It’s a strange movie – simultaneously rawly realistic and airbrushed.

Truly, Madly, Deeply takes on grief. It is a hard picture to watch at times, because the grieving protagonist is so convincing.

This isn't a movie, it's a thingamajig - frequently as off-putting as can be, but unassailably one of a kind.

There are some novelties, like views of people surfing down sand dunes, but there's also far too much self-congratulation by surfers. Don't step into this not-so-new wave unless you're a die-hard surfing buff.

This high-quality Disney animation combines strong pictorial appeal with amiable voice-performances.

Carrell has stated in interviews that his accent "falls someplace between Bela Lugosi and Ricardo Montalban," and that's about right.

It takes a while to get into the ruminative rhythm of this film. But it’s worth it.

Capotondi keeps circling his movie in and out of dream states and waking states as the whodunit morphs into who-cares-who-dunit?

Francis Ford Coppola has directed the legal drama with his usual keen attention to atmosphere and texture, although his adaptation of John Grisham's bestselling novel leaves out connective material that would have made the tale smoother and savvier.

I haven't heard this much shouting in a movie since the first hour of "Full Metal Jacket."

Although it does disappointingly go over the top on occasion, there’s just too much depth and style to The Batman for it to be anything other than a success.

Directed by Ang Lee, whose exposure of middle-class hypocrisy would be more effective if it weren't rigged to provide evidence for the story's take on contemporary values.

I wish the directors had emphasized more of the players' personal lives apart from the football field. But, in the end, this is a documentary about Courtney and the transformative powers of caring. He works wonders on his players and they reciprocate.

Harry comes through loud and clear as a conflicted, edgy, avid young man. He's turned into EveryTeen.

Alarmist to an almost apocalyptic degree, the film is nevertheless packed with enough basic facts and figures to give any eater serious pause. Or at least any eater who indulges in sugar.

The movie has some powerful moments, but it's mostly superficial.

The film is better than the recent "The War Within," which tried for the same things, but ultimately, and perhaps unavoidably, we are left face to face with the unknowable.

Although the film is slow and sometimes ungainly, it takes on surprising power from the dignity of its performances and the moral strength of its ideas.

Sprightly acting, understated emotions, and lovingly detailed ambience make this amiable comedy-drama an easygoing indie pleasure.

Although it isn't very original in style, this heartfelt account is always instructive and frequently very touching.

The overfamiliarity of What Doesn't Kill You is redeemed by a full-scale performance from Mark Ruffalo.

The story is thin, but the film has rich emotions and a highly constructive moral sense, showing how racial divisions crumble once people recognize their artificiality.

The greater the illusion the greater the manipulator, and few are as good as Kevin Clash, the subject of Constance Marks's sprightly six-years-in-the-making documentary Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey.

The story has some chillingly suspenseful episodes, although it's marred by overfamiliar themes and weak dialogue.

Poignant, witty, historically illuminating.

The filmmaking technique of writer-director Kevin Smith has matured since the raunchy "Clerks," his popular debut movie; but although his dialogue is often witty, he still relies on blunt sexual humor to get his point across.

Married to the Mob isn't for all tastes. But for cinematic thrills and spills, it's quite a ride.

The screenplay is foolish and Michael Keaton overplays the title role badly, but director Tim Burton gives the comedy a heap of visual imagination. [22 Apr 1988]