Emblematic of the man's (Oshima) career: ironic, ambiguous, sublime.

Whenever Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon resorts to flying fists or soaring sword battles, the Force is definitely with it.

A bully good romp, and it thumbs its nose at the bloated blockbusters towering over it at the multiplexes by ending the moment it arrives at its raucous, richly deserved climax.

In a season of mechanized spectacle and brain-dead comedies, Bulworth is a brave and bracing exception.

A sentimental slice of 1950s Italian-American life that doesn't soft-pedal its characters' simmering prejudices within their insulated community, or pander to their dreams of getting out.

The film's technical brilliance and sentimental kick seduced many viewers unsuspecting of its polemical intent.

A riveting, unsentimental tragedy of unrequited love.

Hallström, a past master at cockeyed coming-of-age chronicles ("My Life as a Dog," "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"), has a near-genius for unpatronizing tolerance, and for seeing beauty in the world and nature and seasons without turning them into postcards.

This one's still worth checking out -- especially for the naturalistic performances by the feisty Touly and the rest of the young cast.

Smith and Fitzgerald are funny, feisty, poignant, and altogether realistic. Will they end up lovers, friends, side-by-side corpses? Their sharp performances make Series 7 as frighteningly addictive as crack, or even "Survivor."

Offers effortless charm, wit, and originality in spades.

Impeccably produced.

Basically one elaborate joke about male modeling and all the vanity, emasculation, and fatuousness that attend it. Fortunately, it's a good joke.

A literate, dialogue-driven treat delivered by a cast that truly savors the script's wicked wit.

As talented as Polley proved herself in "The Sweet Hereafter" and "Go," this is her best work yet.

This is such seductive entertainment that you might as well stop grousing and give in.

A delicacy for mature filmgoers who are able to derive as much pleasure from a perfectly, sympathetically crafted essay as from a well-spun yarn.

Not all of the jokes hit, but enough of them do that anyone who's ever filed, collated, or played Mixmaster DJ with the transcribing machine will find cathartic giggles in this breakout debut.

The nerviest, oddest, most outlandish and idiosyncratic American indie debut since "Buffalo 66," Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko defies description.

An outrageously silly movie that makes me laugh.

Myers has hit upon a genuinely original schtick, and that fact alone is immeasurably groovy.

Pie has some nice surprises and is enjoyable in a smutty, sitcom way. It offers up the outrageousness of "There's Something About Mary" without wallowing in cruelty.

May not quite be more than the sum of its creepy parts, but as a reality-is-fear launch into workaday darkness, it clearly points toward the horror genre's best destiny.

Though similar thematically to "Anywhere But Here," Tumbleweeds is a breath of fresh air that busts the cliches of dysfunctional mother-daughter sagas.

Some moviegoers are bound to take issue with the trick, "Sixth Sense"-style ending (or cynically see it coming), but The Others is mostly spooky fun, and a strong calling card for Amenabar.

Agnes Browne hums along as a series of pleasant vignettes, only frantically shifting to a single narrative track in its third act for the sake of an unbelievably upbeat ending.

Though unflinching in its savagery, Amores Perros is always compulsive viewing.

A 25-minute third act is far too short to suffice, especially when the previous two hours are as astute and technically impressive as they are here.