They'll say that this year's two Superman pictures could not be more different, but they'll be wrong: Like "Superman Returns," Hollywoodland is laden with atmosphere but moves like it has lead in its tights.

Kevin Smith's attempt to combine sketchy low comedy with long-winded theological speculation results in a mostly unfunny and occasionally tedious mess.

The direction is never more than conventional, with a tear-inducing finale better suited to a TV soap opera.

42 may not be a home run, but it’s certainly a solid three-base hit as worthy family entertainment.

There are a few decent jolts in Disturbia, but overall this ultra-predictable thriller doesn't live up to the hype.

Carlyle gives a quietly engaging performance as a Golden State farmworker with a secret in the likable indie California Solo.

Strange and quirky.

Directors Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly overload their too-long film with subplots. Yet the actors — including a terrific Aiden Gillen (“Game of Thrones”) as Casper’s no-good father — perform as though unaware that any of this is a cliché.

Peter Farrelly is angry at Miramax for marketing his and his brother Bobby's new film as a follow-up to their surprise smash hit, "There's Something About Mary."

Features abundant sex and nudity, yet it manages to tell its story (based on a real character) with great sensitivity.

When the world gets too big and scary, the Hundred Acre Wood remains a clearly delineated comfort zone.

It's nice to see a love story that deals with mature people. We're not likely to get anything like it from Hollywood. So enjoy When the Sea Rises while you can.

An OK kids movie passing through on the way to video.

It's apt that the Rome weather in this stodgy film, contrary to the title, seems quite temperate.

The second half of Godzilla is definitely more fun than the first part of a film I enjoyed overall, if less than last year’s similar dip into giant monster blockbusterdom, “Pacific Rim.”

Hermila Guedes is hot as the damsel in distress. She carries the movie on her slender shoulders, providing erotic charm and believable acting.

Writer-director Schwarz has a lot of fun with this nutty premise. And more important, the twisted dynamics of this particular family ring true.

The result is wholly original, sort of like "The Wizard of Oz" as filtered through the sensibilities of Emir Kusturica, the cult filmmaker and musician.

At more than two hours, Cherry Blossoms could do with some pruning. And do husband and wife have to have rhyming names?

A sleazy and pointless film about sleazy and pointless people, Killer Joe reminds us that what Quentin Tarantino does isn't easy.

Picture how insufferable "GoodFellas" would be if it climaxed with a federal agent making a speech about the victims claimed by organized crime.

In the most thrilling sequence of this consistently rousing old-school adventure, Heyerdahl grabs a passing shark with his bare hands, thrusts a hook into it, drags it aboard and guts it with a knife. Now that’s what I call entertainment. I haven’t seen such crazed brutality since Lou Lumenick’s review of “Movie 43.”

This is a one-joke skit that trots in a straight line, and your enjoyment of it will depend entirely on how many times you need to see gonzo sheep rip out human entrails.

The film falters only when it eavesdrops briefly on a passionate public discussion of rent control and gentrification. The moment is out of keeping with the carefree nature of the rest of the movie.

If “Once” was a bracing blast of cool spring water, Begin Again is a can of Fanta. If “Once” was a piano, Begin Again is a keytar. If “Once” was Otis Redding, Begin Again is Bruno Mars.

The heavily symbolic The Dying Gaul doubtless worked better as a play, but the film is worth seeing for its peerless cast.

Like Truffaut's heaviest work, it's less interested in what brings people together than in what keeps them apart, and it achieves a painful truth you won't find in dating comedies.

Luke, who seems to have been marking time since his impressive debut in the title role of Denzel Washington's "Antwone Fisher" four years ago, is fiercely good as this reluctant warrior and devoted family man.