Final is one big hunh? barely worth the effort; just because it doesn't make any sense doesn't mean it's art.

Vera's technical prowess ends up selling his film short; he smoothes over hard truths even as he uncovers them.

If the performances are the prime reason the film is as engaging as it is, it must also be said that Majidi's visual style seems far more sophisticated than in "Children of Heaven."

It's odd for a film to be both dramatically conventional yet emotionally bizarre at the same time, as this one is.

The film's biggest strength is the same characteristic that may cause people to underrate it: that the group of friends we watch onscreen feel not like England's greatest actors showing off, but rather a group of friends who have indeed known each other for years through life's little triumphs and large tragedies.

Tanovic describes it as "a very serious film with a sense of humor." It is an apt description for a very remarkable film, one of the best of the year.

Too bad it commits the crime of being so intensely average, because what could have been sensational turns out to be merely this week's heist movie.

It's always risky to characterize a new film as "unique," but Tuvalu, the debut feature from German director Veit Helmer, has as good a shot as any at claiming that label.

It's a pleasure to watch these two superb actresses circle and attack, conspire and conflict in the corporate shark tank, and it's just as profound a pleasure to behold a talented new filmmaker who's managed to succeed his first time out.

It's beautiful and obvious, a dubious combination that may nonetheless ensure its success.

The film desperately wants to play like "Three Kings," a war film with a guilty conscience, but it's too pat and familiar to earn its high-minded stripes.

Demy's films are often described in terms of music; this one is more like a tango in which one person leads and refuses to forfeit the position.

In the end, Code Unknown is a puzzle with no obvious solution.

If only good intentions were enough to redeem a picture, perhaps ABCD would be worth a look.

May display an energetic and promising talent, but it is also uncomfortably close to being a 105-minute music video, with all the problems that suggests.

If Dubus' work always resembled some sort of literary therapy session, as has often been said, then Field's version requires grief counseling. It is, at times, that devastating.

Too bad it isn't quite funny enough to be mistaken for "Jackass."

The sensitive art-house viewer should be warned: Though slow-moving at first, the film ends in explosions and violent death, with a level of sadism that will undoubtedly prove too intense for some viewers.

Beautifully made and performed, this is a film of considerable insight into both the life of the impoverished and the mystery of human personality.

A mess, but it's a rousing mess, with ample humor and action to satisfy the discerning dullard within.

Goes by relatively swiftly and painlessly, despite the completely ragtag nature of its construction, but there is not an inspired moment in it.

The new documentary Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy shows, all is not quite as it seems.

Atkins has trouble keeping the tension high and the jokes rolling. Halfway through he begins tripping over the noir genre's dark rules, and in the end he veers off into a haze of romantic redemption that Billy Wilder and Nicholas Ray would have scoffed at.

Since we know most of this cast is capable of acting, one must assume they received little instruction. Even if they did, who could blame them for not listening? After all, they are dealing with a script that tries to play scenes featuring drunken ghosts with silly accents for tragedy.

Happily, then, the first movie of the Harry Potter series casts a splendid spell, as screenwriter Steve Kloves has transcribed J.K. Rowling's novel nearly to a T, with precious little tweaked or trimmed.

In the end, The Fluffer is a film for the chastened romantic in us all -- gay, straight or "for pay."

If it had anything that even approached the vaguest vicinity of a plot, The Wash might be a cool diversion for a Saturday afternoon at the mall.

You'll feel fatigued watching it, but more out of empathy than boredom.