Killer Joe is twisted pulp, and the actors chew on it bravely, boldly, and with varying degrees of success.

A black comedy, a character study, and a thriller, Lord of War lacks the gritty, hell-bent hilarity of David O. Russell's contemporary war pic, "Three Kings."

If you're in the mood for some enjoyable depravity, Bitter Moon is quite a trip. [15 Apr 1994, p.05]

A quiet, glistening love story - or not-quite-love story - adapted from Martin's novella of the same name, Shopgirl is such an atypical Hollywood affair that it's almost startling.

Luke, who had the title role in Denzel Washington's directorial debut, "Antwone Fisher," is that rare actor who can convey profound inner conflict with just a look in his eye; his performance is attuned, astute and remarkable.

A comedy of the old school. Depending on your view of the current state of screen humor, that's either a promise or a warning.

By the time the end finally arrives, you realize you haven't laughed in quite a while and, instead, have been thinking about the chores you have to do after you leave the theater. As diversions go, that's pretty diluted.

An entertaining, occasionally illuminating autodocumentary.

Favreau and Vaughn have chemistry to kill: comic, combative and engagingly goofball.

Refreshingly gritty and hard-nosed.

Overplayed by a toupeed'n'tucked Pacino, Bank is made up to resemble Hollywood mogul Robert Evans, who produced Pacino in The Godfather. It's an inside joke for outsiders. As are the many references to the Corleone family saga.

While I much liked The Duchess, this portrait feels unfinished.

There's more tenderness in Big Eyes, and a playfully framed but nonetheless emphatic you-go-girl spirit to the proceedings, as we watch Margaret - a magnificent Adams - slowly emerge from her shell.

At its heart, there's Blanchett, an actress whose instincts are unerring, and dead-on.

With creepy sound effects (thuds and clangs and groans, oh my) and a mounting - make that sinking - sense of dread, Black Sea is at once fist-clenchingly suspenseful and, well, dull.

What I most appreciated about the film directed by Matthew O'Callaghan is that it doesn't go for amped-up effects. No bells, whistles, or nudge-nudge, wink-winks to the adults in the audience.

The more Pacino overplays, the more Cusack underplays, which makes for a fascinating contrast in acting styles. True, Cusack's dialect is more "Louie, Louie" than Louisiana, but he projects such moral spotlessness that none of the film's cynicism can soil him. That's acting. [16 Feb 1996, p.03]

A deceptively simple movie with a deeply felt message.

Remarkably poignant (and pungent) when it comes to child psychology.

To paraphrase one of the few memorable lines in the movie, "Even stink would say this stinks."

Veronica Mars is a great deal more than a bonus episode, but slightly less than a movie.

A surprisingly moving drama - a throwback to the small, character-driven indies of yesteryear.

It is diverting but insubstantial.

It is also to Khouri's credit that she has written a movie that begins with the men on Mars and women on Venus and ends with their being able to share a planet. [4 Aug 1995, p.03]

Winterbottom also has the insight to share the novelist's suggestion that landscape can reflect and, to a degree, even shape character.

A genre pastiche that's fun to watch, although it's also frustrating.

A rewarding exploration of the knotty and often contentious relationship between teacher and protege.

Although respectful of its central subject, Comedian is not worshipful. Rather, it is curious about what in Seinfeld's hard-wiring allows him to maintain his equilibrium.