Just isn't a very good movie. In fact it's kind of like living in the San Fernando Valley where it was filmed. It's big, kind of neat, has nice weather and has all the accouterments of a real city. But there's no "there" there.

Zombie has a great eye and ear for the look and sound of the genre. From the over-saturated yellow desert to the sound of a newscast. He’s got it down perfect.

As 9 Songs played out for sixty-nine (count ‘em!) minutes, I started to find myself wishing they would just end the interminable, deliberately underlit, sex scenes and get back to those really hot pics of Antarctica.

The film begs for more action, thrills, and jokes, or more dramatic and painful revelations. What we get is an in-between mash of romantic ideals, a botched kidnapping, and some very good time wasted.

A victory for ambitious filmmaking if not always a successful attempt at character study.

Tries to be a lot of things within its 78 minute running time, succeeding marvelously at some while crashing and burning on others.

Burton fans and those eager for a more accurate adaptation of the novel will be happy with this new movie, while nostalgia-addled Gen X-ers and stoners of all ages will always have the original.

Not since the breakthrough days of Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler and the Farrelly brothers have two hours of movie comedy simultaneously felt so wrong but oh so right.

Roos creates a slate of interesting characters who find themselves in unexpected situations that lead to realistic--and in their own way, happy--endings.

This is a timeless tale; the time period is irrelevant as the story is a profoundly personal one about trying to reject the strong internal drive for vengeance.

Tiresome, trite and choked with every lousy Dixie-fried stereotype imaginable.

Dark Water isn't a bad horror movie, simply because it isn’t horror at all: a full hour passes before anything remotely scary occurs, and all the suspenseful scenes take place in the final ten minutes (and are all fully shown in the trailer). What's left is tedium and a seemingly endless build-up to nothing much at all, making it a bad movie. Period.

The release of Fantastic Four marks the beginning of the end for movies based on Marvel Comics' upper tier of characters.

Murderball isn't a documentary played in the key of those Olympics stories that inspire you with sugary drivel, although it is ultimately inspiring.

One could literally milk a thesaurus in trying to find the right words to lavish on Saraband: brilliant, towering, majestic, challenging, remarkable.

Sometimes goes a bit over the top to make its point.

From the performances of its first rate cast to the infectious score and Audiard's deft direction, this is one of the most accomplished movies you'll see anytime soon-old, new or, as is the case here, combining the best of both.

What really grabs your attention about Undead, however, are the effects. For a movie budgeted under $1 million, the Spierigs have done an amazing job putting together believable visuals.

One of the oddest and surely the longest cinematic experiences you may ever encounter.

This isn't a story about how thousands of youths were betrayed by the institution that was supposed to protect them; this is a bruising chronicle of how one life was damaged nearly to the point of ruin.

I thoroughly enjoyed the street level perspective of the world being destroyed, it just would've been nice if they hadn't crapped out at the end.

The movie fails on nearly every level. The film is has good intentions and moments of energy, but it's merely a faint echo of the great 1960s counterculture pictures.

Land falls well short of the greatness of Romero’s previous zombie efforts.

It's the speed and intensity that makes the dance style remarkable.

At 100 minutes in running time, Dallas 362 can be called "The Amateur Hour-and-40-Minutes."

The film goes beyond a nature movie with excellent photography and the determination of the animals it documents.

This thoroughly engaging, if tragic, love story unfolds like a psychological striptease. The biggest challenge here is not to blush.

A haunting score and beautifully atmospheric cinematography by Kim Hyung-gu round out the achievements of this unique and engaging Korean thriller.

The film is depressingly wholesome. In that respect, it accomplishes what it sets out to do, which is to distract the children of America from the horror of their eventual futures for a couple more hours.

Grim and frequently depressing, and despite the artistry of its framing it nonetheless is a very difficult movie to endure.

Director Chris Terrio confidently delivers a solid first feature, but sometimes doesn’t always engage in the characters’ inner demons, which could have made an even better film given the cast and material.

A real treasure in the guise of yet another Sundance dramedy.

A cross between a road movie, a documentary and a therapy session.

Provocative and poignant.

Not just one of the best "comic book" movies ever made, but also one of the best films of the year.

As he proved with "The Bourne Identity," director Doug Liman can devise an enjoyable little action movie.

A movie that wants you to squirm in your seat and judged by that standard, it works brilliantly.

While Howl’s Moving Castle is far from perfect, it’s still a very good movie. It’s just not a great one.

Dark and quiet is the tone from start to finish.

Gleaming like a well-polished magic lamp on a vibrant Persian rug, The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam showcases Arabian/Muslim culture at its best and brightest.

Giamatti has his hands full trying to keep us from thinking about Burgess Meredith.

With a combination of talent and a child’s excitement and outrage for music, Green has a personality to rival Jack Black’s fictional rocker-turned-teacher from "School of Rock."

When you have Bruce Dern and Randy Quaid in a movie, you have expectations. Those two rarely disappoint, and that continues to be the case here.

May not be much more than a story about girlfriends growing up, and it's not going to score any points for edginess, but it's entertaining in a low-key, non-threatening kind of way.

