Kim Morgan

With a less popcorn-friendly cast and some cheesy special effects, this is a surprisingly engaging, sometimes foolish but often roughly intelligent film.

It is off-putting at first, then refreshing, then downright touching. In short, it works.

If you simply love Vogue magazine, you'll love 8 Women just as much as the cinematically educated. This breezy entertainment often feels like an exquisitely photographed fashion layout come to life.

Stinky, boring, aggressively unfunny picture.

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.

Watching Rocks shows, we know he's sharper than the average actor. But watching him flail and play funny in movies that aren't as smart as him is simply depressing. Someone give this man a good role. And please, let him do a few more takes -- these scenes can't be his best efforts.

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

Suffers from poor comic timing and defective romantic pacing.

Short on both life and laughs.

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.

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

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

Watching the teachers whip these kids into Wilder recitations is especially intriguing, particularly when their personalities come out during the sometimes-arduous process.

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.

You can't just rework a beloved Christmas classic, set it in reverse and expect it to run smoothly.

A funny and sometimes substantial movie that in real life would never have a happy ending.

Manages to be a solid, though not exceptional, heist movie with a good-looking cast and -- maybe -- even better-looking cars.

A witty, frightening, well-acted picture with near-perfect cinematic timing.

An atrocity exhibition from start to finish.

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

Compelling and superbly acted.

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.

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

A family film, but it's a wonder if kids will really enjoy it. The picture is geared for older folks, people who'll be heartened by the message that sometimes, you can return to your passions.

America's favorite romantic comedian is miscast in Kate & Leopold -- a disappointment with the warm and charming Jackman around.

The film isn't terrible, it's just trying too hard.

The dialogue is clipped and theatrical, and, aside from Harvey Keitel's German officer, accents are abandoned, which may distract viewers. For me it worked fine.

Simply something you don't want to touch.

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.

Maybe if the story weren't so ludicrous we'd care. Or maybe if the film just went overboard with its ludicrousness, we'd be entertained, but Don't Say a Word is merely boring.

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.

You get to know each person just well enough to compare them, allowing you to judge as you like; the film, nicely, refrains from moralizing.

Gallo makes some fatal mistakes in his direction. As Griffin talks, he adds sound effects that are distracting and annoying. It's actually an insult to the comic -- as if his jokes aren't clever enough on their own.

Ledes shows promise, but truly, this would have been better left to Todd Haynes.

One of the most aggressively ambiguous pictures of the year. There is a certain power to that.

A picture that could have bordered on classy screwball if written wittier, acted sexier and filmed shinier.

It's classic movie manipulation gone amok.

A lazy, trite comedy that's made by people who don't care either.

It's Zahn who truly conveys what Marshall and Barrymore are going for -- laughing through your tears.

Singleton just may be challenging us to laugh at the film or with it and then feel extremely uneasy for doing so. If so, that's admirable; if not, he's made a very strange soap opera.

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

If not for the race sequences and the intriguing presence of Caviezel, who made this film before "The Passion of the Christ" and who one hopes will take on even more roles befitting his peculiar sad-eyed charisma, the film would amount to a well-intentioned snooze.

The Young Unknowns flails about, sometimes realistically, but the cumulative effect is "so what?" These characters may be young and unknown, but they feel old and in the way.

Effectively thrilling.

Chris Koch exhibits little flair for comedic direction and, though this isn't saying much, you'd be better served watching his previous film, "Snow Day." Ouch.

Maybe if you're younger than 10 you'll be scared or thrilled by this film. Otherwise, be prepared for one of the most unexciting pictures this summer.

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

Frustrating, tedious and yet often compelling.

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.

Garners only a few chuckles, becoming, even in its short running time, boring.

Poor special effects, a silly looking werewolf and clunky comic writing help to spoil what should have been a fun B-movie.

Rich in detail, gorgeously shot and beautifully acted, Les Destinees is, in its quiet, epic way, daring, inventive and refreshingly unusual.

Eventually becomes tedious.

Builds into a moment of such gorgeous rocking that you truly lose yourself in some musical otherworld you never dreamed you'd reach in current films.

Nothing near a modern vampire classic. Still, "Queen" is a great dose of vamp camp

Bullock maintains a luster and comic naturalness that most actresses couldn't pull off in such mediocrity.

It's not an art film. The movie is as mainstream as it gets -- which is just fine; the picture is both great fun and gently satirical.

The film seems to resonate even for people who aren't Jewish or gay, as there are so many people touched by homosexuality and religion.

Though it's enjoyable, you can't help but feel the squandered situations and talent, flattened by mediocre writing and direction. Scoff if you will, but the gifted Sandler and his audience deserve better.

Jinxed itself into being nothing but an inane popcorn flick pretending to be edgy.

Gives just enough to forgive any of its initial flaws and eventually grows on you.

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 is aided both by fine performances by Auteuil, Aumont and Depardieu and by wonderful pacing.

It's not afraid to be funny, tragic and decidedly female.

If ever a film was fit only for straight-to-video release, it's this one.

While breezy and fun, the film is also flimsy and sloppy in style and content.