As presented in "What Just Happened?" the world of Hollywood looks like a very expensive, lethal version of high school, not fun to live in, but lots of fun from a safe distance.

Strikes a surprising array of notes: scary, sad and hopeful. The director, Tomas Alfredson, does a great job of presenting peril in the film.

The temptation to be emphatic about Synecdoche, New York is overwhelming but should be resisted, because the movie really is a mixed bag. A particularly odd mix.

A disturbing film about grim subject matter, but the overall experience is more exhilarating than saddening. There's just something satisfying about seeing a movie so well made.

Kristin Scott Thomas' performance in I've Loved You So Long is one of a small handful of highlights by which people will remember this year in movies. This is acting at its most exalted.

Hackl weaves scenes from the previous films into this one in clever ways, without adding to the confusion. The director also does a good job of maintaining the dark tone, which includes FBI offices that look as if they're being illuminated by night-lights, and dungeons that look as if you'd catch a venereal disease or two just by touching the door handles.

A single 125-minute monstrosity of a cop movie.

Unfortunately, the writing has become so bad that it becomes impossible to keep your head in the game - even as your toes continue to tap to the beat.

That's the real problem with this melodrama. Whether or not you agree with the pacifist message, the presentation is often overwrought and maudlin.

Reminded me of the occasional thrill of coming upon Haring's puzzling, unsigned chalk drawings in the New York subway at the turn of the 1980s, before he made a name for himself above ground.

The result is more lyrical than frightening - and there are some misses mixed in with the hits - but it's well worth checking out.

Not for the faint of heart.

In the end, W. makes up in immediacy what it lacks in objectivity.

Filth & Wisdom is dead in the water, an excruciating bore even at a compact 84 minutes.

With its flat story, numbed-out protagonist, and faux artistic lighting and set design - everything is dark or moody or darkishly moody or moodily dark - Max Payne seems a good half hour longer than its running time.

Has a made-for-television style.

Suffused with a golden glow, the movie looks and sounds like a fairy tale.

Some jokes work, some don't and, frankly, I can't remember either, but it leaves a sweet aftertaste. Slight, but sweet.

Cconsistently entertaining.

Lacks, a story that makes it feel personal.

Why is Breakfast With Scot in theaters instead of set for broadcast on the Lifetime, Hallmark or ABC Family channels?

An impressive and imaginative fantasy.

Deserves plenty of credit for exploring racial issues story in more realistic terms.

It is crystal clear who screwed up this tortuously slow-moving romantic drama.

The key to enjoying the film is warming up to the heroine, Poppy.

Elliptical, sweeping, lovely and thoroughly confusing.

RocknRolla attempts to depict a world of ever-expanding chaos. But the chaos is only in the way the story is told. The actual vision Ritchie offers is pedestrian and tame.

A fine ensemble piece, but a maddening and unjustified length.

Maher makes Michael Moore look incredibly likable in comparison.

Depending on your tolerance for talking Chihuahuas, this could make for a fun family night out.

At times almost unbearably ugly, but by the time you walk out of the theater, you know you've seen something.

An enjoyable way to start the Oscar season.

A sharp-witted satire of celebrity journalism.

Within the realm of a mildly good time.

A film that doesn't let go from the very first moment.

Truly a winter's tale.

As the film meanders, the powerful moments barely outnumber the ridiculous. And another excellent performance from McAdams isn't quite good enough to mask the distractions.

The movie doesn't have three brain cells to rub together, but the premise carries it a long way.

The first and most honest thing to say about Miracle at St. Anna is that it's an awful mess.

An annoying little film that attempts to be lascivious but is merely ludicrous.

The film tastefully yet unenergetically chugs along.

Has an impressive cast and captures some of that era's fuzzy rebelliousness and humanism, but taken on its own the picture is finally thin stuff.

For a film that depends so heavily on talking heads, it has both a dramatic arc and a sense of character development.

Has a jangly, improvisational tone, with nuanced moments of humor and pathos.

