While this paranoid thriller is overly familiar, it's still plenty unsettling.

The overall effect is that of a deferential video you might find at a Mozart museum: educational, but not exactly inspiring.

There's no denying the beauty of Schwartzberg's landscapes, or the power in many of his chosen stories - from the Texas oil well fighters to the Boston father who helps his handicapped son win marathons.

A visually lavish but somewhat sterile adaptation.

If you care more about the quality of the movie than the food, language or location, there's no choice: Order Chinese.

Plays like a long TV sketch, but with an array of characters, themes, subplots and situations just clever enough to keep it moving, and to give cover to its underlying cynicism.

Angio's film is an excellent introduction, but it won't be long before you realize that his subject is too complex to be contained in a single admiring tribute. When you want to know more - and you will - you'll be glad there's somewhere else to go for a bigger picture.

A shaky but promising debut, Brian Jun's downbeat family drama is likely to make you feel a whole lot better about your own life.

The movie's key asset is young Bettany as a worthy successor to the "Clockwork Orange" tradition of McDowell. With Bettany, a star is born, even if his character is horrific.

A thin, by-the-numbers romantic comedy that nevertheless features one saving grace: Matthew Perry.

There is really nothing wrong with Peter Chelsom's Town & Country that younger stars would not have solved.

It's galling to see such a low-life canonized in a film, but it's also riveting drama.

Lingers too long on wordless, symbolic shots of the wall itself. But there's no denying the power of seeing two cultures standing so helplessly on opposite sides of a single fence.

Commits the sin of a hundred sports biographies in overselling its inherent drama.

The film's slightly awkward self-consciousness is balanced by an appealing, gently deadpan performance from Palmieri.

The movie is full of freshman mistakes, but Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance in the title role is the gutsiest thing she's done since her breakout in "Secretary," and she succeeds despite serious contradictions in the writing of her character.

Touching and saddening.

When Kikijuro goes soft, the film falls apart, with him becoming a slapstick clown, mugging shamelessly to entertain Masao and the audience.

While Fay Grim is too uneven to win Hartley many converts, it is laced with enough intelligence and wit to remind longtime fans why they were drawn to his unique vision in the first place.

Passingly enjoyable summer fluff, but if you can find a more genial, less edgy caper movie, you might want to own it as a pet.

If you get through the first hour without slitting your throat, the cautiously optimistic last third offers some intriguing options.

In performance, Earle comes across as a successor to Woody Guthrie or Johnny Cash. In this fawning portrait, however, he seems more like music's Michael Moore.

This sci-fi fantasy doesn't exactly make sense, but it sure looks cool.

In the new, personal documentaries in which you pick up a camera to help get a grip on your own life, there is a queasy line between inspiration and therapy. Mark Wexler crosses back and forth over that line.

The movie adds up to one of the smartest and most ambitious political thrillers in years. But if you find a more difficult movie to follow this year, it will be in Mandarin without subtitles.

Apocalypto exists solely as an action-adventure and a deft cinematic demonstration of man's capacity for cruelty. This is the true passion of Mel.

Daylight sets a record for implausible scenarios and lack of character development. But let's face it if you're going to be stranded in a fireball, you might as well be stranded there with Sylvester Stallone. Twenty years after "Rocky" punched him into the limelight, Stallone presents a more human-scaled character, and he's charming, even gracious. His acting range may not span Manhattan to Jersey, but he inspires confidence even in material as pre-fab as this. [6 Dec 1996, p.59]

The problem is, Shiva found so many inspirational moments that she wasn't able to edit them into proper focus. As a result, the movie jumps from scene to scene, too scattered to make a strong connection with anything, or anyone, in particular.