Merle Bertrand

A heartwarming, cleansing film that's simply good for the soul.

The film reveals a man whose wiry build, relentless passion, fearless guile, and bravery made him a beloved human rights activist in his strife-ridden country.

While Intoxicating is far from a perfect film, it is nonetheless a highly effective -- and affecting -- clash of two fiercely independent talents, Kirk Harris and Mark David.

The greatest accomplishment of Occupation: Dreamland is showing those of us on the home front that it really is possible, Republican howling to the contrary aside, to support our troops without supporting the war itself.

With Manito's raw portrayal of its characters and stripped-down cinematography, the undercurrent of impending tragedy is palpable.

War is chaos and confusion even under the best of circumstances, of which this current fiasco clearly ain’t. The Prisoner… underscores this fact, as well as muddying up the waters on such commonly accepted platitudes as "Support the Troops."

Makes for an interesting close-up on an art form whose intricacies could all too easily go unnoticed.

Believe it or not, most of the empathy here is with Wand Jean's legal team. Yes, the lawyers.

Eisenstadt does an excellent job bringing the story of an ambitious young woman setting out to fulfill a dream full circle.

A creepy, if disjointed exploration of the nature of evil. But compared to its predecessor, it's also a bit of a disappointment.

About as exciting as meatloaf.

The best thing about The Slaughter Rule -- is that the film refuses to succumb to the temptation of a glorious Hollywood feel-good happy ending.

By turns infuriating, charming, wistful and annoying, Kwik Stop winds up a touching, if frustrating film.

For the most part, Gerry is a lot of self-indulgent baloney.

While certainly an entertaining and intriguing film, one simply can't get past the notion that we're watching semi-famous actors pretending to be their more famous characters.

Definitely designed to tug on its audience's heartstrings, a task at which it completely succeeds, In America is ultimately a solid, if unspectacular family film.

There's just something maddeningly upbeat about this film's shameless hokiness. Combine that with the film's colorful art and wardrobe designs, spiffy choreography, the joy of seeing some veteran faces on screen for the first time in a while, and a soundtrack that'll make even the dead tap their toes, and Swing simply makes for some serious jump-jivin' fun.

The appeal of The Burial Society lays in its unusual and obscure take on an otherwise mundane tale of greed, treachery and double-cross.

Death and comedy rarely mix, and this tedious and painfully un-funny effort by director Darren Stein is no exception.

Gleaming like a well-polished magic lamp on a vibrant Persian rug, The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam showcases Arabian/Muslim culture at its best and brightest.

What starts out as a fairly conventional and effective stalker drama with a cyber-twist, soon gets too cute with its dreams within dreams set pieces and shifting realities. It’s kinda nifty at first, but Kon just keeps piling it on until you just roll your eyes, throw up your hands, and scream, “Enough!”

An unusual angle on the age-old coming of age story. Filled with solid performances by veteran actors Ivey and Raymond, as well as a captivating performance by newcomer Grace.

Madame Sata may be based on real events, but it's certainly not a very pleasant introduction to Rio's bohemian scene, circa 1931. Nor is it a very pleasant movie to endure in its own right.

Hard-headed to the end, the three women in Face prove that if nothing else, stubborness and inflexibilty run in the family.

Ultimately sinks beneath the waves of the Caspian Sea.

Rife with predictability and lacking any originality whatsoever, the lackluster Laurel Canyon demonstrates about as much depth as one of Ian's pop songs.

Though this rude and crude film does deliver a few gut-busting laughs, its digs at modern society are all things we've seen before.

A tedious, snail-paced mess.

If you liked "Magnolia," you'll also like Mind the Gap.

By turns chilling, depressing, yet guardedly optimistic documentary.

About as flat as a five day old soda.

Not enough to hold the audience's interest, especially with such shallow simpletons as these two women in the leads.

This well made, slightly cornball and riotously comical romantic comedy not only extols the old fashioned American dream, but charmingly celebrates the virtues of the great American melting pot as well.

When done well, they are scintillating cinematic brain teasers, and Timecrimes is one of the best time travel films to come along in, er, quite some time.

Tedious talk-fest.

A powerful no-frills drama. It's a film that never flinches from its colorful, if sometimes cruel namesake neighborhood and the people who populate it.

Solid debut effort from Lisa Cholodenko.

Highly entertaining film.

The kind of film that requires a lot of work and patience on behalf of the viewer, not to mention a willingness to set aside prejudices and the fear inherent when we meet people different from us. As such, while you may not necessarily like By Hook or By Crook, you won't forget it, either.

Delightfully goofy.

One of those films where, even though you're pretty sure you know where it's going, it's still fun to get there.

Has the intangible and distinctive feel of a movie from a different era. Which just adds to this fine film's mystique, providing yet another reason why The Cooler hits the jackpot.

Botko and Gurland's bleak and caustic comedy gets off to a slow start and struggles to overcome the handicap of having three main characters who are, by design, highly unpleasant individuals.

Ultimately a rewarding -- if weird -- experience. It's just too bad that it takes so long to get there.

Takes a while to get rolling, but builds fairly well once it finally does. Part of the problem, no doubt, is Shokrina's decision to have the dialogue rapidly alternate between English and (presumably) Persian, with subtitles. This is a highly disorienting distraction.

A rare high school dramedy with some heft to it. Smartly photographed and edited, it manages to walk the difficult tightrope strung between the typically loopy coming of age film and a simmering disaster in the making.

