Robert K. Elder

He's endearing and affable when finding humor and even introspective life lessons after arrests, drug use and a near-death experience.

Diamond Men's potential as a diamond in the rough turn out to be more "rough" than "diamond."

It's tempting to call traveling on Juwanna Mann, except it never goes anywhere. This film fouls out.

Spears delivers a performance with the same sincerity she invests into a Pepsi commercial, only this film contains twice the sugary calories.

Establishes the comedian as just that: notorious -- in all the best ways outlaw comedy can make you a star.

Amiable Gooding still smiles through it all, weathering the cold, physical abuse and implied racism, doing his best to make his audience believe that Snow Dogs isn't offensive mush. But he can't bring it off.

Sports movies are never easy to pull off, but Skolnick does a fine job of balancing the drama with the on-field action.

A pair of decent performances does not a movie make, however, as Mazur and Giovinazzo are surrounded by fourth-tier actors (Ventresca and Steven Bauer) and spotty directing of a mediocre script.

A classic adventure movie. [07 Mar 2008, p.C8]

Able to provide insight into a fascinating part of theater history, spanning from Russia to the New York Catskills.

An exciting World War II romantic triangle drama about a young woman (Tatyana Samoilova) caught in war's turmoil, "Cranes" was hailed by 1950s U.S. critics for its humanism. But what burns this movie into memory is its stunning visual style: the rich, mobile camerawork of Kalatozov and genius cinematographer Sergei Uresevsky. [22 Feb 2008, p.C2]

It lays the groundwork for such collaborations by suggesting that all forms of music must come full circle before evolving into something new.

Commits the cardinal sin of all bad IMAX films: It favors visuals over narrative, glitter over substance.

It makes you sweat, laugh, squirm and self explore like few films -- fictional or documentary -- can.

Against the rest of his dramatically flimsy crew, Snipes' sunglasses-at-midnight strut conveys an almost lifelike sheen. Almost. He's more alive than the movie, which is dead on arrival.

Oscillates between pragmatist genius and B-movie mediocrity.

Splashes its drama all over the screen, subjecting its audience and characters to action that feels not only manufactured, but also so false you can see the filmmakers' puppet strings.

A confusing and not entirely believable ending clouds the issue, though, burying some fine performances and cinematography under an avalanche of gore and plot twists.

Farmanara, a gifted director, seems to be getting his artistic legs again, but he spends far too much time following his protagonist in and out of buildings as he smokes cigarettes and otherwise mopes about.

Has the literary richness, depth of character and tone that such a morally difficult, powerful narrative requires.

Twohy pulls all the strings to create an inventive genre piece.

Despite an abrupt ending, Mana gives us compelling, damaged characters who we want to help -- or hurt. Perhaps most important, El Bola forces us examine our personal motivations for each impulse and their consequences.

It's one thing for a script to set the framework for an action film -- it's quite another when the script gets in the way.

Marisa Tomei turns in a blitzkrieg performance.

If you can simply get lost in the crushing splendor of the waves themselves, the script might not leave you so seasick.

The director's lack of restraint and overabundance of ambition makes "Altar Boys" not boring, but troubled.

While Nico and Dani presents itself as a no-frills coming-of-age tale, its soundtrack seems lifted from a teen comedy like "American Pie."

Starts out slowly, unfolding a family history through the poetic use of black-and-white photographs -- blending the figures of Rana's ancestors into the frame as if they still watched the family.