There's no question The Invasion works in a mechanical, by-the-numbers manner. But it's what the movie leaves you with -- absolutely nothing -- that is the scariest thing about it.

Despite its humble nature, the film is downright uplifting without being vulgar, flashy or embarrassing.

Albert Nobbs is not a movie about gender politics; it's about trusting in the fundamental goodness of others and accepting one's need for companionship, and the way in which Close slowly reveals Albert's closed-off heart is poignant and often surprisingly funny, though never in a mocking way.

Love Is All You Need works despite its occasional preposterous developments.

Provides a few of the best thrills so far this summer.

If nothing else, Startup.com is a pointed reminder that mixing business and friendship never, ever works.

Cruz, who has never been able to fully show what she's capable of as an actress in an English-language film, takes to the role of the dark-haired hellcat with a sexy, bewitching fury.

If you can look past all the flesh and the thongs and the thrusting - and I admit that is an almost impossible task and probably not one you'd want to undertake anyway - what's most distinctive about Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike is its sense of fun.

Go for Sisters is minor Sayles, and the movie occasionally meanders. But the characters stay with you, particularly Bernice and Fontayne, whose relationship is beautifully transformed over the course of the film.

The movie's emotional impact is undeniable. It's a devastating portrait of smart, civilized people driven to behave in uncivilized ways, until it's too late.

The film's concept is so absurd and Hamer goes about developing it with such a regimented structure that you have to believe that the filmmaker is poking fun at himself and the world he knows well.

There are few moments when you're not totally absorbed by the film.

The wonderfully sad, exhilarating ending proves this filmmaker knew exactly where he was headed the entire time.

Heavenly Creatures uses its special effects ingeniously, and unlike Jackson's previous credits (the cult gorefests Dead Alive and Bad Taste), it's a movie with serious artistic ambitions. He immerses you in the heightened, giddy mindset of these two girls so completely, you can understand why they'd fight so ferociously to defend it. It's a strange, vivid movie, with moments that capture the texture of dreams -- and the fervor of teenage friendship and romance -- with thrilling precision. [9 Dec 1994, p.G5]

Its playful approach to chronology and voice-over narration serves to amplify its themes instead of coming off as a show-off trick.

A slight movie, and in the end you wish it said a little more, but it is also a startlingly honest production. When it's all over, you can't imagine it being any other way.

The movie has its own sweet charm, a charm as winning as Shirley herself. [15 Sept 1989, p.G5]

The Box is a mess, but it's a curiously haunting, intriguing, brain-tickling mess, and it delivers that "Donnie Darko" feeling in truckloads. Or should that be rocketloads?

The latest and loosest -- in the saucy sense of the word as well -- adaptation of (Austen's) sly comedies of uppercrust manners.

Achingly beautiful and visually transfixing, Samsara offers a transporting vacation from the usual multiplex fare. It's a movie to get lost in.

Juice has a mind, a mood and a method of its own. And what it does wrong is overshadowed by a cast and a pace that make you sit up and take notice. [17 Jan 1992, p.G5]

Engaging and enjoyable.

A haunting, poetic film, and yet it suffers two major failings. First, Murray provides too blank a slate for the audience to appreciate whatever insights a more expressive performance might have offered. Second, and far more troubling, is the way Jarmusch refuses to take his female characters seriously.

It's a simple message, and it's delivered with a grace and subtlety that's rare in would-be blockbusters.

Perhaps Rudolph is sending out a message about love, a la Rohmer, or maybe he's just having a strange kind of fun. Choose Me is just entertaining enough, in its eccentric, soap- operatic way, so that it doesn't matter. [21 Dec 1984, p.D22]

It also leaves you pondering what you would have done if you had been one of the soldiers stationed there, fighting in an increasingly loony and surreal war. There but for the grace of God, and all that.

Django Unchained is the most brutal film Quentin Tarantino has ever made. Unlike "Kill Bill" or "Inglourious Basterds," where the violence was thrilling and carried a visceral kick, the carnage here is often ugly and difficult to watch.

Schlesinger works at the story's dark heart -- the stranger within -- with elegance and a fearsome wit. It's one of those movies that starts scaring you even before anything has happened, and it's a treat. [28 Sept 1990, p.G5]