Kim Morgan

Marshall does such a good job re-creating the otherworldly energy of a temple of youth that the rest of the picture feels strained and sometimes trite. Nevertheless, parts can be absorbing, reflective and touching.

Every once in a while a picture comes along that captures not just love, but romance in all its fear, yearning, fantasy, eroticism and unexpected epiphanies. German filmmaker Tom Tykwer's The Princess and the Warrior is one such film.

Has its cheesy moments but it's bolstered by interesting performances and a final scene not typical of a mainstream movie. Though no "Fatal Attraction," Unfaithful nevertheless is an interesting and worthy film.

It's an odd, overly long picture, filled with too many pauses but dotted with just enough funky band sequences to keep you interested.

There are many merits to the picture -- it's wonderfully shot and boasts a beautiful performance by Eul-Boom, who acts in gestures of subtle dignity and compassion. But it's questionable how we're to take actor Seung-Ho.

There's more to this movie. Like Pitt at his best, it's pretty, gritty, engrossing and fun.

Understated fun, but not much more.

There's something refreshingly and truly girlish about the picture's musings and epiphanies that makes its R rating baffling.

A sweet, loopy British comedy filled with good actors and funny moments.

It's creepy, but it's not horrifying. Still, the movie has its distorted, haunting moments that will stick with you, and it's stunning to look at.

Pablo Berger's subtle satire Torremolinos 73 is almost there. Almost.

Exciting, gory, funny and, like much of anime, a bit cheesy.

Finding Forrester achieves a distinct success few Hollywood movies can even dream of: It overwhelms and inspires with understatement.

The film moves too slowly and dispassionately to resonate as it should.

It's a stylish work, seeping with brilliant animation and potentially interesting characters that didn't need so much time to establish themselves. It's worthwhile, but it's a good thing there's a television show to refer to.

This is a beautiful, moving picture about a love affair between two very different Chinese men.

Works like a funnier "Austin Powers" -- you laugh just enough to want to see the whole thing again.

Really a vehicle for Dunst, which would be fine if only the vehicle were more inspired.

Utterly thrilling and enthralling, a commercial film that paces itself wonderfully, never allowing the action or romance to outweigh its story and characters. For mainstream adventure fare, that's quite an accomplishment.

Compelling and superbly acted.

A spare, internally emotional movie like One requires something called screen presence. Its two leads have it.

Delivers the oft-trod subject of boys' sexuality with intelligence and freshness.

Blue Crush, which might appear exciting in an "Endless Summer"/"Where the Boys Are" kind of way, actually is really boring.

Beautifully acted, the film is touchingly human and, thankfully, devoid of any vapid, ironic kitsch.

A bit of exotic neo-noir, clunky in parts and long, but often engaging and artfully atmospheric as well.

Though moving, Together needed more opera to send us where great music frequently goes -- nearly over the edge.

It's an interesting effort (particularly for JFK conspiracy nuts), and Barry's cold-fish act makes the experience worthwhile.

All guts, no glory and, worse, bad story.

A lyrical, exciting adrenaline rush.

Really, we'd rather just watch a good documentary about the subject. And as the camera flings around, we occasionally forget about what could help the teens and think more about what could help the director: How about a tripod?

Entertaining, well-acted and hopeful about a world in which sexual orientation isn't a big deal, Big Eden is a pretty picture -- it just tends to be a little too perfect and cute for its own good.

It's fun, albeit a little messy, under the frequently punchy direction of Peter Berg.

It works for the most part, though some scenes come off contrived or directed without flavor. But thanks to the likable, rough-hewn crew and Forster, the film flows along gruffly and with eloquence.

Alas, the movie just isn't bouncy, fresh or funny enough. It's just not blonde enough.

Understands that extreme feelings bring out weird reactions. Tension and sadness will occasionally be interrupted by humor -- even slapstick.

Entertaining, disturbing, sad, outrageous and often hilarious.

This is not a movie about actors. It's a movie about racing, chasing, chicks and adrenaline -- just what many theatergoers are dying for in a summer dominated by a sweet ogre and a dumbed-down historical tragedy.

This is a movie where you can just sit back and revel in it, warts and all.

Though stilted and emotionally vacant at times, it's still an entertaining and absorbing experience.

On paper, it sounds like the start of a good film. Too bad McKee made such a lackluster thing of it. Though the horror comes from an interesting place, it's frequently forced, negating much of the humor and pathos the film attempts to instill.

This film might've worked better as a comedy.

Simultaneously modern and yet gorgeously primitive with its budget sets and simple but influential score, this is not just a film re-release but a film event.

Stays engaging, chiefly, through the textured, ambiguous performances of Spacey, Moore and Dench.

So what will happen? Sadly, some overacting and a bad "And Justice For All"-style speech at the end.

With very little dialogue and through what's essentially a gimmick, we come truly to like these guys.

Another Bond film that turns out to be an unspectacular spectacle, at times winking and fun but too often plodding and hackneyed. That said, as usual Brosnan is terrific, walking through dunderhead moments and a tedious plot with grace.

Though the picture is definitely flawed, it maintains a joie de vivre that's surprisingly refreshing.

For all its superfluous and self-conscious moments, the picture is a draining kick.

Accuracy and realism are terrific, but if your film becomes boring, and your dialogue isn't smart, then you need to use more poetic license.

