A surprisingly in-depth and confrontational examination into the obesity epidemic among Americans, especially children, over the last 30 years.

Land of the Dead is huge. It's Romero doing what he does best: using zombies to create a lowbrow social parable. It shows up junk like "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" for the brainless pap it is. And it's got something that even the best previous "Dead" films have lacked: good acting.

While the film is no groundbreaker, it is a paragon of elegance without austerity, and there's nothing like being in the confident hands of a master filmmaker.

The first of von Trier's efforts to be certifiably farcical.

It might have poked a bit more into Clash's personal story, but as a story of man and puppet it's grand.

Cumberbatch's scenes with Knightley are a model of how a buttoned-up character can open and reveal himself.

It's not a question of agreeing or disagreeing with this film's point of view to say that it isn't as often convincing as it is convinced.

Though Michael Winterbottom's Wonderland appears as gritty as they come, it uncommonly has a romantic heart.

It's got a bust-out performance from Eckhart that's worth remembering.

A slow burn. A portrait of the mundane humor and horror of everyday life, it scalds nerves you may have never thought existed. And yet the film is funny, almost hilariously at times.

A work of gentle, continual hilarity that feels far more ordinary than other Coen works and yet has every bit of the originality and exactness that makes the brothers' best films so wonderful.

The result is a handsome, intelligent film that feels as restrained as its protagonist -- a comic premise without many laughs, a thriller without many thrills.

Warts and all, Factotum feels very close to the real thing.

Fairly lightweight, going after targets we can all agree deserve the needle. But there are five, six, seven gags you've never seen before -- real surprises- -- and the film deploys them smartly to keep you laughing and unsteady for the duration.

With its sweet soul and sharp mind, it's one of the most heartening films of the year.

Despite some fast-paced direction by Wes Craven, Red Eye finally gets so silly, it's practically popping its wing-rivets.

Though it's well-cast and convincingly captures the look and feel of its era, the film loses steam as Accio's story meanders to a predictable conclusion.

Tangled is a lively, funny, deft and delicious musical in the vein of Disney's 1989 classic "The Little Mermaid."

Liman stages the chaotic action scenes, including several iterations of the beach assault, with clarity, precision, and wit. This is his best movie since 2002's "The Bourne Identity."

Studded with sturdy acting.

The film moves with a jazzy, spacey rhythm and palpably evokes the Oregon 70s. Its a movie that makes you think and feel at once. [09 Oct 1998, p.24]

The animation is pretty and clean, reminiscent of other Studio Ghibli films like "Whisper of the Heart," but never achieves wondrous artistry.

Just think back to everything that was funny in "21 Jump Street." It's exactly the same.

"Juno" was accused (wrongly, in my view) of having things both ways: being cute and cynical, edgy and sentimental. Young Adult, despite the fun afforded by Theron and Oswalt, seems content to have things neither.

Ultimately, a heart in the film to go with Rebney's considerable bile.

Scott and Sedgwick are not really comedians, but they nicely impart their characters' rueful humor. [19 Sept 1992, p.C16]

One of the most aggressively ambiguous pictures of the year. There is a certain power to that.

A snappy little heist movie with acting performances both deft and brilliant