No "Crouching Tiger." It lacks the richness of theme and performance that made Ang Lee's film so emotionally satisfying. In fact, watching Iron Monkey makes you realize just how Western and literary the sensibility of "Crouching Tiger" was.

Jonze seems to be heading for a far quirkier ending than the one he actually delivers, but he does tap into the zeitgeist with his unlikely romantic fable.

It's fine for kids, though, and it doesn't try too hard.

Nobody Else But You has a great deal going for it, not the least of which is Rouve, who takes the novelist's obsessiveness, depression and general boorishness and turns it all into the source of his appeal.

The plot is neither here nor there, but you have to see this for the luscious cinematography by Chi Xiaoning, who loves shades of blue and amber.

Time has robbed Blume’s subjects of shock value, but her perceptiveness hasn’t dimmed. The movie’s sincerity carries it along, and makes this story endearing despite its filmmaking clichés.

An engaging, bittersweet tale.

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.

Hitler didn’t actually snub Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics, but the story is too good not to tell, so Race tells it anyway — adding the (true) detail that Owens was snubbed back home. By someone called “the White House,” because this supposedly truth-telling movie can’t bear to spell out the words Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Shamelessly contrived and manipulative, Tae Guk Gi packs a visceral wallop.

Nostalgia is a prime factor, yes, but the story is legitimately engrossing this time, however recycled it may be, rather than a lazy stack of trumpeted entrances and exits and half-witty asides that marred the 2019 and 2022 films.

The long-term effects of bullying are at the heart of The Gift, a dark and ultimately quite nasty psychological thriller from actor/writer/debut director Joel Edgerton, who manages to yank the carpet out from under his audience a couple of times.

Jealousy has a quiet melancholy that’s very pleasing.

Doesn't have the polish of "Ocean's Eleven" - but it does have George Clooney.

So minimalist in characterization and dialogue that the plot all but evaporates -- and so does any dramatic power.

Not many surprises are in store, but the film’s affection for the dramatist is pleasing.

Justin Timberlake shows that he can do more as an actor than just take his shirt off - though he does that a lot as well - in the irresponsible, uncommercial but surprisingly watchable Alpha Dog.

Leong’s film isn’t particularly stylish, but it makes the most of the climactic Knicks footage, as well as showcasing a sweetly goofy side of the 25-year-old, now playing for the Houston Rockets.

Its bawdy honesty eventually gives way to convention, sentimentality and a frustratingly silly ending.

Her star billing notwithstanding, Jolie has perhaps the ninth-largest part in the movie (behind seven humans and a dog), playing Cage's ex-girlfriend.

Worth watching primarily for Blunt, the delicious scene-stealer from "The Devil Wears Prada."

The best Parisian action movie of the week is District 13: Ultimatum, a serviceable thriller with a lefty message.

Even after he manages to get out of the car and slowly starts recovering his memory, Wrecked keeps you guessing.

It's a nice, mud-free way to spend a bit of time rocking out in the rain with the Scots.

The considerable charms of Miles Teller and Analeigh Tipton elevate this middling rom-com.

So what starts out as fascinating sci-fi becomes just fi, and winds up pulp fi.

Falters seriously is its too-leisurely pacing.

Well-acted and acutely observed.