So strained in its "charm" and "pluck" that you grow weary by minute 15, hoping that the teens whose lives it depicts will stop being so darn peppy or sweetly confused or irritatingly dramatic.

It's nice that Demme reveres the Hollywood classic, the French cinema and the glamour of his actors. But nice is all The Truth About Charlie is -- a nice mess.

Sometimes complicated, sometimes incredibly simple, the film explicates or fawns over the human condition with occasional charm and poignancy but too often it's just cloying.

Written and edited by Sayles, "Casa" is certainly the artist's baby, but he crams too much into a relatively brief running time. Worse, though it should be longer, we're not especially unhappy that it isn't, for being around these women gets tedious.

Though not terrible, and blessed with some nice performances, this Irish-eyes-are-smiling-despite-the-rain-and-nasty-nuns story is Hallmark Hall of Fame material.

Judging by the beautiful photography of Salvatore Totino, Howard knows what a Western should look like. But the thrills suggested by the trailers, in which the picture is presented almost like a frightening supernatural horror story, are nowhere to be seen.

With little cohesion and no respect for the editing process, Old School often feels like someone threw film clips on the floor and strung them together willy-nilly.

The film isn't so much a demanding character study as it is a lot of pretty parts pushed together.

Groove seems to be less about what it is chronicling than what its attempting to decipher.

Intriguing, containing a truthful kernel of sweetness, rot and brutality that will shock many.

Although amateurish, often poorly acted and containing dialogue and narration that comes off as pretentious and embarrassing, it's worth watching for the environment it envelops you in.

Plot, comedy and characterization? It's absolutely anemic.

Lacks the perfect timing, luster and true vitality of its predecessors.

Filled with too many issues -- along with young motherhood, street gangs, city life, sex, peer pressure, grief and, oh yes, dancing, which is nearly lost in so many poorly written subplots.

There are movies that are made for the big screen, and movies that are made for the small screen; Passionada is the latter type.

Funny, dumb, cruel and sick, Girls Will Be Girls is a relentlessly mean picture that will tickle those tired of sweet comedies whether in drag or plainclothes. In short, "Tootsie" it ain't.

By a certain point The Heart of Me becomes pointlessly depressing and unlikable without offering insight.

A big, loud, sometimes clever, often dumb behemoth of a movie.

The best thing about 2 Fast 2 Furious is Tyrese (terrific in Singleton's "Baby Boy"), whose charisma, looks and charm supply the picture with much-needed spark. It's too bad he's stuck in this spotty video game.

Needing the gristle of its title, the film should have been angrier.

Rat Race isn't a stupid movie -- it's an aggressively stupid movie that journeys into realms of absurdity that are, well, aggressively funny.

Does at least come bearing two gifts: the rolling beauty of Tuscany and the understated elegance of actress Diane Lane. The rest of the film is fit fodder for the Oxygen Network.

Two-thirds of the way through, it falls apart into TV-movie-of-the-week land, even with the rhapsodic Nastassja Kinski in the lead.

Scattered and silly. If it evokes any strong feelings from you, it will probably be hunger -- the food all looks so good.

Though The Hard Word feels flimsy at times, its breeziness and humor, along with Pearce's performance, make it infinitely more amusing than it's got any right to be. You get the feeling that these actors had fun making this film, and that fun is contagious.

This little serio-comedy contains absolutely nothing that warrants big-screen release. It's lit like TV, acted like TV and staged like TV.

A blending of international film sensibilities -- France meets Hollywood meets Hong Kong -- with a very cool anti-hero protagonist.

Compare it with the book, and it stinks. Look at the film on its own, and it still stinks.

Though filled with charm and led by three likable characters, the picture spreads its plot points and whimsy so thinly that we can never just relax.

Although at times ridiculous, Behind Enemy Lines nevertheless thrills, inspires.

Good, but, sadly, not good enough. Well-acted, beautifully shot and splendidly costumed, it's superior to the original in its looks, but not as potent or meaningful in its story line.

It's classic movie manipulation gone amok.

Starts out dark, thrilling and inventive, then, regrettably, becomes sappy, mainstream and mundane.

Works as pure escapist entertainment, but it's on the cusp of being smarter -- making it all the more frustrating.

So often out of control that it becomes absurd and exasperating.

Though the acting in "Sidewalks" is uniformly fine, particularly among the female cast, it's hard to glimpse any meaningful vision, sly insights or cinematic flair.

It's frustrating and still oddly likable.

A movie that drags.

The clothes are worth it; nothing else is.

But with a potentially fascinating study of ethics, of how cheating rich boys become cheating rich men while humble souls do more good in the world, The Emperor's Club doesn't take the audience anywhere smart.

Just pass on K-PAX.

Balancing homage with creativity, the picture is tight, stylishly filmed, clever and, importantly, scary.

One of the funniest things in Scary Movie 3 is Pamela Anderson. She makes us laugh. And not just at her (though she's game to poke fun at her image) but with her.

Has two other notable things going for it: the brilliant Christopher Walken and a soundtrack packed with songs by the drippy power ballad band Bad Company.

An impressive array of themes, stories and sequences.

A flimsy film that's too clean and corn pone to be anything near rock 'n' roll.

You may strain to recall just what happened an hour after you see it, but there are so many worse things to have to remember in life. It's a relief to focus on something so attractively amusing.

Intelligent teens will hate this film, and adults will just be embarrassed.

One of the most wearisome "high adrenaline" movies to come along in a while.