Director John Dahl has fun with this material, filming the modern-day noir potboiler with such gusto that it's impossible not to fall under its spell.

Nothing, no matter how outrageous, is beyond Smith, and his willingness to flaunt cinematic taboos is one of the reasons why Clerks is such a unqualified success.

With this film, every layer that you peel away leads to something deeper and richer. Tarantino makes pictures for movie-lovers, and Pulp Fiction is a near-masterpiece.

The rich texture of Hoop Dreams' drama is its greatest asset.

The cinematic horror genre, like the science fiction one, has been badly hamstrung by poor films, and several of the Nightmare on Elm Street entries have been at the forefront of the decline. Therefore, it's somewhat ironic that one of the most intelligent and creative efforts to come along in a while bears the Nightmare theme, title, and signature villain.

As thrillers go, The River Wild is a cut below a "white-knuckler," but it still has its share of spills and chills.

There are moments that sparkle, but the whole is not a worthy sum of its parts, and, while much of what Moretti does is interesting, that doesn't mean that it's enjoyable.

The most interesting personality in Ed Wood is not the title character, but Bela Lugosi. So covered up with makeup that he's barely recognizable, Martin Landau gives a deeply-felt performance -- a eerie and stunning recreation of a man haunted by lost fame.

As a shoot-'em-up, blast-'em-to-pieces film, it's not half bad. As a futuristic time travel movie, however, it has some very serious problems.

One of the reasons that Quiz Show is so extraordinary is because it spins a story as compelling on the personal level as on the national one.

The problem with the film is that it's frequently more tedious than funny.

For something billed as a lightweight romantic comedy, What Happened Was... wades through some surprisingly deep waters.

Fresh takes the setting and tone of Boyz 'N the Hood and Menace II Society and applies it to a thriller. Gone is the documentary-like quality of filmmaking as well as the gritty sense of immediacy. Fresh uses higher-quality film stock and a more traditional cinematographic style to distance the audience ever-so-slightly from the characters. This way, it's easier to appreciate the complexity of Michael's plan and the manner in which he arranges his masterful scheme of manipulation.

Whitmore's Brooks is a brilliantly-realized character, and the scenes with him attempting to cope with life outside of Shawshank represents one of the film's most moving -- and effective -- sequences.

Ultimately, the greatest fault with Killing Zoe may lie in Avary's ambition. In trying to do too much (crime film, love story, psychological thriller, and dissection of an alienated generation) with a ninety-minute motion picture, his focus becomes blurred. Regardless, with a style that alternately recalls John Woo and Sam Peckinpah, and a tone that is nihilistic in the extreme, he has created a movie that, while obviously flawed, isn't easily forgotten.

As a satire on the media's infatuation with violence and murderers, Natural Born Killers hits the bullseye. The problem is, this is a one-note movie. It repeatedly hammers home the same point until the audience is bludgeoned into senselessness.

Where's John McClane when you need him? If nothing else, the main character from the two Die Hard films would have livened up proceedings in this pathetically inept psychological thriller.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is about the most fun you can have with three guys who like to dress up as women.

Enjoyable, but it's a shallow enjoyment.

Dealing with subjects that could easily have emerged half-baked, Lee instead applies his talent and comes up with a dish cooked to perfection.

As a comedy, The Mask is genial, but its recycled plot is far too thin for the film to succeed as either an adventure or a spoof.

For a movie being touted as a sophisticated farce suitable for family viewing, North turns out to be surprisingly immature.

The Client is an example of what happens when a production team does the best they can possibly do with a routine script.

One of the best things about True Lies is that it's genuinely funny.

This is not a "nice" movie -- it deals with some pretty intense issues (like incest and suicide) -- but it is both bold and inventive, and works because of an unforced approach.

Any time Disney tries their hand at live action, though, the results are usually pretty poor. Just not this bad.

Passionate and magical, Forrest Gump is a tonic for the weary of spirit.

The Shadow's problems have nothing to do with the basic premise; rather, they are flaws in execution. The setup promises something more invigorating than it delivers.