In his directing debut Battle in Seattle, actor Stuart Towns end does an impressive job (on a shoestring budget) of re-creating the massive street protests that forced the cancellation of the World Trade Organization summit in 1999.

Everything is predictable three scenes in advance, and it's all stale, stuck, stolid.

Fanning gives a sensitive and fairly impressive performance. But like her over-the-top movie family, Hounddog is still trailer trash of the worst kind.

It examines other crises faced by JFK - Cuba, the Berlin Wall, civil war in Laos, the insurgency in Vietnam - and finds that in each case Kennedy chose talk over tanks. (Often, he went against advice of aides and generals.)

The film has enough funny lines and weird situations - some comedy business with a sex chair lovingly constructed by the Clooney character is the highlight - that it could age into a cult film like "The Big Lebowski."

A total disaster.

A slow-moving, ridiculous police thriller that would have been shipped straight to the remainder bin at Blockbuster if it starred anyone else.

According to Irene Salina's eye-opening documentary Flow, 500,000 to 7 million US residents are sickened by tap water each year.

The result is a hodgepodge of plots and styles, a fault compounded by stiff acting and, except for a few scenes, wooden direction.

The oddly compelling documentary Moving Midway is an engineering tale combined with a family history and a ghost story.

A blackly funny provocation.

The fractured timeline covers five decades, which Miller weaves together, with the past shot in color and the present in black and white. Still, the soapy climax is unnecessary.

Pedro Castaneda, a nonprofessional appearing in his first film, and Veronica Loren tug at your heartstrings with their portrayals of the lead characters.

The film plays out pretty much exactly as you would expect - which won't bother some people one iota.

Especially worthwhile for the chemistry between Bell and Myles.

Sounds like a great idea for a gay porno, but the soapy Save Me actually takes itself seriously.

A charming and enjoyable movie.

Charming to the max.

Boring movie.

Darkly funny (par for the course with Miike), visually stunning and full of references to other films.

The film's unusual look lends a magical feeling.

A mildly raunchy comedy that might be more accurately titled "Love: Canadian Style."

The best end-of-August movie I've seen in years.

Statham is an essential tough guy, what the Brits call "well'ard," as self-assured as Lee Marvin.

So haphazardly written and directed that it barely qualifies as a movie, The House Bunny is watchable solely for the comic stylings of the blond veteran of the "Scary Movie" series.

Its characters are likable enough to settle in with for a pleasant hour and a half.

The laughs begin with the excellent title Hamlet 2 - and they end there.

Slowly builds power to devastating effect.