals in the lead roles.

Plays like a Chinese "Cinema Paradiso," full of feeling without succumbing to sentimentality.

This jailhouse jam is quite a haul.

It's such a sensory experience; in its best moments, the film washes over you like a fever dream.

A raunchy, scattershot, but often hilarious spoof.

Nolan's engrossing, backwards-ticking noir will run you so thoroughly in circles that you'll need to see it at least twice for maximum enjoyment.

Despite Arteta's best efforts, I eventually stopped caring about their bond because Chuck's character is conceived as such a two-dimensional yuppie.

Banderas may have been crazy to make such a heady directorial debut, but it's hard not to be charmed by his ambitions.

The man (Apted) behind the excellent "7 Up" series has put a human face to science, making the seemingly abstruse both accessible and easily relatable.

The politicizing is intense, but the actual game footage is even more engrossing; Carlson uses both digital video and 16mm film to put us squarely in the midst of the gridiron brouhaha.

Even if the great debate that pits artistic integrity against corporate compromise doesn't thrill you, see Cradle Will Rock anyway. It's marvelous, provocative entertainment; art for art's sake.

In spirit, 101 Reykjavík is so Almodóvar that it could melt the polar icecap.

Optimistically explores how vastly different people can come together, and how any journey is more about what happens along the way than simply getting from one place to another.

It's a pleasure to watch these unhurried, character-driven vignettes when such great actors are anchoring them.

The entire ensemble is first-rate.

Along the way, we end up losing patience with our couple-to-be because they seem too smart to endure the indignities ceaselessly heaped on them.

Faithless, filmed mostly during Sweden's endless winter, will chill you to the bone.

Brooks' least satisfying film in quite a while.

A witty, if overextended, take on pornography.

The year's first sure-fire Oscar nominee has arrived with flying colors.

Proof of Life won't hold your heart hostage for very long after it's over, but here's looking at Russell Crowe -- he's the real deal, sweetheart.

Never less than riveting.

Zahn's dazed and confused, droopy-mustached dude steals every scene he's in...a movie that will make you smile and put a lump in your throat.

This historical epic about the "virgin queen" of England's early life moves with the crackling urgency of a contemporary political thriller.

A funny, frenetic, and often quite touching microcosm of the Big Apple life itself, essayed by a pitch-perfect cast and boasting authentic urban flavors.

Whenever Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon resorts to flying fists or soaring sword battles, the Force is definitely with it.

Lynch's faith in the kindness of human nature has been renewed, yet thankfully he's never maudlin. Instead, he wins over our emotions with the film's understated beauty.

It's the funniest, saddest performance of the year in a film of uncompromising wit and heart.

A sentimental slice of 1950s Italian-American life that doesn't soft-pedal its characters' simmering prejudices within their insulated community, or pander to their dreams of getting out.

Juggles a few too many subplots, cramming in more issues than your average nightly newscast. But more often than not, this is a film to savor.

A fast, funny film that goes down like a cyanide-spiked piña colada.

A riveting, unsentimental tragedy of unrequited love.

This one's still worth checking out -- especially for the naturalistic performances by the feisty Touly and the rest of the young cast.

Smith and Fitzgerald are funny, feisty, poignant, and altogether realistic. Will they end up lovers, friends, side-by-side corpses? Their sharp performances make Series 7 as frighteningly addictive as crack, or even "Survivor."

Offers effortless charm, wit, and originality in spades.

A charming movie.

A fitting tribute to these displaced children because it so simply and elegantly personalizes their place in the most horrific chapter of 20th-century history.

Tries to have it both ways -- as a kitschy ode to bodybuilding culture and as a tragic story of a man who was persecuted for his dreams.

The most poignant (if hard-hitting) depiction of childhood to show up this year.

This is certainly the best studio movie of the new year to date, and Douglas might even be remembered at next year's Oscars.

Has its funky charms.