Paula Nechak

Sometimes so intimate it's embarrassing, and the messiness at falling in love at any age is disquieting.

It's an unashamedly old-fashioned and richly visualized evocation of a time when values were key, trust in your neighbor complete, and a way of life that should be simple is made unfathomably complex because of economic hardship.

Here's yet another take on "Pride and Prejudice,"...but all spiced up as colorfully as a dish of curry.

While there is a faithful following of kids, it just never seems as exciting or sad or emotional -- or as ablaze with personalities -- as what has gone before.

Writer and first-time director Thomas Bezucha certainly knows how to create warmth, ambience and situation.

Daring, gorgeous.

The film is a hopeful, rollicking, rocking, humorous, heartbreaking journey.

Truly raunchy but it's more sweetly stupid and silly than anything.

Call it "E.T." for a new generation.

What Jeffs -- and Paltrow -- do capture is the shroud of tragedy that hovered over Plath.

There are a lot of terrific creative energies at play in Robots and they overcome an overreliance on amusement park sensibilities in the animated adventure.

It's compelling, poetic, rebellious, funny and one of the few movies that feels like it's been culled from another time and place yet broodingly bends modern societal taboos.

The real humor comes, once again from Murphy, whose Donkey is so genuinely funny and clever that he very nearly steals the film. Except that it's stolen by Banderas as a rogue Puss In Boots.

A film that takes you by surprise, refusing to relinquish its grim, fascinating hold. Better yet, it has crept up on us without much advance promotional fanfare. The less known about its twists, the better.

Breathtaking visual accomplishment.

The film manages to make the ordinary extraordinary. It takes visual risks, tells its story subjectively through images and moves confidently to a stunning, imaginative climax.

A foreign film feel despite its strong American cast.

Who was Bettie Page? You won't find out in Mary Harron's chirpily cheery chronicle.

Mullan is a great choice as Frank, playing the silent guy with all kinds of baggage perfectly.

Brokedown Palace does have some plot implausibilities but Kaplan, manages to turn some hashed story lines into something substantial and emotionally affecting.

Isn't so emotionally powerful as the Oscar-winning "When We Were Kings" but which -- in its more intimate way -- still packs a punch.

[Jarmusch] seems...to introduce gratuitous bloodshed that is out of sync with the engaging, offbeat tempo and dark, comedic moral fable that has come before.

Like a family visit during the holidays. Tensions run high, not everyone is likable but being there's an uneasy comfort because everything is so familiar.

A comic, loving, affectionate glimpse of the '80s, its music and fashions, and most of all at that hard-to-find thing called true friendship.

Although the start of the movie is a little fragmented, and the last quarter turns predictably rote, the middle is heartfelt, wonderfully diverse and empowering.

Brooks has made a movie that is about separation from convenience and having to deal one-on-one with a stranger in a strange land. The result is a profound and moving movie.

An original, well-crafted plea that uses restraint instead of titillation to make a cautionary tale that aches with pathos and power.

The two young actors -- Hutcherson and Robb -- are terrific and unpretentious.

The joy is in watching a talented cast make something crisp and fresh out of material that -- though perfectly adequate and enjoyable -- trespasses little into territory that's new or out of the traditionally plotted points of the genre.

Unfortunately can't transcend its theatrical roots and the actors, good as they are, seem like they're grandstanding.

In its austere visual understatement rests a ton of emotional power.

Dizdar humorously compares and contrasts extremes in economics and lifestyles and looks at the west through the eyes of an outsider.

The film is many things: dark fable, gritty thriller, satirical social commentary, horror film and a love story that's blessed with a marvelous, near slapstick physicality.

Lurches toward an offbeat honesty but it also very nearly crashes in its quirkiness.

Scores high on nastiness, but it has as many surprisingly funny moments as offensive ones.

The film's only misstep is its again-used theme (especially when it comes to a woman's rite of passage) of exacting some punishing loss when our heroine pushes to transcend her limitations by seeking a better life.

While Shrek may trek into that dark territory and has some questionable values simmering beneath the surface, its characters are delightful enough and the film is just sweet-natured and visually sophiscated enough to avoid sinking into the swamp.

The film tugs at us. And we forgive it its faults because it never loses sight of what it's supposed to be even though the story has a manipulative edge and maneuvers our feelings.

The script, written 20 years ago by the late, great director John Cassavetes, still packs an emotional wallop. [21 Mar 1998]

There is a certain poignancy to a film that metaphorically examines the stages of a woman's life through each character.

Gorgeously evocative visually.

It's more strangely and elementally touching than its predecessors.

The Cockettes is a fascinating poke into the soul of the '60s and it moves past a simple chronology of a counterculture phenomenon to examine how this predecessor to glitter rock and camp movies, such as "The Rocky Horror Show," could ever have ascended to such heights.

An empowering film for children, showing them at their most capable, working through problems and finding innovative solutions to overcome what seems like an insurmountable obstacle.

What results is, for a film purporting to reflect the nobility of a beloved book, the propensity to slip occasionally into the fart and belch slapstick that passes for humor in just about every present-day animated movie. It's a misstep that pulls us out of our awe for the carefully studied world the filmmakers have lovingly labored to create.

In the end, dark comedy drives the film, but it's overwhelmed by a desire to be liked, really liked.

Quite long and violent enough to have made several critics squirm in their seats during a recent press screening.

The movie is reminiscent of the films of Claude Sautet but it has a grittier, more youthful appeal. Still, it's just as nuanced and rich in all its messy revelation. [21 May 1999]

Isn't very pretty despite its extraordinary look. In fact, the film is downright queasy and unsettling.

