Ruthe Stein

Amusing performances -- especially from Willis, who takes on a new personality with each new hairstyle -- can't disguise the fact that the film is basically a pastiche of recent movies.

It's reassuring to see Steven Soderbergh return to riveting down-and-dirty filmmaking with Bubble.

Hauntingly tells a story older than the Odyssey and as timely as today's body count from Iraq.

It's visually stunning, especially in scenes of the African countryside, and takes more risks than most independent films.

The mystery of Nancy Drew' is how a movie can get so many things right -- particularly the inspired casting of Emma Roberts as the spunky teenage sleuth -- yet ultimately disappoint.

This was Davis' return to the screen after her own legal battle with the studio to get meatier roles. She got one here, and she gives it her all. [09 Jul 2006, p.32]

For all the squalor and extremely upsetting subject matter, you can't take your eyes off the screen.

Wildly imaginative if extremely strange.

Passes by like a dream.

That Duncan can't come up with a satisfying ending and lets the story drift into a confusing polemic is hardly surprising. He's guilty of overreaching -- interrupting his very sly satire with quasi-serious thoughts on the end of Soviet communism.

The result is a film that fails to completely involve you, even as you admire its artistry.

If the formula seems a little tired, it still has more sophistication and pizzazz than most action films.

Force of Evil is a more thoughtful kind of film noir than we are used to but still employs the traditional black-and-white contrasts and shadows.

This is by no means a polished film. But it has an energy lacking in thrillers that cost hundreds times more to make. It should be viewed as a calling card from gifted and resourceful filmmakers whom I hope some Hollywood producer will have the sense to sign up immediately.

You never catch Gosling doing anything out of character. It's the first Oscar-caliber performance I've seen so far this year.

Isn't likely to win Murphy another Oscar nomination, but it allows him to do what he does best - loads of physical comedy.

Sam Garbarski's use of slow-motion shots is pretentious, and he paces the film too slowly. But he captures the seedy side of London, giving you a feel for Soho during the day when sunshine exposes a cheap gaudiness.

The result is a deeply moving experience, alternately funny and sad.

So disturbing it makes you uncomfortable watching it.

Family entertainment at its best.

Overall Freedom Writers is a noble effort. At a time when New Year's resolutions to change already are falling by the wayside, you can't help but be moved by a group of young people who followed through on their resolve.

Art School Confidential exudes confidence as long as it is satirizing a questionable, at least according to Clowes, institution of higher learning. But the film loses its way with multiple subplots, becoming a hodgepodge that isn't particularly hard to follow, but, far worse, provides no compelling reason to bother.

Nightmare-inducing.

Vivid and madcap but fails to connect on any emotional level.

Well intentioned, but only occasionally creepy.

Reprise has a smart and knowing script and will compel audiences to reflect on themselves at that age.

Vincente Minnelli's lavish and hugely entertaining adaptation of the Gustave Flaubert classic leaves little doubt that Emma (Jennifer Jones in an over-the-top performance that works surprisingly well) has found satisfaction for the first time in the arms of wealthy rogue Rodolphe (a perfectly cast Louis Jourdan). [26 Aug 2007, p.N44]

The message is muddled.