The Longest Yard lives or dies with its physical humor, a form of recent comedy I like to call slapstick sadism.

Excellent acting, great music, amazing artwork and gorgeous Christopher Doyle type cinematography make this film an absolute treat to sit through. It's like a big piece of candy.

Geared to please audiences of all tastes.

Thought provoking and brimming with charm, match that with an infectious sense of humor and outstanding performances.

Two things make this worthwhile: The realistic relationship between Elliot and Richard, and Pantoliano playing against type and actually humanizing a possibly loathsome character.

This is a competently made film, with some wonderfully subdued camera work and very effective editing. 6ixtynin9 is a fun little film.

Far and away the best of the Star Wars prequels (tough chore, that) and also holds its own with the hallowed films of the original trilogy.

Dallaire's tragic story is a fascinating chapter in a sad history.

Here's a film that exhibits all kinds of joy in uncoiling a story with no ending, or an ending that's so arbitrary you get the feeling that the filmmakers just threw names in a hat to see who their killer would be.

Even understanding the audience for which Kicking & Screaming is aiming, it's hard not to notice the flaws.

One of the best Sunday Afternoon action flicks since the glory days of Schwarzenegger.

An uplifting and inspiring tale.

The writing is crisp and deeply layered, and the filmmakers gave themselves a rich array of actors to work with.

Works best when it sticks to some of the tenets of successful horror; namely, gore and surprise.

A handful of nifty battle scenes and some decent performances aren't quite enough to make Kingdom memorable.

Short does a good job playing Lynch but this whole Lynch thing might have played funnier ten years ago.

By the end of Mysterious Skin, I felt physically exhausted but I also felt satisfied at the way it all falls into place.

What sets Bier's film apart from similar fare are the consistently fine performances and powerful scenes of surprising ferocity.

Too often, the movie follows up Adams’ chaotic humor with weak slapstick and the incongruous love story.

Thankfully, there's the relatively-charismatic and cheeky Ice Cube hogging the lens.

It's a love story without all the verbal hooey and it hits harder than most.

The kind of film that you just don't want to end.

Charles Dance's début feature is an impressive achievement.

This is the sort of film that would drive Miss Daisy to upchuck at the shenanigans of its saintly, cardboard characters and its bizarre, rose-colored depiction of U.S. race relations.

If Stalin's Wife doesn't provide solid answers, it nonetheless offers a fascinating tapestry of love, madness, politics, suspicions and jealousies.

In the end, nothing about The Interpreter strikes us as very original.

Thrilling stunt footage aside, this is a film that celebrates the strength of women in the entertainment industry and these two separate stories are tied together perfectly by filmmaker Amanda Micheli.

It’s only by understanding what went wrong that we can hope to recognize the warning signs next time.

One Missed Call plays like a good cover song. It's not just a repetition of the previous tune.

A complete bloodbath.

May look like an ironic, jet black comedy -- and it succeeds brilliantly on that level -- but in it's sad and wistful heart, it's a completely sincere call for saving the Earth.

There are some genuine scares to be had here, and not just of the “Boo!” variety.

A profoundly unnecessary movie, The Girl From Monday is an embarrassment.

You love Solondz's films, you'll love Palindromes. That same twisted sense of humor is there and certain scenes go on for an uncomfortably long time, but you wind up savoring the discomfort.

In a sense, Raging Dove serves as an entirely unintentional, I'm sure, metaphor for peace prospects in his homeland.

It ain't art, and it's dumber than I'd like, but I don't imagine you were expecting Kieslowski.

Honestly, this movie would've worked a lot better had the Red Sox not won the World Series.

Kung Fu Hustle is something you rarely encounter in theaters: a genuinely original comedy.

A small, tacky non-comedy.

Not a film for the faint of heart… A Hole in My Heart is a cinematic challenge that eats slowly at the soul but never insults the audience or its characters.

Rodriguez slams down the sledgehammer with so much brutal, punishing force, there's no room to breathe.

A lyrical poem to the lost places in our past and our heritage.

It has its share of eye-rolling moments, but at its heart there's a decent story.

Might not have been a bad film if its characters never said anything and some obnoxious visual metaphors were removed.

If you didn't like "Charlie’s Angels," there’s a good chance you'll enjoy the smarter, sexier D.E.B.S.

This raw truth, this emotional nakedness, is deeply refreshing.

An almost constant misfire. From its paper-thin plot to the utterly flat script, virtually nothing works.

Doesn't do much besides giving original "Ringu" and "Ringu 2" director Hideo Nakata the chance to strut his stuff in front of a wide-release audience.

A compelling screenplay, to be certain. But sadly, Omarova's direction is too leisurely to wring any emotional power.

Perhaps the key to understanding where Steamboy goes wrong is in understanding why Otomo's previous animated feature "Akira" was such a success.

Has just enough quirks and unexpected shocks along the way to keep things interesting.

This film includes not one single word of dialogue.

A reasonably intelligent timekiller.

Millions is that rarest of creatures: a family film - one of surprising warmth – that won't have adults reaching for an airsick bag.