Pam Grady

Like Carrie without the telekinesis, this horror movie replaces the supernatural with blunt brutality and dark humor to terrific effect.

What this predictable tale lacks in surprises it more than makes up for in charm, good music and the indelible performances of Alessandro Nivola and Abigail Breslin as father and child.

Shannon makes the man's dilemma plain and moving, and that gives Take Shelter a resonance that last long after the final fade out.

An investigation into Pieter Bruegel the Elder's painting "The Way to Calvary," Majewski's film is a stunning piece of art in its own right.

Control's Sam Riley steps into a role made unforgettable by a young Richard Attenborough in the 1947 original and makes it his own, slipping into the character like a second skin.

The dismal reality is that this romantic drama is a disaster, a dour "When Harry Meets Sally" that tries to jerk tears out of the story of a man and a woman who go from friends to lovers.

This is Rudd's movie and he once more displays an unerring eye for comedy. He comes at it from an actor's perspective rather than a comedian's and it shows as his character as hilarious as he is credible.

The melodrama is tiresome, overwrought and clichéd.

Good Neighbors' greatest strength is that even when the plot becomes too obvious and the thriller aspects fall apart, it can always wrestle a laugh out of you.

In keeping with the flamboyant clan of despots that were the Husseins, the drama is ultraviolent and over the top and made absolutely mesmerizing by Dominic Cooper's electrifying turn in both roles.

Cornish's idiomatic dialogue is hilarious and the longtime comic's sense of timing is perfect.

That Sarah's Key never quite descends into melodrama is a credit to the strength of Scott Thomas' performance, more than to the writing.

This elegant weepie offers plenty for fans of melodrama, character-driven stories and period pieces.

It is a dark drama to be sure and it does carry with it a whiff of disease-of-the-week melodrama, yet there is also transcendence in the tale; as bleak as the film is, it is not without hope.

A lawman seeking redemption can't seem to escape sin in Ed Gass-Donnelly's haunting, rural drama.

As entertaining as it is educational.

An historical drama so swamped by its soap opera crescendos, no resonant story can survive the wet.

Stake Land is the movie "The Road" should have been.

Writer/director Chris Ordal's debut feature is not a documentary nor is it precisely a biopic. Instead the drama captures the artist at a pivotal moment in time.

Waltz is the highlight of this glossy but plodding drama, a live wire in a movie that sorely needs a jolt.

Insidious could have been something special: a horror movie that actually horrifies without resorting to gore. Instead, thanks to too many cheap jokes and a bit of silly music, it falls short.

Making the Boys is at once political and personal. It is a history lesson, a sociological study and a memoir. It is a tale told with warmth and humor. And it is irresistible.

The documentary will resonate with New York Times' readers and fans of personal stories.

The movie's true horror isn't the murderous extraterrestrials, but the lame script.

A film with a big heart; it's an eccentric dramedy and a crowd pleaser.

With the stranger in a strange land motif, the movie plays a little bit like the 2007 Israeli dramedy "The Band's Visit" and Liev Shreiber's "Everything Is Illuminated" rolled into one.

Plenty of people die in I Saw the Devil, but it is that first attack on Ju-yeon in the movie's opening minutes that reverberates through the epic 141-minute running time.

Wonderfully animated, witty and wildly imaginative.

The action, fantasy and suspense elements are all highly enjoyable, but if the romance didn't work this movie would fall apart.

Stylish and funny.

While the anthropomorphism Joubert employs to tell the lions' story may strike some as cloying, ultimately that doesn't distract from this tale of survival in an inhospitable environment.

The positives have an edge over the negatives, but it probably doesn't matter either way. It is an Adam Sandler movie.

An amiable endeavor, if something of a puff piece.

A movie that ought to entice people to want to travel with Gulliver instead inveigles them to run from him.

The movie never strikes a balance between its comic and dramatic halves and that dooms it. It is an almost good film that flounders, because there is no treatment for tone deafness.

Monsters is enormously satisfying in the way it combines suspense, romance and sci-fi. It heralds a bright new talent in Edwards. If he can do all this for no money, imagine what he can do with a real budget.

A throwback to classic movies like Charade and North by Northwest where beautiful, sophisticated people answer life-threatening danger with bon mots and ingenuity.

The film might have ended at its action-packed and ultimately moving climax, but screenwriter Steve Kloves goes one step farther. He finds the perfect cliffhanger, one that emphasizes just how dangerous young Mr. Potter's situation really is and definitely leaves the audience anxious for the next chapter.

This intelligent, emotional drama should resonate strongly with fans of character-driven stories and those interested in tales of American political struggle.

To call this so-called family film dreadful is an understatement. Jaw-droppingly awful on almost every level, this is a movie to avoid.

Sensual and romantic with a heavy dose of the supernatural and populated by indelible characters.

This sci-fi thriller manages to blend genuine suspense with unintentional laughs.

Leyser has done his job with this, his first feature, burnishing Burroughs' legend and making manifest the enormous shadow he still casts over writers and artists of all stripe.

