This demanding puzzle is not for the "Chocolat" crowd, but those who stay with it will experience perhaps the most dazzling film released so far this year - even though a second viewing is virtually mandatory.

Cannily weaving cross-cultural comedy with we-can-do-it humor in the spirit of "The Full Monty," the film builds to a rousing climax.

Delightfully unpredictable, hilarious comedy with wonderful performances that tug at your heart in ways that utterly transcend gender labels.

A too-cute-by-half Irish romantic comedy that's overloaded with movie references that begin with the title.

Boring and irritating, and also mildly offensive in its ignorant depiction of both Judaism and Catholicism.

An intermittently interesting drama.

A lame teen comedy.

Works just fine as a generic but fast-paced - and rather ugly - cop buddy flick.

Holds less water as a mystery because its plot holes - and choppy pacing - make it seem as disconnected from reality as its hero. But Jackson is so frighteningly effective, and affecting, as Romulus that you're sucked in anyway.

The most devastating spoof of reality TV since Albert Brooks' 1978 "Real Life."

Hardly a deep examination of gender relations or character, but in its unsentimental way it's a tender and charming story of friendship and tolerance.

Do your kids a favor - and take them to see something more worthwhile than the relentlessly vulgar and stupid See Spot Run.

Anyone interested in this remarkably prolific author would be better off visiting a library or bookshop.

A shame that this indie's willingness to trade in stereotype leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

Gandolfini, who skillfully fleshes out what's written as a one-joke character, comes close to pilfering The Mexican from the stars. Under the circumstances, that's not a huge accomplishment.

Feels much more like a very, very long, music video, albeit one made for an audience that gets off on high-tech firepower rather than nearly-naked babes.

An occasionally delightful mess of a movie.

A little gem.

Less grim than it sounds, Southern Comfort ends on a note of triumph for its endearing, gender-bending hero.

Has its sluggish stretches, but the superb level of acting is more than ample compensation.

A joyful celebration of Louisiana music in all its permutations.

Veteran stage, screen and TV actor Moshe Ivgi gives a sturdy performance as Moshe, a supposed tough guy who sobs when confronted by bank robbers.

The Price of Milk, which boasts a lush classical score recorded by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, has a few more twists that make this a Valentine's Day delight.

Plays to none of Rock's strengths (even though he co-wrote the film with members of his HBO team) and intensifies his tendency to mug and shout.

A skin-crawlingly unfunny riff on Woody Allen's "Bananas."

A reasonably entertaining cartoon feature.

The sort of movie that seems to exist for no good reason except to keep the studio's pipeline filled with filmed product.

A tad slow by American standards, but so extremely well-acted and emotionally truthful, it's right up there with "In the Mood for Love" as prime romantic fare for the Valentine's Day weekend.

Takes you on a fascinating and picturesque journey into a relatively unfamiliar culture.

Smug, often tedious, and comically crude.

To describe Love, Honor and Obey as a cross between "Duets" and "Snatch" doesn't begin to suggest how desperately unfunny this musical gangster comedy is.

Relentlessly dopey and vulgar.

Much has, and will, be made of the grisly scenes throughout the film.

Rapturously elegant and deeply sexy in a deliciously restrained way. One of the most romantic movies I have ever seen, right up there with "Brief Encounter"and "Casablanca."

An interesting - but very slow paced - thriller.

Yet another murky film about the 1970s that's watchable mostly for its cast rather than the story.

The screenplay by Zekri (based on Jorge Amado novel) is crude stuff, and director Ossama Fawzi gets such cartoonish performances from his cast, it's hard to care about the characters.

A movie more interested in shocking than in entertaining.

A slow-moving, dirt-dull narrative crammed with clunky expository dialogue and obscure Biblical references.

Pretentious and trite.

The dreary, direct-to-video quality of the script, acting and cinematography in this latest entry seemed to inspire more yawns than screams, and not a few titters.

The "Prinze" of terrible movies is back - in what might charitably be called "Rear Window" for morons.

It's perfectly entertaining (and well-executed) in its cute, undemanding way.

Should have gone straight to video. It'll be there soon enough.

The sort of heart-tugger a small group of people will love passionately.

Simply not up to the task.

A pointless, wincingly snide exercise.

Not a film for all tastes, but it's a considerable artistic achievement.

A soggy cannoli of a domestic dramedy.

A well-researched picture of how racism led to nine men being falsely accused and wrongly convicted. One only wishes that the filmmakers had more than 84 minutes in which to tell the story.

Although the jokes aren't as consistently funny as those in "Lock, Stock," once again writer-director Ritchie demonstrates a deeply pleasurable combination of verbal flair and visual wit while conveying the genuine, intimidating hardness of the English working class and its love of language.