Most of the time, the movie is appropriately gritty and plenty engaging.

Getting an inside view on events is fascinating enough to carry the movie.

It tells the amazing, but mostly true, story of a late-18th century aristocrat who made an indelible mark on English society akin to that of her direct descendant, Lady Diana.

A conventional suspense thriller, but the details kick it up a notch.

Both very funny and a bit of a tearjerker, with an on-the-money performance from Ricky Gervais.

In style and tone, Igor seems more like a short from the adult-oriented "Spike & Mike's Festival of Animation."

Fraulein works by an accumulation of details.

Doesn't add up to much, but it's fast and funny and lets a bunch of top-drawer actors exercise their comic muscles.

A very effective primer of an underreported problem.

So disturbing it makes you uncomfortable watching it.

A relatively harmless movie that becomes killing-a-mockingbird sinful for what it does to its leads.

Very earnest, often engaging, but not quite as much of a pleasure as the original.

A mostly amusing, appealing family comedy about going from pretender to contender, in life as well as pingpong.

Doesn't poke fun at anyone's beliefs.

A complicated family story that takes place in three distinct time periods, and that's handled with astonishing ease and fluidity by director Claude Miller.

Except for Patekar, the main actors are nonprofessionals, which works nicely here.

Viewers will be swept away by the beauty of individual moments and by Ivan Barnev's extraordinary performance.

Too raw for kids and too simplistic for adults.

The film is stylishly shot, although the current action-movie look might be dated in a few years.

An ill-advised and severely wussified remake.

Screenwriters Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith may not have any original ideas, but they write some good lines and have a great actress to deliver them.

Leaves you feeling buoyed, but you must endure a level of overacting more suitable for the soaps.

Like its low-key star, Hamlet 2 is more likely to elicit quiet chuckles than raucous laughter.

Engrossing documentary.

Does about as good a job as any film could be expected to.

Really doesn't pay off much.

You want to like almost everyone in this film, but they're all undone by a weak script.

Looks fantastic, but the film suffers from the TV-to-feature transition.

The film's freedom and control, its inspiration and focus, announce it as the work of a confident and mature artist.

Will probably pass muster with very young viewers, but their parents may grit their teeth at its saccharine quality.

A strange and thoughtful little movie.

Would be worthy of the highest rating, except for a slight slackening of energy in the last 20 minutes.

A loving biographical tribute.

The movie is laugh-until-your-stomach-hurts hilarious.

A richly textured and compelling film.

True to the loose, funky spirit of the artists and their work.

A pile of junk.

Grossman does a workmanlike job with the film, but his direction and script don't really offer any great insight into Darby's tortured soul.

It's a funny, mostly harmless and entertaining film with a bad case of dry mouth.

This schlocky period piece doesn't do the pioneering Northern Californians justice. The script is overwritten to the point of parody.

Given the juiciest plotline, Tamblyn goes for it, turning in a hard-boiled performance that's a needed contrast to her co-stars' tendency to go for sweet.

Most audience members will probably want more.

If we're going to be honest, we need to look inside and ask ourselves: Do we really want to see a listless movie about a woman whose dream is to move into a double-wide trailer?

As for Fraser, his clumsy humanity is endearing, but by now, assuming he has invested wisely, he should have enough money saved so as to not have to waste his talent anymore.

The mix of comedy and drama is winning; Costner couldn't be better, and the little girl is a find.

It's a handsome and entertaining small-scale picture with nice acting, some crisp (and some crude) dialogue and effective direction.

Mostly succeeds in unmasking the flaws of fetishizing skin-deep beauty.

Delightful.

Knowing nothing about "X-Files" is no impediment to appreciating this for the well-acted, adult piece of work that it is.

Essentially a throwaway film.

An amusing bauble.

A very noble movie, which makes it interesting at times, but not often enough.

Falls victim to some surfing cliches.

A romantic drama that also offers smart commentary on class and economic differences.