A film that's every bit as odd, unique, and unnerving as its title character.

A black comedy that nonetheless manages to tap into the sense of alienation and unfocused rage so prevalent in today's kids.

A movie celebrating the life of the greatest military conqueror the world has ever known should feature a bit more conquering.

A stripped-down, small town "COPS" without the flashy editing and hip-hop soundtrack.

An unusual tale about an often over-glorified era from our past, The Scoundrel's Wife exposes wartime America's sordid small town underbelly in a captivating, even entertaining manner.

If the fascinating, if disconcerting Our Brand Is Crisis teaches us one thing, it's that consultants, handlers, lawyers, and middlemen can always find a job.

Listless clunker.

Director Mike Bencivenga takes what could so easily have been a trite, cliche-riddled melodrama and instead, somehow turns it into...well, a wry and moving melodrama.

The resulting concoction is a cinematic elixir that disappoints, no matter how much hypnosis one is under.

A touching and almost ridiculously inspirational story for all of us.

Good ensemble performances in front of the camera are supported by clever shooting and cutting, which work, not just deftly but unobtrusively so, with and within the readily apparent technical limitations at hand.

With its clumsy storytelling and lack of someone to filter Duvall's gushiness about the subject matter, Assassination Tango winds up shooting itself in its own dancing feet.

A musical feast for eyes and ears alike.

Unlikely but winning farce.

For nothing but pure goofy escapism, A Foreign Affair is at least worth a fling.

Draws an unspoken parallel with, of all things, beauty pageants, complete with unnaturally driven kids and nervously supportive parents desperately trying not to appear too pushy.

This white trash "War of the Roses" is a surprisingly engaging film.

An amazingly powerful piece of cinema. Actually, it's more an amazingly powerful piece of news journalism; the kind of in-depth stories told in all their complexity that such fluff American network "news" magazines as "Dateline" could only dream about telling.

For a documentary about drama and all those who love it, director Alexandra Shiva's lukewarm study displays very little of it.

Haunting and chilling, yet biting black tragi-comedy.

Not only does this film have the coolest title ever, but this bittersweet, multi-layered comparison of life's realities versus life's potential is as compelling as it is deeply resonant.

Secretary, like the type of relationship it explores, is not for everybody. But it does what good films do best; that is to provoke us, push our buttons, make us think and maybe even entertain us in the process.

Has just enough quirks and unexpected shocks along the way to keep things interesting.

The kind of film in which you pretty much know that everything is going to turn out all right in the end. That doesn't mean, however, that one won't enjoy watching this warm and fuzzy exercise in escapism in the process.

This has the unmistakable feel of a vanity project about it, which makes it a little tough to take either Dillon or the film seriously.

Makes a good chick flick for guys who want to appear artsy by taking their date to a foreign language film. Just remember: front row...and don't forget the aspirin.

One of the most wildly original, dryly comical, and smartly structured films ever created.

With his darker secrets hidden away, secrets that could have provided us with the final layers to this influential man, we’re left with an incomplete portrait of Bayard Rustin. But thanks to the documentary “Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin,” we at least have that much. And for a man who’s as important and relatively unknown as Rustin was, an incomplete picture is far better than no picture at all.

In a sense, Raging Dove serves as an entirely unintentional, I'm sure, metaphor for peace prospects in his homeland.

Initially turns the dour field of psychiatry into an amusing, absurdist romp. Unfortunately, the further the film progresses, the more it relies on silliness and triteness for ever-less frequent laughs.

Brilliantly scripted and full of a virtual Who's Who of familiar faces, The Big Lebowski is yet another golden hunk of totally unique celluloid from the versatile Brothers Cohen.

Both Democrats and Republicans take it on the chin here, although the left-leaning bias is obvious.

Director Marc Rosenbush gets the absolute most he can out of his no-budget-friendly, minimalist location and a solid, if unremarkable cast.

An intensely moving and oftentimes haunting film; a compelling look at the unique life paths of three totally different women.

This soothing, elegantly-crafted film is such a marvelous piece of work.

Yes, there is a very palpable lesbian erotic undercurrent pervading this film. However, the reason it's so palpable is because it's so subtly and deftly handled...AND it's only one thread of the film's storyline.

A gripping example of "You Are There," on the spot journalism, even if it is a little slim when it comes to motives and back stories.

When all is said and done, then, the only thing this juvenile and shameless "Star Wars" knock-off does is whet your appetite for the real deal.

Isn't a terrible film. It's not offensive, controversial or even interesting in any way.

"We are who we are," is the mantra for this grim urban drama. That human escape velocity can be awfully hard to reach with all those bad influences hanging around.

ZigZag rests heavily on Jones III's sensational turn as the lead character. Capable of drawing empathy without pity from an audience, his ZigZag is the unlikely constant in a world swirling with change and intrigue.

Full of enough legitimate red meat to incense salivating Democrats who can't wait to tear into a pound of Bush's flesh in November. Yet, this film should truly frighten partisans on both sides of the aisle.

What might just be this film's greatest strength is how it shows that no matter how "different" we might appear to be on the outside, what's on the inside is what provides our common bonds.

Would that we could extract the essence of this utterly enjoyable film and distill its creativity, intelligence and originality into a serum which we could then inject into all the tapped-out Hollywood screenwriters and directors out there.

You keep waiting for the pot to boil over, but it never does. Instead, Barker lets the steam vent out all too easily and the film falls flat in the end as a result.