V.A. Musetto

While it is obvious that the filmmakers went into this project with an agenda, they did try to give each side a chance to have its say.

The script is obvious and cliched and the action is more disgusting than frightening.

Weatherford and Murphy lead a young and bright cast. All in all, Money Buys Happiness shows that Lachow is a director worth keeping an eye on.

Brabbee, artistic director of the Nantucket Film Festival, is to be commended for her dedication to this project, but the film isn't hefty enough for a theatrical release. Public TV would be a better showcase.

Darkly funny (par for the course with Miike), visually stunning and full of references to other films.

Sister Helen don't take no bull.

Things move so swiftly and confusingly that there's little time to explore any of the people in depth. Less style and more substance is definitely called for.

Like an early Almodovar movie transported to Moscow.

It's always enjoyable watching Depardieu and Deneuve, but they deserve better material than they've been given by Techine.

It takes a while to get used to the fractured narrative, but once done it is easy to put your mind on autopilot and go with the offbeat characters and events.

This isn't a performance film, and it is far from a definitive portrait of the androgynous performer.

Schmaltzy and contrived.

Delivers an important message, and its underwater photography is breathtaking. But Stewart lessens the impact by focusing much too much on himself. Did he really have to go into detail about his own health problems? This should be a movie about sharks, not Stewart.

A twisty, spectacular farce.

China's public image suffers another blow with Up the Yangtze, a documentary by Chinese-Canadian Yung Chang.

Who needs a big budget when you have a quirky script, an energetic cast and a soundtrack that features Union 13, the Blondes, Future Pigeon and Omega Man?

A startling look at the devastating human cost of China's newfound embrace of capitalism.

It would seem no easy task conveying the essence of a bigger-than-life figure like Ellison in a 96-minute film. But Nelson, producer of Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man," makes it look easy.

Letters could be dismissed as a soap opera, but that would be unfair to this beautiful work. It features tender performances by Kaarina Hazard (Leila) and Jukka Keinonen (Jacob), as well as beautiful cinematography by Tuomo Hutri.

The film is light on those kitschy musical numbers that make Bollywood movies fun to watch.

The Outskirts, handsomely directed by Petr Lutsik, will grab people's emotions. The dark and bitter comedy deals with a corrupt, post-communist Russia.

The movie is no more than a TV sitcom stretched to feature length. All that's missing is the laugh track.

The film tends to be pretentious and melodramatic; and Grant, better suited to comic roles, gives a heavy-handed performance.

There's scant dialogue in Workingman's Death, but little is needed when majestic camera work by Wolfgang Thaler tells the story so well.

Guaranteed to leave you outraged at the way children - and, for that matter, adults - are exploited by mining companies.

If you're going to make a documentary about Leonard Cohen, the singer-songwriter, you should have him perform some of his better-known melodies, like "Suzanne."

Marlene Rhein has directed 40 music videos, including ones for Tupac Shakur and Amy Winehouse. Judging by this, her feature debut, she should stick with the music.

The result is surprisingly engrossing -- even lively, due in part to brief musical numbers inserted amid the interviews.