While the film is likely to find outright rejection among those who remain jittery with each turn in the War Against Terror, it should find a warm reception with fans of dark, outrageous humor.

That tension between silly comedy and poignant drama could have been dicey, but Stebbings and Harrelson maintain just the right balance between the two.

The problems begin with Shyamalan's script, which is an orgy of exposition. The characters explain and explain and explain some more, points driven home with the subtlety of a jackhammer.

Poor word of mouth should doom it for a quick ride to DVD oblivion.

There are gaps here and there, but it provides a fascinating introduction to a corner of film history that has gotten too little attention.

The drama boasts a stellar cast, exquisite performances and a tense atmosphere. It is a film that the author's fans and lovers of mature, measured storytelling will embrace.

Luke Wilson's terrific performance renders an uneasy hybrid of crime drama, comedy and ecommerce far more compelling than it otherwise would be.

Part saga of days gone by, part psychological portrait of the mountaineering spirit, as well as a tale of adventure, Anthony Geffen's documentary will rivet fans of the sport and history buffs alike.

The movie's simple-minded lesson that forests are good and development is bad is undercut the minute one pauses to think about how many natural resources were wasted on this sorry excuse for a motion picture.

It is a crackerjack thriller and a sensational calling card for the brothers Edgerton.

This comic fantasy will delight kids and parents alike.

Ondine is Injected with a heavy dose of magic and has a lot going for it: an endearing performance from star Colin Farrell, Christopher Doyle's evocative cinematography and a captivating-if thin-story.

By focusing on the human aspect of Al-Qaeda, The Oath does give the viewer something to think about, but the film is unsatisfying, raising questions and providing too few answers.

Will appeal strongly to a mature audience drawn to robust characters, dry wit, and great performances.

This is a film of warmth, humor, suspense and surprising grace.

The most compelling thing about it is what it captures: a snapshot of America's ongoing and endless cultural war at a moment when things begin to shift.

For the most part, though, Who Do You Love does a marvelous job of recreating the times and the music and, most of all, of bringing to life this behind-the-scenes giant of the music business.

This could have been a slick little thriller. Instead, it evolves into the unfolding of an epic tragedy.

Predators is sometimes silly and hardly original, but it delivers the thrills.

A pathetic thriller and lame social satire that suffers from abysmal writing, poor pacing and terrible acting, even from the normally reliable Sean Bean.

This drama is something of a miracle itself: a film dealing with religion that is refreshingly free of dogma.

I'm Still Here does leave us with one big question mark: What will Phoenix do next? How will he top such a flamboyant caper?

Fails to completely satisfy, thanks to problems with the script that neither director nor stars can overcome.

Very small children may well take a shine to the big, goofy dog and his furry friends, but parents and older siblings will be left squirming in their seats at a bland, predictable blend of bad comedy and sentimentality.

Educational rather than entertaining.

A mess of a horror movie that spent several years sitting on a shelf and should have remained there living up to its fullest potential as a dust magnet.

Likely to resonate with a generation of young people to whom "When Harry Met Sally's" orgasm scene seems downright quaint.

The doc has won a host of awards at film festivals and it is a policy wonk's dream of a movie, but it is dry, statistic-laden viewing that is unlikely to attract much attention beyond education circles.

Silly and not nearly scary enough, this does not rank as grade-A Romero, but the story unfolds efficiently and economically and it provides plenty of laughs.

This story of a hit man who wants out after performing this one last job is so threadbare, trite and predictable that not the star's formidable charisma nor the considerable talent of director Anton Corbijn can come close to erasing its deficiencies.

Some points are driven home over and over again and that repetition robs the doc of a bit of its power, but overall Countdown to Zero is effective and frightening.

The filmmakers have created a wrenching piece of work that allows the viewer to draw his own conclusions-and should make anyone of whatever political persuasion think about exactly what they mean when claiming to "support the troops."

The performances are spot on and so is the film's ever growing sense of horror.

The laughs are a little uneven and director Jeff Tremaine does not always take full advantage of the 3D technology, but the movie has enough going for it to satisfy Jackass' legions of fans and make some new ones.

The exquisite art and fairytale ambience will win over animation fans and children alike.

Unlike "The Lost Boys," there are no bloodsuckers in Twelve. Instead, it just sucks time: 98 minutes to be exact that you can never get back.

Isn't very funny or much fun at all.

Like "Amelie," Micmacs is visually dazzling, the ravishing images coming courtesy of "La Vie en Rose" cinematographer, Tetsuo Nagata.

Dazzling turns by stars Eddie Marsan, Martin Compston and Gemma Arterton; unrelenting suspense; and a wealth of black humor will appeal to an arthouse crowd, though the violence and other unsavory aspects of the story will turn off some.

A talented cast is game, but the lazy script utterly fails them.

Sometimes hilarious, occasionally outrageous and terribly uneven.

This is one of those movies in which the lead character is so self-possessed, wise, well spoken and witty, that she sounds far too adult to be a teenager.

The director's biggest stroke of genius was casting Baruchel.