Boasts some genuinely intelligent and funny sequences and some nicely painful scenes of domestic tension - as well as surprisingly strong performances from actors like Neve Campbell and Donald Sutherland.

The often difficult-to-follow plot is sort of "Traffic" for nitwits.

Both witty and poignant.

Fascinatingly, many of the interviewees disagree vehemently about Holmes' personality: some of his co-stars and colleagues found him repellently abusive and selfish.

Recycles every cliché of the genre to sleep-inducing effect.

An inferior factory product, cranked out with little care and less imagination, that seems all the dumber because it's pretending to be smart and topical.

Aside from an uninspired script by Frank Cotrell Boyce, is that none of the assembled actors really has enough star presence to compete with the sheer spectacle.

Beautifully filmed, and the star-crossed lovers, both played by first-time actors, are a match made in art-film heaven. But I must admit, the pansori singer got on my nerves about halfway through.

A clever, funny, extended joke about ruthless directors, method actors and the power of the cinema.

Atriumph on almost every level. It is breathtakingly stylish, wonderfully acted and its three interrelated tales of the "war" on drugs are brilliantly structured to form a cohesive, powerful whole.

Too often seems like a slightly silly film.

Plays like a very good TV movie. Short on visual flair and starpower, Thirteen Days is not the definitive story of the Cuban missile crisis, but it's an engrossing historical lesson nonetheless.

Never really gets out of the starting gate.

Although Vatel is trying to say something about freedom and gilded cages, it feels more like a behind-the-scenes look at the high-end catering business.

A laugh-filled comedy that might be described as "The Full Monty" meets the Three Stooges.

Anyone expecting a hard-hitting biography will be disappointed by Julian Schnabel's soft-edged, dreamy and relatively nonpolitical film.

No one will mistake But Forever in My Mind ("Come te Nessuno Mai") for something by Fellini or Visconti. But it is, in its own way, skillful and most entertaining.

Anderson, in her first major non-Scully film role, is lethally miscast.

A really classic adventure yarn with one of Hollywood's great actors hitting one out of the ballpark. If you're seeing only one movie this season, this is the obvious choice.

The film is worth seeing for George Clooney's performance. More than ever he seems like a Clark Gable for our time.

Bloody awful movie.

Beyond the cliched diaper-changing scenes and the oh-so-predictable romantic complications, the film inadvertently insults its presumed target audience.

The entire film is a feast for the eyes that brings to mind the work of Hong Kong ace Wong Kar-Wai.

Has some entertaining moments, thanks mainly to Bullock herself, who is surprisingly glamorous as well as endearing.

Hilarious sweet and sour David Mamet comedy.

An earnest, well-meaning film.

It feels less predictable and derivative than it is, thanks to Gus Van Sant's deft direction and two fine central performances.

Adequately funny but predictable sitcom

Marred by sappy fantasy sequences and a sentimental finale that's out of step with most of the rest of the movie.

Masterful acting.

An almost chuckle-free mess, so amateurish and lame that the cast often has that embarrassed look you see on dogs given ridiculous haircuts.

Refreshingly flirts with a very un-Disney political incorrectness.

A bittersweet confection that few holiday filmgoers will be able to resist, thanks to melt-in-your-mouth performances by Juliette Binoche, Alfred Molina and Judi Dench.

One of the most thrilling - and authentic - mountain-climbing films in recent memory. Unfortunately, it's also burdened by one of those every-line-a-wretched-cliché Hollywood screenplays.

In disturbing detail, we see these aimless kids, who often appear to be 10 years old - or younger! - as they beg for money and food, sniff glue, sleep under bridges in cardboard boxes and fight off predators.

It's hardly a dramatic story. You learn absolutely nothing about her personal life. But there is plenty of drama in that amazing, soulful voice and the songs she sang.

Comedy with a light-hearted flair. The cast is charming, and Garcia is especially easy on the eye.

Disappointingly routine kidnapping thriller with soap-opera trimmings.

Unbelievably awful celluloid-waster.

Tacky-looking, incoherent, badly acted and hopelessly directed disaster is easily the dullest adventure film of 2000.

You have never seen a movie like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon because there has never been a movie like it.

Very sentimental.

Despite the high quality of the acting, Spring Forward is for the most part sleepy, long-winded stuff.

An indie gem.

Worthwhile mainly because of "Inside Out," a 28-minute autobiographical film written, directed and starring Jason Gould, who not-so-incidentally is Barbra Streisand's son.

The kind of movie that is beyond criticism.

Resembles a period version of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" - played dead straight.