Has enough simmering beneath its sweaty, grimy and disconsolate surface to be more than just another rite-of-passage missive set in the '70s.

Jindabyne is uniquely Australian, dealing with Australian issues, and it boasts a wickedly wry conclusion that -- for everything that has come before -- is karmically just.

A difficult movie. Its obvious, heavy symbolism, glaring soundtrack and top-heavy themes threaten to make it implode, but it's saved by its performances.

Swicord has enough savvy to conjure up a terrific cast that compensates for her rote direction.

A shapeless comedy that is enjoyable to watch and often clever with its barbs -- and doesn't have very much to say.

Often as stillborn in pace as it is conceptually compelling.

For all its somber heaviness and reverential gravity, it never quite pulls all the elements and themes together.

The result is a movie that washes down without much thinking or introspection, provides some laughs and a tear or two, and dishes up a little something to mull over with its messages about friendship and loyalty in the face of naked ambition.

In the end, this is a film about retribution and justice within unjust circumstances. Each character has a personal code of honor -- Arthur, Charlie and Capt. Stanley are all given their dignity -- and it's that code that sets the film apart.

Terrifically fun entertainment; wonderfully shot and acted, instilled with spirit and life and able to woo us with its exhuberant freshness.

This nifty little addition to the Winnie the Pooh franchise boasts some nice touches.

A darkly funny journey about life ticking by and the change to make wrongs right.

Not only feels real, but it avoids preciousness and cute eccentricity and, in its lean, almost grave, cut-and-dried delivery makes more of an emotional impact because we're able to imprint our own memories of adolescence upon it.

Noyce's movie is a testament to endurance -- the camera caresses the landscape -- instilling us with a respect and reverence for it, its harsh ways and the attachment to it that Australia's indigenous people hold.

Provided you don't take it seriously, it makes for an addictively entertaining diversion that's as hard to stop watching as the books are to stop reading.

A terrific movie about middle-age malaise and a comedy of unusual wit and drollness.

More intelligent and thought-provoking than the usual dumb and dull-witted fare for children.

As dark as a Greek tragedy yet it has a vibrance and joie de vivre that can't be contained by grief.

Funny, eccentric and touchingly just, combining a unique interpretation of the time with an offbeat sense of humor.

Beautifully acted and conceived -- even if the final vision is not always totally satisfying.

The music is truly the thing in Songcatcher and it's awesome, haunting stuff.

As entertaining as it is a viable, political message destined to make viewers rethink their stance on war.

In remarkably compact and quietly concise vignettes, we're introduced to each member, and immediately understand what they're all about.

The film is thriller, comedy and rite-of-passage story, but Boyle never loses sight of what's at its core.

Both sophisticated and elemental enough for all ages to grasp the message.

Original, imaginative and stylish.

It's a funny, insightful film whose feminist undertones don't overwhelm the story and characters.

Although budding star Mendes and Washington sparked in "Training Day," there's less chemistry between them this time as she glowers and frets in her role as a big-city cop.

Love. Lust. Recrimination. Jealousy. Resolution. This British female friendship melodrama has them all.

An indie film that was lavishly praised and won the Filmmakers Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, rolls along in the well-rutted, dusty tire tracks of other mother-and-daughter road trip

It may not exactly be a traditional love letter to his wife but actor-turned-executive producer William H. Macy has given her a plum part as Bree in screenwriter-director Duncan Tucker's offbeat road movie.

There are too few surprises and even less subtlety in the telling. We can only sit and wait for the next bomb to drop on this poor exploited girl.

Occasionally falters in its symbolism and storytelling, but still unnerves because we're never quite sure of our bearings, or whose "reality" we're watching.

Cruz is tough and sexy as the no-nonsense Raimunda and she's being deservedly talked up for an Oscar nomination in a tight best actress year.

There's such a good-natured heart beating beneath the cliches that it's easy to appreciate the film's willingness to poke gentle fun without a whiff of nastiness or judgment.

A hard film to shake and makes us think and think again.

Something doesn't quite gel in the end.

A genre-twisting surprise.

Tinged with sadness, and despite overstaying its welcome a wee bit, remains an anthem of insurrection, melding its political and humanistic truths into an almost dreamily subversive film tinged with humor and some small hope.

The most fascinating aspect of the film is how the point of view shifts -- each character, as seen through another's eyes, is something else entirely.

If ever a film seemed poised to take over the spot occupied by the surprise indie hit, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," it's Real Women Have Curves.

tTere are two things going for Melinda and Melinda: Woody's not in it and Radha Mitchell is.

The film dwells more on the sensationalistic aspects than the sport itself but it's impossible to deny the tawdry entertainment value in this compelling film tabloid.

First-time feature film director Max Farberbock has given a terrific visual style, resonance, sense of hope and power to the material.

Wanders off on story tangents that can't be called anything other than bizarre, but nevertheless oddly engages.

There is a ton of psychology and inference in this intriguing first feature by French director Anne-Sophie Birot.

The film is so well acted -- by Byrne, who makes Harry's internalized agonies and continuously carried torch for his ex-wife touching, and by Watson and Hoult -- that its more cloying moments, including a staged version of the musical "Camelot" (which is too long), are a moot point.

Exquisite and fragile in visuals and tone, yet has some difficulty with a choppy narrative.

Ok, I admit at first I was just laughing at the sheer gutsiness of South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. But after 10 minutes, I was laughing at the script.