Kim Morgan

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.

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.

Can a film so expertly capture the odious and bitter that it becomes deliciously, disgustingly beautiful? Yes, if that film is 1957's Sweet Smell of Success.

Filled with wonderful performances, especially by Hedaya and Walsh, Blood Simple remains a tight, beautifully ugly, neo-noir classic.

It easily is the most beautiful picture released in America so far this year, perhaps one of the most beautiful films ever made.

With its eye-popping color, bold personality and snazzy tunes, Chicago is a breathtaking experience.

She (Cho) can tell a joke, mimic, offer commentary, play cute, play ugly and be so hilariously absurd that tears will run down your cheeks.

No matter how many times you've seen it, you marvel at how terrifying, gorgeous and surreal the jungle, the yellow napalm and, finally, the disturbed face of Martin Sheen lying under a swirling fan appear on the large screen. This is indeed, a dream.

Daring work of genius.

It's a heap of contradictions that will leave your head spinning.

Though Michael Winterbottom's Wonderland appears as gritty as they come, it uncommonly has a romantic heart.

It's a remarkable, thoughtful achievement that will make you want to watch it twice. You should.

One of the purest instances of indie cinema this year. "Pure" meaning that in every aspect of filmmaking and intent this picture is peerless, so truly real, funny, poignant and sexy that it almost feels like a watershed cinematic moment.

Unafraid of walking the fine line between the repellent and the human, Shallow Hal is wickedly funny but heartfelt.

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

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.

It's almost numbingly sad, but you won't regret watching -- and you'll surely never forget it.

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

An achievement of accomplished filmmaking and superb acting, L.I.E. puts you in the tough spot of unraveling how you feel about what you've viewed.

A profoundly anxious picture that from its first frame holds you, clenched, never able to let go, even after its unresolved coda.

Funny, irreverent and moving, the unconventional Shrek may mock fairy tales, but in the process, creates its own.

A slow burn. A portrait of the mundane humor and horror of everyday life, it scalds nerves you may have never thought existed. And yet the film is funny, almost hilariously at times.

Aronson's intriguing, complicated and well-filmed documentary will keep you talking for days.

Though you get caught up in the criminal element (you really want these people to get away with it), you're also fascinated by who to trust. It's an unusual dance between the awkward and plain that becomes romantic and thrilling -- a subtly impressive feat to say the least.

A hilarious, sad and sometimes-inspiring documentary directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, the film is an all-out Tammy valentine -- campy, dramatic and, of course, makeup-smeared. And better than any melodrama you'll see this year.

A picture so powerfully harrowing, its slight shortcomings are forgettable compared to the entire film's cumulative effect. It's that searing.

Almodovar loves the human flesh -- indeed, one of his films is titled "Live Flesh" -- and with the quietly subversive Talk to Her, he utilizes it not just as mere decoration but weaves with it textured themes of powerlessness, love and obsession.

Once you lose yourself in Ruiz's stunning achievement -- a wonderfully acted, beautifully realized vision of Proust -- you'll be enchanted.

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.

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

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

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

A lyrical, exciting adrenaline rush.

The newest, and probably first, true cheerleading movie.

It's a fascinating look into what Spielberg truly loves, but it's not so much a masterpiece as a nice milestone. [2002 re-release]

Doesn't give off the same happy feel of the Indian arranged-marriage movie "Monsoon Wedding." Rather, it poses hard questions and leaves them unanswered.

A tough picture to wrap your brain around.

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

Little spectacle but much bittersweet sensitivity.

A lovely film that requires a leisurely sit to think, Shower is not so much a shower as a bath, and a refreshing one at that.

You have to experience the thing to understand its simultaneous recklessness and care, its humor and sadness in the name of failure, its playful but dismal take on formulaic Hollywood endings.

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

Takes the typical detective-hunting-a-serial-killer story and twists it into a creepy, enigmatic bit of psychological terror that by its final ambiguous scene leaves you truly chilled.

Quiet, sexual, disturbing, often beautifully melancholic, Rain, as seen through the eyes of a precocious girl, recalls a parental split-up with sobering accuracy. It reminds us why so many teen-agers go through a sullen phase -- and sometimes never shake it off.

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

Waddington's wonderfully textured film is an unforced work of naturalism.

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

An odd, jumbled, beautifully wrought, often confusing work, this animated feature manages to be a compelling, exhilarating experience.

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.

Not just love, but maybe an escape from a wretched world. We're not sure, but that's what makes Heaven so inexplicably, intriguingly soulful, even in its most remote and architectural instances.

With understated skill and absolute authenticity, the film builds with enough layers that by its powerful ending, you'll feel as if you have been kicked in the stomach.

Seems deeply influenced by American film noir, the Western fairy tale (in this case, mermaids) and the works of Alfred Hitchcock in particular.

The "Citizen Kane" of rat movies makes for a terrific overhaul in this wonderfully entertaining and, yes, touching take on that terribly confused man/child named Willard.

It's a first love story that goes beyond many simplistic notions as to why people fall for one another. If it weren't true, no one would believe it.

The film is still a wonderful lark filled with an ingredient most summer blockbusters lack -- likability.

Appropriate music, lovely cinematography and stellar performances by both a subtly moving Neill and a likable, barrel-chested super-American Warburton.

Panic never lets you forget that Donald Sutherland can be one of America's greatest actors.

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.

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

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.

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

Intriguingly puts two distinct, strong women together as if to pose the question, just what is a strong woman? By the film's end, that question is tough to answer.

You will be surprised by the film's poignancy when the winner is announced. You may even get choked up. You will care that much.

A vibrant, multicharacter film that entertains, disorients and enlightens.

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

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

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

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

It's too ridiculous, too flatly acted, too action-packed, too, well, fun.

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

An impressive array of themes, stories and sequences.

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

The film is tangled but not chaotic, thoughtful but not terribly deep. Still, it's intimate, entertaining, and most impressive, genuine.

About how women see themselves in terms of bodies, age and careers, but without all the "you go girl" tripe crammed into so many other movies of this ilk.

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.

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

Has many puff-piece moments to it and barely touches the controversy surrounding Tupac's death or that of rival hip-hop impresario Biggie Smalls. But it's engaging nonetheless.

In its own slightly disturbing way, this psychological thriller serves as an absorbing diversion without sapping brain cells -- almost the perfect summer movie for smart people.

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

A coming-of-age movie that stands apart from the rest.

It's a shame director Care didn't take more time with his characters, even making the film a bit longer to deepen the connections between them. Still, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys is a keen slice of teen angst and peril.

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.

Owning Mahowny may at times feel futile in its colorless, disheartening subject matter, but that's the point -- to see how barren Mahowny's life becomes. Hoffman gives the film relevance.

A movie that will wear you out and make you misty even when you don't want to be. It's a gushy, sometimes-maudlin, often-charming movie that highlights the importance of little things.

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.

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

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

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

Compelling and superbly acted.

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.

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.

Effectively thrilling.

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 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.

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

Entertaining, disturbing, sad, outrageous and often hilarious.

Engrossing and unusual.