The acting and story are solid, but the real star of Tulpan is the gorgeous, never-ending landscape -- flat and arid, and home to camels, goats and lambs, and hearty people who live in tentlike yurts.

Dreamworks Animation's clunky and wildly unimaginative Monsters vs. Aliens really doesn't have a clue what to do with the [3-D] technique.

Doesn't have a particularly well-defined point of view, but it is a succinct, entertaining and valuable record of a time that in some ways now seems as remote as the Roaring '20s.

The role of William is a perfect fit for Red West, a well-weathered member of Elvis Presley's Memphis Mafia who has served as a bodyguard as well as a stuntman and bit-part actor.

Not very haunty.

Features crisp dialogue and understated humor, played out by an attractive young cast. Audiences bred on Hollywood romances might find the film too chatty and contemplative. To them I say: Get over it, kids!

Watching this movie is like listening to Michael Jackson tell you what real men are like.

Whip-smart, sexy and delightfully twisty romantic thriller.

UH-UH. Non. Nein. Negative. Sept. 11 is not to be used as the setup for a cheesy disaster prophecy flick.

A small-scale charmer that provides a tailor-made role for Malkovich, who is always fun to watch.

Forget those weepie liberal clichés. This starless and vividly authentic romantic thriller set in Central America really rocks, and is one of the most exciting directorial debuts in years.

Filled with affecting moments.

A warning: One scene in the middle is almost outrageously cruel and graphic. If you're the type of person who has to be reminded, "It's only a movie," stay away. This is the most depraved and dreadful piece of screen horror since last year's "Funny Games."

Bears all the signs of having been composed by an inferior race of alien screenwriters from the Hackulon System.

This bittersweet comedy is a fine showcase for a pair of distinctive and appealing talents.

This documentary, which begins at a low key, gradually becomes intense and psychologically complicated.

With so much junk cluttering movie houses, it is a shame that it took two years for this sweet, intelligent drama to get a release before heading for DVD.

For a horny-road-trip flick that's actually funny, check out last year's "Sex Drive," which just came out on video.

One of the oddest movies I've seen in a while - and that's a good thing.

Although envisioned before the world economy went to hell, Tokyo Sonata is relevant to the mess we're in now.

Director Zack Snyder's cerebral, scintillating follow-up to "300" seems, to even a weary filmgoer's eye, as fresh and magnificent in sound and vision as "2001" must have seemed in 1968, yet in its eagerness to argue with itself, it resembles "A Clockwork Orange."

Phoebe in Wonderland happens to be at least partly a Lifetime movie, but this special little film is no disease-of-the-week tear-jerker.

Heiskanen is a revelation as the put-upon wife, and the cinematography (some by Troell) effortlessly transports us back 100 years.

There are no talking heads, but lots of singing heads and sexy dancing bodies, many of them belonging to stars in Spain. In total, there are more than a dozen performance pieces, all stylishly lensed.

A stultifying vanity piece.

Coming-of-age road trips have rarely been more tedious or predictable.

Carax, who hadn't made a movie since "Pola X" in 1999 comes off best.

The time passes quickly. This is the rare remake that does honor to the spirit of the original.