V.A. Musetto

Lets both sides sound off without offering a spin of its own. [12 Jan 2005, p.70]

The plot is neither here nor there, but you have to see this for the luscious cinematography by Chi Xiaoning, who loves shades of blue and amber.

Neil Jordan's Ondine has a split personality. It starts promisingly as a fantasy but ends disappointingly as a thriller.

Sentimental and predictable? Sure, but The Butterfly is so well-meaning and the wide-eyed Bouanich is so sweet and lovable only a Scrooge would dare complain.

As Tears Go By doesn’t measure up to Wong’s later classics, such as In the Mood for Love (2000) and Chungking Express (1994), but it shows a master in the making.

Shamelessly contrived and manipulative, Tae Guk Gi packs a visceral wallop.

There are a few exciting battle sequences and the sets are lavish, but mostly the film meanders aimlessly for more than two hours. No wonder new sword-and-sandal movies are in short supply.

The story is superficial at best. And the movie is too long.

Claiming that from Korea to Vietnam to Iraq, the US government has misled the public - and the media - on the reasons for going to war.

Names of the other artists - such as Barry McGee, Ed Templeton, Margaret Kilgallen and Jo Jackson - won't necessarily ring a bell, but they all have interesting stories to tell in this pleasant film, which sings the praises of nonconformity.

No adventurous filmgoer will want to miss Tony Takitani.

Difficult but rewarding.

One reason it rings true is because the script is based on Gaglia's real experiences.

Ruscio's script is grim and darkly funny, but the big attraction is Wright's right-on performance. She's an actress waiting to be discovered.

With so many worthy movies being made in Europe, it's a crime that something as mediocre as Erotic Tales gets a release here.

The overwhelming silence is broken mainly by chanting and the ringing of the monastery bells. Call it life in the slow, slow, slow lane.

With so much junk cluttering movie houses, it is a shame that it took two years for this sweet, intelligent drama to get a release before heading for DVD.

Makes little attempt to be credible or original. And the acting is poor.

Iraqi-Kurdish director-writer Hiner Saleem is in no hurry to tell the story, and viewers drawn in by the warm-hearted tale and charmingly eccentric characters will be in no hurry for the closing credits.

Herzog tries to make sense out of the blond-haired young man, who looked an awful lot like Kinski.

The actors can't escape the confines of the warmed-over, coming-of-age-in-suburbia script by Mills, from a novel by Walter Kirn.

The documentary does a superlative job of examining the half-century dispute over Chinese rule of mountainous Tibet.

Call it a spiritual Woodstock.

The documentary traces the fiery history of Ballets Russes -- which for a time consisted of two warring companies.

An extraordinary woman like Eva Kor deserves a less ordinary biography.

The movie is overwhelmingly positive. It would have helped if Araki's critics had more of a say.

Makes for fascinating viewing.

Not one of Hartley's most successful efforts, but it's witty, daring, different and a welcome alternative to Hollywood pap.